A Podcasting Studio DIY Set-up
A good DIY studio doesn’t have to burn up all of your cash! Especially for beginners, it’s all about getting a good deal and if necessary: upgrade later! I will provide you with Tips & Tricks to building the perfect studio to fit your budget. Remember: You’re not defined by your equipment, it’s the show you can produce with what you have. Alright let’s do this! This will all be equipment that I own and use for my podcast studio.
1. MICROPHONES
I found that starting out you do not need to spend more than $100 bucks on your mic. With a good mixer and editing software you can really make a decent mic sound much more 'expensive' than it is! I would recommend trying to find a mic within the $60-$80 range but if you must tip it off at 100 bucks.
Dynamic Mics – Take your pick!
Dynamic mics are great to have in your studio. They are much cheaper (usually under 50 bucks) and you can get them to sound great. In this price range, there isn’t a whole lot of difference between brands. I suggest doing what you can get on sale or even in a bundle. Some of these mics come in 3-packs! They are great to have around the studio for when you might have some extra guests.
2. MIXING CONSOLE
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| Behringer XENYX X1832 USB Mixer |
I believe this is the most important piece of equipment in your studio. Your mixer powers and controls every source of audio you want to incorporate on your show. Having a good mixer will take a lot of the stress out of producing your podcast. Also the more elements you can run through your mixer, the less time you have to spend in post-production.
This mixer does everything I need it to do! It can handle up to 6 XLR mics plus a variety of different audio inputs. It let’s me run audio from my laptop into the mixer and still gives me room to add other audio sources. This model offers a compression knob that allows me to get the sound I want. Also with this model, I can run everything LIVE during recording and not have to go back and do any real post production. The mixer does all the work!
3. SOFTWARE
Audactiy – That’s all you really need! It’s a free sound editing software that’s available for PC and Mac. You just load it up and hit record. Then you can go back and do your editing all within this software. There are a good amount of helpful tools to clean up all of your recordings and then export it as an Mp3.
Soundbyte – This software allows you to play sound clips during your show. You can load up a page on this software with all of your saved sounds and all you have to do is click and play. The good thing about this software is that it allows you to color each individual button so you can form groups that are easy to navigate. There are also some helpful settings that you can configure to fit how you need clips to fit your show. (PC and Mac)
4. ACCESSORIES
This is the area where you can definitely score some deals! These things won’t affect the quality of your audio so you can be a little more lenient and take the better deal!
Headphones – There are so many different kinds of headphones! Some look cooler than others but really they all do the same thing! Just go with a pair that fit right and you feel comfortable with wearing! You DEFINITELY DO NOT need to get some fancy designer headphones. They won’t in any way effect the sound of your podcast! They’re just there so you can monitor your audio during your show and also when you edit in post production.
Headphone Amp – This is VERY IMPORTANT to have if you have multiple people on your show! Your mixer will only have ONE headphone output. If everyone needs to hear you’re going to need a way to split that signal while boosting it at the same time. This does exactly that! It also allows each person to adjust their volume to the way they like it.
Cables:
For Microphones – Shure PG27 USB. It’s OK to save some money here. I went with the cheapest option for all of my cables. These cables don’t really move around much so there’s no wear and tear on them.
For input and output – Hosa Stereo Y-Cable Mini Male – 2 1/4″ Mono Males
You use these to run audio from your mixer into your computer. Also any sound you want to run from your laptop through your mixer (music, clips, etc.) will be sent through this cable. Get at least 2!
Headphones and Additional Inputs – Hosa 3.5mm TRS to 3.5mm TRS Stereo Interconnect Cable 3 Foot
This are cables you’ll need to run audio from your mixer into your headphone amp. They’re also just good to have around the studio as needed. They can be used to input sound from a laptop/iPod or to patch together an audio source between devices. Have a couple handy at all times!
Headphone and Cable Adapter – Hosa Stereo Mini Female-Stereo 1/4'' Male Adapter
These will always come in handy! They can be the difference between a connection working and failing. They’re cheap and can save you a headache so there just good to have around. What’s you get to setting everything up, you’ll see why!
PRO TIP: Use PROMO codes and take advantage of any sale you might find online or at a music/electronics store near you! Many online retailers offer free shipping on almost all of these items. They usually have some kind of promotion you can take them up on to save some cash. I did not pay full price on anything that went into my studio.
An Internet connection that has an upload bandwidth of at least 64kbps is sufficient, 256kbps is preferred if you wish to stream higher quality audio.
The Behringer Podcast Studio Bundle, which includes a microphone, headphones, and mixer unit.
Windows XP/Vista/Windows 7/10.
The Broadwave Audio Streaming Software
For recording podcasts: The WavePad Audio Editor Software and MixPad Audio Mixer Software.
1.Using the supplied instructions, setup the Podcast Studio Bundle, connect all the equipment together, and connect the USB Audio Capture Device to the computer. Connect an RCA cable from the CD/Tape output on the mixer to the Line In on the Audio Capture Device.
2.Download and install the Broadwave Audio Streaming Software. The software will automatically open after installation.
3.Talking Live: After the software has run through the initial network setup process, click on the 'Streams' button in the main screen, and in the window that appears, select the listed stream 'Broadwave Live 1', and click on 'Edit Stream' to edit it.
4.Ensure that the correct sound device is listed in the 'Stream Input Settings' window that appears - note that the USB Audio Capture Device appears as its own sound device.
5.Once this is completed, go back to the main screen and click on 'Connect'. This will take you to a webpage where you can find the http links to your live stream. Once you publish these on the Internet (either publish this page directly or copy the information somewhere else), then users will be able to listen to your live audio stream.
Recording a Podcast: After you have connected the equipment, and connected the USB Audio Capture Device to the computer, download and install the MixPad Audio Mixer Software.
6.Go into the Options (Preferences on Mac), and in the 'General' tab, ensure the correction audio device is selected - note that the USB Audio Capture Device appears as its own sound device. You may need to restart the software after changing the device.
7.In the 'General' tab, select which output device you wish to use for playing back your recordings.
8.Back in the main MixPad screen, click on the 'A' button for the first track, and select the appropriate recording channel in the window that opens. Now you can commence your recordings.
9.If you need to mix in other audio files or recordings in to your podcast, simply add more tracks into MixPad.
10.Once you have completed your recording, click on the 'Audio Files' button in the main screen of Broadwave. Once you locate your file it will be added into Broadcam. Clicking on the 'Connect' button will take you to a webpage where you can find the http links to your podcast.
