Ten pieces of gear to improve your podcasting and streaming audio quality
 

Ten pieces of gear to boost your podcasting and streaming audio quality

Podcasting and streaming is hotter than ever, so here are ten pieces of gear to make your content sound better than ever:


For more podcast gear and discussions, click here to visit our Podcasting, Vlogging & Audio For Social Media section.

No RE-20 or RE-320?

Obviously, lists such as these can't be comprehensive. From watching and listening to demos, I suspect the SM7b will be the perfect choice for many people, especially if a) you have a pre or gain booster strong enough to drive it, and b) you need to record in less than ideal acoustic environments. The RE-20 sounds like a wonderful dynamic mic as well. I'm not quite as impressed with the 320 at its price point. (Again, only window shopping on the internet. I have no direct experience with any of these.)

My biggest question about this compilation is the inclusion of a reflection filter. I have tried these, and IMHO they only help marginally in bad rooms. On the other hand, in conjunction with other treatment such as something absorbent above and behind you, they can help.

For the first time, I have to disagree with a good chunk of this list. The Zoom H recorders, including the H6, just aren't good. They produce a lot of self noise at just 50% on the gain dial.

The reflection filter isn't going to do much either. They cover the least sensitive part of a cardioid condenser mic.

Also the Lewitt DGT650 is a waste of money. $570 for a USB mic is crazy. It's a little on the thin side but also quite boxy sounding. I seriously thinking a CAD M179 is a better investment and a better mic, at it's almost a third of the price. Or just get a used C414 XLS and Behringer UMC404HD or UMC1820. It'll be a much better sound (the CAD is actually pretty close though). Lewitt's real mics are great too, just don't fall for "pro USB mic" nonsense. The thing sounds like a low end condenser (and not the good bang for your buck ones) with a mid level price tag. There are plenty of good electret mics, I like the Vintage CAD E-100 and E-200, and I like the iSK Pearl a lot. The only decent sound voice sample is the spoken word sample on Lewitt's site for the DGT650, but it still has a kind of boxy sound and something unnatural in the high end (a lot of the instrument samples remind me of things recorded on ultra cheap electrets using Transound capsules). I even like the LCT240 Pro more and that's Lewitt's lowest end LDC. I can genuinely say their mic I like most is the mid tier LCT 440 and LCT 441, but I think those are only about as good as the $200 CAD M179.

And if you don't already have decent interface and pre you're not gonna be able to effectively use an SM7B.

Also barrel adapter pre and converter combos like the iRig are not even a substitute for a Behringer UMC204.

A legitimate quality set up can be done for what the DGT650 costs, and it'll be way better.

The RODECaster Pro is high on my list, probably #1 because it's purpose-built for podcasters. Four mic pre's, four headphone outputs for guests, long-throw faders, cue/FX pads, Aphex vocal processing in DSP, built-in SD recorder and class-compliant 12x2 USB interface for tracking to DAW.

I'll also nominate Audio Hijack by Rogue Amoeba. This modular audio routing app enables building signal chains with AU plugs, and includes a built-in direct-to-streaming module.

RODECaster Pro + 13" Macbook Pro running Audio Hijack is a brilliant mobile streaming broadcast studio.

One more component - any of the pro-level boom-mic stereo headsets, e.g. from Audio Technica or AKG. One headset per person is a clean setup with acceptable audio quality for streaming.

Sky

During lockdown I've been contacted by a lot of people wanting to be able to keep working without going into studios and I've recommended the Focusrite Scarlett Solo Gen3. It is so simple to use and it works great on so many platforms. Quite a few are using it with iPhones/iPads because you only need the Apple Camera Kit USB3 adapter and don't need a powered USB hub! Most of these are recording into Audacity or GarageBand (which are free) and getting great results. Some of my colleagues are still continuing to work as session musicians from home!

There's an app to use interfaces on Android too called USB Audio Recorder PRO (it's paid, I think it's like $7). I don't know which Focusrite ones it supports, but it supports just about all the Behringer ones. Don't know if it supports their mixing consoles, but if you're using a console you're not gonna be recording into a phone anyway.

Requires an OTG cable for phones, tablets that have a regular USB port for data transfer can just plug the interface into that.

wow, Im selling 3 of these at the moment. Holla if anyones interested in the GIKs, Zoom Q8 or babyface

Oh, great, your article provided me with useful information and a fresh perspective on the subject.

For the cost of a mid-priced usb mic you can buy an Allen and Heath usb board (around $220 for a ZEDi 10) that has decent sounding mic pres and 3 band EQ. Running even a Shure 57 or 58 sounds decent through this, and if you already have some good mics (AKG 414, Royer 121, vintage Neumann 87, etc. etc.), you can make very nice sound! EQ is the trick here, and there isn't a usb mic that can do what even an inexpensive Allen and Heath board with EQ can to control and sweeten your sound in whatever spaces you're in.