When it comes to podcasting, paying close attention to detail might not always seem glorious or exciting, but often the smallest things can make the difference between greatness and average. The smallest delay on a flip turn can take an Olympic swimmer from 4th place to winning a gold medal. The slightest bend can take a guitar solo from being a wrong note to a face melting glorious solo.
In working with many podcasters we have found that overlooking a few essential podcasting accessories can make or break a podcast. The following podcasting accessories may seem optional, but adding these touches can really help take your podcast quality to the next level. While we primarily help podcasters by providing ongoing editing and post production services, it’s our desire to also help improve and enhance the quality of your podcast audio on the front end. After all, the higher quality audio we can help you capture on the front end will result in a higher quality final product. So before you record your next podcast episode, stop and make sure you have the following podcasting accessories. They really can help make or break your podcast.
Best Podcast Accessories
- Microphone Stand
- Pop Filter
- Shock Mount
- Headphones
- Cloudlifter Microphone Activator
1. Microphone Stand
Many mics, including the ATR2100 and AT2005, come with a desk stand; however, using the desk stand may not be ideal. The desk stand can be convenient but can pick up unwanted noises from movements on your desk. For this reason, we recommend using a broadcast boom arm or standard microphone stand with a boom arm to avoid unwanted sounds being picked up from your desk or tabletop. You may choose to go with a free standing mic stand with a boom arm if you do not have a table or desk to mount a broadcast boom arm on. If you will be recording in one location and have a table or desk, a broadcast boom arm may be a better fit for you.
2. Pop Filter
Ever listened to a recording where every word that started with a “P” had a huge burst of air or pop? This can be a major distraction to listeners and can be eliminated by a simple pop filter. While we can fix some “p-pops” in post production it can still detract from the quality of your recording. And you can can buy a pop filter for as cheap as $7 on Amazon. It’s a no-brainer, right?
3. Shock Mount
A shock mount will help eliminate sounds that may resonate through your mic stand and into the recording due to movement. Most shock mounts are made to go with specific models of mics, so make sure to get one that fits your microphone. If you decide to use a desk stand, a shock mount can be very useful to help absorb any movements that come from the table your mic is on.
4. Headphones
Often we receive recordings that could have been improved if someone had been wearing headphones while recording. When recording a podcast, sound isolation is very important. It is recommended to never use your computer speakers or other external speakers to monitor your recording as to prevent audio bleeding.
If you are doing a remote recording over the computer, it’s a good idea to communicate to your interviewee to not use their external speakers or internal mic on their computer when recording. As a best practice, request that your guest use regular earbuds.
5. Cloudlifter Microphone Activator
Our final podcast accessory can make a podcasting microphone that cost less than $100 sound like a $1000+ professional microphone. I was first introduced to a Cloudlifer in a studio in Nashville and I have found the Cloudlifter to be a very useful tool to have around when recording. If you don’t have the money to purchase an expensive microphone but want to make your podcasting mic sound 10x better, go buy a Cloudlifter. The Cloudlifer will make your podcast microphone have a warmer sound and will boost the level of your mic so you don’t have to max out the gain on your mic preamp. Go ahead add a CL-1 or CL-Zi to your signal flow and you can thank me later.
Conclusion
There you have 5 essential podcasting accessories for improving your audio quality. We hope this blog has helped you and recommend following this up by reviewing our longer post on the best podcast equipment. If you have questions for our team or want to see what it would look like to partner with Resonate, chat with our team on this page or schedule a call today!
