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Hey IAIB wizards.
I have been lurking here trying to learn for the last few months. I finally registered and decided to say hello. I am a beginner and have been shopping podcast kits. I found this on BSW
http://www.bswusa.com/Podcasting-Pac...ge-P10492.aspx
I wanted to get the opinions of the experts is this a good package to get me up and running?
PS. If its not I would gladly accept other recommendations.
Hey Justian,
Thats a great starter Kit. Will you be taking skype calls? What about a in studio guest? How will you be recording the podcast?
@andrewzarian thanks for the quick response.
1. I will be taking Skype calls. The podcast will have interviews/co-hosts from time to time.
2. Studio guests not now as this grows possibly but not in the immediate future.
3. I was going to record onto the Zoom H6
Tips and suggestions are always welcome if there is a better way however.
I was also thinking a dbx 286 to keep the room noise down. Overkill to soon?
Hi Justian,
That looks like a really good package and the dbx would be the icing on the cake. Even so, you may want to do a Skype test call or call one of us once you have everything set up and make a few recordings to see just how much noise you're picking up. You may find that room acoustics is more of an issue than some pesky frequency rumble. Frankly, you'll eventually want both so it just depends on where the dart lands.
Sidebar: I used to have the PR40 and the 286 and I liked them both. Then I convinced myself that I wanted something 'different' so I upgraded but frankly, I can't really see where it made any difference. Sure the higher end stuff is nicer but not anymore effective than the package you purchased. That's what happens when you get into this hobby and become a gear-head.
That is an expensive kit and a great one (PR-40 and the Zoom H6 are amazing). I wonder what other starter kits people could suggest to you in this forum thread.
That Zoom H6 is magnificent. http://www.zoom.co.jp/products/h6/ The Multi-track option is great!
That is a great setup! a DBX mic system on top of that would be amazing but as long as you watch your levels and the room you're recording in isn't too noisy or has a ton of echo, You should be just fine!
If you have the extra cash I would look at getting a power conditioner to run all the equipment into so that you avoid that hum we all hate from ground loops. If you don't want to spend that much on a unit then invest in some really good ground loop isolators.
Here is a link for some power conditioners.
http://www.sweetwater.com/c960--Power_Conditioners
There is NO WAY I would buy that package. It will work well enough, but $1,000 to get started?Quote:
Originally Posted by Justian
I made a couple thousand dollars of mistakes when I started. The big mistakes were for hardware recommended. Not that the items were bad of themselves, nor that the recommendations were bad.
You can throw money at solutions, and still not have the right solutions for you.
Remember this. There are alot of podcasters that are into hardware. Just like the old concept of recording studios for music has basically been replaced by protools and the fantastic things that can be done in a home garage with software. I think podcasting is just now becoming more popular and software programmers are becoming interested. Most of the software for audio has been related to production of music, pro-tools, cubase, etc. Software for prodcasting is the future.
Are you broadcasting video, audio or both?
Getting started can be expensive, but it doesn't have to be that way. There are many ways that people do things. Some can be very expensive and not necessarily any better. Podcasting even for video can be very inexpensive.
If you are video podcasting you will need a camera. Here is the c920 webcam from Logitech.
You can buy these for less than $100 everywhere.
http://www.logitech.com/en-us/produc...ro-webcam-c920
This webcam has a mount that allows for standard tripod 1/4-20 screw (standard camera mount). You will be astonished this camera will shoot excellent HD quality 1080.
You will need a mixer, if you plan to take skype calls, etc.
Here is a free/donationware software alternative for Windows PC mixer- voicemeeter and virtual cable available at
http://vb-audio.pagesperso-orange.fr/Voicemeeter/
This software is amazing. It has mix minus ability for Skype interview, 2 mic inputs, a player for broadcast music.
It has a compressor and equalizer tools built in as well. IMO, this is a swiss army knife.
I have been experimenting with this software. I am very impressed with the quality produced and the ease of use..(no hardware cabling). There is a learning threshold, but there are quite a few good video tutorials on youtube.
Here is a great starter Mic, very highly recommended by just about everyone - it allows USB and XLR connections
http://www.amazon.com/Audio-Technica...ywords=atr2100
This mic comes with a desk stand, XLR cable, and usb cable. The price is a bit higher now less than $100, but with the extras in the box it is still a bargain. It also comes with a 3.5 mm jack in the mic for headset monitoring and volume adjustment. All in all I can't think of a better choice to start and the audio is superb as well.
You can use Jinglepalette for popping in music and jingles = a free PC software.
http://www.jinglepalette.com/
You can also acquire a $10 app called bossjock for iphone and ipad for popping in music and jingles. There is a good tutorial on how to use it here. There is ability to do some crossover with PC, but it is in the Apple realm. When you buy the app you can use it on both your ipad and iphone.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9yc1CN1fxE
There are several for free software recorders for video broadcasts
I recommend Open Broadcaster for PC along with a few thousand other users. OBS is available for free at
https://obsproject.com/ this is an amazing and very comprehensive software.
The OBS forums, and chat are excellent support sources. The chat is awesome.
There is audacity a free audio software that is almost professional quality and recommended by everyone. You can use it to edit and record your audio.
http://audacity.sourceforge.net/
Headsets are everywhere and the quality is generally very good, because there are so many gamers that wear headsets. The market is very competitive and there are excellent reviews all over the web.
I have a number of headsets, over the ear, on the ear and ear buds. If you are doing video podcasts the on and over the ear headsets are just a distraction. Video podcasters eventually tend to move toward earbuds to be more professional looking in videos. If you are doing post edit podcasting you won't even need them. Live streaming and Google Hangouts you will want to use them.
Over the ear headset is the most comfortable, especially when you are spending alot of time wearing them. They will block outside noise, but that isn't important with podcasting. You cannot have outside noise interference and produce good audio anyway.
Skullcandy is a good brand.
http://www.amazon.com/Skullcandy-Tit...ullcandy+titan
I wish I had known the above when I started out. I bought so much hardware stuff and spent so much time setting up a home studio. Be aware that hardware connections require cables, especially when you interface with a hardware mixer board.
Don't laugh, you will be astonished at the quality of your recordings or live streams using the above software and hardware items.
You can always spend money. You will find over time there are improvements you want to make. If you really know the answer to what you need (comes with experience) you will make better choices for your uses.
I would suggest replacing some of the things in that package. If I was going to build a Podcasting starter Package this would be it:
Mixer : Behringer XENYX X1204USB
Microphone: Heil PR-40
Headphones : Sony MDRV6
Microphone Preamp/Processor : DBX 286s
Camera : Logitech C920
Hello Andrew,
I agree with that revise shopping cart with exception of the headset. It had very little clamping force for my bald slippery head, so it was just a personal thing'. Not everyone is blessed with that CoCo Mat carpet of hair you have. Anyway, I really like the 1204 mixer once I got it dialed in correctly with some help from Mike.
Justian or other persons interested to do podcasting...
My posting above includes a full complement of items that are very reasonable and will do as good a job podcasting as most elaborate setups. All you need can cost from $150 to $200 max, if you use that shopping list. You can do audio and video podcasting with the setup. Live streaming can be done as well, dependent upon the stream service you use.
My posting doesn't describe a professional audio/video engineer preference pack, but you would be surprised how many top podcasters recommend and use those choices. An example might be the Heil PR40 mic is always recommended by podcasters as the ultimate for podcasting. I use the Audio Technica ATR-2100 mic, which has an XLR and USB input with headset jack and volume control built into the mic itself.
I am grateful to this forums and the posters who recommended the ATR2100 mic to me. I was planning to buy the Heil PR40 at over $300 when I first started. The ATR2100 were so cheap I bought two at the same time. I don't regret it.
My responses on this thread are not posted to refute anyone. I know I would have appreciated a thread like this. It would have saved me about 2Grand. I hope this thread can help new podcasters get involved and learn as they go about what they need.
I conclude:
You don't need all the tricked out hardware to do podcasting, especially when you first start. The suggestions I made are not for junkie stuff. Anyone implementing such a setup will be able to produce very high quality podcasts. Better cameras, high quality video capture cards will always do a better job with video...but they are not cheap.
Many new podcasters should really think about budgeting when they start, not so much for the price of equipment as their own propensity to continue with podcasting. Podcasting takes time and effort. Good productions require good scripts and careful attention to detail. That is, in order to have good retention of listeners or viewers of your podcasts.
Yes, you can live stream, do Google hangouts and talk yourself into a corner or wear people out with long-winded nonsense from like minded friends with too much time on their hands and little to say...your listeners and viewers won't stay with you without relevant quality productions.
That old cliche' "garbage in = garbage out" not only applies to computers, but to podcasting as well.
If someone is starting out with podcasting the first thing I recommend is an ATR 2100USB. If you feel that you want to continue or expand after a few months thats when you should considering upgrading. Start small. Grow from there
