The Yeti USB Microphone is a popular choice for podcasters, but it’s not the best option if you’re looking to get professional sounding audio. In this article, we’ll show you how to get great sounding podcast recordings with cheap microphones.
Don’t let the low price fool you, these are some of the best studio condenser microphones for podcasting, and in this article we’ll go over why that is.
First off, let’s start by talking about the Yeti USB Microphone. The Yeti is used by many podcasters and YouTubers because it’s cheap, sounds good and doesn’t require any audio interface to use.
The problem with the Yeti is that it’s an omnidirectional microphone. This means that it picks up sound from all directions equally well. This can be good if you want to record a full band at once, but it’s not ideal if you’re recording just one person speaking or singing into a microphone.
Podcasting is the best way to get your voice heard and share your ideas, stories, and knowledge across the world.
But many people are held back from starting a podcast because of the equipment needed to make it sound great.
The biggest hurdle is recording quality audio. In this post I’ll show you how you can use cheap studio condenser microphones to get professional-sounding recordings from home.
If you want to learn more about podcasting, check out our free podcasting guide: The Ultimate Podcast Launch Checklist. If you are looking for more powerful guides and courses on how to start a podcast and grow an audience, visit our full list of courses here.
In an attempt to make podcasting more affordable, I decided to test out a few different cheap home studio condenser microphones. To be honest, I’m a bit of a snob when it comes to audio. I’ve been recording and mixing music for over 15 years and have worked with some of the best microphones money can buy. I didn’t think that good podcast recordings could be achieved with anything less than $1,000 in gear.
Fortunately I was wrong. When I started researching the options, I was blown away by the variety of inexpensive microphones on the market. After some testing and reading countless reviews, my favorite budget mic is the Blue Microphones Snowball . In this article we’ll discuss how to use this $60 microphone to get professional sounding podcast recordings from home for your podcast.
You can get great sounding recordings from home with a very inexpensive microphone. All you need is a cheap studio condenser microphone, something like a Samson C01u (which you can pick up for under $100) and an audio interface.
In this article I’m going to show you how to set up everything and get a good recording.
The first thing we’ll do is set up the mic on a stand, or on your desk if that’s what you have. If the mic has a tripod stand, set it up so that it is angled toward your mouth. This is called the cardioid pattern. It means that when you are speaking into the mic, you are getting the best sound quality, and any sounds behind or to the sides of the mic will come in at lower levels.
This article will teach you how to get professional sounding podcast recordings with a cheap microphone.
Step 1: Pick Your Microphone
The one I want to go over today is the MXL 770. It retails for under $100, and delivers a very nice sound. In fact, it’s what I use for all my podcast recordings. How is this possible? Well, it’s a condenser microphone, which is typically the type of mic you’ll need for professional quality sound recording.
The reason this is an affordable option for home studio recorders is that you don’t need any additional hardware to use it. Most condenser microphones require something called “phantom power” in order to operate, and that means you need a mixer or audio interface with phantom power capability.
But the MXL 770 has its own internal pre-amp and phantom power functionality – so all you need is an XLR cable and an XLR to 1/4-inch adapter (which comes with the mic).
When I started my podcast a few years ago, I was confused by the options available for microphones.
Microphones are like snowflakes. They all look similar on the outside, but they sound very different. Some microphones will make your voice sound amazing and some will make it sound terrible.
The worst part is that the microphones that tend to make voices sound good cost a lot of money—like $250 or more. But there are ways around that.
I’m going to show you how to get studio quality podcasts with inexpensive gear.