The Essential Podcast Equipment for Any Budget

Podcasting equipment can be confusing to choose from if you’re just starting your podcast out. There is a lot of podcasting equipment you can get, but that doesn’t mean you need to get everything at once. You can always expand and upgrade your list of podcast equipment over time. In our list, we highlighted the essential podcast equipment you can find for any budget - everything else is supplementary.

Microphones

You can use just a built-in microphone on your laptop or phone if you’re going to use an anchor. As long as you are in a relatively quiet setting, it really doesn’t matter that much as long as listeners can not get distracted when they are trying to listen to you.

ATR-2100X microphones are releasing a replica, a new updated version, and they are the same price as the Podmic. When choosing a microphone like this, go for a USB microphone. If you’re using a computer to record, no matter what it is, the USB output will make your life it’s much easier - you’ll need to plug it into your computer and start. You can’t do that with a bit more professional microphones like Podmic, as for those, you’ll need an audio interface of some type or a mixer or something in an XLR Cable.

There is another microphone, PowerDeWise Lavalier Mic, which is also recommended as it’s easy-to-use, and you can just plug it into your computer. Another one is Rode Podmic, which is XLR only, so you will need an XLR cable and some sort of audio interface.

When choosing a microphone, pay attention if it is a dynamic microphone or condenser microphone. A dynamic microphone is like a stage microphone - you need to be close to it when talking into it, and it doesn’t pick up whole room noise. A condenser microphone is like a professional studio microphone that picks up everything in the room. So unless you are in a professional studio, choose a dynamic microphone, plus it is way more cheaper and durable.

Recording Devices

If you have multiple guests in the same location, there are a few options you can choose from. You can grab an audio recorder Zoom H4, H5, and H6. You can plug XLR cable into them and just record from the top of it as they have a microphone.

Another option is Sony Digital Voice Recorder. It has no XLR and USB inputs, you can only record from the little microphone input on it anywhere anytime.

Audio Interface

If you use an XLR microphone and still going to record in your computer, then you’ll need a little audio interface of some type. Behringer (UMC204HD) can be an option. It has two main inputs, and the output is USB, so you can plug your XLR microphone into some sort of audio interface, and then you plug the audio interface into your computer. There is also the Rode RODECaster and many other mixers and audio interfaces that can range anywhere from $70-$100.

Headphones

Another absolutely required piece of podcasting equipment is headphones. Headphones do prevent many mistakes there can actually be. It is weird sometimes to hear yourself speaking live at first, but be sure you’ll get used to it, which is highly recommended. You don’t want to make a recording for an hour and only after realizing something didn’t go well, or there was the noise the whole time. Audio Technica can be your perfect choice. They have different models and prices you can choose from.