{"id":255899,"date":"2017-06-18T03:18:54","date_gmt":"2017-06-18T10:18:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/css-tricks.com\/?p=255899"},"modified":"2017-11-20T09:50:52","modified_gmt":"2017-11-20T16:50:52","slug":"1000-podcasting-setup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/css-tricks.com\/1000-podcasting-setup\/","title":{"rendered":"The $1,000 Podcasting Setup"},"content":{"rendered":"

I figure between (as I write) the 267 episodes of ShopTalk<\/a>, 134 episodes of CodePen Radio<\/a>, 154 video screencasts (and many hundreds more as part of the different series), and all my guest podcast apperances, I’m edging on 1,000 things I’ve voice-recorded for public consumption. <\/p>\n

98% of that was with the Rode Podcaster<\/a>, the same exact microphone I documented using in 2008<\/a>. I figured it was about time for an upgrade, as I plan to continue podcasting and screencasting for another 10 years! I know audio quality is a big deal. I don’t quite consider myself an audiophile, but I know I prefer listening to podcasts with good audio quality, and I’d like to make sure what I produce is as good of quality as is practical for me right now.<\/p>\n

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I had our podcast editor Chris Enns on ShopTalk<\/a> to talk gear’n’stuff, and this setup is largely his recommendations. A good part of the beauty of this setup is that it’s designed around making it sound like you’re in an amazing studio, without actually having to be<\/strong>. <\/p>\n

Shure SM7B<\/a> ($399)<\/h3>\n
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Pictured here with the big alternate big fluffy cover that it ships with, which is helpful for minimizing breathing noises and pop filtering.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As Shure says, the SM7B<\/a> has:<\/p>\n

flat, wide-range frequency response for exceptionally clean and natural reproduction of both music and speech.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It’s a pretty dang good microphone. (Chris Enns also recommended the Heil PR 40<\/a>, which is in the same range.) On my desk, I have a Swivel Mount Boom Arm<\/a> to put it on, so I can swing it into place when using it, and swing it away when I’m not.<\/p>\n

Like most pretty dang good microphones, it’s not “USB”. It has an XLR plug, and you’ll need an XLR cable<\/a> to plug it into our next device…<\/p>\n

DBX 286s<\/a> ($196)<\/h3>\n
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Chris Enns described DBX 286s<\/a> to me as a sound sweetener<\/em>. <\/p>\n

It’s an optional bit, but plugging the microphone into this first does a bunch of nice stuff for you. It’s a big part of the “sound like your in a nice studio when you aren’t” situation. <\/p>\n

It looks kind of scary, since there are a whole bunch of knobs and buttons on it and they all actually do things. I found setup videos like this helpful:<\/p>\n