You can start a podcast at home with very little: a separate microphone for each speaker, closed-back headphones and a room without echo. Cameras and lights are only needed if the show will also be on video. In this guide we list what you really need, where people most often spend money for nothing and when home equipment is no longer enough.
First decide: audio only or video as well
Almost the whole equipment list depends on this decision. An audio podcast needs microphones, headphones and quiet. A video podcast adds cameras, light, a background and a place to set all of it up so that it does not get in the way of the conversation.
If you are still deciding which format you need, we write about it in our guide on video or audio podcast. Where to start with a show in general, from the topic to the first episode, is covered in our guide on how to start a podcast.
What you need for an audio podcast at home
- A separate microphone for each speaker. One microphone in the middle of the table records the room and whoever sits closer to it. Separate microphones let the edit treat each voice on its own.
- A dynamic microphone if the room is not quiet. Dynamic microphones mostly hear what is close to them, so less echo and household noise ends up in the recording. Condenser microphones are more sensitive and only sound good in quiet, treated rooms.
- USB or XLR. A USB microphone plugs straight into a computer and suits one person. When two or more of you are talking, XLR microphones and an audio interface they all plug into are more practical, because each voice is recorded on its own track.
- Closed-back headphones. In them you hear how you really sound, and the sound from the headphones does not leak back into the microphone.
- A stand or arm for the microphone and a pop filter. A microphone held in the hand or placed on the table without a stand records every touch and every knock on the table.
- Recording software that records each microphone separately. Most free and paid audio programs can do this.
The room matters more than the microphone
The most common problem with home recordings is not the microphone but echo. An empty room with bare walls, tiles or a large window sounds like a bathroom, and an expensive microphone only records that better. Echo can be reduced somewhat in the edit, but it cannot be removed completely.
Before buying equipment, test the room. Record a minute of speech on your phone and listen to it on headphones. If you hear echo, soft surfaces help: a carpet, curtains, upholstered furniture, a bookshelf, even a blanket hung on the wall. A bedroom with a bed and a wardrobe often sounds better than a living room.
The second problem is noise you no longer notice day to day: the fridge, ventilation, a computer fan, the street outside the window, a neighbour renovating. It is even harder to remove in the edit than echo, so before recording it is worth switching off whatever you can and closing the windows.
What a video podcast needs on top of that
- A camera or phone for each angle. One camera means every sentence you cut will show as a jump in the picture. Two or three cameras (a wide shot and a close-up for each speaker) give the edit room to work.
- Stable stands. A frame that drifts over an hour of conversation cannot be fixed in the edit.
- A full-length test recording. Before the real episode, record for as long as the conversation will last and check that the camera or phone did not switch off or overheat, and that there was enough storage and battery.
- Light from the front. The window should be in front of the speaker or to the side, not behind them. Daylight changes over an hour, so for an evening or a long recording you will need at least one lamp that gives even light.
- A background that does not distract. A tidy shelf or wall is better than a random corner of the room. The background should repeat in every episode so that the show is recognisable.
- Sound is still recorded with microphones, not with the camera. The camera microphone is only good for syncing sound and picture in the edit.
Where money is most often spent for nothing
An expensive microphone in an echoing room. Sort out the room first, then choose the microphone.
A lot of equipment before the first episode. It is worth recording the first few episodes with what you have and only then buying what you actually missed. It often turns out that what is missing is not equipment but time to edit.
Equipment without a person looking after it. When you are hosting the conversation yourself, it is hard to keep track of whether the recording is running, whether the sound has dropped out and whether the guest has moved out of frame. This is exactly what ruins the most episodes recorded at home.
What a studio gives you compared with home
Our studio is on the -1 floor in a courtyard and is soundproofed, so echo and street noise are dealt with before you even arrive. It has up to 5 professional Sony video cameras, up to 4 podcast microphones, an audio mixer and a vision mixer, 3 studio lights, 4 RGB LED colour lights and a teleprompter. Up to 4 people can take part in a recording at once.
The biggest difference, though, is not the equipment but the operator. They set up the cameras, light and sound and work alongside you for the whole shoot, so you only have to think about the conversation. We describe how it looks from the inside in our guide on how a video podcast is filmed, and photos of the studio and the full equipment list are on the studio page.
Have your own microphones or cameras and want to use them? You can bring them along and we will work together.
| Service | Price | When it fits |
|---|---|---|
| Podcast video editing | €100 + VAT per episode | You record at home, we edit |
| Studio with operator, 2 h | €200 + VAT | You record in the studio and edit yourself |
| Full Podcast | €390 + VAT | 2.5 h of filming, operator, up to 5 cameras, editing and one Reel |
| On-location filming, 2 h | €350 + VAT | You want to record in your own space, but with our equipment and operator |
Travel is added to on-location filming: €1 per kilometre both ways from the studio. The full price list is on the prices page.
When home is enough and when we are the right fit
Home is enough when the show is audio only, when one or two of you are talking, when you have a quiet room and the time to look after the recording yourself. Also when the show is still a trial and you do not know whether you will continue it. In that case you do not need a studio, and we say so openly.
We do not rent the studio without an operator. If all you need is a quiet room with a table and you have your own equipment and people, we will be too expensive for you.
If you record at home but do not want to edit yourself, we also edit footage filmed elsewhere: more about that on the editing page. If you want to film the show in your office or in your guest's surroundings, we can come to you with all the equipment, more on the on-location filming page.
We are the right fit when you want video with several angles, when three or four people sit at the table, when the show has to look and sound the same every time, or when you want to leave the technical side to others and think only about the conversation.