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10 Recording Tips for a Great Sounding Podcast

Can you record great sounding podcast episodes without spending a fortune on equipment? Absolutely! We have compiled ten recording tips for recording high-quality audio on a budget.

Good audio quality is key when it comes to launching a successful podcast. Because no matter how talented you are or how interesting your episodes are, listeners will not stick around if it doesn’t sound good. And make no mistake, not even the best editing software can save poorly recorded audio.

Recording high-quality audio does take some practice, but it doesn’t have to cost a lot. In fact, you don’t need a big studio or the most expensive equipment to do it. The following recording tips will show you how to vastly improve the audio quality of your podcast without breaking the bank.

1. Choose a small, quiet room for recording

The recording environment is essential for getting a polished sound. The less background noise there is and the crisper your voice sounds, the more professional your podcast will sound.

For recording your podcast episodes, choose a small and quiet room that doesn’t have a lot of echo and is shielded from outside noise.

2. Pick your equipment wisely

With advances in technology, high-quality audio equipment has gotten smaller and cheaper in the last few years. This has made recording a polished-sounding podcast from home a lot easier. In other words, you don’t need to spend a lot of money to ensure having good audio quality for your podcast.

You can find great budget options for all the essential equipment, and you really don’t need to buy a lot of equipment when you are first starting out.

Start with a few important pieces of equipment such as a microphone and headphones, and we would also recommend getting a microphone stand. Mic stands are not expensive, but they are a big help, allowing you to adjust the microphone’s position for when you record. This will greatly improve the quality of your recordings.

If you regularly have guests on your podcast, you will also need a mixer. There are currently some very good options available for less than 100 dollars.

3. Work on your microphone technique

A lot of the sound quality depends on how you position yourself in relation to your microphone. For the best results, your microphone should be more or less at the same height as your mouth, ideally with a pop filter between your mouth and the microphone.

A pop filter is a little screen that is placed between your mouth and the mic to eliminate popping sounds that occur when we speak.

Leave some space between you and the filter, so your mouth doesn’t actually touch the pop filter. The general rule is: the closer you sit to the microphone, the louder your voice will sound. Play around a bit with the distance until your voice sounds loud and clear, but not overdriven.

Also, avoid creating additional noise while you record, such as playing around with a pen or hitting the table as you speak.

4. Record standing up

Sitting down while recording is of course the most comfortable option. However, it also compresses your core, which affects your air flow and the power of your voice. If possible, we recommend recording your podcast while standing up, for a better sound quality.

If you need something to rest your script on, you can use a music stand, or you can even tape your script against the wall.

5. Don’t forget to warm up

Professional radio hosts warm up their voices before they start recording or go on the air.

Warming up your vocal cords with a few breathing, tongue, and speaking exercises will improve your pronunciation and keep you from stumbling over words. Your audio will not only sound crisper, but you will also likely save yourself time in the long run; warmed up, you will be better prepared to do the recording in one take.

6. Make a test recording

There’s nothing worse than recording a one hour-long episode before realizing that something went wrong. Maybe the position of your microphone was a little off, or maybe there is a loud noise in the background that you forgot to turn off. Mistakes happen, so it’s always helpful to start your recordings with a test round.

Record a few minutes of your episode, and then check it to make sure there are no issues before you go ahead and record the whole thing.

7. Ask remote guests or co-hosts to record themselves

When you are working with a remote guest or a co-host in a different location, recording them on your computer will work, but the sound quality won’t be the best. It usually tends to sound muffled and distant.

You can fix this with an easy trick. Just ask your guests or co-hosts to record themselves and send you the audio files for editing. Even if they just use their cell phones, it will still sound a lot better than your computer recording would.

This is also a good back-up strategy in case something goes wrong with your computer recording.

8. Record a high-resolution audio file

The more compressed your audio files are, the more the sound quality suffers. We recommend staying away from MP3 files. Record your episodes as WAV or AIFF files instead.

A resolution of 24 bit, 48 kHz should be enough to ensure good audio quality without taking up too much space on your computer.

9. Don’t over-edit your audio

It’s a mistake to believe that more editing will make your podcast sound better. Especially when starting out, many podcasters think that they can “fix” everything in their recording by editing it. However, in this case, less is more, as the result of over-editing is usually a less natural sound.

For example, some people cut out breath sounds and every single “umm” because they think it won’t sound perfect otherwise. Don’t!

Leave yourself and your guests that space for breathing and thinking because that is exactly how the flow of a normal conversation goes. If you try to take all of that out, it will make your podcast sound over-produced and unnatural.

10. Have a script

Having a well-prepared script can also improve your recording quality because it will allow you to speak with confidence. In fact, very few professionals record without a script.

You don’t need to write out word for word what you will say, and obviously, you can’t have a scripted interview with a guest. However, having a solid outline will guide you through the episode and ensure that you don’t forget anything important. Having a structure will allow you to speak more clearly and deliver your content like a pro.

Extra tip: Think about creating short sound bites for promoting your episode as you come up with your script, and then work them into your audio as you record it. They will sound better and be more on point if you give yourself some time to think about them beforehand.

This can be also very helpful if you are promoting your podcast episodes through audiograms on your blog or on social media. Audiograms are a great way to call attention to your podcast online, and with web tools such as Audiocado, it’s also really easy to create them.

Having captivating, high-quality sound bites will help make your audiograms stand out even more, and more people will then be curious to tune in to your episode and check out your podcast!

Tobias Manroth Author image
Tobias Manroth
CMO at Audiocado

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