Podcasting Q&A

When is it time to upgrade your microphone?

December 17, 2023 Buzzsprout
Podcasting Q&A
When is it time to upgrade your microphone?
Show Notes Transcript

When should you pull the trigger and invest in some nicer podcast gear? Answer: when your current setup is holding you back.

Microphones mentioned in this episode:

  • Rode Procaster
  • Heil PR40
  • Shure SM7B (+Cloudlifter)

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Travis:

Today on five minute Monday. I'll explain when you should pull the trigger and upgrade your microphone. Welcome to five minute Monday where we bring you the best tips and strategies for building your podcast in five minutes or less. So if you're new here, consider subscribing. Now when you first get started in podcasting, what kind of microphone you use isn't actually that important. It's much more important to find your voice, start to build your audience and get in a good publishing rhythm that is much more important than whatever kind of microphone you pick up to get started with. But after a while you may start to notice a difference in the sound quality of your podcast versus other shows that you listened to. And so you might start to consider, well, is it time to upgrade my microphone? Is it time to spend some more money to get some nicer gear? So my podcast sounds better, right? And so you might ask, when is it good to upgrade? And then also how much should you expect to spend? What is a reasonable amount of money to spend on upgrading your microphone and your podcast set up without breaking the bank. So if you already have the money to spend and you know that you're committed to your podcast, go ahead and get some nicer podcast equipment. All right? It's an investment in your show. It's an investment in the longterm success of your show. Um, so if you have the money, go ahead and pull the trigger, right? And so the rest of this episode, this is advices for all of you that will have to stretch and sacrifice in order to invest in your podcast. And the thing that I tell most podcasters when they ask me a question like this is to upgrade. When you feel like your microphone is holding you back, not when you start to notice a difference in the sound quality, not when, um, you, you think, man, it'd be great if I had the Joe Rogan microphone. But when you start to notice that your microphone is holding you back, you know, I remember when I decided it was time to move on from my blue yeti microphone, which is the microphone I got when I first started podcasting. Now, when I first bought it, it was like the greatest thing I'd ever heard. I'd never had any microphone that could capture my voice the way that that Blue Yeti did, and I thought that I sounded like 1 million bucks. Plus I looked really cool when I was talking into it, at least in my mind, I looked really cool, but then after a while, and by a while, I mean about a year after using it, I started to notice some quirks that I just couldn't ignore. I couldn't hear them and I actually started to lose motivation for continuing the podcast because I wasn't excited by turning on the microphone anymore. Instead of looking at the microphone and thinking I have an opportunity to share a message I'm passionate about. All I could think about was, man, it's going to sound like I'm recording at a cave compared to what I know I can do. Right? And so, so I noticed that shift and you know, it wasn't a lack of passion from my podcast. It was a lack of interest in the microphone. And so when you get to a similar point where you're frustrated with your gear, that's when it's a good time to upgrade. When it's going to start holding you back as a podcaster, that's when you should pull the trigger. Now I know plenty of podcasters that still use entry level microphones and have no intention of ever upgrading, and that is great, right? You should not feel pressured to buy expensive stuff because you don't need it unless you need it, if you know what I'm saying. Your microphone is just one tool in your tool belt. So if you don't see the need to upgrade, then don't. You can ignore the rest of this episode. It's not for you. Now if you're ready to pull the trigger, if you're ready to invest in some nicer gear, how much should you expect to spend? I recommend a budget for Solo podcasters of around$500 and if you have a podcast with two people somewhere in the range of$900 now that is a large enough budget that you'll notice a significant difference compared to your current microphone, but it's also affordable enough that you aren't overwhelmed by the investment. Now, microphones that I recommend if you're looking to upgrade our the road precaster, the Heil PR 40 and the Shure sm seven B, you really can't go wrong with any of those microphones. If you do pull the trigger on the shore, it is a higher price point microphone than the other two. Angele needs something like a cloud lifter to be able to get a good enough sound with it. So just keep that in mind when you're doing your research that when you get the shirt, you're also gonna need to get a cloud lifter, need some help with your podcast. The Buzzsprout podcast community on Facebook is a great place to find the answers and get the help you need to make your podcast as excellent as possible. So if you're not a member yet, just click on the link in the show notes and asked to join. That's it for today. Thanks for listening, and I'll talk to you soon.