Before we begin, be sure to think about what room you want your podcast studio in. Think about room acoustics, as well as ancillary noise — try not to be close to anything that will be relatively loud (such as the laundry room), and if your room is particularly “echo-y,” hang up some blankets on the walls to dampen the noise and make it more soundproof. Other than that, feel free to do what you see fit to the room, just as long as you have the essentials — a desk and a couple non-swiveling chairs that aren’t squeaky.

Microphones

This is obviously the most crucial piece of equipment that you need, and there are literally hundreds of mic options ranging from low-end models at discount retail stores all the way up to really-expensive models from Shure, AKG, and Neumann. Ideally, you’ll want to look for a large-diaphragm condenser mic, since those are the best for voice recording. They give you a deep, rich sound that will be great for your podcast.

MXL 990 Condenser Microphone – $59.99
Audio-Technica AT2020 Condenser Microphone – $99.99

Pop Filter/Screen

Since condenser mics are very sensitive to mouth noises like “P” and “Sh,” it’s important to get some kind of pop filter or screen. You don’t need to spend a lot of money on this — you can find decent ones for under $20.

Musician’s Gear 6″ Pop Filter – $14.99

Mixer

The mixer is what will allow us to fine tune the volume, bass, treble, etc. of each mic. It will also act as a device to connect your XLR microphones to your computer. You don’t need anything too outrageous here — a 4-channel mixer will do just fine for your podcasting needs. Just make sure whatever you pick has the same number of XLR connectors as the number of microphones (or more). It should also have phantom power to power your condenser mics.

Behringer XENYX 802 Mixer – $64.99
Behringer XENYX 1202FX Mixer – $108.99

Stands

You’ll obviously need microphone stands to hold up the mics. If you have enough room on your desk, you can get shorter stands that sit on your desk. This is a cheaper option, but if you don’t want to sacrifice desk space, you can get regular boom mic stands.

Musician’s Gear Low Profile Die-Cast Mic Stand – $10.99
Hercules Stands EZ Clutch Mic Stand – $49.99

Cables

You’ll need XLR cables to connect the microphones to your mixer and you’ll also need a cable to connect the mixer to your computer. This type of cable tends to be a 1/4″ cable with male connectors on both ends with a 1/4″ to 3.5mm adapter to plug into your computer’s sound input. However, some mixers can connect to computers via USB, so be sure to check the outputs of your specific mixer.

Musician’s Gear Lo-Z Microphone Cable – $4.99
Live Wire Advantage Series 1/4″ Straight Instrument Cable – $4.99

Software

The software that you use to record your podcast with is completely up to you. Budget-minded podcasters would most likely go for the free open-source audio program Audacity, but others may choose a paid program like Adobe Audition or Apple’s Logic Pro.

Accessories

The only accessory that you’ll really need is a pair of headphones so that you can monitor the audio. They also come in handy if you’re podcasting with someone over Skype — you don’t want sound coming out of your speakers to be picked up by the mic. It doesn’t really matter what headphones you use, just as long as you have something over your ears.

Conclusion

This article is meant to get you headed in the right direction and get started setting up your podcasting studio. Don’t feel that you must take my recommendations whole-heartedly. It’s just what worked for me and it may be different for someone else. Also, keep in mind that the more people you want on your podcast, the more money you’ll have to pay for microphones and such. In any case, good luck and have fun!

Image Credit: Christine Young

The post Set up your own professional podcast studio for less than $175 first appeared on Techerator.

Generally, recording hiss is the result of overlapping cords, cheap sound cards, or some sort of environmental interference. Searching for the source of this noise can drive you absolutely crazy, and sometimes you simply won’t find it. Not to worry, here are steps to clean up low-level hissing and surrounding noise (like a blowing fan) quickly and easily.

Step 1. Import your audio

Obviously you’ll need to have Audacity installed to make use of this tutorial. At the time of this writing, I am using Audacity 1.3 (beta). Go to File and then Import to select your recorded material — it doesn’t matter if your file is stereo or mono, this tutorial will work either way.

Navigate your way to a particularly noise-heavy part of the recording where there isn’t a lot of other sound. For example, a few-second pause between words where this is silence plus some evil hiss. If you have chronic problems with hiss, leave a few seconds of baseline silence at the beginning of your recordings in the future.

Step 2. Noise removal

When you’ve found a representative span of noise, zoom in (press Ctrl+2) on the recording to get a clearer view of your stream. Select 1-2 seconds of noise with your cursor.

Now that you’ve selected a decidedly “noisy” portion of your recording, navigate to Effect and then Noise Removal, where you will be presented with a dialog to tweak your filter settings. With your noisy selection made, click Get Noise Profile. This establishes the noise baseline.

Now, use your cursor and select your entire recording. This can be easily done by pressing Ctrl+A.  Finally, return to the Noise Removal Dialog and this time click OK. If you feel ambitious, mess around with the parameters for the noise filtering. I suggest just leaving them as the default values because they work quite well in every case I’ve encountered so far. After clicking OK, you may have to sit for a while, depending on the size of your recording.

Step 3. Export your finished file

Your processed file should look considerably “cleaner” after the noise removal process is complete. Fewer oscillations and less hissing will be readily apparent if you give your recording a test run.

Never underestimate the value of post-processing and sound quality in your podcast. Keep your audience coming back and focusing on your content rather than low-level background noise. With Audacity, you have 99 problems but hiss ain’t one. [JayZ achievement unlocked]

The post How to Remove Noise from Your Podcasts with Audacity first appeared on Techerator.