$350 Recording Studio Setup for Low Power Radio

Part 1: The Mic

The most important consideration when setting up your home studio is buying the right microphone. It is impossible to achieve a professional sounding show with a cheap microphone. The good news is that for less than $200 you can now purchase a condenser microphone that rivals the popular and costly $3,200 Neumann U87.

Here are examples of the differences between audio quality;

Plantronics EncorePro Headset ($100)

Blue Spark Condenser Microphone ($199)

The difference is really amazing. Do yourself a favor, start out with a quality microphone. I’ve been using my Blue Spark Mic for a few years now and absolutely love it. Since this will be the most costly item in your studio (assuming you already have a computer) spend a little extra and invest in a great mic.

(if you are on a tight budget and want to skip Part II, here are options for mics that have usb connections built in)

Part II: The Box

The second piece of equipment you will need is an adapter to connect your Mic to the computer. I use and recommend the rock solid PreSonus USB Audio Box. This little box allows you to connect up to two microphones and capture the audio on your computer. After a quick instal of the driver software, you simply connect your cables and you are ready to record.

This video I published on May 10, 2014 will give you an idea of the set up, and the one issue I’ve found that is easily rectified.

For a more advanced set up you can also use a USB Mixer such as the Behringer Xenyx line of USB Mixers.

Part III: Necessary Accessories

Pretty much self explanatory, a few other inexpensive items you will need to finish you set up;

1. Desktop Microphone Stand ($26)

2. XLR Cable ($19)

3. Headphones/Earbuds ($10)

Here is what the completed setup will look like:

Part IV: Software

While there are many different DAWs or Digital Audio Workstations you can purchase, I recommend starting off with the free software, Audacity.

With Audacity you can capture the audio from your mic, then edit, process and export the finished show all in one program. Audacity is easy to learn, very powerful, oh and did I mention free? Once you get the hang of working with audio, you then may want to move up to PreSonus Studio One, Adobe Audition, etc.

The second piece of software (also free) that can really polish the sound of the show is Levelator. This simple drag-and-drop program allows you to put a little ‘Pixie Dust’ on your recording. Once you drop your exported audio from Audacity into Levelator, it will adjust the file to make it sound even better!

“So what is The Levelator®? It’s software that runs on Windows, OS X (universal binary), or Linux (Ubuntu) that adjusts the audio levels within your podcast or other audio file for variations from one speaker to the next, for example. It’s not a compressor, normalizer or limiter although it contains all three. It’s much more than those tools, and it’s much simpler to use. The UI is dirt-simple: Drag-and-drop any WAV or AIFF file onto The Leveler’s application window, and a few moments later you’ll find a new version which just sounds better.” From http://www.conversationsnetwork.org/levelator

Final Thoughts

There are many different microphones, equipment, and software options to choose from out there, and it can be a bit overwhelming at first.

This is the set up I decided on after months of research, balancing the cost without compromising audio quality. Hope this helps to get you up and broadcasting, and if you have any questions you can always contact me here.

Always remember and never forget; The show must go on!