4 Useful Accessories Every Amateur Podcaster Should Have

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More than half of the U.S. population listens to podcasts every month, with more than 4.5 million live podcasts worldwide. While growing an audience and maintaining engagement are certainly the biggest challenges for most podcasters, 44% say the costs of running a podcast and production challenges are their biggest obstacles, according to the Independent Podcast Report. Creating original and interesting content should take up most of your time, as the technical side is something you can iron out and streamline from the start. This will give you a head start and immediately set you apart from other amateur podcasters.

There are several accessories you can get for your podcasting setup that will immediately make you look more professional and improve the quality of the video and audio you stream. Oh, and you don’t need to splurge on complex products that you don’t know how to fully use. To help you out, we’ve identified not only the most important accessories you should get, but also specific products within these categories that you can consider purchasing for the ultimate podcasting starter pack.

These include a microphone, a pair of budget-friendly headphones, a pop filter, and LED lights. The first three will help you capture clear audio, while LED lights can help you get the most out of your smartphone or camera, giving you an affordable way to improve your video quality without spending on a professional-grade camera. Best of all, all the products featured in this guide are available on Amazon for easy and fast shipping.

One of the best ways to stand out from visibly undercooked and amateurish podcasts is to get a high-quality microphone that clearly records everything you say. Podcast viewers can compromise with slightly grainy video but not with audio. If there are frequent drops in voice or shouting, they won’t stick around, no matter how appealing your content is. Luckily, you don’t need to spend a fortune on a studio-quality mic. The Samson Q2U microphone is priced at $79.99 on Amazon, where it has a 4.5-star rating after over 5,600 reviews.

One reviewer was “absolutely blown away by the value for money.” The Q2U mic is a good choice as it comes with USB and XLR connection options, the former being better for beginners as there is no need for an audio interface. All you have to do is plug it into your laptop, and off you go. It doesn’t even require any driver installation. According to Samson, it also comes with built-in analog-to-digital converters, providing “excellent audio reproduction” when using USB with a computer. More importantly, the mic delivers high-quality sound.

It’s “clear, warm, and minimizes background noise well,” according to one reviewer. In fact, Buzzsprout, which has recorded over 500 podcast episodes and tested several podcast microphones with great sound, recommends the Samson Q2U, saying it delivers “high-quality recording at home, in a hotel, or in your closet.” He also highlighted its incredible durability, saying he bought one in 2014 and it never broke. In addition to the mic, your purchase also includes a short-height mic stand so you can keep it on your desk, a windshield, a mic clip, and USB and XLR cables.

Having headphones instead of speakers prevents your mic from recording your voice twice – once when you speak and the other time from the speakers – providing a clear, professional-quality listening experience for your viewers. They also help you monitor your recording in real time, allowing you to identify audio issues. Additionally, you can organize the listening experience in a much better way. This is because listening to yourself while you record helps you quickly analyze and change your pitch, rhythm, and overall energy, which cannot be fine-tuned after recording.

The Audio-Technica ATH-M20X is a good pair of budget-friendly podcasting headphones. It costs $58 on Amazon and is, in fact, one of the best budget headphones you can buy, as evidenced by its 4.6-star rating after over 27,000 reviews. These are also a pair of wired headphones, which is even better for podcasting because it will help you minimize latency and lag. The company claims to offer “unrivaled sound insulation with minimal bleed,” and this has been backed by both experts and real users.

Rtings, for example, concluded that they provide “balanced sound that offers pleasant warmth and bass”, while one reviewer said that “the sound is very well balanced (and the) bass is not overwhelming at all”. This neutrality is exactly what podcasters following a recording need. That said, comfort for extended periods can be a slight issue, so you might need a short break after a few hours. However, this isn’t a major complaint when you consider the price. “You won’t find another headset this well balanced and built for this price,” as one user said.

LED lighting is an affordable way to instantly improve the quality of your podcast, whether you’re recording in person or capturing via webcam. This is a particularly nice addition for amateur podcasters who don’t have the luxury of a well-lit room or a high-quality camera. The NiceVeedi 2-Pack LED Video Light Kit could be an ideal option for beginner podcasters. It only costs $49.99 on Amazon, where it boasts a solid 4.4-star rating after over 6,600 reviews.

You get two LED lights, each with its own tripod, a built-in remote located halfway down a 6.7-foot-long cable, and a phone holder. According to one reviewer, the phone stands are “handy for filming content, live streaming, video calls, gaming, and YouTube videos.” The remote control allows you to change the lighting mode, brightness level and turn the lights on and off. The lights work over a USB-A connection, but they come with a USB-A to USB-C adapter, so you can connect them to any power source, whether it’s a regular wall charger, your laptop, or a power bank.

You can also adjust the height of the tripods from 38 inches to 73 inches, and they “are sturdy (and) fold easily,” according to another reviewer. The two light panels measure 12 inches diagonally and each include 356 LED light pieces. Users particularly like that they allow you to switch between three different warm and cool color temperatures: 2800K, 4800K, and 6500K, allowing you to “get the perfect lighting for any situation,” as one reviewer put it. Another reviewer, whose room doesn’t get any natural light, concluded that these LED lights “lit up the entire room without giving that burning skin feeling.”

A pop filter, like LED lights, is an inexpensive but effective way to immediately improve the quality of your podcast. It sits in front of your mic and blocks the air that comes out with plosive words, like P and B, as well as the hiss that comes out with the letter S, tweaking your audio to give it professional, studio-like clarity. The Aokeo Professional Microphone Pop Filter, priced at just $9.99, is currently one of the most popular pop filters on Amazon, with a 4.5-star rating after over 12,000 reviews. It features a double layer of metal mesh that reviewers say “does a great job of reducing the crackles and hisses that can occur while recording.”

Plus, it has a 6.26-inch-long metal tube body and can rotate 360 ​​degrees, so you have a lot of freedom when it comes to the angle and distance you want to place the pop filter, without repeatedly loosening it from the mic stand. Speaking of which, the screw you use to attach the filter to your mic has soft silicone padding on the end, so it won’t damage the mic stand or the wooden surface of the desk you place it on. It’s also incredibly durable.

One reviewer said it “seems much more durable than many fabric pop filters.” It also helps that it comes with a one-year warranty. Just note that the maximum diameter of the mic stand or desk surface you place it on cannot exceed 1.57 inches, as that is the widest diameter the pop filter clip can extend. Users also praised the ease of setup. It also comes with clear instructions in case you need help.

When looking for accessories for podcasters who are just starting out or looking to get started, we favored products that didn’t require a lot of investment but offered a huge benefit when it came to improving the quality of a hobby podcaster. As such, we narrowed down four product categories that we wanted to include. Next, it was time to select individual products that we could recommend in each of these categories.

LED lights and a pop filter are generally inexpensive, so we’ve simply selected the best on offer. For products like microphones and headphones, which have many options at different price points, we made sure to only select budget-friendly items. Despite their affordable price, you can rest assured that they are both podcaster-friendly. Although we also considered other product categories, namely cameras and audio interfaces, they were not selected because we believe that amateur podcasters can do without them.

A dedicated podcasting camera, for example, can cost over $500 and is easily replaceable with a well-lit smartphone camera. An audio interface, on the other hand, can be complex, which is why we chose a microphone with a USB connection. Finally, all the products we selected were found after carefully studying the recommendations of expert podcasters, as well as the reviews and ratings they receive on online stores such as Amazon.