What’s The Best Podcast Equipment?

So you’ve decided that hiring a company isn’t for you? Ok wise guy/girl! Ha! Just kidding. We 100% get it and we still want to help you. Here are our top equipment for podcast recording, editing and mixing. We’ll also briefly explain what the equipment pieces are and why you need them. Lastly, we’ll end this post with common gear mistakes that will have you listing your equipment on eBay.

Interface. The interface takes the analog signal from your microphone and makes it digital. This will plug in directly to your computer. Our current favorites are:

  1. UAD X4 (4 channel) or UAD Twin X (2 channel). Not only do these have excellent converters that are clean as a whistle, they have incredibly preamps and plugins that come with the interfaces. A ton of bang for the buck!

  2. Apogee Desktop Symphony. This interface comes runner up for us, simple because it doesn’t have as many features as the UAD. The apogee still has world class converters and preamps.

  3. BUDGET FRIENDLY OPTION: Focusrite Scarlett. They have several of these depending on how many channels you might need, and for the money, they sound great.

Microphones. Ah, microphones. The piece of equipment that gets the most hype in podcasting. The most common frustration we hear from new podcasters is their frustration with their USB microphone. “It just doesn’t sound like the other shows.” We get it. For the sake of your sanity and being the most helpful, you will not find a pure USB microphone on our list. For whatever reason, the leading companies have not been able to crack the code for making a world-class USB microphone.

  1. Shure Sm7b. El Classico! This microphone is the most commonly pictured microphone in the industry. From Joe Rogan to Louis House, the Sm7b is a classic. Holding a super tight pattern, rejecting background noise, and having a super smooth frequency response are it’s most boastable characteristics. It does come with a warning, though. It needs a TON of gain from a pre-amp.

  2. Universal Audio SD-1. This would be our go-to microphone if it didn’t come in white! Ha! It’s a bit too flashy for our understated taste.

  3. BUDGET FRIENDLY OPTION: Shure Sm58. While not the sexiest option, this is a classic choice for a reason. We would recommend getting an additional pop filter.

DAW. DAW or Digital Audio Workstation, is the cornerstone for your editing and mixing. Most interfaces come with some software, and thankfully, a new laptop purchase typically comes with a free DAW like Garageband. While all DAWs aren’t created equally, you’ll generally find similar feature sets.

  1. Logic Pro (Mac only).

  2. Pro Tools

  3. BUDGET FRIENDLY OPTION: GarageBand.

Headphones & Monitors. Any good audio engineer prefers mixing on monitors (speakers) instead of headphones. The particulars are essential. When listening on monitors, you can hear transients better, low-end frequencies, and more accurately gauge the balance of a mix. Still, for on-the-go solutions, tracking in the same room, and mixing in an untreated room — a great pair of headphones can be your best friend. Here are our favorite monitors and headphones.

  1. Barefoot Audio Footprint 02

  2. Focal Shape 65

  3. Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro 80 ohm

  4. Audio-Technica ATH-M20X

Cabling. While I don’t feel you need to spend much time and money in this department, it’s worth saying. Don’t buy the Botton of the line cables. Get mid-top tier cabling. Top tier still doesn’t cost a ton, and you’ll have a lot less interference from lights causing buzzes or weird sounds from the cable near electrical outlets.

Plugins. Once recorded, you’ll need plugins to help with your processing. Most DAWs come with some plugins like compressors, eq’s and dessers. Still, it’s not quite the quality you’ll want to really make your podcast sound top notch. The following plugins will help you dial in “that” podcast sound.

  1. FabFilters Pro-Q3, Pro-L2, Pro-MB, and Pro-DS are our most used plugins.

  2. iZotope certainly create some of our favorite plugins for solving problems. When encountering audio poorly recorded or reducing general room noise, their suite of plugins are irreplaceable.

  3. UAD are seriously the best at replicating vintage analog gear and equipment. One of the benefits of purchasing their interfaces is the ability to seamlessly integrate their plugins into your recording chain.


We hope this article helps you make significant decisions when buying the best podcast equipment. In the end, if you avoid USB Microphones, spend your money wisely, and are willing to dedicate time to learning, podcasting equipment is accessible and affordable. Still unsure what you need or want to buy? Reach out! We'd still be honored to serve you if you would rather DIY instead of hiring us.

Casey Combest