4 tips for good-quality podcast audio recordings
I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty quick to hit “Next” in my podcast player if the audio quality makes an episode difficult to listen to. Audio quality should be high on the priority list of podcasters *especially* if they in any way monetize their podcast – because downloads matter.
Here are four things I ask my podcast editing clients to do, so that I can make their final episode sound as good as possible:
1. Use a good mic
A solid microphone is one of the basic tools you need to make good-quality recordings.
You can get really good quality sound with just a $100-200 USD microphone and a pop filter. (As you talk into the mic, the pop filter softens the “pop” of letters like P.)
The lower the quality of your mic, the more important the quality of your recording environment becomes.
2. Optimize your recording environment
Recording podcast episodes in a room without any acoustic treatment or padding can lead to a variety of sound issues that can significantly affect the quality of your recordings:
Echo and Reverb: Sound waves can bounce off hard surfaces like walls, ceilings, and floors, leading to echo or reverb. This can makes the audio sound hollow or distant.
Clarity issues: Speech becomes harder to understand.
Background Noise: In an untreated room, there's nothing to absorb or block external noises (like traffic, air conditioning, or footsteps from another room).
Fluctuating Sound Levels: Hard surfaces can cause sound levels to fluctuate more drastically.
The good news?
You don’t need to have a professional studio in order to tackle some of these issues. The “softer” you can make your recording environment, the better the sound will be.
I usually record in our walk-in closet, which is when I get the best audio quality.
At times I record in my office, and will prop up a mattress and some pillows in front of and around me. I tend to do this especially if I need to be on video.
3. Use a platform that records separate audio tracks
If you have guests or a cohost on your podcast, make sure that you’re using a recording platform/software that allows you to record separate audio tracks.
This way it’s possible for your podcast editor to, for example:
make the volumes of your tracks balanced
remove background noises from one person’s track while the other is talkin
4. Record local files
While paid podcast platforms aim to deliver high-quality audio, the actual quality can sometimes be compromised due to compression algorithms used to transmit the data. This can result in audio that sounds less clear or crisp than expected.
After recording several episodes with guests, I've discovered that recording episodes directly on your laptop or computer usually yields the best results.
This is why I recommend everyone records files locally, as well as ask their guests and/or cohosts to do this.
A bonus benefit of recording local files:
A few years ago, I was a guest on someone else’s podcast. Something had gone wrong with one of the audio tracks. Even though their podcast editor tried all kinds of tricks to make it work, in the end we had to rerecord an hour-long podcast episode. This of course made the conversation less spontaneous the second time around.
Platform recordings can fail for multiple reasons, for example
when someone’s unruly Wi-Fi acts up
bugs and glitches in the software, or
simply because of user error (not picking the correct input microphone within the settings of the platform)
Those are the moments when a locally recorded file can feel like a life-saver!