One of the most common questions about podcasting is about the equipment – what do I need and how much will it cost?

The answer is, it all depends. You can spend as little as $100 or as much as several thousand – it all depends on your own goals and capabilities.

Below are some suggestions for the smaller podcasting venture.

Microphones

The most important piece of equipment you’ll need is a microphone. The kind of mic you get will determine (in some cases) what other equipment you’ll need. It can also make or break your podcast. Bad recording screams “amateur” – and you can lose listeners within the first few seconds if it doesn’t sound like you are serious.

If you get a microphone with a USB port, you can plug it straight into your computer and you won’t need a power source. USB mics have drastically improved in the past few years, so you options are getting better every day.

Two common USB Mics are:

Snowball, by Blue. It retails for about $100 (more if you get it with accessories) and is omnidirectional – meaning it can pick up sound that is not directly in front of it.

Samson C01U – this is also a USB mic and is cartioid, which means it picks up sounds directly in front, so it reduces that extra noise in the background. This usually retails for around $80.

There are many, many others - this just gives you an idea.

It is possible to get some decent sound out of your computer’s built in microphone in a pinch. I outline a few tips for this in a short podcast. (This is an example of how podcasting is a better choice as a medium – I can explain sound recording techniques and you can actually hear them, rather than just read about it and take my word for it.)

Avoid using the small desktop microphones that are used mostly for teleconferencing. These mics have very poor sound quality for recording.

If you prefer to use a microphone with a standard plug, you’ll need to get some kind of audio interface. Professional versions of these average about $400, but you can find some for less (and of course for more!). These can connect to your computer via firewire, USB, PCI cards or wirelessly, depending on which kind you buy.

Some manufacturers to check out include: Edirol, MOTU, and Digidesign.

There are some cheaper alternatives: Griffin has the “iMic USB Audio Interface” for only $40 – and it will plug in your traditional mic into a USB adapter. Also, M-Audiohas both professional grade and consumer grade products.

Computer

Working with audio can place a high demand on your computer's capabilities - from the CPU to storage and memory. Below are some tips that will increase the performance of your computer and make it less prone to crashes when you are recording or editing your podcast.
Before you install recording software check the following –

CPU speed and memory:

Unless your computer is more than a couple of years old, its likely that its processor is fast enough for your editing software (its worth it to double check!).

The same goes for required RAM (most recording programs state a minimum of 512 megabytes) More is better- a gigabyte or higher (in fact increasing the memory of your computer can compensate for a slower processor to some degree and is probably the cheapest way to add more speed to your machine).

Storage space:
In most cases you will have enough storage on your operating system hard drive to install the software and related effects, but you should invest in a second drive to store your podcasts. Having your podcasts and your software on the same drive will place a "high demand" on your drive and your CPU.

Choose a reliable brand and get an external drive to keep your files backed up. Look for a dirve with a cooling fan, to avoid overheating. (which could be disaterous!)

Removal or disabling of other programs:
In a perfect world you can have a computer that is dedicated to recording podcasts. There are used for *nothing* else but recording and editing audio- this means they are not connected to the internet (except for updates and registering the software), they don't have anti virus running, screen savers or other widgets running in the background that use up memory and CPU.

The result is that dedicated computers are far more reliable and tend to have significantly less problems.

Windows is particularly notorious for having many programs running in the background and can cause havoc with your audio work. Mac is less so.

Consult an expert when disabling background programs some are vital for the operation of your computer and should be left alone others are ok to shut down (you just need to know what can and cannot be touched).

If you have the resources and you see podcasting as something you’ll do regularly think about getting a separate computer for recording audio.

If you can't do this and are stuck with just one machine do the following:

• Upgrade the RAM if you need to.

• Uninstall any programs you don't use and do a thorough clean up.

• Disable background processes that are not essential to the running of your machine (This applies to Windows only) again if in doubt get expert help.

• Close your internet connection and disable automatic updates and anti virus etc while you are recording (you can re-enable them later when you are done).

• Use a plain background as wallpaper.

• Defragment your hard drive and (make sure your operating system has no errors first and is up to date) before installing your recording software and any drivers you might be using for your sound card or external inputs.