At the end of the day, there’s no denying, though, that a Podcast recorded on a decent quality microphone is massively more pleasant to listen to than someone blabbering away on a tinny headset mic.

If you’re looking to up the quality of your kit, we’ve compiled a list of the best Podcasting microphones on the market today. It includes two different levels, entry level and High Quality. We don’t go into the realms of the pro mics, because, let’s be honest, if you have the experience to enable you to get the best out of that level of kit, then you don’t need us to tell you what to do!

So, why invest in a good quality microphone? Because it’s the mic that has the biggest effect on the quality of your recordings. It’s the mic that captures your voice and translates it from physical sound waves into digital bits and bytes. A good microphone can cost hundreds of pounds, but luckily there are a few more affordable options for us.

Entry Level Podcasting Microphones

The first microphone that I discovered which gives a good upgrade to your sound quality is the Samson Go Mic. It’s a really simple little USB microphone which comes with it’s own little securing device. That device includes both a stand screw (lets you screw the mic onto a standard microphone stand) and a very sturdy clip.

The clip lets you affix the microphone to anything with a flat surface, such as the top of your laptop screen. The Samson Go Mic is a really quick, really easy little mic to use, and it’s not too expensive at around £45.

Do I Need a Condenser Microphone for Podcasting?

If you want that extra level of depth to your Podcast, it might be worth going for a condenser microphone. Condenser microphones work in an entirely different, unphathomable way, but suffice to say, they introduce another level of quality to your recordings. The only problem is, because of their sensitivity, they tend to pick up a lot of background noise, so you need a nice quiet recording environment to take advantage of the quality they offer. They also tend to be a lot more fragile, so they’re no good for carrying around in your bag.

The other disadvantage is that condenser microphones need external power. This normally comes through a phantom power supply, provided by either a mixing desk, your digital recorder or a battery in the microphone. Digital recorders or mixing desk are good investments themselves as they provide a lot more flexibility, but that’s an extra investment too, and, to be honest, for most Podcasting setups they tend to be overkill.

Essentially, if you want the best quality, but plan to only record from your desk, using a mic stand, in a very quiet environment, then a condenser might be for you.

A good example of an entry level condenser microphone is, from the same company, the Samson C01 Studio Condenser Mic.

High Quality Podcasting Microphones

When I say high quality, I’m not going to go into the realms of professional mics (such as the Podcaster’s dream, the Heil PR40), just those that are in the normal Podcaster’s budget, but provide great quality recordings.

The first in this group are a pair of USB microphones that have been used by Podcasters and general audio producers the world over. The first is the Blue Yeti USB Microphone which comes in at around £125. The Blue Yeti offers amazing quality audio and is amazingly easy to use thanks to it’s USB connection. This also by-passes the sound card on your computer, making sure that you get the best quality recording, no matter what equipment your computer sports. The next, if the Blue Yeti is a little above your budget, is it’s little brother, the Blue Snowball Microphone. It’s RRP is around £85 but I’ve often seen it on sale at a little over £50. If you can find the snowball at that price, it’s an absolute bargain, as it’s well worth the RRP price tag.

At this level you can also get some really good quality condenser microphones. I personally use the MXL 990 Condenser Microphone for all my recording, and mount it on the JamStands JS-MCTB50 Short Mic Stand. I’m not sure what the RRP is, but I found it for £79 and it’s been worth every penny. The mic sits on it’s stand next to my desk and I pull it up onto the desk every time I need to do a recording.

Conclusion

The two factors that determine what microphone you should go for are, 1. Your recording environment, and 2. Your Budget.

Buy as expensive a mic as you can afford. As with everything, the more you spend, the better the quality you’ll get. But, this only goes up to a point. You can spend hundreds, but you need a lot of knowledge and more professional support equipment to take advantage of the quality offered by the Heil PR40. Save that for a couple of years down the line when you’ve become an audio production guru, and stick with something like the Blue Yeti for now.

The question of dynamic vs condenser microphone comes down to where you normally record and how much kit you want to use. If you have a nice, quiet regular recording room, then a condenser microphone could be worth buying. You wont be able to take it anywhere easily, and you will need that mixer or digital recorder to provide the power, unless you find a battery powered mic. But the depth of your recordings will be great, and you’ll definitely stand out.

Whatever you choose, enjoy it, and remember that the main thing is, keep on releasing those Podcasts!

Many learning institutions which have incorporated podcasting in their education system, have reported really positive results. This can be attributed to the ease of creating and consuming podcasts as well as the various ways in which education podcasts enhance the students’ learning experience. There are numerous advantages of education podcasts which you can explore below, or sign up for a podcasting space today:

Flexible Availability – 24 hours a Day

One of the greatest advantages of education podcasts is the portability and convenience they offer. Podcasts can be downloaded to almost any kind of mobile device, allowing the student to access the learning resources anytime, anywhere without too much effort. This makes podcasts very convenient and also paves the way for truly flexibile learning.

Student Created Content

One of the most interesting and valuable uses of Podcasting in Education is the concept of student created content. You can allow students to create their own podcasts of short questions, discussions, presentations or projects and make them available to their classmates. This encourages engagement in the material, allowing students to take control of a little aspect of their education. They can question, the can contribute and they can teach each other.

Lecture Review

Simply making podcasts of your existing lectures makes them easily accessible by students and creates invaluable study aids. Students can use the podcasts for reference purposes or when preparing themselves for upcoming examinations. Any student who had challenges understanding a topic in the classroom can listen to this podcast, study and understand the topic at his own pace. This is particularly valuable to students from an international background or with learning difficulties.

Make up for Missed Classes

When a student misses a class, it’s not always because they’re lazy. Using podcasts, a sick student who has missed a number of classes can download recordings of the lectures and thus is able to “fill in the gaps”. Moreover, a lecturer who is unable to attend his or her classes can make a podcast of the lecture available to the students and thus make up for the unattended lectures.

Reusability & Repurposing

Recording a lecture and then offering that podcast to the student helps a lecturer or professor to ensure that all points pertaining to a certain topic are well covered. This comes in handy when the lecturer in question teaches multiple sessions of the same class. It helps the lecturer to ensure that all his students get the same information and to cover the syllabus uniformly.

Benefits for Mental and Visual Impairments

Perhaps one of the greatest pedagogic characteristics offered by educational podcasting is the chance to learn through listening. To many people of the current student generation, learning through listening is enjoyable and less tedious than reading. Educational podcasts are appealing and may encourage students who don’t like reading. Many students actually struggle with reading through mental impairments, and podcasts can be a huge aid to this. Podcasts are equally useful in cases where visual impairment makes traditional learning methods arduous.

Using podcasts in your teaching can help you encourage your students to engage with your classes, your material and never miss a thing. Podcasting is one of the best things you could do for your students, so why not have a go today!

If you want to learn more about how to get started in Podcasting, check out our How to Podcast guide.

If you’d like to try out a Podcasting space with The Podcast Host, sign up for a free podcasting trial today.

Image Credit: powerbooktrance on Flickr

How to Subscribe to a Podcast

Subscribing to a podcast makes life so much easier – your device will be automatically updated with new episodes and old ones will be removed after you have listened to them. No work required!

To get started in doing this, you need a piece of software called a Podcatcher. Example Podcatchers are iTunes or Juice, but are quite a few different options. A lot of modern music and media packages, such as WinAmp, now include podcatching functionality, so it’s likely that you already have something that will do the job. Best of all, there are plenty of low-cost and no-cost options, so you shouldn’t have to spend a penny to get subscribing.

Subscribing to a Podcast in iTunes

I’m going to talk about iTunes here, because it’s the most popular podcatcher, and it works so well with Apple devices in organising your Podcasts. It’s also one of the most powerful Podcatchers simply thanks to it’s Podcast directory. You just have to go to the iTunes store, and type in the subject you’re looking for into the search box. In this example, I’ll be searching for a Web Design podcast to keep up to date with news in the web development world.

The subscribing process is as follows:

1. Browse through to the Podcast section of the iTunes store, and type ‘web design into the search area.
2. iTunes will then show us all of the podcasts that have the phrase ‘web design’ in the description or title.
3. I look through the list and a ‘cast called The Boagworld Show catches my eye.
4. ITunes lists all of the episodes of The Boagworld Show so that I can make sure it’s of interest.
5. If it looks good, I click the subscribe button and then that podcast is added to my subscribed list.
6. I decide to add a few more, so look again at the search and click subscribe on ‘Think Vitamin’ and ‘The Sitepoint Podcast’.
7. Now, once I click the Podcast section of my own iTunes library, I’ll see all three of those podcasts in the list.

Once these podcasts are in the list, iTunes will then check regularly for new episodes – you can set how regularly it will make these checks. The best thing about this automation is that when I plug in my iPod or iPhone, iTunes will synchronise with this device, copying over all new episodes and deleting old, listened to episodes. Next time you’re out and about, your iPod will contain only new episodes and you can happily listen away!

So, that’s how to subscribe using iTunes, but the process is quite similar with other podcatchers. Many lack the directory of iTunes though and so you might need to subscribe to a podcast manually. Let’s have a look at that now.

Subscribing to a Podcast Manually

RSS Feed Logo

Subscribing to a podcast manually requires you to track down that podcast’s website firstly. You need to find the address of the podcast feed – a page that contains all the details of the podcast’s past episodes. Don’t worry though, you don’t need to know how a feed works, you just need to find it’s web address, which is quite easy.

Most Podcast websites will have a ‘Subscribe’ icon somewhere on the front page, which will take you to the Podcast feed page, or try to subscribe you automatically. Often it’s denoted by an orange icon, as shown to the right. Try finding a subscribe link, or this icon and clicking it. You might then see a whole bunch of code, called XML. Again, don’t worry about this – all you need is the address of the page, which you can copy from the address bar. It’ll look something like this:

http://www.boagworld.com/feed

Select that address and Copy it, for transfer into your Podcatcher. All podcatchers should have a prominent option to ‘Add a Podcast.’ Once you select that option, it’ll ask you for the web address, or URL.

Simply paste the previously copied web address into this field, and select ‘Add’. That podcast should then be added to your ‘subscribed’ list and you can then sync your podcasts to your MP3 player, all ready to listen.

< What is a Podcast? | ‘How to Podcast’ Index | > How to Download a Podcast

How to Download a Podcast

Podcasts are everywhere these days, and there are a huge range of topics to choose from. In recent years the quality has risen dramatically, with many commercial radio stations offering up their shows for download and listening at a later time.

Many people still struggle to listen to Podcasts, though, whether it’s getting them working on their PC or downloading to a MP3 player or mobile device. Here we look at the different ways that you can listen to a podcast, and finish off with an introduction to subscriptions.

Downloading Podcasts to your Computer

The easiest way to listen to a podcast is normally to play it directly through that podcast’s website. Many Podcasting websites offer a play function directly on the podcasting page. Simply navigate to the podcast page, look for the play button, and listen. Easy!

This method just requires access to a computer, whether it’s PC or Mac, and an internet connection for that computer.

Of course, the disadvantage to this is that you’re restricted to sitting in front of your computer when listening to podcasts, which can be a bit of a chore when it’s an hour long show. But, if it’s a short episode, or you can play the podcast through your PC speakers while doing something else around the house, then it can be a quick, reliable and, most of all, EASY solution.

Accessing Podcasts on Your Mobile Devices

The most convenient way to listen to a podcast is through a mobile device of some sort, and there are a variety of devices that can do this. MP3 players are very cheap these days, and normally quite easy to use. Alternatively, most mobile phones now offer the option to listen to music, so chances are you already have something that will do the job! Now, to get the MP3 onto your mobile device, phone or MP3 player, we need to first download the podcast.

If you’ve followed the previous step, just to try listening to a podcast on your computer, then you might have noticed a Download link very near the play button. Very often Podcasting sites offer this download option right alongside the play function, making it very easy to get hold of the podcast and save it straight to your mobile device.

When you download a podcast, it will be stored as an MP3 file. The best method is to:

1. click the Download button on the podcast website
2. save the podcast to your computer, perhaps in a special ‘Podcasting’ folder, created by you
3. Copy the podcast from the ‘Podcasting’ folder to your mobile device

And that’s it – you’re all ready!

To accomplish this you need a computer, access to the internet and a digital mp3 player (mobile phone, iPod, etc)

Podcast Automation: Setting up a Subscription

Definitely the most powerful and most convenient way to listen to podcasts is to take advantage of the powers of the RSS feed which allows you to automate the entire activity. It’s actually surprisingly easy to set up podcast subscriptions, especially if you’re using iTunes and an Apple device, but it’s easily possible with any PC and mobile device. If you listen to a few podcasts regularly, then it’s definitely worth the effort.

Have a look at our Next Article for more information on Subscribing to Podcasts.

1. What is a Podcast? | Index Page | 3. How Do I Subscribe to a Podcast?

What is a Podcast?

Simply put, a Podcast is a series of audio or video recordings, that you can subscribe to and listen to whenever you like.

Here’s an example: BBC Radio 4 have a Podcast called ‘More or Less: Behind the Stats’, a show all about interesting economics and facts. Each podcast episode is nothing more than a recording of a ‘More or Less’ show, and they are all organised into a series, called the More or Less podcast. So, if you’re a fan of the show, you can subscribe to the More or Less podcast and episodes are delivered to you each week, so you can listen to them any time, rather than have to have the radio on at the same time each week.

Key things to take from this is that a podcast episode is just one audio or video file from that series, just like a TV show is made up of a whole series of episodes. The word ‘podcast’ refers to a series of audio or video files, while a ‘podcast episode’ is one audio file from that series.

So, if you think of ‘Friends’ as the series and ‘The One where they Got Married’ as the episode, Friends is the equivalent of a podcast and ‘The One Where They Got Married’ is the Podcast Episode.

I hope that’s clear so far!

What Formats or Media Types Do Podcasts Come In?

As we’ve already mentioned, podcasts are always either audio or video. The majority of Podcasts today are audio only, perhaps because that’s the easiest way for amateurs to make a podcast. While many professional media outlets are getting involved in podcasts these days, like the BBC mentioned before, the majority are still made by enthusiasts on no budget and not for profit. So, as a result, most podcasts are made cheaply and using the easiest methods.

More and more these days, though, people are gaining easy access to webcams, and often these are used to record video podcasts which you can watch on your computer, or your smartphone. As more TV shows get involved in Podcasts, the number of video podcasts is bound to grow.

What Are Podcasts Normally Like?

When you listen to a podcast, you’ll discover that they’re really just the same as radio shows. Any particular Podcast will be themed around a particular topic, about which they talk every week – e.g. triathlon racing or dog training. Then, each episode of that podcast will talk about something specific within that topic – nutrition tips for taking part in a triathlon, or how to stop your dog fighting with other dogs. Each episode is normally run by one or two regular presenters, talking about that subject, and they’ll often get outside guests on to contribute.

A lot of podcasts are really simple, just a few friends chatting about something that they’re all into, and that can be great. But, some Podcasts are very professional, including theme music, sound effects, professional editing and more. These type of professional podcasts are great to listen to but they take a lot more time and money to produce. There are great examples of both types though, and many totally amateur, freely produced podcasts are still really entertaining and informative.

What’s the Difference Between a Podcast and an Audio File?

The most complicated aspect of learning about podcasts, and where many people get confused, is in telling the difference between a simple audio file and a full-blown podcast. Let’s see if we can help.

The most simple explanation is that an audio file and a podcast episode are technically the same. If you’ve downloaded a Podcast episode from a Podcast site, you’ve already discovered the fact that you’re just downloading an audio file. The difference comes when you add the option to subscribe to that series of audio files.

So, if you use a Podcast hosting website to allow people to subscribe to your series of audio recordings, then you’ve suddenly turned them from simple audio files into a fully functioning podcast! They’re still just audio files, but alongside the subscription, you can now call them a Podcast too.

The subscription aspect is done for you automatically if you use a good Podcast Hosting company like The Podcast Host, but you might want to know a little about how it works. It’s run through a technology called RSS (that’s the tricky bit…) and it’s just a computer language that lets your Podcasting software talk to a Podcasting website.

Essentially, if you give your Podcasting software (such as iTunes) the web address of a Podcasting Website, it’ll read the RSS feed and it’ll be able to download all of the old episodes of that Podcast and download new ones as they’re released.

So, when you use iTunes, or similar Podcasting software, it’ll keep track of all of your subscriptions via each Podcasts’ RSS feed, and it’ll automatically download new episodes as they’re available. This is much easier than normal audio files where you would have to search them out on the web and download them yourself.

The big thing to remember is that an audio file on it’s own is nothing more than that, just an audio file.

But, if you upload that audio file to a website and allow it to be subscribed to via an RSS feed then it’s suddenly a Podcast. Easy!

‘How to Podcast’ Index | Next Chapter: How Do I Subscribe to a Podcast?

How to Podcast

This guide aims to get you started on the road to creating a podcast. My name is Colin Gray and I have taught people How to Podcast in various forms for a few years now, most recently at University level in Edinburgh. I have also created quite a few podcasts over the years, mostly around education, so I’ll be using all that experience to help you get started on your own podcasting journey. If you want to learn how to make a podcast, you’ve come to the right place.

I also run this website, ‘The Podcast Host’. The Podcast Host offers quality, well supported podcast hosting, including a free podcast hosting plan. If you’d like to get some space on the site, go to the sign up page and have a look at our hosting options. Our prices are low and our support is great, please just drop me a line on the contact page if you have any questions.

Anyway, to business! In this guide I’ll take you from a complete beginners level, right up to publishing your first ever podcast episode. If I’ve achieved my aim, by the end of this guide you’ll be a confident podcaster and happy to go forth to create your own podcasting series.

I’ll take you through the equipment you need to make a podcast, the best environment for recording and how to go about recording. Then we’re on to editing a podcast, and finally publishing your podcast for all to hear.

You can browse the content using the index above, or the menu in the sidebar to the right. I hope you find the content useful, and do let me know if you think of any way to improve it.

Anyway, whatever your context is, I’m sure podcasts will be a great medium for getting the word out. And, on top of it all, it’s great fun.

So, why wait – let’s learn How to Podcast!

Next Page

How to Podcast: A Beginner’s Guide to Podcasting

I’ve got an exciting announcement today – we’re ready to release something that I’ve been working on for quite a while now, and I think you’re going to like it! Fanfare please – How to Podcast: A Beginners Guide to Podcasting is finally here!

The most common questions and queries we get here at The Podcast Host are around the question: How to Podcast.

“What is podcasting?” “How do I make my own podcast?” “How do I create a podcast in my own area of interest?”

Well, this guide answers all of those questions and more. Here are the chapter titles to give you an idea of what I go through:

• What is a Podcast? Using Podcasts as a Listener
• What Equipment do I Need to Create a Podcast
• Recording Your Podcast, Editing Your Podcast and Publishing Your Podcast

I go through all of the equipment that you need to get involved in podcasting, from the easiest recorders to use to the best value microphones to enhance your sound. I go through simple editing tasks in Audacity – everyone’s favourite free audio editor. I even give you some tips on great places to find free sound FX and background music. This guide should give y0u everything you need to get involved in podcasting. So, download the guide today and then, if you’re inspired, join us on The Podcast Host.

I can’t resist giving one more teaser, here’s an excerpt from the start of the book to get you going:

This means that if you want to sign up for a podcast you just need to go to our order page here: Sign up with The Podcast Host

I’m very sorry for this change but the amount of spammers out there just clogging up both the site and my time in moderating it is just plain ridiculous…

I hope you still consider signing up – just contact me here if you have any questions.

Thanks!

Colin
The Podcast Host

This is an educational podcast brought to us by Edinburgh Napier University and aims to help it’s staff develop their teaching and learning practice. They cover lots of topics to do with education including such things as supporting your students, academic conferences, staff development and more.

Have a listen to their show here to find out more: http://www.thepodcasthost.com/enradio/

And if you work in education, or are an academic of some kind, then this is a show you can’t afford to miss!

You can sign up for a free podcasting account here, and that’ll be good enough for most podcasters, but if you think you’ll use more than 100MB of space then you can sign up for extra space with our premium accounts after your create your free podcasting area.