This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
In today's episode, we're helping a listener set up his ideal podcast studio on a shoestring budget. And good news, it's not that hard. If you have a shoestring budget, it's not a funny phrase, by the way, a shoestring budget. I mean, it just means like if you don't have a lot of money to spend on something, but shoestrings, I mean, who buys shoestrings? They come with shoes. I don't even know where that phrase comes from, except apparently
at one point in history, everyone had to buy shoestrings all the time and they didn't cost much. So it became some sort of metaphor. But the point is best audio recording set up on a budget. That's what we're talking about today. Welcome to Side Hustle School.
We're going to zoom into the world of podcasting with a listener named Alex from Colorado. He is an enthusiast of mountain biking and is planning to channel that passion into a podcast. I love it, but how can we help him get started in a way that balances quality and cost? And I'll just say right up front, good news here, because you don't actually have to spend a lot of money to have pretty good audio quality. If you want it to be amazing, then that's maybe a little bit more difficult, but most people actually don't expect amazing these days. It's just kind of how auditory expectations have changed in the past, I guess,
decade or so, maybe a little bit more than that with first with iTunes, Apple Music, and then podcasts and so on. Basically, like what sounds pretty good doesn't have to cost a lot. That's the point. So let's go into the nuts and bolts of it. Another metaphor there, best audio recording set up on a budget. Detailed question coming right up.
Hi, Chris. I'm Alex from Boulder, Colorado. I've been a mountain biker for years and want to share my experiences through a podcast about mountain biking adventures. I'm new to podcasting and looking for a budget friendly yet effective recording setup. Could you recommend some essential equipment that's good for beginners, but also delivers quality audio? I found Side
Hustle School on Spotify and I've been hooked ever since. Hey, Alex. I love the mountain biking podcast adventure. Sounds fun. And as mentioned, getting the right equipment is important, but it's also not going to cost a lot. So you don't got to worry about that.
Assuming you have a computer, I'm guessing you do. Don't need anything too special. And I actually went to talk to my producer, Chuck Reed. Hey, Chuck, thanks so much, man. Really appreciate you always. Chuck has mixed, I don't know, 10,000 of these episodes so far,
which is a miracle considering we're only on 2607. But anyway, he does a lot of work for us from his studio, Sancola Sound. And of course, Chuck has got all kinds of fancy equipment there, but I'm just recording here in a little closet. I get the files to him. And so I asked Chuck, I was like, what if somebody has like 100 bucks? Like I spent
less than $1,000 on my setup, which is still not that much, right? But if somebody only has $100, he said, no problem. You know, I usually recommend a Blue Yeti mic. So just Google that Blue Yeti, Y-E-T-I, I've seen those before. I've been on podcast interviews with those. They cost, I think about $100 exactly. And he says the next reasonable level
is the Shure MV7. That one looks like it's about 250 bucks, depending on where you get it from. So really not a whole lot. And I said, well, what else? What if they have a little bit more to spend? And he said, they should definitely use a pair of headphones,
preferably wired. So again, a lot of people have headphones already. If not, you can get some good headphones, at least some decent headphones for under $100. And also locate yourself in a quiet room with soft surfaces. Acoustic panels are nice, but if you don't want to go out and buy a bunch of acoustic panels, pillows and blankets work well too.
So there you have it from Chuck, who records a lot of stuff. He's done other podcasts. He does Happier with Gretchen Rubin. He has done all kinds of famous musicians and bands over the years as well. And he says for just a small amount of money, you can actually have a pretty good setup. So that's pretty cool. And I think it just kind of is reflective
of the world that we live in, where so many opportunities are available for little money. And the main investment you need to make is your time. The investment is your time and doing some research, not so much into the equipment, because that's easy, but in terms of how you're going to create this quality podcast and how you're going to create content that people are excited about and energized to subscribe and come back to. And that's really fun, right? Because that's just you, like there's no financial limitation to that.
I mean, I understand like we all have time limitations. We all have constraints in our lives and such, but the point is to be a creator, there are a lot of opportunities these days. So I'll leave it with that. Chuck's recommendation, the Blue Yeti mic, next level, the Shure MV-7 mic. So one of those, get some headphones, put some pillows and blankets up and get to work.
Listeners, if you're going to start a podcast, let me know. We can feature it here. Give a shout out to our other listeners. And if you've got a question, sidehustleschool.com/questions. Much more to come. New episode every day, seven days a week. That's all for now. My
name's Chris Guillebeau. This is Side Hustle School. From the Onward Project.
