The quality of your recorded audio for an at home podcaster is a black art. Audio is a fundamentally analog process and Once upon a time, in the antediluvian ages of podcasting (2005 / 2006), I was a podcaster. And then, a decade later, my friend Nick Janetakis, a producer of online courses also taught me a bunch of things about audio quality.

Here's one thing to know:

You will tell yourself that you can clean up the audio later. This will ALMOST NEVER happen. Getting the audio right at record time is key.

Here are some tips:

  1. A good mic. I use A Yeti Blue USB for about $149 and that's more than good enough.
  2. A pop filter. This is a cheap ($10) foam filter that goes in front of your mic and reduces mouth / breath noise.
  3. Put a towel under your laptop. Laptops have fans and fans are mechanical and vibrate. Also your movement on the keys / mouse will make noise. A towel under the laptop acts as a shock absorber for movement / vibration.
  4. Put your phone into do not disturb mode. If you are an iPhone user then set it to Do Not Disturb. If you have overrides on this for say calls / texts from family then create a Really Do Not Disturb (or call it Podcasting) setting and do not have overrides.
  5. Turn off all your phone alarms. Make sure they are off.
  6. Leave your phone in the other room. This is the easiest one.
  7. Get rid of your chair with casters / the ability to lean back. Chairs move. A mic will pick this up.
  8. Experiment with different USB ports for your mic. Different ports may have different isolation levels from the underlying circuitry of the machine. You may have less electrical hum / cross talk when you plug it on the right (or the left).
  9. Log out of all Instant Messaging tools on your laptop. Again you want to suppress notification noises.
  10. Don't record in a room with hardwood floors. Audio reverberates far more than you would think.
  11. Record in the clothes / coat closet. A closet with clothes in it is actually a very silent area and the clothes eliminate audio bouncing back on you from the walls / ceiling / floor.