Podcast Microphone – Transcript
Luis Congdon:
Hey. Are you wondering what is a great podcast microphone and set-up that will give me superior sound, be something great for at home, and make me sound, and look like a pro?
Hi! My name is Luis Congdon, co-host of Thriving Launch Podcast. We do five figures a month, have travelled the world of podcasting, have had over 300 amazing guests on our show, and we travelled the world and do what we love with a podcast.
BSW’s Podcast Microphone
Today, I’m excited to tell you about BSW, my preferred place to go for a podcast microphone. They’ve sent me this amazing kit and I want to present it to you. I didn’t get paid for this. I simply wanted to do it because I love this gears’ set-up.
Now, this is what I use for at my house so I want to tell you about this podcast microphone in particular.
Let me show you the box so I could tell you a little bit about the microphone and why I absolutely love it.
The MXL is a weird name but I think it’s a fantastic podcast microphone. This is an MXL BCD-1 podcast microphone.
MXL BCD-1 As A Dynamic Podcast Microphone
One of the reasons why I love this podcast microphone is because it’s one of these dynamic microphones. I do understand this very well because I’ve tried handfuls and handfuls of microphones.
One of the things about this podcast microphone is you need to be very close to it to sound great and the reason why that’s awesome is if you live in a city or somewhere where noise happens, this podcast microphone doesn’t pick up the sound around the room or near. It picks up sound right here.
Podcast Microphone’s Box
So if you want great sound with this podcast microphone, you got to be right next to it. I absolutely love this microphone and its boxing.
These are these videos of unboxing of things. I should do one of these for them because I absolutely love the box that it comes in.
This is a hard case right here. Whenever I need to take my microphone with me on the road or I need to pack it away in storage because I’m leaving or I’m moving or whatever it might be, I love this case. It’s so hard I could stand on this and it still wouldn’t get through making a dent or a mess out of the podcast microphone.
If you open up the case, everything fits in here so nicely. Your microphone comes in here. There’s some foam that goes over it and this foam fits right over it and everything fits in here nicely. Then, you close it and it just fits well. I absolutely love it.
Podcast Microphone’s Boom Arm
Let me tell you about this boom arm for a moment because I’ve tried a lot of different boom arms.
One, it is stiff which I absolutely love but it swivels well and I actually don’t even need to unhook it.
One thing I love about it is one, it just snaps well together when you close this.
Podcast Microphone’s Chord
The other thing I absolutely love and you won’t get this with any other boom arm I’ve seen is there’s a chord. This chord that you need to connect this microphone goes right into the boom arm.
When you try other different podcast microphones and you ordered different kinds of boom arms, even some brands that are well-respected, the chord doesn’t run all the way through it and doesn’t stay inside of it. So you have to wrap your chord in these weird ways. But with this, you’ll have excellent lock being able to keep everything together because of that.
Now, when you get into these nicer podcast microphones, you’re also getting into slightly more complicated set-ups, and everyone’s telling you “Do this” “Do that.”
Uncomplicated Podcast Microphone And Set-Up
One of the things people are telling you is that you need a mixer. That’s one of the first things I looked into was buying a mixer.
The only problem with buying a mixer is the good mixers are like $500 – $1000, but the biggest problem with a mixer isn’t the cost. It’s overwhelming and overkill.
If you’re podcaster, you’re not recording Grammy award winning music here. This is isn’t Mariah Carey or The Rolling Stones on the microphone. This is you speaking into the microphone with pre-recorded audio tracks and sound tracks or even if you’re going live, you’re not trying to produce the best sounding music. It’s just your voice.
Scarlett Podcast Microphone Mixer
You need something that records your voice well. And so, for this reason, I like the Scarlett. The Scarlett is fantastic. I think it’s about $100 – $150 for one of the basic ones.
This is the one they sent me, and I absolutely love it because one, unlike the mixers that are complicated to set-up, this is super simple. You plug this into the back of the focus, and then is a USB that goes right into your computer. Then, you’ve got the cords that you plug your microphones in. You’ve got very simple little dials here that are very easy to understand.
You plug this and the microphone in, put this into your computer, and you’re pretty much ready to record. It’s because if you’re using GarageBand or if you’re using Skype or Audacity or Zoom, it’s cool because there’s this options for what kind of audio you’re using, and it’ll say “Focusrite” or “Scarlett.” You know exactly which thing to change it to, and you’re ready to start recording.
Favorite Podcast Microphone
I’ve used a lot of different microphones that are worth $300 – $500. They sound great. I’ve enjoyed several of the different microphones that companies have sent me, but I will tell you, this microphone is personally my favorite. The reason why is it is not very expensive and two, it’s easy to use and you sound great.
My partner, Kamala Chambers co-hosts the Thriving Launch Podcast with me. She sounds great on this microphone too. I sound great.
Have A Podcast Microphone Where Your Voice Will Sound Naturally
One of the things we’re looking for when we’re looking for good microphone is that your voice naturally sounds good with it. Some microphones are going to make your voice sound higher or lower or deeper or bassier. Whatever it might be, the bass on the microphone and your audio will sound different for your voice but this is my favorite one. It is the one Kamala likes too.
Another cool thing is when you get the kit, you can get the rolls right here, and what this does is just simple. It plugs into the focus right that I showed you earlier. It plugs in, and then you can have up to four different audio to it. Essentially, if you wanted to, you can have four different audio tracks, four different microphones, and listen to the audio for each one with your guest. You can do so much stuff. This is a simple thing right here.
Recommended Podcast Microphone
The set-up I have here that I’ve just shown you from BSW is my favorite one that I’ve used. It’s a simple set-up, and is the highest quality I’ve seen after trying tons of different podcast microphones. I highly recommend the BSW set-up.
Again, I didn’t get paid for this. I did it simply out of love and generosity for a company that sent me something, and sent me something of high quality and value. I’ve had other company sent me stuff, and this is the company I chose to review for you because I believe they’re delivering something awesome, and it’s not overkill. It’s not super expensive.
They’re not taking advantage of podcasters, and making you think you need to buy something super expensive because you’re getting into the audio world. This hits that perfect place in between quality, price, and value. Check out BSW if you want.
If you want to level up your podcasting, you can check us out at the Facebook group. Down below is actually the link. That’s the Podcasters’ Secret Weapon, and we’re going to be helping podcasters have better audio sound, land awesome guests, and have a community that is now a thousand strong, and continues to grow on a daily basis.
I’ll see you over in the Facebook group and I look forward to helping you crush it with podcasting.
