The Best Podcast Gear For A Semi-Pro Setup

Y’all. Recording for our new podcast, Between The Coffee and Us (BTCAU) is officially underway and we’re so pumped!

We began recording Season 1 last week and are in the process of setting up some really cool stuff so you can keep up with us as we record and be one of the first to know when the inaugural season drops. Keep your eyes open.

Since we’ve officially started recording, we thought it’d be cool to talk to you about the semi-pro podcast gear we’re using in case you’re thinking about starting up your own podcast too.

Disclaimer: We’re not sponsored by any of these products or Amazon. We budgeted accordingly and decided to go with a semi-pro setup because we’re super serious about this podcast and want to provide the quality listening we believe y’all deserve.

If you’re looking for a podcast starter guide this ain’t it. This post is all about the gear we personally use for recording and why we think it’s the best podcast gear if you’re looking for semi-pro setup.

Here’s a list of the podcasting gear we’re using to record the first season of Between The Coffee And Us:

Our Software — Garage Band via iMac

There’s no need to get ridiculously complicated here. We’ve got a Mac, we’ve got Garage Band, and we’ve got a hot idea. Mix that together with the gear below and you’ve got a dope podcast.

If you’re just getting started with your own podcast we recommend Garage Band because it’s easy to use, it’s free and it gives you more than enough recording and editing capability to produce a great podcast.

Our Mixer — Behringer Xenyx 1202FX

We read a lot of reviews and did a lot of research (we’re talking months) before choosing the Behringer Xenyx 1202FX as the mixer for our podcast.

This baby is full of features that every good podcaster needs at an affordable price. It has clean, strong, quality preamps (which come in handy for producing quality sound) and it’s less than $100.

In addition to the +60db preamps, the Behringer Xenyx 1202FX also boasts:

• Four state-of-the-art Xenyx Mic Preamps
• One AUX send
• Phantom power
• Power switch
• 100 awesome presets including reverb, chorus, flanger, delay, pitch shifter and various multi-effects

There just aren’t a lot of other mixer options out there that give you those features in a price range less than $100. Because of this, we thought there would be some compromise to be made somewhere but couldn’t find much in our research.

After purchasing the 1202FX mixer for ourselves and using it we can say that it really does live up to the hype. The only “con” we found to all the pros listed above is that monitoring from this mixer is only one way.

That means if we were to ever do a Google Hangouts interview or something, we wouldn’t be able to monitor our own audio via the headphone jack. But again, at this price and for all the features the 1202FX gives us, we can live without that for now.

Our Microphones — Audio-Technica AT-2020 Cardioid Condenser Studio Mic

The Audio-Technica AT-2020 is the ideal podcast microphone for us because is delivers rich, premium sound for an affordable price–$99. After unboxing and setting up, we couldn’t believe our ears the first time we tested the mics.

The cardioid polar pattern from the AT-2020 ensures that sounds from behind and around the microphone are diminished, improving the isolation and sound quality of our voices while podcasting.

We were looking for a microphone that would help us produce quality sound along with the mixer and the Audio-Technica AT-2020 does exactly what we need it do. Points for that!

If you’re thinking about ordering this mic for yourself though there are a few things you should be aware of:

• The Audio-Technica AT-2020 is an XLR microphone which means it requires additional cables not provided with the purchase of this microphone
  • We went with the Amazon Basics XLR Microphone Cables to meet this need
• The AT-2020 does not come with a boom arm, shock mount, or pop filter
  • We went with the Neweer NB-35 Microphone Boom Scissor Arm With Pop Filter and Shock Mount to meet this need

The XLR cables are for hooking the mics up to the mixer.

The boom arm and shock mount hold the mic and make it simple to adjust as needed for the setup we’re using that day and the pop filter helps cut down on those harsh “p” and “s” sounds you get when talking directly into a microphone.

Our Converter — BEHRINGER U-Control Uca202 Ultra Low-Latency 2 In/2 Out Usb/Audio Interface With Digital Output

That’s a mouthful for such a tiny piece of equipment, isn’t it?

This converter’s a freakin’ steal. For $30 you get a professional interface between your mixer and your laptop. It works straight out of the box and doesn’t require any software downloads or drivers to get going.

We chose the Behringer U-Control Uca202 converter to input sound into the computer for easy editing in Garageband. Like we said before, we use a Mac but this converter works with both Mac’s and PC Computers.

You don’t have to spend a stupid amount of money to put together a decent podcast setup. If you’ve got the basics that we’ve outlined here (and purchased for ourselves) you can record a quality podcast.

We’re only saying semi-professional because there is another level of gear we’d be interested in purchasing in the future, but for now, as first-time podcasters, this equipment gets the job done without making us sound like teenagers in a basement who got bored one day.

But none of it would be possible without the Behringer U-Control Uca202.

Our Love For Coffee

We should probably go ahead and tell you that although the name of our new podcast project is Between The Coffee And Us, this isn’t a podcast about coffee. Don’t get us wrong, we love coffee, but the name comes from how Z Coast Media first began and what led us to this point in our journey where we’re able to produce something like this.

The name Between The Coffee And Us pays homage to our roots when we would sit for hours at coffee shops around Atlanta brainstorming about Z Coast Media and everything we wanted/want it to be.

As for the podcast itself, you’ll just have to give it a listen when Season 1 drops in the Fall of 2018. More info on how to be notified when that happens is coming soon so watch this space/keep up with us on social media so you don’t miss it!

Xx Paige & Nick xX