Guidelines For Podcast Studio Owners

Designing the Perfect Podcast Studio: Must-Have Equipment and Setup Tips

Learn how to design a professional podcast studio with essential gear, soundproofing tips, and setup strategies to elevate your production quality.

Ivana Velimirovic
Nov 22, 2024
Designing the Perfect Podcast Studio: Must-Have Equipment and Setup Tips

Podcast studio rentals are a new industry that is taking over. Given that most podcasters start with the bare minimum, a professional podcast studio can take the production quality level to another level. Designing the perfect podcast studio involves much more than buying a microphone, DSLR camera, and hitting record.
Read this step-by-step guide, which will take you through the main equipment and setting tips to create a top studio, while incorporating key insights from professional discussions on podcast production.

Why Room Treatment is so Important in a Podcast Studio?

One of the foundational aspects of creating a successful podcast studio is treating the room itself. The main goal is to ensure that the space has excellent noise isolation and sound treatment that will improve recordings. These are indispensable in recording good-quality audio, along with reducing the need for after-production fixes, if the audio is not good. Ensuring a good room treatment reduces the need for post-production fixes and saves you both time and money.

Noise Isolation

Noise isolation means reducing any outside sounds inside the room. Whether it be street noise or sounds from the next room, isolating those disturbances ensures cleanliness in your recordings.

Consider the following:

  • Thick walls with insulation: Installation of layers of drywall and acoustic insulation prevents outside sounds from penetrating.
  • Soundproof windows and doors: These will involve solid-core doors and double-pane windows to efficiently shut out external noise.

Sound Treatment

Unlike noise isolation, which focuses on the complete eradication of external and ambient noises, sound treatment is all about refining the acoustics in the room through the reduction of echo and reverb. This makes the sound more crisp and clean, hence a quality production is guaranteed. 

Some of the simple solutions include:

  • Acoustic panels: Install foam or fabric panels to help absorb the sound and prevent echo.
  • Carpets and rugs: For a cheaper solution, consider stuff that's already in the room that could help improve the acoustics. Textured carpets can be quite decent as an acoustic sound absorber; it's for this reason that, many years ago, Persian rugs would often be nailed to the walls in old classic recording studios.
  • Curtains and soft furniture: Heavy curtains can block off the reflection from the windows, and soft furnishings like couches also help to absorb noise.

Essential Equipment for a Podcast Studio

Building a podcast studio involves more than just soundproofing a room. You will want proper equipment to make your audio and video professional grade. Here, we break down the most important gear you will be working with.

Microphones

Your microphone is the most important piece of equipment. There are many types of microphones, although a dynamic microphone is typically preferred by podcasters since they have the ability to handle louder sounds and reduce background noise much more effectively.

Key features to look for:

  • Durability: Select a microphone that will withstand the long recording hours.
    Sound sensitivity: A cardioid pattern is the best, as this gives focus on your voice and filters out the room's noise.

Audio Mixers

An audio mixer is key for getting superior sound. It helps clear the raw audio before it reaches the recording console, and therefore it is much easier to adjust at the post-production stage than having to try and adjust an unbalanced level. You can capture higher bitrate audio through an audio mixer, retaining its fidelity and giving you more flexibility in editing.

  • Multichannel mixers: allow you to connect several microphones and even sound sources, each on its own channel, which will permit you to make fine adjustments.

Cinema Cameras

For podcast creators who incorporate video elements, using cinema cameras rather than standard DSLRs is highly recommended.  A cinema camera is designed to record longer without overheating, especially good for podcasters who may record multiple hours at one time.

Key benefits: cinematic cameras have internal fans that help with temperature regulation and thus support recording over an extended period.

Podcast Studio Lighting Setup

A well-lit studio also improves the quality of the video; it contributes to creating a mood. You will want to have a three-point lighting system in order to make it professional:

Key Light

The key light source is supposed to be placed in front of the face and is used to highlight the face and bring out the features of the subject. It is usually the most powerful light in the entire setup.

Hair Light

Also known as a backlight, it goes behind the subject to help them stand out from the background. This is important to achieve depth and make the subject "pop" on camera.

Ambient Light

This fills in the rest of the shot so that areas of the background or subject aren't too dark. The ambient should be soft in order for the shot to remain natural.

Lighting Considerations

Lighting should be adjusted based on both the directorial style and skin tones of the person being filmed. From a bright, neutral setup to a more cinematic, moody ambient, the lighting system plays a vital role in creating the right atmosphere.

Professional podcast studio setup with essential equipment: an audio mixer for superior sound control, a high-quality microphone for clear recordings, and a cinema camera for high-definition video capture. The studio features a well-planned lighting setup, including key, hair, and ambient lights to enhance visual quality. Soft furniture and carpets help with sound treatment by reducing echo and improving acoustics. The scene highlights a well-organized recording environment designed for high-end podcast production.
Podcast Studio Setup

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