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Audio

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When recording audio, a great way to think about it is that someone could be listening to your content as a podcast. If you’ve ever heard a podcast with poor audio quality, you’ll know investing in solid audio recording equipment is essential to creating high quality content.

Remember: These are just tips, not requirements! If you’ve got a cellphone and a Simplero account - you’ve got what it takes to start making course content that sells.

The type of audio equipment that is best for you will depend largely on the following:

  • Budget

  • The space you’re recording in

  • Your need to move or be stationary

  • Technical knowledge

  • The availability, and compatibility of your hardware.

In general, we recommend that you use an external microphone and headphones that are not built into your device. The first step to determining which audio equipment you want to acquire is to determine which microphone is going to be the best for you in most situations. If you’re always going to speak while sitting at your desk and facing your camera, then having a microphone attached to your desk could be a great solution. If on the other hand you’re needing to move around doing something like yoga instruction, then having a lavalier microphone could be a better option.

Looking for a higher-end setup? Check out Calvin’s specs here.

For stationary microphones we’d recommend the following:

  • Low Budget: Apple Airpods (Or Similar)

  • Mid Budget: we would recommend the Rode Nt1-A with a pop filter (Or Similar)

  • Higher Budget we would recommend the Shure SM7B or Sennheiser MKE-600 depending on your needs.

For all of these mics in the Mid-Higher range, you’ll also need an audio interface, which acts as the middleman between your microphone and your computer. For most people a great audio interface will be something like the Focusrite Scarlett Solo, or Focusrite Scarlett 2i2. The main difference being whether or not you need one audio input source, or multiple. If you go with a shotgun microphone, we recommend the mic be 2-3 feet away pointing at your chin or upper chest. For large diaphragm condenser mics, we recommend you place the mic 4-6 inches away from your mouth.

For lavalier microphones you’ve got some great options as well:

  • Low Budget: Rode smartLav+ (You can even record right into your smartphone with these)

  • Mid Budget: Rode Wireless Go

  • Higher Budget: Sennheiser G4 transmitter + Sennheiser ME 2 Mic

The advantage of these lav mics is that you also don’t have to have an audio interface, and can record directly into your camera with a 3.5mm jack. Regardless of which mic option you choose, make sure you keep a constant distance between your mouth and your microphone to avoid creating fluctuations in volume that can be undesirable. We recommend the microphone be ~6 inches from your mouth.