Buying Guide - Hardware & Software

Of all the parts of this guide, I resisted writing this one the most. Yes, even though I had no trouble telling people exactly what to do in Podcasting for Dummies, I’ve resisted getting too specific with what equipment to buy and what software to use. But here goes.

Let me start by saying that you do not have to buy or download any of this. There are lots of different configurations, setups, and options at your disposal. I make no claims about what you’re about to read, save these two:

  1. If you buy/download these items, you will be well outfitted for the express purpose of creating a serialized audiobook at home.
  2. I either have used or do use the components listed here on a regular basis, so everything comes with my personal recommendation. Whatever that’s worth.

The process of creating an audiobook isn’t all that much different than writing. You’re familiar with the Write -> Edit -> Publish process, right? When producing an audiobook, it’s Record -> Edit -> Publish. Yes, it’s that similar. And that’s how I’m going to walk you through the buying process. If you think you know it all already, you can skip to the shopping list at the bottom of this chapter. (Though I hope you won’t, as there is some really good stuff in here!)

For Recording

Your first order of business is to take the sounds that come out of your mouth and get them to a fixed, tangible medium as cleanly and as efficiently as possible. That suggests three elements: A (relatively) quiet environment, a microphone, and a recording device. I’ll make some recommendations on those in reverse order.

Professional Recording Device

Whatever device you’re reading this on – computer, tablet, mobile phone – that device probably has an available app that would let you use the device as an audio recording device. I counsel against using that. Computers have a tendency to crash at the most inopportune times. Tablets and mobile phones have limitations on inputs. Can you make it work? Sure. Should you? A much better question.

My suggestion: Buy the Zoom H4n. About the size of two decks of playing cards, there’s a lot of power packed into this little package. Not only is it noise-free (solid state recording to an SD card) and crash-proof (though you can connect via USB to your computer, but did you not just read the two preceding paragraphs?), but consider all these benefits:

  • It’s super portable, so you don’t have to record up against the wall where you’ve shoved your desk
  • There’s a screw hole (also called a “nut”, I hear) on the back that’s the same size as on your camera, so it’ll attach to your tripod or “gorilla pod” for better positioning
  • It’s packed with a ton of built-in onboard effects, like auto gain, EQ, and other stuff you probably never will but certainly can use
  • The X-Y mic on the top is outstanding and just may be your go-to microphone (we’re getting there)
  • Two XLR or 1/4” jacks on the bottom give you more mic options
  • Live monitoring (listening with headphones as you record) lets you know exactly how much background noise is getting into your recording (I’ll address this, too)

I love this little device. I’ve had mine for at least five years. A monkey even tried to eat it, and it’s still great. Minus the monkey slobber. Buy it.

Ok, so you’ll use the Zoom H4n (or one of its more expensive siblings) to handle the recording. But let’s talk external microphones.

Professional Microphone

Notice I didn’t write cheap microphone. Nor is headset listed here. Neither, you’ll notice, is phone. You need a professional microphone to record your audiobook. And yes, that’s going to cost you money. And yes again, the Zoom H4n has a built in mic. But you may want a different one.

Side note: I don’t engage in the never-ending condenser vs dynamic microphone war. Or the Mac vs. PC war. Or the Chevy vs. Ford war. Or any war. Make love, not war. Or at least audiobooks, not war. If you’re ignorant of this war, do everything in your power to stay that way.

For the money and quality, I find myself turning to the Shure SM58 microphone time and time again. It’s even more indestructible than the Zoom H4n, which is one reason why it’s the go-to house mic for most bars, clubs, and other live music venues. (The other reason is that there are seriously great components inside!)

I get a little grief from my podcasting and audiobook recording friends when I make that suggestion. They all tell me the same thing: “That mic was designed to pick up a singer’s vocals.” How they fail to see the irony of their statement is beyond me. Anyhow, it’s a solid mic. I carry two.

The AudioTechnica AT2020 is another popular option. I’ve used it. It works. I like how my voice sounds on the SM58 better.

If you’re ignoring my advice about buying an independent recording device and are dead set on using your computer, you’re on a different path. Both the Blue Yeti and the Rode Podcaster are excellent USB microphones with excellent components. You’ll sound good. But you’re risking recording on a computer. I’ve beat that dead horse enough. YMMV.

Whichever mic you choose, you’re probably going to want/need some accessories. If you go with one of the XLR mics and the Zoom, you’ll need a mic cable to connect the two together. Get a 6-foot XLR cable. They’re cheap and anything longer is just going to get tangled up, ran over, or add to the clutter and then annoy whoever you share your life with. You’ll probably want some sort of mic stand and something to hold the pages of your book. I’ve never used one, but something like this looks nifty to me. And a pop filter to keep your breath and exploding “P” sounds (plosives) to a minimum would help.

(Relatively) Quiet Place

Unless you invest in a sound isolation booth (or luck into a free one like some people), you’re going to have to accept some level of noise when you record. You can get rid of a lot of the ambient noise by turning off the air conditioning and unplugging the refrigerator… but you’re still going to have sound reflection, which negatively (to varying degrees) impacts your recording.

Enter the sound shield, a deceptively simple, low-tech solution. Some look like egg crates stuffed with foam. Some look like radar arrays lined with foam. Some look like panels you’d find in an office. I’ve never owned one, and can’t make a personal recommendation. I’ve used many, and they sure are nice. But before you spend the cash, try these possible solutions:

  • Record in the closet. No, really. All those clothes hanging up make for a great sound baffle. Test it the next time you’re in there.
  • Get under a blanket. If you can figure out how to avoid the problems of excess heat and a lack of light, this can work.
  • Invest in tapestries. Big curtains. Hanging, puffy wall decorations. Anything that will absorb the sound on impact will help.

There are lot of tricks you can use to make your environment as quiet as possible. But how do you know if you’ve done a good job? You have to listen. And you have to listen with quality professional headphones. The Sony MDR7506 are perfect for the job. Great quality and not terribly expensive. They are much more sensitive than your earbuds. Plug them into the Zoom H4n, crank up the volume, and walk around your space. You’ll immediately hear the loud spots to avoid, as well as find the quiet spots you can work with. Also, professional headphones are required in the next step, so you’ll use them. A lot. Don’t skimp.

(And don’t waste your money on headphones made by companies that spend more money on marketing and branding than they do on product development. It’s easy to beat the quality of those bozos.) (Man, I hope those jokes landed and I don’t get sued for being too obvious.)

For Editing

Once your voice is on the Zoom H4n, you need to get it on your computer. Technically, you can edit on the Zoom. But that way madness lies! And even if you recorded directly to your computer (which I told you not to do), you’re still going to have to edit your narration session. Sorry. Them’s the breaks. Even pro narrators have to edit. Have to. It’s not optional.

As I stated in the “Before You Get Started” chapter, I can’t teach you how to edit audio. Not in this guide, at least. All I can do is tell you what software to download and leave you to find the right mix of tutorials and classes. Editing audio isn’t hard. It just takes patience. But let’s get to the software.

Audacity is free

Audacity is a free cross platform audio editing tool. It’s powerful (enough) to do what you want. Oh, and it’s free. It’s also what I’ve used since 2004. There are more powerful tools. There are more feature-filled tools. There are even more stable tools. But I still use Audacity.

And even though I’m not going to give you a detailed rundown of how to use the software (see above), I will tell you one productivity trick that works regardless of what software you use: When you are recording, just record. Focus on getting through the raw recording of one section (chapter, scene, whatever) at a time. If you screw up in the middle of a recording session, don’t hit the stop button. Instead, clap your hands twice – loudly – and start re-reading at the beginning of the paragraph where you screwed up. Don’t hit the STOP button until you’re at the end of the section, regardless of how many clap-marked retakes you have.

Clapping puts two big spikes in the waveform of the audio track. Those spikes helps you “see” the flub in the visual editor. And re-starting your narration at the start of the paragraph makes it a lot easier to delete the bad part than trying to join an edit in mid-sentence. It’ll feel weird, because you know you made a mistake. Stop (talking, not recording). Clap twice. Start (talking) again. When you reach the end of the section, then you can press the STOP button and switch to editing-mode.

Compress Dynamics 1.2.6 makes it better

Compression is, without getting too technical, what makes radio DJs sound so god-like. While I’ve no desire to turn you into a god or a DJ, I will suggest you install the Compress Dynamics 1.2.6 to make your narration sound better. That’s better as in more rich, full, and even. It’s like the little tool that makes cake frosting nice and smooth. Which makes it taste better, right?

Install the Compress Dynamics plugin for Audacity. You’ll find all the details you need on the link above. And Daniel J. Lewis has a very helpful guide on how to tweak the five sliders to give you the best possible sound. So really… why should I say anything more? I use this on every piece of narration audio I record. Always. Without fail.

A Better Way To Master

Once you’ve cleaned up all the flubs, umms, and page turns, and once you’ve used appropriate compression to embetter your voice, you’ll need to tack on the intro and the outro to each episode. Remember, this is a serialized audiobook you’re creating. Just like TV shows have an opening and closing sequence, so will each of the episodes that will make up the audiobook you’ll place on Podiobooks.com.

You’ll find more details in the Content section later in this guide. For now, we’re focused on the software you’ll need to “stitch” your intro and outro to the content you just narrated and edited.

You can use Audacity to do this. But I find Hindenburg Journalist Pro a superior tool to both master and put the final touches onto my audio files before I publish them.

What makes Hindenburg so much better at assembling the final file? Several things:

  • Intelligent auto leveling: Consider yourself lucky if you’ve not encoutered blaring intro music that overpowers the narration. That’s never a problem with Hindenburg, as the software measures the “loudness” of each segment – your intro, your episode content, and your outro most likely – and then automatically sets the “level” of each piece for a consistent experience. It’s near magical.
  • Drag and drop: Without switching tools and with incredible fine-tuning, you can place each element exactly where it should be. This is very helpful when dropping in effects or bringing outro music under the end of the narration. And it adjusts in live time, so you can hear the adjustments as you make them.
  • Better .mp3 files: I’ll spare you the technical jargon and just say that the quality of the .mp3s generated by Hindenburg are far superior to that of Audacity or even iTunes. And who doesn’t like better quality files?
  • Excellent EQ settings: Need a little boost in your bass? Have some high ends that are a little sharp? Hindenburg’s built-in EQ makes it easy to tweak the sound of your narration without impacting the intro, outro, or special effects. It’s handy.
  • LUFS -16 exports: In short, LUFS -16 makes too quiet audio a thing of the past. It’s a (I wish I could say the) loudness standard adopted by broadcast radio. And it ensures that your files won’t be hard for someone to hear.

Just like with Audacity, I can’t teach you how to use Hindenburg Journalist Pro. But the company has an excellent series of tutorials, which reduces the learning curve. And a 30-day free and fully functional trial makes sure you aren’t wasting your money. Because it’s not cheap. But it is awesome. Hindenburg saves me literally hours every single week. I love it.

For Publishing

Good news: All of the audio work is done at this point. No more looking at waveforms, worrying about loudness, or trying to keep your plosives under control. Your file already sounds good. Now we’re going to make it (and you) look good.

ID3 Tags

ID3 tags are what control how your episodes display to your listeners. On their phone, music player… whatever. The Content section in the next chapter tells you what to add. Here I’m telling you how to add it. Neither Audacity or Hindenburg will do the trick, cool as they are. You need a dedicated ID3 tag editor. And, frankly, I don’t care which one you download.

I use Media Rage for Mac. You do not have to. There are many, many choices in ID3 tagging software. I suggest using one that is free.

Cover Art

Audacity’s shortcoming is that it won’t let you embed cover art (also known as album art) into your ID3 tags. That’s why you need a separate ID3 tagging tool. But the tagging tools won’t help you create your album art. Good news: Online image editor Canva will, and it’s free!

We’ll get into the specifics of what dimensions and format the cover art for your episodes should be in the next section. If you’re a wizard with Photoshop, keep using it. But for quick and darn good looking results even for non-designers (like me), Canva is great!

The Definitive Shopping List

OK, that was a lot of info. Sorry. I get wordy. Here is everything I just covered in a single list, in the same groupings and (mostly) order as the preceding chapter:

Record

Edit

Publish

See? Easy. Well, easy if you’ve got the cash to spend. But well worth it if you want a quality product. (Which you do… right?)

Up next

Audio Content Requirements