When I started Tech In Chicago, I wanted to make sure I sounded professional right off the bat so I spent a crazy amount of time researching the right equipment. The high-end audio world is a deep rabbit hole to go down. My sunk hours of research are your gain. Below is everything you need to make amazing sounding in-person interviews.

This is exactly what I use and I fully endorse it.

I record all my interviews in person and this is dead simple. I try to always record with the recorder plugged in, but I do bring spare batteries just in case. I would hate to have the recorder die in the middle of an interview and miss something. There is an upgraded Zoom H6 if you want the option to have on 3 or 4 people.

This is a legendary vocal mic, both for audio quality and durability. Rock stars use it on stage and it works just as well for podcasting. I bought them used off craigslist for $50 each.

I make my guests hold the mics instead of using a stand/boom because the audio levels are more consistent and it’s less to travel with.

The SM58 comes with a built in windscreen, but this extra one helps minimize the clicks and pops a mic can pick up.

There is a bit of learning curve with this, but if you are serious, the extra time spent learning initially makes editing way faster. Garageband will do just fine if you want to go the free route.

Easiest way to build a beautiful website. The price includes barebones podcast audio hosting which will be sufficient for most podcasters. It integrates nicely with mailchimp (newsletters), google analytics, and is already setup for SEO.

GIMME10 is the promo code for 10% off.

I just landed my first sponsor so I decided to upgrade my podcast hosting to Libsyn. It has better stats and more versatility. From what I can tell all the big podcasters use Libsyn, but if you are just getting started I would just use Squarespace as your host.

This is my all time favorite backpack. It is incredibly light and fits a surprising amount of stuff. I carry all my equipment in 3 shoe bags and toss them in this backpack to bike over to the recording location of the day.

I hope that helps. Feel free to reach out with any questions you may have. Happy podcasting!!