Home recording studios: DIY setups for Storyscaping and Shelter in Place podcasts

If you have access to a professional recording studio for your podcast, fantastic! But for many of us, recording our podcasts at home or with DIY setups will be what we have to do. So we wanted to share a few images with comments, so you can see examples as you put your own home recording setup together — and also hear how the different setups sound.

Example 1: Shelter in Place season one (basic blanket fort)

For the first 100 episodes of Shelter in Place, Laura’s home recording studio consisted of just four things:

Here’s what it sounded like: Shelter in Place S1, episode 1. (Total cost, about $200.)

As you can hear, it’s pretty good for a $100 microphone and two blankets anyone might have around the house! But as you’ll notice when you hear the next two samples, the Blue Yeti doesn’t sound as rich and warm as the other microphones you’ll hear below, and also the blanket fort got really uncomfortable on hot days (sweaty, and she couldn’t move around without rustling). Also, the Blue Yeti picks up more omnidirectional noise than more expensive mics, so Laura could only record very early in the morning, or late at night. (For example, Thursday mornings, trash day in our neighborhood, were too noisy.)

Example 2: Shelter in Place season three (Shure MV7 + accessories)

In season three (2021), Laura upgraded with a number of items:

Here’s what it sounded like: season three trailer. Total cost, about $350.

You can hear the difference: she sounds warmer, more intimate, and less nasal. Most of that you can attribute to the improvement of the Shure MV7 (~$200) over the Blue Yeti ($100). The boom arm and sound shield help reduce vibrations, and ambient noise respectively, which means the outside environment doesn’t have to be dead silent to get acceptable recording quality.

Example 3: Storyscaping (Shure SM7b + accessories)

A mold problem caused by rotten 100-year-old wood trim in our closet window prompted me to take out the window and replace it with wall . . . which meant we had an ideal space for home recording: a windowless closet. Gear and items:

Here’s what it sounds like: Storyscaping trailer.

It’s cramped in there — I can’t move my arms much without hitting all the clothes! — but also between the microphone being very good at just picking up the voice, and all the insulation, there can be a fair amount of ambient noise, and I can still record.

P.S. If you sign up for our online course, you get an exclusive 30% discount on Shure audio products, like the MV7 or SM7b microphones, and the X2U adapter.

P.S. in the first sound design module of our course, we include a comparison of six different mics and recording setups, with pictures and audio files to illustrate. In our sound design workshop, we have a slide with links to a bunch of other podcasters who have gotten great sound quality with different home recording setups. Questions? Email us!