Ultimate Holiday Gift Guide for Podcasters – PCI 424

Welcome to today's episode of Podcast Insider. I'm Todd Cochran, founder of Blueberry Podcasting. I'm Mike Dell, VP of customer relations here at Blueberry. And today, we're gonna talk about our 15 gift ideas for the podcasters in your life. You're listening to Podcast Insider hosted by Mike Dell, Todd Cochran, and Mackenzie Bennett from the Blueberry team, bringing you weekly insights, advice, and insider tips and tricks to help you start, grow, and thrive through podcasting.

With all the support of your team here at Blueberry Podcasting. Welcome. Let's dive in. Mike, can we come up with 15 ideas? That's that's the question. This December is here, so it's holiday season and it's in full swing. Whether you're a podcaster yourself or shopping for 1, it's a perfect time to start thinking about the ultimate gifts for creators. So in today's episode, we're sharing our top picks for gifts that will make any podcaster's holiday merry and bright.

Again, whether you're dropping hints for your own wish list or shopping for the perfect presence. Like me being currently overseas, my kids are starting to send their Amazon wish list, and it's always fun to to see what they have and the grandkids' shopping list. There's always a few things I want as a podcaster. And You and I are old enough to remember the old Sears catalog after well, you'd certainly go to auction. Well, that's all you know, let's be honest with you.

That is almost even before my time. So I mean close to me too. So,

anyway Microphones are always a great thing. And, again, if you don't if you're shopping for someone and you don't know what they have, and you would say, well, what kind of a microphone is that? And they say, well, I've got a we've got a Ars Technica or I've got a whatever. And then you can know what they currently have, and then you can look and see if they actually need an upgrade. And you can just Google based upon what they have and then what's out there.

There's always great selections, the Shure SM7 B, the m 7, the this is not a Shure mic, but the re 320, a Rode PodMic. And, again, if they are just getting started, again, that kind of that starter mark mic, that ETR 21 100 Yep. Is a great mic as well. But, again, we went from kind of expensive down to less expensive in that list with the SM 7b and the RE 3 20 to be kinda high on the list

on prices. But And on microphones, it's a very personal thing, but, you know, most most of the time, I would suggest a dynamic unless they have a really good environment for a condenser, but and the budget can go anywhere from $100 to 500 or more if you get into those real expensive ones. But, you know And if it's someone that's not necessarily needing a surprise, but maybe you're you shop for each other or whatever it may be, and you take a suggestion, maybe like, hey.

What mic would you love to have? And, of course, don't be surprised. There's some out there that are, like, way beyond what Mike and I have talked about in budget here Right. That are very nice. But, for the most part, I've been using SM 7 b now for a couple of years. It's what I'm using today. I used to use a condenser mic, but, again, I had a studio that would support it. Yeah. And and it sounded great for

you. You know? That's the other thing with not all mic sound great with all voices, but we've we beat that to death in another episode. But Yeah.

And, of course, accessories are always great too. A pop filter, windscreen. And, again, you might just wanna buy oftentimes, these microphones that you currently have, you can find aftermarket windscreens that go right over the cone. So in other words, you don't have to have some big bulky thing. Yeah. The SM7 has that built in. It's a big foam thing

that sticks on the end of it. But things like the RE 3 20 or the RODE PodMic, they have these external little windscreens that, you can get on Amazon, and they just clamp around the end of the microphone, and it's a physical screen. Neat little things like that. Stocking stuffers as we would call them, I guess.

And headphones are always a great investment. Now I have been wearing in ear headphones for a very long time. And the reason that I do that is because I also do video. So I don't want the big head headphones, Yeah. The cans to be on. Now some people do. I mean, I seem to see folks are doing video with those big big headphones on with the cans. Personally, I like the in ear ones and I'm a big fan of sure, My head basically, earphones. I guess that's the best word for

them. But the there's some great ones out there from Audio Technica. That's what I'm wearing. I'm sure. Awesome. The ATH 5th m fifty x. Yeah. So you use you're wearing a big can Yep. And I'm wearing in ears. And, again, I think it's an aesthetic. I think it depends on what they want. But another great option is the Sony MDR 7506. Now that's known for clarity and comfort, and as long as you wear these things sometimes, they can actually start hurting the ears. Yeah.

You don't wanna wear them for hours and hours and hours, but, they're good for quick recording in an hour or 2. Yep.

Yeah. And then that's other things on this list. Go ahead. Another thing that a lot of podcasters don't have but might like to have is a portable recorder, Zoom h 5, h 6. They're reasonably reasonably priced, and they're really good. You can plug the XLR mic into it, or they have onboard condenser mics. But if somebody does wanna podcast on the go,

that's that's a great option. I used to do podcasts while driving, and I'd use my h five and had a lavalier mic on, which didn't have the greatest quality, but it wasn't in my face when I was driving. Be careful with stuff like that, but a little portable recorder might be a cool gift. Of course, a microphone a microphone boom arm the microphone boom arm. English app for the day. Yeah. One thing that for years, I used a high oplt 2. And, I mean, it was my go to

probably for more than 10 years. And then when I reset my studio up, I end up buying a relatively inexpensive boom arm that instead of coming from over the top came in from the bottom, bottom up. And I'm just in love with that new boom arm. So, again, I think it depends on what you're doing. The RODE PSA 1 is a great one as well, but the main thing to think about is what is the purpose of it? It's purely audio.

Maybe one of those new boom arms that come in from the bottom and come up is better than one that comes in from over the top. Again, it all depends on your desk layout and where you're recording from too. Yeah. And if you're doing a lot of video, that makes more sense because you don't have that big thing over your head. But, you know, if you're just doing audio only, you can't go wrong with the Heil or the RODE. And I got a idiot. Cheap one that I got on Amazon that

comes up from the bottom. And Yeah. That's where I found the one I had to. And so far, so good. I'm using it right now. One thing about those there and I'll be honest with you. I've got some boom mics that are in the graveyard because they just didn't work for the desk. So don't be afraid to send something back too. If it doesn't work aesthetically or if it doesn't reach perfectly, send it back and get something else. But for my money, that Heil PLT 2 is is one

of the best ones out there. And what's cool about that one is it hides the cords. Yeah. It has in there and it's not the fancy plastic that covers the cord, but the cord runs down the boom. There's no big springs, and it makes no noise when you move it around. That's kind of the gold standard as far as I'm concerned.

Another thing you might think about is getting somebody a subscription to some podcast editing software. A lot of people are using, what is that one? Audacity, which is a free one. But Audition is not free. It's a subscription, but it's much more powerful. Now, again, the problem with it would be whatever they're used to, but there's a couple of really good ones out there. Adobe Audition. I think that's, what, $20 a month or something. You can get an annual subscription or Descript.

I don't remember what the pricing is on that, but it's not overly expensive, and it's pretty interesting as well. A lot of people are switching to that. But that's And this is a great season to pick up subscriptions because I'm seeing 50% discounts on stuff right now. Through Christmas, the stuff companies are gonna be offering. If you've got a current subscription and you're paying monthly, I just picked up a 50% offer in annual with the folks at Restream. So it saved me about $200. So I'm

pretty pleased with that with that renewal. Again, so software stuff is always good. One thing that I've taken advantage specifically in my last two

studios is acoustic panels. I've really it just made a whole complete difference to the whole sound in the studio. And it all dip also depends on where you're recording. Now if you're in a spare bedroom and you've got carpet or you're in a home office, depending on your makeup of your room and also negotiating with your partner, if you have one, you may wanna go with some acoustic panels from some companies out there that have the stylish

ones. Some people just go with the black and gray and that just may not aesthetically look great. But there's companies out there that sell acoustic panels that are actually can be ordered by design. So there's lots of options out there. And then you don't need a lot. Typically, in front and to the sides of you is a great place to put them if you're not too far away from a wall. The sound just kinda bounces around a little bit, sometimes bounces right back back into the

mic. Yeah. In my office here, I have carpet, and I put acoustic panels on the ceiling. Of course, this office is purpose built for podcast studio and work. But then I've got a couple of a couple of panels on each side of me on the walls, and it it works pretty well. And I'm kind of in the worst place ever for podcasters and next to a busy road, and they got helicopters flying over all the time, and it really makes a

difference even from external sound. But, you can pick up you can probably hear the helicopter now. Yeah. I can hear it in the background a little bit. One thing that is the biggest really impact to acoustics is if you are using a big monitor in front of your microphone Yeah. That sound will actually bounce right off that monitor and come back in and you really it's very hard to hear, but it's such if you're a professional editor, it's almost a bit of a reverb.

So if you have the opportunity and you can get a clear space in front of you between your mouth and what's in front of you that's open, that's a great place to put an acoustic panel. But if you've got a big screen, then on the sides and like Mike said above you work out good. Now, Mike, you don't have to worry about the missus complaining about the acoustic panels above you in in in the home and having a guest see that thing. What's that up there? This is a Yeah. It's

This is the man cave. I get to do what I want. Right.

Right. Ladies, I know that having something look nice is important. So again, on those acoustic panels, you can order custom ones that actually may even have your podcast logo or something like that on on it. Right. Alright. Mike, what else we have in this list? Yeah. And something simple. If, you know, your person you're giving a gift to, podcaster or yourself, uses a laptop stand, you can get a really nice looking one that'll lift the laptop up off the desk so you get a little more space.

It kinda puts the thing up further to so you can see see it a little better without having neck strain or anything like that. Something simple like that would be a cool little gift. Yeah. That the ability to raise that laptop about 4 inches is makes the whole difference in the world. Even here where I'm at now, I'm looking down at my laptop and the laptop stand has been in my consideration to add here to this to my, basically, my remote studio location.

One other thing too to consider is some custom podcast artwork. If you if it's been a while since you've had an there's been an update to a show design, you can gift a service like 99 designs and, so they can update your artwork. Lots of options there to go out and maybe do a update to the podcast artwork.

Yep. And the next thing I have on the list here is gift cards for, like, a stock music service or a fax, a service like epidemic sound or endemic sound, I guess it is, and or audio jungle, something like that to get some bumper music and sound effects and intros, translations, that kind of thing. And there's who does it? I forget what the name of the outfit is that will actually

make the intros and outros for you. Maybe a gift card for something like that or for your podcaster that you give the gift to or for yourself. Another thing is continuing education. You think about a subscription to a master class or Skillshare. They all have courses on audio editing, storytelling, and interview techniques. There are also podcast specific courses available to help creators sharpen their skills. That's a great

way to go. Also, depending on what you have for an audio interface, of course, the RODEcaster seems to be the most popular product right now, but there's a lot of a great audio interfaces. Focusrite is 1. It's a great audio interface for connecting XLR microphones to a computer. It's known for its high quality preamps and ease. I'm personally Mike, you and I fell in love with the product from AudioSigma, the Pod Mobile. This thing has changed the world for me as far as not having

to deal with glitches and all this. And it's called the AudioSigma Pod Mobile. It's the one I'm using, and it's a little tiny device, so you can take it with you. You can plug it into an iPhone and record. You can plug it into an iPad or a Android or pretty much any device, and it'll power it. It's just we talked about it. I interviewed the guy that designed it. One thing, you can't record the device. It is a DSP. So your pod mobile will hand yeah. It'll handle 2 microphones,

and it's got, I mean, incredible amps. Yeah. I can't talk. It's a great product. So Audius Sigma, a u d a u d I s I g m a, highly recommended. And again, if you're looking for a portable solution, this is absolutely it. And, of course, there's we always need storage. Oh, yeah. A reliable external hard drive is always something that's crucial for storing backing up episodes.

Of course, cloud storage subscriptions to stuff like Google Drive or Dropbox are also valuable for extra safety, but I've always have my data from my podcast backed up in 2 places. I have it on an external hard drive, and I have it also in the cloud. Everyone needs an external hard drive, especially when you wanna clean the laptop up a little bit and you wanna dump stuff off or on the desktop depending on what you're using. A great in there great price these days.

My god. It the cost for storage is unbelievable. Out there. It's it's gotten a lot cheaper. That's the thing. I remember it used to be, like, a dollar a megabyte or something way back when, but just now you can get a 2 terabyte SSD drive that I probably for under a $100 if you shop around. Oh, yeah. They're under a 100. Yeah. They're very inexpensive. Yeah. Yeah.

And here's a big one, a comfortable office chair. Now I kinda went to the extreme, and I have a I have a La Z Boy in here. But, currently, I'm in a steel case from the office there in Columbus, and it's a very comfortable chair. It doesn't make a whole lot of noise when I move around, and something like that for your creator or for yourself, it's a great investment.

Just being comfortable makes you sound better. And I I know it sounds silly, but if you're all slouched in a an uncomfortable chair, it's gonna come through in your audio. And if you're on video, you're gonna be wiggling around and all that. It definitely is something you should invest in either for yourself or for whoever you're given the gift to. Now, Mike, I'm can attest to this in

a big way. And when I got over here and overseas and built this portable studio, I bought a $72 computer chair, and it's now sitting on the patio. I went and ordered another computer chair that is definitely more comfortable, but it's not even at the standard that I have when I'm in the studio in Michigan. The chair I have in Michigan was purposely bought and it was very expensive. It was about $700, but I can stay in that chair 8 hours. I can work comfortably, get up, not have a sore back. It's

adjustable. The arms move. I mean, I can change the position along with the standing desk, of course, has been really life changing for someone that has back challenges. This probably, in my opinion, if you don't have a good chair, this is probably the best investment you can make. I'm trying to think of the name of the chair that I have. Again, not inexpensive and at very few it's basically you can find them in professional. Don't go to Walmart. Don't go to

Staples or whatever. Go to a professional office supply store peep where they sell professional desk and that type of you'll find chairs in there that will be different than you'll find anywhere else in a price range that will run probably 300 up to more closer to $1,000. But, again And don't worry about there's a lot of used office furniture out there, especially after the pandemic. A

lot of offices never reopen. Yep. You can pick up a Herman Miller or a Steelcase chair at one of those places for what you would pay for the Amazon cheapo one. Yeah. And, again, once you sit in them, you're gonna go, You you just know the difference. It's night and day. And I tell people this all the time and they just you say you spend $700 on an office chair? I'm like, yeah. And I love it. Yeah. It's like here, we work

in our office chairs. Yeah. And something that we didn't have on the list here, but maybe a lift desk. A lift desk is great. Because, like, with this, I've got a lift desk in here. And if I wanna stand, I can. If I wanna sit on a bar stool, I can. If I wanna roll my lazy boy over here, I can. And I can put the desk at the optimal levels. That's another thought. They do have these lifts that can go on a regular desk that just lift the computer and monitor up, but a full lift desk

also is not that expensive anymore. They're all over the place. When we closed the office, I took the Steelcase lift desk and put it in my office, and then I had a lift desk that I had purchased personally. I gave to my daughter, and she'd never had a lift desk before. And she just, like, raves every time I talk about it about that being able to basically be able to stand up, raise the desk, work standing up. It's just that change of position makes a big difference.

Final thing we have on the list here is a tool or service like Canva Pro for designing podcasting merchandise or gift certificates or to print demand service print on demand service like Printful to help podcasters create and sell branded items. Again, a merchandise design kit. And if you're shopping for yourself, maybe there's been something in this list of things that Mike and I have come up with. What are some of the things that we

missed here? What is something that is on your wish list for the holiday period or just your wish list as a creator by itself. Wait. Did we miss something? If we did, let us know. Yeah. Definitely. Send us your wish list. We'd be interested in in that and, yeah, might give us some ideas for ourselves. So, anyway, we will catch you next week. Happy holidays. Thanks for joining us. Come back next week.

And in the meantime, head to podcast insider.com for more information, to subscribe, share, and read our show notes. To check out our latest suite of services and learn how Blueberry can help you leverage your podcast, visit blueberry.com. That's Blueberry without the e's. We couldn't afford the e's.