Now, if you’re struggling to figure out what to buy your favourite podcaster this Christmas, look no further than my handy list below. I own (or have used) all of the products below and can recommend them with 5 stars.
Adobe Audition
Since graduating from Audacity to Audition, I’ve noticed a marked increase in the quality of my audio files. If you’ve been producing podcasts for a while and you’re looking for a more robust audio editing software, get Audition.
I’ll warn you, there’s a steep learning curve as it’s not as intuitive as Audacity, but with the right tutorials and a bit of mucking around, you’ll get the hang of this awesome editing software.
Mac Book Pro
Need I say more? It has everything a podcaster needs. Everything. I touched it. Once. I’ll just wallow in self pity as I count my loonies one-by-one to see if I can finally get my hands on one of these babies.
Pamela for Skype
Tired of getting interrupted by those who ignore your “I’m Busy” status on Skype while you’re conducting that all too important podcast interview? Pamela acts as your administrative assistant who takes messages for you and tells the skyper that you don’t want to be disturbed. Handy way to curb everyone’s enthusiasm so you can record your skype calls in peace.
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Camtasia 4.0
Probably one of the easiest tools you can use to capture your voice while showing a bunch of slides or clicking through some webpages on your desktop. Not only can record and edit files right in Camtasia, but you can also publish it in just about any format and make it available as a podcast.
Plantronics DSP-400 Headset
Bought this baby back in October 2005 and haven’t looked back. The Plantronics headset also comes with a microphone and plugs in easily into the back of your computer. Use it to record your voice directly into Audacity, Garageband or Audition or to talk to someone over Skype.
If you want a studio quality sound without stepping into a studio, get this headset.
iRiver Portable Player
Yum, a podcaster’s dream. You can record interviews, download podcasts, hook it up to a TV or camcorder and transfer data from other mobile devices without having to go through a computer. And the audio quality from a recording on iRiver is just superb. It’s as if you stepped into a studio.
I’m adding more as I think about them, so if you’re a podcaster, what do you want Santa to bring you this Christmas?
Hi Leesa – if you’re nice to me, I’ll let you touch my new 17″ Core 2 Duo MacBookPro with three gigs of RAM 🙂
I agree it would make a nice gift, but had to buy it for myself.
Happy holidays!
Also check out the Podcasting Holiday Gift Guide, which features some ideas that don’t cost a fortune and aren’t just geared to high-end podcasters.
Your Adobe Audition and MacBook Pro are not compatible products, unless you hold your nose and use Parallels or Bootcamp to run Windows on that Mac. You’d have to choose between them.
That said, there are some wonderful audio production tools for the Mac, and they integrate nicely as separate applications, instead of having to have one does-it-all application like Adobe Audition.
I’d love to get an ISDN line and an all digital phone hybrid for doing better quality phone interviews. I’ve never found Skype or other VOIP options acceptable.
No doubt – a Zoom H4 recorder from Samson. It records in stereo from mp3 to DVD-quality (!) on a sd-memorycard. It works on AA-batteries, it has plugs for external mics, the transfer to your pc is easy, and it is cheap – 300 dollar.
Merry Christmas Leesa 🙂