[FAQ]

Hey all,

I’ve been recording my podcast for a little while now, and while I’m happy with my content, I feel like the audio quality still sounds a bit amateurish. There’s a bit of room echo, and the sound isn’t as crisp or full as the professional podcasts I listen to.

I don’t have a huge budget for a professional studio, but I want to significantly improve my sound. What are some practical tips and techniques for making my audio sound more professional in 2025? I’m thinking about things like my room setup, how I use my microphone, and maybe some basic editing tricks that can make a big difference.

Any advice to level up my sound quality would be amazing!

[Jeff Bullas]

Improving your podcast audio to sound more professional is one of the most impactful things you can do to enhance the listener experience. It often comes down to focusing on a few key areas in your recording and editing process, many of which do not require expensive equipment.

First, you must improve your recording environment. This is a crucial and often overlooked step. The goal is to reduce echo and sound reflections (reverb). You do not need a professional studio; you can achieve this by recording in a smaller room that has many soft surfaces to absorb sound. For example, a room with thick curtains, carpets or rugs, and bookshelves filled with books is a good start. A walk-in wardrobe filled with clothes is often an excellent makeshift recording booth for this reason.

Second, you need to refine your microphone technique. It is essential to get close to your microphone, typically speaking about 10 to 15 centimetres (around 4 to 6 inches) away from it. This technique, known as close-miking, allows you to reduce the microphone’s input gain or sensitivity. A lower gain setting means the microphone will pick up much more of your voice and significantly less of the room’s ambient noise and echo. Also, always speak clearly and directly into the microphone, and use a pop filter to control harsh plosive sounds like ‘p’ and ‘b’.

Third, you should always use headphones to monitor your own audio as you are recording. This allows you to hear exactly what the microphone is capturing in real-time. You will be able to immediately identify issues like background noise, plosives, or if you are moving too far away from the mic, and you can correct them as they happen.

Fourth, learn to use some basic post-production editing techniques. After you have recorded your audio, you can use your editing software to clean it up significantly. A few key processes will make a big difference. One is using a noise reduction tool to remove any consistent background hiss or hum from a computer fan or air conditioner. Two is applying some light equalisation (EQ) to adjust the tonal balance of your voice, perhaps by slightly boosting the low-end frequencies for warmth and the high-end frequencies for clarity. And three is using compression to even out the volume levels of your speech, which makes the quieter parts louder and the louder parts a bit softer for a more consistent and pleasant listening experience.

Fifth, ensure you are exporting your final audio file in a suitable format. For a spoken-word podcast, a mono MP3 file at a bitrate of at least 128 kbps is a common industry standard that provides a good balance between audio quality and file size.

Significant improvements in your sound quality will come from controlling your recording space, using proper microphone technique, and applying these basic editing processes. These steps will often elevate your audio quality far more than simply buying a more expensive microphone.

Cheers,

Jeff

[Author]

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