When it comes to video, how much you want to invest it up to you. But if you’re gunna splash out on sound, you may as well get the video to match. The Sony a6400 is a mid-range mirrorless camera that’s popular with content creators and streamers. It’s got a big flip-up display which makes it easy to monitor yourself while recording and it’s got really fast autofocus. The crystal clear 4K video is the perfect accompaniment to your primo audio.

This thing is legendary. It’s one of the best value-for-money lenses out there — and maybe pieces of video gear. Add this lens to your mirrorless camera to get a beautiful shot. For so many YouTubers, streamers, and creators this lens is the piece of gear that makes the difference. With it you get a super wide angle, which is great for smaller studios. It means you can have it close to your face and still capture a lot of what’s around you. It also has a really shallow depth of field and you get a really nice blurry background. I love this lens and you will too.

It looks great, it’s built really well, it sounds amazing, and all the pros use it. The SM7B is basically the gold standard for podcast audio these days. It’s an XLR condenser mic so it’s got accurate, balanced sound with minimal interference noise. If you want a great podcast setup, then you need this mic. But there are a couple gotchas. If you’re new to professional audio you’ll need to purchase an audio interface. This routes the sound from the mic into your computer. It has special XLR inputs which computers definitely don’t have. On top of that, you’ll probably need a preamp — this is for boosting the volume of the microphone. By default, the SM7B is a very quiet microphone. Once you’ve got it all set up sound is well worth it.

If your mic isn’t on a boom arm do you really have a podcast? Sure you can put most mics on a stand, including the SM7B, but it’s more fun when you look like Howard Stern. RØDE’s boom arms are great.

If your podcast setup is at home then you’re probably going to need to do some sound treatment. Make sure you don’t have lots of hard surfaces that can reflect your audio and mess up the recorded sound (e.g. blank walls and wooden floors). One of the simplest things you can do is buy a couple boxes of acoustic foam and cover your walls.