And since we both know you’re buying it for yourself, here are 2 options I’d recommend depending on your budget.

Shure MV7+

• $350 (on sale) – $400CAD at Amazon / Best Buy

Other than the even more expensive Shure SM7B, which requires other additional hardware to use with a computer, this is the best mic for most podcasters these days. The MV7+ uses a USB-C connection to your computer, while also supporting an XLR connection in case you ever do get a fancier set up. It’s very forgiving of bad recording set ups and room noise, which makes it worth upgrading to if you can’t change the space you’re recording in without ripping out the walls or tile floors.

The MV7+ gives you the warmth of a SM7B, without the expensive cost.

Shure MV6

• $179 (on sale) – $209 at Amazon / Best Buy

The MV6 is just a USB-C based microphone that connects directly to your computer. No XLR option for upgrading to fancier equipment later. But it’s still a great microphone that’s marketed primarily at gamers and live streamers, but it’s still a great microphone for podcasters to use.

With the MV7+ and MV6 both seeming to be similar microphones, why go with the more expensive MV7+? Shure’s blog post has a good explanation:

The MV7+ keeps the warm broadcast tone of the iconic SM7 – probably the most famous and sought after voice over microphone of all time.

The MV6 on the other hand has a brighter tone, which makes it perfect for cutting through the noise of a frantic Fortnite session. Think of it like the lead guitar – up at the top of the mix, riding over the waves of sound.

So if you’re planning on using the mic for more than just gaming or streaming – or maybe you just love that traditional broadcast feel – then the MV7+ is the one for you. If it’s a brighter tone for cutting through gaming sounds, the MV6 is the way to go.

The MV6 is the perfect choice for anyone who just wants a great sounding mic that can make them sound amazing from minute one. The MV7+ does that, but also offers flexibility, features and a sound that’ll get you even closer to the iconic SM7.

Cheaper Mics?

There used to be readily available microphones under $100 like the Samson Q2U (now $169CAD at Amazon) or the Audio-Technica ATR2100X-USB ($200?? I’m not even linking to it), but due to importing or supply issues, they’re not options I can seriously recommend right now. But if you find either of them at your local Long & McQuade or other music store, they’re great options as well. Particularly if you need to grab 2 or more microphones and can get them for closer to $100.

More Reading

If you’d like to read more microphone guides, here’s a few I’d recommend checking out that go quite a bit deeper into the tech and feature across a variety of microphones.

I haven’t personally tested all the microphones out there so I trust these folks who’ve used a lot more gear than I have to give good recommendations. I currently have a Shure SM7B (thanks Chris!), a Heil PR40, and a ATR-2100 that I’ve had forever.

• Riverside: 9 Best Podcast Microphones For Every Need and Budget
• Podcast Host: The Best Podcast Microphones for All Abilities and Budgets
• A 2022 thread on Reddit in r/podcasting: The Most INTENSIVE Beginner’s Guide to Microphones
• Stephen Robles on YouTube: Best Podcast Mics Ranked by Experts 2025
• Marco Arment’s 2022 guide to microphones is still worth a read as well for gear outside the regular recommendations lists, like his top pick of an Earthworks ETHOS microphone

If you’ve never reached for the little speaker icon in your macOS menu bar, then SoundSource 4 isn’t for you. For everyone else, I think SoundSource 4 is worth picking up to make your Mac life sound sweeter.

I’ve been testing the beta of SoundSource version 6 for the last couple of weeks and I’d say that still holds true.

This is the stock sound menu in the macOS’s (15.6.1, Sequoia) menubar by default and if you hold the Option⌥ key down while clicking which displays Input options as well as Output:

And this is what SoundSource v6 looks like in standard and narrow view settings:

I feel like it’s fairly obvious which one is easier to navigate and understand, even if you’re not an audio nerd like me. System output, input, and sound effects are all clearly labelled with a slider and percentage for levels, as well as where they’re outputting or inputting from.

What’s really nice is SoundSource’s ability to have audio routed to different locations based on the application. So in the screenshot above, I have the Music app set to go to my HomePod mini in my office. That way it’s always going to play music through my HomePod mini, regardless of where else I might have audio playing, and I don’t have to reselect HomePod mini each time I play music.

Hiding Audio Devices

Another nice feature is how it lets you hide audio devices completely so you never see them and also tries to ensure you or macOS don’t use them again. In the above screenshot I have my Anker C200 webcam that also has a mic built in, but I don’t ever want to use that webcam mic when I have a $400 Shure SM7b connected via my Elgato XLR Dock. I can click the eye icon beside any device I want to hide, which is why they don’t show up in the main SoundSource list.

New in SoundSource v6

New in SoundSource 6 is the ability to route audio to multiple outputs at once. You can build a custom group of devices—your kitchen speaker, the HomePod in the backyard, and your monitor speaker in the den—and route all audio or just app specific audio through that speaker group with a click.

Also new are Profiles. You can build a complete configuration set up based on work mode, evening party mode, streaming to Twitch, etc. and have all the routing switch for you automatically with a click. This is one I need to dig into more as I’m often wanting to switch audio routing around based on different contexts I’m working in.

Along with that, SoundSource has even more options for automating with macOS’ Shortcuts, including new “Get Mute Status”, “Get Source Volume”, “Get Source Named”, and “Set Effect Parameter” actions.

For podcasters and streamers, SoundSource 6 has a new “cough” button configuration that lets you assign a Toggle Mute keyboard shortcut, then press it to instantly mute.

There’s a lot more new features in version 6 that you can check out on Rogue Amoeba’s website.

Try Out SoundSource 6

The best way to understand SoundSource is to try it out by downloading the free trial from Rogoe Amoeba. The trial version lets you use it for 20 minutes before audio noise is played overtop. So don’t forget to quit it and wonder why your audio is sounding weird.

An even better option is to buy a license for $49USD or if you have a previous version of SoundSource it’s only a $25USD upgrade cost. It’s one of those apps where I didn’t know I needed it until I started using a fresh Mac that didn’t have it installed yet and wondered why the sound menu looked so plain.

Direct link to video.

I recently bought an Elgato Stream Deck+ XLR combo, aiming to replace my old Focusrite USB-A pre-amp and standalone Stream Deck. I kept trying to figure out proper headphone monitoring with it and finally figured it out. Learn how I navigated these issues and optimized my setup for better streaming and recording.

Links Mentioned in the Video

• Screenflow
• Elgato Stream Deck+

Want More Tutorials?

• Subscribe to my YouTube channel

Leave a comment below if you’ve got a suggestion for the next video tutorial I should make!

Direct link to video.

I invited Andy Bell to join me for a live stream chat about how I use Ecamm Live for live streaming to my Twitch and YouTube channel. Just a heads up that this isn’t a focused 15 minute tutorial video on how to use Ecamm Live, it’s more of a fun conversation about using Ecamm Live. Someday I hope to get back to more tutorials on software like Ecamm Live, but this video is not that.

In this video, Andy Bell joins me to dive into the world of live streaming for developers. I demonstrate the features and setup of Ecamm Live, a powerful yet user-friendly streaming software for Mac. We discuss best practices for creating scenes, integrating overlays, managing audio, and handling streaming destinations like Twitch and YouTube.

Links Mentioned in the Video

• Ecamm Live
• Andy Bell
• Set.Studio
• Piccalilli

Want More Tutorials?

• Subscribe to my YouTube channel

Leave a comment below if you’ve got a suggestion for the next video tutorial I should make!

I’d 100% rather hear “swearing”… Are there really requirements to edit that out?

It’s something that used to be a constant struggle in podcasting: should you bleep or not bleep swears?

Back in the early days of podcasting people thought that Apple Podcasts wouldn’t feature any podcasts, or possibly even punish them if there was swearing in them. And since Apple Podcasts was one of the biggest podcast listing services, a lot of podcasts abided by that unspoken rule.

Top Shows in Apple Podcasts Today Swear

As you can see in the above screenshot from this week (October, 2024), 7 of the top 24 podcasts listed by Apple Podcasts have an explicit tag. Plenty of podcasts have plenty of swearing, all without any sort of downgrading or punishment by podcast listing services.

And even with the explicit tag available to podcasts, plenty of podcasts don’t use it properly when they do have swears or explicit content. The fact of the matter is that there are just too many podcasts for anyone to properly moderate an explicit tag. The explicit tag in podcasting is there for listener awareness, not done as part of a rating system like it is for tv, movies, and video games.

Be Respectful of Your Listeners

As in many other areas of podcasting, consistency is the biggest thing to keep in mind. If in the first 10 episodes of your podcast you’ve never even said “poop emoji”, never mind an actual curse word, and then in episode 11 you sound like a r-rated movie, your listeners might be a bit surprised. And may very well become former listeners.

Setting the right expectations from episode 1—or even better, your podcast trailer—is key with explicit content. And if you’re going to start letting the f-bombs fly, give your listeners a heads up with a simple “Hey folks starting with this episode, we’re not going to be editing out any swears or curse words.” at the beginning of the next few episodes is a easy way to inform listeners without shocking them.

How I Edit With Regards to Swearing

My personal preference as an editor is whatever the expectation of listeners are, while obviously respecting the wishes of the hosts of the show. Personally when my kids were younger, I found it helpful to know going if there was going to be a swear in a podcast I listened to and so I wouldn’t put it on in the car on the ride to school, for example. These days we just jokingly say “language!” whenever a swear flies by randomly in something we’re listening to.

I check in with clients periodically to make sure they want me to edit / bleep / or leave any curse words in. In the long run, it’s definitely easier for me not to have to edit them out.

What’s Your BPS Rate?

One idea floated in the Discord was charging per swear removal: “Billing Per Swear”. It’s not a terrible idea, especially if the show is adamant about not having swearing in the podcast but continually swears in the recording. Thus far, I haven’t had any clients that are that adamant about not letting swears through while still cursing like a sailor in the recordings. Occasionally a guest will be a potty mouth that requires more work than I would normally do for an edit, but it’s never been enough to warrant a whole separate billing line on my invoices. 😊

To Swear or Not To Swear…

As a listener, what do you think of swearing in podcasts you’re subscribed to? Does it bother you? Do you even notice the little “E” in a podcast’s description before deciding whether to listen or not?

Or as a podcaster does holding back on cursing feel like you’re somehow not being authentic to your real voice? Or do you just let them fly whenever and wherever, because @#%@% them! I’ll curse whenever I @#%@#%@#$ want to.

Personally I think the sound of a well placed “censor-bleep.wav” audio enhances a good f-bomb, even more than if it was actually there.

Direct link to video.

Over the years, I’ve often been asked how or why I use Loopback, audio routing software from Rogue Amoeba, that allows you to make your own audio devices on the Mac, and I often think of Loopback as one of those tools in your toolbox that you might spend a little bit more money on, you don’t need it every day, every week, even every month sometimes, but it’s one of those tools that when you need it, it comes in very handy and it’s worth having around, even if it’s not something you’re grabbing for every day.

In this video tutorial, I demo how I use Loopback to make a virtual audio device so I could send audio from Notion to Riverside in order for other people on the podcast recording to hear it, as well as so it could be recorded alongside the conversation so editing the podcast was easier for me later.

Links Mentioned in the Video

• Loopback – audio routing for macOS
• Riverside – podcast recording studio on the web

Want More Tutorials?

• Subscribe to my YouTube channel

Leave a comment below if you’ve got a suggestion for the next video tutorial I should make!

Direct link to video.

A viewer to my YouTube channel asked:

“The only problem that I have is when I have Spotify or Apple Music set up as their own “channel” recorder blocks, it only save the 30 – 40 seconds of music that I may play and then I need to find where to put them in a multitrack editor. Is there a setting that keeps everything in time alignment?”

Scott

Luckily there’s an easy setting inside Audio Hijack on the Application block that lets you fill playback gaps with silence so that even if your music or soundboard app aren’t sending a signal at the moment, the recording will still keep going and you’ll end up with all your recordings being the same length when you’re done.

Links Mentioned in the Video

• Audio Hijack
• Farrago Soundboard for macOS

Want More Tutorials?

• Subscribe to my YouTube channel

Leave a comment below if you’ve got a suggestion for the next video tutorial I should make!

Direct link to video.

I was watching a video by a local politician and it bothered me that there were no captions with the video. And then I noticed he kept looking down at a teleprompter or script for a lot of the recording. I want to show a possible fix for both those issues using one tool: Descript!

In the tutorial above, I discuss the importance of video accessibility features, such as captions, for both hard-of-hearing viewers and the general audience. I highlight issues like the lack of eye contact with the camera while reading from a teleprompter and offer a solution using Descript, a tool for editing audio and video. In addition, I show how Descript can help improve audio quality by reducing room noise using it’s Studio Sound feature. I also demonstrate how to use Descript’s text transcription and AI generated social media posts.

Links Mentioned in the Video

• Descript
• Transistor Podcast Hosting
• The original tweet with video I reference

Want More Tutorials?

• Subscribe to my YouTube channel

Leave a comment below if you’ve got a suggestion for the next video tutorial I should make!

Direct link to the video

In this tutorial, I record an episode of my podcast in Descript, edit it in Descript, and then send it off to Transistor for publishing as a new episode of my podcast. Especially for a solo podcast, it’s remarkably easy to do – plus you get a perfect (with some slight adjustments) transcription out of it as well.

You can listen to the episode I recorded in the tutorial or subscribe to my (under construction) podcast.

Apps Mentioned in the Video

• Descript
• Transistor.fm

Want More Tutorials?

• Subscribe to my YouTube channel

Leave a comment below if you’ve got a suggestion for the next video tutorial I should make!

Tangent: According to Wikipedia it was actually Apple that may have started the whole DevRel position back in the 80’s, but it didn’t really catch on everywhere else until the 2010’s?

And lucky you! You got a job at a software company in DevRel, and now you get to appear on podcasts and YouTube channels talking about the amazing APIs, edge functions, and FrontPage ’98 extensions that your new employer has that more developers need to be aware of.

Here’s My Ask:

As a podcast editor who may end up editing you as a guest on one of my client’s podcasts, please do us all a favor (but especially me if I’m being honest) and get yourself some better gear for recording audio using your new employer’s budget.

1) – Get a Microphone

No, your earbuds are not good enough. Nor is your $3,500 new MacBook Pro’s built in mic. There’s hundreds of options out there, but to keep it simple, get yourself the Shure MV7+. Ideally get the bundle with the boom arm as well if your desk allows for it. It’s a great mic. It’ll plug in to your MacBook Pro’s USB-C port no problem. It sounds and looks great. You don’t need any other preamps, Fetheads, or compressors to power it. It just works.

Some alternatives if the MV7 is outside your budget include:

• ~$110 Audio Technica ATR2100x
• ~$200 Rode Podmic USB
• ~$200 Elgato Wave:3 (Elgato is a great brand for all sorts of audio and video recording gear.)

2) Get a Pair of Headphones

Technically you can use your AirPods or or whatever headset your employer gave you with your computer. Nothing really wrong with them as long as you use headphones. And make sure when you’re recording that you’re not using those as your input device!

One benefit to getting wired headphones, besides possible bluetooth latency, is the ability to plug them right into your microphone so you can monitor your audio input as it goes into the computer. Most of the mics listed above include a headphone plug so you can hear yourself.

It can take a bit of getting used to, but that way you can hear if the hard drive spinning up on your desk is making it’s way into your microphone before it’s too late.

If you want to keep it all really simple and on one line item on the receipt so accounting is happy, get the MV7+ boom + headphone bundle.

Look at that fancy typography. You know they do their microphone gear right when they can afford typography like that.

Now You’re Ready to DevRel!

That’s it. That’s all you need to sound great while doing whatever it is someone in DevRel does. Or at least the part where you’re on a podcast or YouTube video with one of my clients.

You’ll sound better than at least 70% of the other DevRel people out there which will make you sound smarter. And your new employer will come off sounding like a very professional company with an amazing sounding DevRel team.

Share This Post So We Can All Heal Our Ears Together

A mic upgrade isn’t just for someone working in DevRel!

Maybe you heard a friend on a podcast and it sounded like they were using their 2011 iMac microphone. They don’t even have to work in DevRel to benefit from this post! Please send them this blog post, with love and kindness, so we can all collectively heal by having better audio on the internet and in our eardrums.

Other Posts About Improving Your Recordings

• 6 Tips for Better Podcast Recordings
• What Does it Take to Record a Podcast?
• Gift Guide for Someone Wanting to Get Into Podcasting

Got Questions?

Got any questions about guesting on a podcast or gear to buy I haven’t answered here? Drop a comment below, hit me up on Twitter, or contact me directly.