The key to great-sounding recordings

Technology can easily hinder creativity instead of empowering it when developing new products. Any great process starts with building strong empathy with the people and the context in which they will use your solution. In podcasting, there are many factors to consider for a smooth experience.

Historically an oral tradition, storytelling thrives in the digital world through podcasting alongside film and television. And it’s available at your fingertips, anytime and anywhere. According to Edison Research and NPR, podcast listening is at an all-time high, with Gen Z showing the most growth. Production, however, is a real bottleneck.

Key challenges podcast creators face

There are many challenges between recording and publishing an episode. Getting ready and setting up equipment can feel like a time drain. Cables, microphones, and stands get in the way of natural conversations. Laborious audio cleanup distracts you from being creative with the content. Faced with heaps of hurdles, even the most experienced creators sacrifice quality to keep up with the rising demand for more content. If you’re new to podcasting or interested in starting a podcast, this article will highlight some things to consider as you prepare to record your first episode.

Starting with the equipment, a professional studio can set you up to produce high-quality audio. You would typically need a multitrack recorder and mixer, 3 to 4 microphones with stands, pop filters and cables, and an acoustically treated room. However, this can quickly become costly. Getting everything set up correctly and treating the room can also be a technical challenge unless you hire an audio engineer to assist you. Renting a studio could be a good short-term solution, but the costs will add up in the long term — especially if you pay by the hour. Additionally, a rented studio is usually less customizable to your specific needs. In short, professional studios are pretty inaccessible to many content creators.

Let’s look aside from the monetary aspect and say you have such a studio. Over time, you learn which settings to use and how to get the most from the tools. In a perfect world, the ingredients for making great recordings should be in place. The reality, however, is that although we can control the equipment, we cannot fully control our surroundings. Neither can we predict how people interact with each other or the equipment during conversations. Audio quality is equally dependent on the human factors. If not more. Here are a few examples:

1. Some people are new to audio. They become tense or nervous with a big microphone covering their face. And it’s reflected in the audio as a bunch of «uhms» and other filler words. The equipment gets, quite literally, in the way of natural conversations.

2. Most often, we’re sitting down when recording. And people change their posture slightly all the time. They tend to be close to the microphone at the start, and the audio will be loud and clear. However, they might be leaning back comfortably in the chair towards the end. And the voice will sound distant and low.

3. No voice is the same. Some people talk very quietly, almost in a mumble. In contrast, others use their outside voice no matter where they are. Usually, people vary in loudness throughout a conversation as they gesture and emphasize their points.

4. What if the conversation gets lively and passionate? People start talking over each other, so voices bleed into the microphones of those sitting next to them, and the audio sounds all mashed up.

5. On top of that, often, our surroundings present challenges. Hard surfaces, such as glass walls or windows, create unwanted reverb that can lead to phasing issues. This makes your recording sound thin and metallic. Another example is an aircon, fan, or similar appliance that will introduce undesirable background noise to your recording. Not to mention traffic noise if you're in an urban environment.

All of these factors impact the storyteller’s performance and the audio quality. Which, in turn, affects the listener’s experience. Some unwanted noises are easy to cut out yourself or remove with audio processing software, while others require the surgical precision of a very skilled audio engineer, which can be rather time-consuming and expensive. Audio quality can be daunting, but it’s not something that you want to skimp on. According to Podcast Insights, 70% of listeners consider audio quality very important for continued listening. Another study by the University of Florida found that listeners are 50% more likely to recommend a podcast with high-quality audio.

How did Nomono challenge and solve that

It’s clear that enabling great recordings is really about allowing natural conversations. When we understand this fundamental truth, we can create better tools that actually support how we interact with each other and our surroundings.

Nomono was founded on years of deep research on object-based audio and signal processing (learn more why you need spatial audio and what is object-based audio). While our roots may be in groundbreaking technology, we have shaped it to provide a better way to make podcasts. Recording stories should be as easy as having a conversation. And feel just as natural. To ensure great audio every step of the way, we’ve redesigned the workflow from scratch and created a seamless solution from recording to publishing.

With Nomono Sound Capsule, we made sure that you can record a great-sounding conversation anywhere and turn it into a podcast. It’s a portable and all-in-one recording kit. The setup is fast and wireless. There are no audio levels to adjust. It works out of the box, and the custom-made microphones can deliver professional audio quality in any environment. Just clip on the mics, press record, and let the conversation flow. After you stop recording, the audio auto-syncs to Nomono Cloud for a smooth transition into editing and collaboration with your team. And the best part: Your audio is enhanced, automatically.

Let’s rewind back to 2019 for a moment. Nomono had been established just a few months ago, and we were busy interviewing audio content creators and gathering insights. There is one particular moment that stands out still. The person we were interviewing, an audio professional at a big broadcast company in Norway, wondered: «Why is there no button for good sound?» His team wanted to be creative and focus on the content. Simply, tell great stories. Those words resonated so well with everyone at Nomono and the user experience we want to provide.

We've spent more than five years developing audio processing that mirrors how we experience sound in real life. The result is a sophisticated algorithm that adapts to each voice in your recording. With eleven unique steps tailored to spoken audio, we ensure you get professional quality with natural and authentic sound. It’s like having access to the world’s best audio engineers at your fingertips. And it’s available in Nomono Cloud — the button for good sound.

«This enables us to create professional podcasts in previously impossible environments. The Cloud enhancement is pure magic.»

— Kate Lennie, Independent publisher at We Are Makers

Not only can you break free from the traditional studio, but our solution also frees up your time to do more of what you love: being creative with storytelling, editing content, improving sound design, or starting a new project.

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