 A few years ago I had the opportunity to be in charge of live streaming games for a Summit Collegiate Baseball team, and one thing that I noticed in doing the research for what equipment to use and how to broadcast a live event was that a lot of tutorials on how to stream sports shows you everything that they use, like down to the serial number of half of the gear, and it's awesome looking, and you think, yeah, I want that. But then they either leave out the price completely or they throw in at the end. Oh, by the way, this setup costs us about $10,000. I think this does a disservice to people who want to get into broadcasting because hearing numbers like that can be really intimidating and you can stream for a significantly less cost. Even if you do have $10,000, their setup may still not work for you. Like in my situation, we didn't quite have that budget, but the main issue was that we were dealing with a ballpark that was in no way designed to accommodate a proper site to set up a camera, let alone broadcasters. So unfortunately, I no longer have access to the equipment that we used, so I can't just show you that setup. But that's actually a good thing because I don't want to show you a setup to copy. I want to help you figure out all of the elements that you need to consider when building a setup of your own. So the good thing about building a broadcasting setup is that there are an absolute ton of options and ways to do it. And the bad thing about building a broadcast setup is that there are an absolute ton of options and ways to do it. So this is intended to be a starting point to give you a general list of stuff to consider for people who have never done anything like this before. And the more YouTube videos you can watch, the better. And one thing that's nice about getting into AV stuff is that people with AV stuff like to make videos about that stuff. So we will get to equipment, but unlike those other videos, we're going to start from the very basics and work our way up rather than trying to downscale a system that's 10 grand. The other reason this may get long is that I don't know what you already have. And if you can use stuff that you already have, that's awesome because nobody gets mad about saving money. I'm also going to stick with audio for a few reasons. First, it's more important than the video. I mean, lots of people will listen to sports on the radio, but not so many sit down in their living room and watch games on mute, certainly not with the video quality of non-professional leagues. Second, it's less expensive and less complicated than video. Third, adding video later on won't change your audio setup. And finally, I think that even an audio only setup is still a perfectly legitimate way to get started, especially if you're just wanting to get some hours of experience behind a mic as a broadcaster. And while I happen to do my setup in a baseball stadium, nothing in this video is really baseball specific, adapt to your sport as you see fit. So for our bare minimum live streaming setup, we're going to need a laptop, an internet connection, streaming software, and a site to stream on. Actually, you could show up and record a game on your computer and post it online later if you don't have an internet connection, but I'll assume you want to do this live. I mean, if you have to, it's better to record it and post it later than not doing it all. So item number one, internet. If at all humanly possible, get wired internet. If your computer doesn't have an ethernet jack, get an ethernet to USB adapter. Can you stream wirelessly? Yes, it's possible, but I don't recommend it, like at all. They make really long ethernet cables and they work just fine. Second, if you can get your own dedicated internet line, then get it. Lots of people will show up on game day and use the internet. The concession stand and merchandise shop may be running credit cards online. Other members of the staff are using the office's main internet. Lots of people are pulling out their phones to use the free Wi-Fi that your stadium might provide. Don't get caught up in all of that. Now, there are lots of streaming programs. I used one called OBS Studio because it's free, it supports lots of sites, and it never gave me an issue. But just search online and I'm sure there are plenty of options. I'll link some in the description too. Different sites will require a certain upload speed to stream live. Anything over 720p seems a bit excessive to me if you're just starting out. I mean, you're not the Pittsburgh Pirates. Actually, I'm kind of surprised that the Pirates pay for broadcast equipment capable of anything more than 320p, but that's beside the point. And if you're going audio only, keep the video resolution as low as you possible, just so you're using the least amount of bandwidth that you can, just as long as it's not compressing your audio even more. You may have noticed that I didn't mention a microphone, which is kind of one key element to audio. So of course, you're going to use a microphone, but just to make the point about starting with the bare minimum and working our way up, you theoretically could use your laptop's internal microphone. Why are you not going to do that? Well, a laptop mic, in addition to sounding quiet and horrible like this, is going to pick up a ton of background noise that you don't want. So for microphones, we have two main things to consider. Form factor and the microphone connection type. We're going to discuss three connection types of microphones, USB, XLR, and just a basic line in mic. Form factor just means, is it a microphone that you can hold, which you will end up putting in a stand on your desk? Or is it strapped to your head like you're giving a TED Talk without headphones? Or is it part of a headset that includes both a microphone and headphones? Like your A-Rod or Joe Bakkan, a professional game. And there are pros and cons to both form factors and each microphone type. So let's start with form factor. In the situation I was in, our announcers had to sit outside at a little table. So there wasn't much room for a mic stand to sit in front of them, because they had their scorecards and lineups and stats spread out everywhere. And at best, it would have been a microphone stand on the floor, but a headset mic for them was pretty much a must. On the other hand, there were other stadiums in our league that had like actual broadcasting booths indoors with a reasonably sized table. If I was in that situation, I would probably go with an arm stand that I could clamp onto the desk. And if I wanted to stand up, I could still raise it up, move it around. That would also allow me to swap out headphones. If you end up with an uncomfortable headset, especially with a sport like baseball where you'll be wearing it every day for three hours a day, that's a lot of time to be uncomfortable. Now on the other hand, if I had to travel with the team and was setting up stuff every day, all stadiums and press boxes being different, I probably wouldn't want to be unscrewing an arm stand from a desk every night, which is why I think most broadcasters just go with a headset if they can. Now on to types of microphones. Of the three, just to be blunt about it, USB are probably the worst in this setting. And they aren't the worst so much because they're bad in terms of sound quality. I'm using a USB microphone right now and I think it sounds fine. The reason that they're the worst is about what you have to give up to use them in this setting. A major thing USB mics have going for them is that they are inexpensive and they're the easiest in terms of setting up, which usually involves plugging them into your computer. And that's it, you're done. Gaming headsets with USB connectors are nice because they're simple and they're not so nice because often the main priority of gaming headsets is looks and not sound quality. And there are some good ones out there but if you're a gamer, I'll link a video and maybe it'll show you some other options. The key difference between playing video games and announcing a football game is that you never see someone on Twitch with a color commentator and a crowd yelling in the background. Years ago, before we got serious about the equipment, my team's broadcasters started to livestream games. This was like 2011 or 2012, at which point in time there was very little live streaming going on and we had no clue what we were doing and we had no money. So we literally went with the cheapest option we could, which was two USB headsets plugged right into a laptop. The catch of course is that they sounded not great and we were never actually able to get our voices to play back through the headphones, which is kind of the whole purpose of a headset. But hey, they look like announcers. In retrospect, what we should have been after is not looks but sound quality. I would announce into a plastic Hannah Montana mic if it sounded better than the alternative. So if you do have a USB headset and you want to use it, it will certainly work. Just know that you probably won't have a multi-person broadcast or at least you won't be able to hear each other through your headphones, which may be fine for you in your setting. If you have a USB table mic, you may be able to get that working with multiple announcers, but either way, you can pretty much forget about having any non-announcer microphones like so that you can hear the crowd in the field, but we'll get into that later. The next factor is how many announcers are you going to have. Obviously, most games on TV will have two or even three, but many smaller teams, colleges, high schools will have just one. Obviously, the fewer you have, the less complicated things are, but on the other hand, broadcasting by yourself can be tough. I know some people who can do it well, but it does take practice and a strong bladder. I'm sure you've heard many games where a guest joins the broadcast for an interview or two. This is neat to be able to do from time to time. So even if you know you're only going to have one announcer 90% of the time, it's nice to have a second mic that can handle a guest, even if they aren't exactly the same mic that you're using. Now, you don't want one announcer sounding like he's on NPR and the other one sounding like he's using a walkie-talkie, but don't think you have to buy two really fancy mics if you're never going to use one of them. So how do I get good sounding audio and multiple announcers? Good question. This is where XLR microphones come in. XLR is just a type of connection. Most musicians and podcasters will be using XLR microphones. One benefit to using XLR microphones is that you can plug it into an audio interface or a mixer. On the other hand, you now have to buy a mixer and your cost just went up. But don't worry, it's probably worth it. Now, like I said, XLR is just the connection type. The actual inner workings of the microphone that we're interested in is either a condenser or a dynamic. And even most USB microphones are one of these as well. So condenser mics are what musicians are probably using in the studio for the vocals. Some podcasters and radio announcers will use them too. They're typically a bit more expensive, a bit better sounding than dynamic microphones. And I'm speaking very generally here. You can buy condenser microphones for $40 or $8,000. They're not all going to be equal. However, they can be more sensitive to loud noises. They're a little more fragile. They require power to work. And they tend to pick up sound from a wider area. So could you use a dynamic microphone? Yeah, sure. If you got one available and you're in an indoor broadcast booth, this will probably give you the highest quality sound relative to price. But if you have no equipment bought and you're just starting out, for all the reasons I just listed, I would probably recommend a dynamic mic. This is the type of microphone most singers are going to be using on a stage during a concert, but also probably most podcasters and radio DJs will be using dynamic microphones in the studios as well. And they may look different on the outside, but inside it's the same type of microphone. Dynamic microphones do not require power. They are also very good at only picking up what is right in front of them, which is what you want if you're calling a game in a loud stadium or people are yelling somewhere else in the press box. They're also typically very sturdy. I don't know if you've ever seen Marilyn Manson live in concert, but the man is not kind to his microphones and they keep chugging along. So now we're back to form factor with dynamic microphones. You can buy a dynamic microphone for $20 or $4,020 in anywhere in between. I'm not going to get into specific models, but I'll put some links in the description or just search for best dynamic mics or best mics for speaking on YouTube or wherever, and you'll get a list with all different reviews in your price range. Now I'll apologize if I've waited this long into the video to get to this, but lots of people are probably out there thinking, where is the microphone that been Scully wore? Just give me that one. So what most broadcasters you see on TV are wearing is a headset with a dynamic mic that has an XLR output. The least expensive version of that that I could find, which hasn't changed for like the last four or five years, is one called the Audio Technica BPHS-1, which retails for about $200. And I'll bet that the model most broadcasters on TV are using are a lot more. Again, the reason I didn't want to just start with that is because a pair of those plus a mixer and you're easily already over $500 and I wanted to build our way up. Now, if that is in your budget, then awesome. Your job just got very easy. On the other hand, if that's too much for you, don't worry, there's still hope. So a quick word on the BPHS-1s and you may have noticed that's the only specific model of any equipment I've named so far. I'm not sponsored by anyone. So first I mentioned it because I want to warn you that if you search on whatever site for an XLR headset microphone, lots of times other headsets with microphones will pop up for half the price or even less than half the price. And it'll say XLR, but they don't actually have one. And I don't know how that they get away with that, but always read the description closely. Make sure you can see a photo including the connector, which is often cropped out on those sites, or go to YouTube, type in the specific model, and try to find a video of someone actually using one. If there is a cheaper one, let me know in the comments. In terms of our discussion here, is the BPHS-1 worth $200? As far as what's available? Yeah, sure. I've used them. They sound very good for what they are. They are comfortable, and they are pretty sturdily built. Now, Taylor Swift is not going to record her next album on a pair of them, but that's not exactly a fair comparison. She's not outside calling a doubleheader with people eating nachos around her. Now, I'm sure there's a lot better quality ones out there, although on the other hand I have heard headset microphones that cost quite a bit more and don't seem to be all that much better. But if you're going to expend like more than $100 on a microphone just in itself, then I would probably consider these. Now, something else you can get is an XLR mic on a headset that either sits on or around your ears, but that doesn't have headphones, and you can get those for around $100, maybe a little less. The drawback here is that I find most broadcasters prefer over-ear headphones, which would probably get a bit awkward if you try to use them both at the same time, but if you're all right with smaller headphones or earbuds, that's certainly another option. And look, in terms of headphones, you're probably only listening to the other broadcasters, maybe a little bit of crowd noise if you're producing yourself, and maybe you're a producer if you're not. So you don't have to go all audiophile here. Put the money into your mic, not your headphones. So let's wrap up microphones with something that's relatively new and kind of neat. To this point, I said nothing about microphones and headsets that come with like a three and a half millimeter line out, like what your everyday headphone plug looks like. You can plug these right into your computer in many cases, or if your computer doesn't have a mic in, you can get a USB adapter with a three and a half millimeter jack. Now, on its own, this is kind of like using a USB mic. It'll work, but you're really limited to how many you can use it once. And if you take one of these microphones and plug it into your mixer, which you'll need a quarter inch adapter for, you're not going to hear anything. So fortunately, there are an increasing number of three and a half millimeter, two XLR adapters that are able to handle all the power issues, and that will allow you to plug them into a mixer, which I think is very good news for broadcasters on a budget. Now, why? There are nicer gaming headphones that you can use now, and a few different microphones that you can attach to any pair of headphones you want. The most well-known of these is called the ModMic. Now, the ModMic retails for about $50, the adapter retails for $25, although I've seen versions that go for half of that. But regardless, we now have a $75 microphone that we can attach to any headphones we want, which you probably already own, and we can plug that into a mixer. Just be sure it's a mixer. I've heard there's issues with digital interfaces with some of the adapters. And of course, always check the reviews, try to watch a demo if you can. Please don't come crying to me if you blow yourself up with fan power. So let's go to a summary of form factors and microphone types. Again, anything on this chart will work. Broadcasting on a gaming headset is better than not broadcasting at all. But if you own nothing, again, I would recommend going with a dynamic microphone. And like many things, more money often means better quality, but not always. Another thing to consider is possible future expansion. So if you're just starting small and you think I'm by myself, I'll just go with the easy USB option for now and I'll buy new stuff down the road. First, it's pretty easy to hook up a dynamic microphone to a computer with an audio interface, or probably the better option. Microphones do exist that have both USB and XLR outputs. So if you want more, there will be another video and we'll cover a bunch more stuff. See you then.