Every professional radio station takes live callers on-air as it connects you directly with listeners and makes for some interesting conversations. The great advantage of chatting with callers is it fills air time without having to create content, plus you can talk with anyone in the world using your phone's apps like Skype or WhatsApp.
Here's a simple but effective way of broadcasting or recording live callers and interviews, either via your phone or Skype, both are perfect for internet radio stations and podcasters!
Equipment used:
- Computer: iMac (Buy on Amazon USA or Amazon UK).
- Smartphone: iPhone (Buy on Amazon USA or Amazon UK).
- Mixing Desk: Behringer Xenyx 802 (Buy on Amazon USA or Amazon UK).
- Microphone: Behringer B-1 Condender Mic (Buy on Amazon USA or Amazon UK).
- Earphones / Headphones: Beats (Buy on Amazon USA or Amazon UK).
- Shockmount: Neewer (Buy on Amazon USA or Amazon UK).
- Stand: Ammoon (Buy on Amazon USA or Amazon UK).
- Cables: x1 Headphone to jack L/R (Buy on Amazon USA or Amazon UK) - x1 Jack headphone adapter converter plug (Buy on Amazon USA or Amazon UK) - x1 XLR to XLR (male to female) (Buy on Amazon USA or Amazon UK) - x1 Stereo jack to mono cable (Buy on Amazon USA or Amazon UK).
Mixing Desk
The Behringer Xenyx 802 is a fantastic little mixing desk that comes with 2 mic preamps which allows you and a guest to have a microphone each whilst chatting with live callers.
Standout features include easy to use fade in and out volume controls, preamp mic connections for professional condenser microphones, and simple setup to connect and start broadcasting.
Microphone
Use any dynamic or condenser microphone to connect to the mixing desk - The Behringer B-1 for instance is a solid professional condenser mic that's perfect for live broadcasts due to it's crisp sounding audio quality, plus it comes with a shock mount and stand as an added bonus.
Smartphone / Tablet
Any decent smartphone or tablet will work as you can connect it to the mixing as long as you have the correct cable, like the headphone to jack L/R.
Smart devices can either take live callers from your mobile number or use services like Skype or WhatsApp to talk to guests.
Headphones
Get a pair of good quality headphones that are comfy to wear for long periods, these are a must if you're taking live callers as for the most part you will be wearing them a lot!
Taking Live Callers
Once you have all the equipment and everything is connected, use a program on your computer like Audacity to record audio for your podcast.
Alternatively use broadcasting software like Nicecast to stream live to your radio station.
