A lot of us start our streaming or content creation journeys without a flashy set up. And this is honestly, fine. If you’re waiting on thousands of dollars’ worth of products before starting content creation, in my opinion, you’re doing it wrong as part of the journey is starting off with average equipment. But if you’re in a position now to do your first upgrade for your setup, you might want to stick to a bit of a budget. So, here are 4 ways to upgrade your streaming setup for under $200!
1. Upgrade your Mic
A lot of people underestimate how important audio quality is. Many go straight to camera quality, splurging out there and just using a headset mic. But truthfully, I can take or leave a high-quality camera, but bad sound is an instant click off for me. A decent mic also doesn’t have to be too expensive, with one of my personal favourite budget mics The Blue Snowball only costing around $89. Don’t overlook your sound quality, it’s honestly a deal breaker.
2. Get some lighting
This is the second reason why upgrading audio is more important than your camera, as lighting can make a huge difference. Two people can have the exact same camera, but the person with good lighting will always look better than the person without. Investing in something as simple as a single soft box can make all the difference for your overall quality. If you’re just running with your overhead light, or a lamp you stole from the living room then grabbing a dedicated streaming light might just be the perfect way to upgrade. You can grab a basic soft box from Amazon for around $40.
3. Elevate your Mic game with a stand
Having a mic on your desk can be fine, but if you want to avoid the dreaded thud of knocking your desk and it upsetting your mic, then the solution is clear, grab a mic stand! To help you get even crisper audio, and let’s be honest, look super professional, a mic stand is a simple, easy way to jazz up your setup. Provided you’ve gone with a Blue Snowball like I suggested earlier, you can grab a mic stand for around $40 off Amazon. But if you have a different mic entirely you might be able to grab one for even cheaper.
4. Light up your background
Having an interesting background behind your webcam can really help pull in viewers. Something bright and colourful and interesting behind you can be a great way to show off your personality, give something for people to talk to you about, or even just grab peoples attention. If you don’t have an excessive amount of Funko Pop figures or collectives to fill up the space behind you, consider just simply investing in some LED lights. You can grab some super simple ones from Amazon for around $27. Placing some of these bad boys against the wall can really change the entire look of your room and really bring out some extra pizzazz to your background. If you stream you could even incorporate these into your channel points, allowing viewers to change to a colour they like in exchange for points.
So, there were a few ways to upgrade your streaming setup for under $200.
Just investing into these little things can add so much to your setup, and you don’t even have to break the bank doing it! Happy content creating!
If money isn’t an issue though, check out our posts here and here on our favourites cameras and microphones for content creation!
