Product Reviews

Behringer's Podcastudio has everything you need to create high-quality podcasts. It includes headphones, a microphone, a mixing console and a five-channel mixer that connects to your PC by USB. It also comes with a CD of audio-editing and podcasting software.

The quick start guide provides accurate instructions on connecting the hardware, but installing the driver is much more complicated. Instead of an installation routine, a readme file on the CD instructs you to copy a file to the 'system32' directory, but doesn't give its full location (c:windowssystem32). Copying the file was simple, but we'd expect an automatic installation.

For editing your podcasts, Podcastudio includes a copy of Audacity, an open-source editor. It's powerful, although beginners could find it a little overwhelming. If you're in any doubt, try it out by downloading it from http://audacity.sourceforge.net. There's also a copy of Podifier (www.podifier.com), a free, easy-to-use utility to help you publish your finished work.

The bundled HPM1000 closed-ear headphones are uncomfortable

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but sound good, producing warm bass and clear treble. We were more impressed by the Ultravoice XM8500 dynamic microphone. Its sturdy metal body feels expensive and it has a high-quality XLR connector. It produced clear recordings without popping or picking up lots of background noise.

The Xenyx 502 is Behringer's entry-level mixer, but with five channels it's more than adequate for even the most complicated podcast. Channel 1 has an XLR input for microphones, and can also take input from a in phono connector if the mic is unplugged. The mixer can handle a further two stereo or four mono inputs through in sockets. The Xenyx 502 has a basic two-band equaliser and controls for adjusting the level and balance of incoming audio.

The quality of tracks recorded with the Podcastudio was reasonable, if not quite up to the professional level claimed on the box. There was some hiss on recordings made on our test laptop, but vocals sounded clear. It's not the ideal choice for music production, but it didn't fare badly when we plugged a guitar into it. However, audio from an MP3 player connected to the line in sockets sounded filtered and distant, with poor clarity.

We were impressed by the microphone, and recording our podcast was easy. However, our recordings suffered from slight hiss, the headphones were too uncomfortable for long sessions and beginners may find Audacity tricky to use.

If you want to create high-quality podcasts, you might like to consider M-Audio's Podcast Factory (Shopper November 2006), which costs around £80 and has a slightly less complicated mixer, a selection of audio samples and a copy of Ableton Live Lite.