When I first decided I wanted to make a podcast I started looking all over the Internet to find the kind of software I would need to make a podcasts.  I soon found that there are several blogs out there that recommended a lot of different software.  Since I didn't want to spend much money on this podcasting business I went for the free software.  I downloaded them all and was very disappointed.  The ones that disappointed me the most were the programs that claimed to be made for podcasting and would do it all.  One of these "podcast software makers" made a program that crashed my computer. I did get real lucky and found WavePad by NCH Swift Sound in Australia.  WavePad is not the only piece of software you'll need because of it's limited features but you will love it for the features it does have.  I use WavePad to record and edit the podcasts.  You will notice right away that the display on the recorded file is large bright and clear. 

System Requirements

Windows 95/NT4/98/2000/Me/XP/2003.

Pentium 300 or above with at least 16MB RAM (32MB for 2000/XP/2003).

A sound card.

In the next section I will go into detail when I explain how I use each of the software programs, I have selected to use.   Since I couldn't find any one piece of software that had everything I adopted the plan of finding the best I could find, for each task in the production of the podcasts.  I paid a great deal of attention in trying to find the best software for the given task. I also wanted to keep the cost of this project down.  As I learned about making podcasts, I found that this decision to use more than one program was correct. 

I then found that I needed a program that would mix several different files into the finished podcasts.  I found the perfect mixer program for me the Acoustica MP3 Audio Mixer.  This program is free to try and costs $24.95 to buy it and if you try it you will buy it. The system requirements for this program are Pentium/90, Win95/98/NT/2K/ME/XP, 16 MB Ram, Soundcard, (Microphone is optional)

I have found the Acoustica mixing program to have features that would cost a great deal more money in other programs.  It's simple to operate, has nice features and does everything I want a mixing program to do when making a podcast.

So now I have told you about all the programs I use except for the last one.  That's right I found I needed three programs to do everything I needed.  WavePad has a lot of features I used in the first few podcasts, other than just recording an editing the sound.  One of the problems that came up, was the balancing out my voice and the voice of the person I was interviewing.  I had some people complain that they could hear me fine but at times they had to turn the volume up when the other person was talking.  I tried out the filters and effects in WavePad and never could get them just right.  So the search was on for a program that could balance out the sounds, remove noise, and allow me to give complete information to the mp3 file.  I also wanted a program that would allow me to do a good job of compressing the podcast to make it easier for people to download and listen to the podcast.  

This last search led me to a program that has been around the Internet for years.  You can download it free and they give you a long time to evaluate the program but to get all the features I found I needed I had to buy the program and then pay for a plug in.  The final program I bought was Gold Wave which is a Canadian company.  Gold wave is truly a professional audio program at bargain price of $55 US.  The additional plug in I bought, to get what I wanted, was the "Voice Over Plug In. and it cost $16 US.

---