Let’s face it: there are a lot of online voice recorders out there. As an amateur podcast recorder, or someone who is looking to brush up on new technology, it can be difficult to find the right recorder for you. A quick Google search of the term “online voice recorder” receives about 85,000,000 hits, which isn’t exactly a helpful place to start. So instead, if you’re looking for a voice recorder to record podcasts so that you can upload them later, why not start here first?
5) Your Smartphone’s Voice Recorder
Why go far, right? I’m sure we’ve all used our voice recorder from time to time, and I’ll admit it’s great in a pinch, but stock smartphone microphones don’t exactly scream ‘quality’. The voice recorder on your phone can be great to leave yourself notes, or to hold a practice podcast with a guest that may be unsure about podcasting. It may also pay off to buy a decent voice recorder with a quarter inch jack that fits into your phone to take your phone recordings up a notch. But on the whole, smartphone voice recorders leave a lot to be desired, and I strongly discourage you from publishing any recordings you create on your phone.
4) SpeakPipe
Speakpipe.com has a quick and easy online voice recorder that you can access from any browser on any device, making it a great alternative if you can’t use your smartphone’s recorder for some reason. It works on all Android and iOS devices, and isn’t too heavy on data if you aren’t connected to WiFi.
It isn’t high definition by any means, so I don’t suggest uploading Speakpipe podcast recordings to your TalkShoe account, but it’s still a good backup online voice recorder if you don’t have a smartphone.
3) Vocaroo
If you were born before the year 2000, you probably remember Vocaroo as the MP3 recording website that people used to share poems, stories, and other creative recordings before anyone knew what podcasting was. Since then, podcast hosting has far eclipsed the need for MP3 hosting, so Vocaroo doesn’t get the love it used to (it also hasn’t changed its look in over 10 years). Nevertheless, if you are looking for a trustworthy MP3 recording and hosting that your Dad might remember, Vocaroo is a perfect choice.
Again, offering people a Vocaroo link isn’t professional by any stretch of the imagination, so consider this an option for informal recordings, like show notes that you might send to someone before or after a podcast for quick online reference that doesn’t require an actual download.
2) Skype
The free version of Skype will allow you to record voice between you and another participant with fair quality, but only after you have both downloaded and installed the software, created and logged into your account, and have navigated their tricky UI. I personally have a Skype account that I have been using about once every two years on average, and every time I log on I have to spend a few minutes getting my head around the changes to their interface, and how to actually make a call.
1) TalkShoe
If you are going to upload your podcasts on the simplest and easiest high quality podcast hosting service out there, why not just record them there as well? TalkShoe’s online podcast recorder is similar to Skype’s, except that it is so simple and easy to understand that your podcast guests will never have trouble joining your virtual studio, turning on their video, using the integrated text chat, or sharing online documents to help your discussion.
TalkShoe also has loads of other features that help create the best podcasting environment possible, and their team has gone to great lengths to make both the uploading and recording process streamlined for podcasts.
If you haven’t already, why not record an episode today, and see what everyone’s talking about?
For the full list of what’s changed in the new and improved TalkShoe, see this support article.
