With many podcasts being able to take place from the comfort of your living room, there are services like Zencastr and Zoom that can add some post-production shine to your recordings.
The question lies in which one is better, as whether you’re starting or a budding professional, you might have some doubt regarding your choices.
Are there specific features that make one better, and are there any difficult programs you need to learn?
In this article, we break down these two services for recording high quality video and explain what they offer and their potential benefits and downsides. Read on to take your recordings to the next level.
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| Primary Rating: 3.5 | Primary Rating: 3.5 |
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Zencastr
This is a high-fidelity podcast service that allows you to record a lossless 16-bit 48k WAV audio quality track per guest, and this is regardless of internet connection, which applies to each guest.
One of the better Zoom alternatives, all you need to do is send a link, and then you can receive the high quality audio tracks of your guest, and the best thing is there’s no time limit to how long you can record separate audio files. (Also see, ‘Best Audio Recording App For iPhone‘)
The separate tracks are kept in local storage before they are uploaded to a cloud service like Google Drive, and the results boast a hi-fi-audio quality podcast production that you can edit yourself with the cloud-based soundboard that brings many opportunities to your editing.
Zencastr Compare Zoom Benefits
You’ll find that the sound quality of Zencastr is noticeably better than Zoom if you disable the echo cancellation and lower the input level for you and your guests so that you can get a professional-sounding podcast with the right set-up.
You also find that your podcasts are more streamlined as conversations around the world are more commonplace, so if you have predominantly remote podcasts, you will find that this service is most valuable to you. (Also see, “How To Use Zencastr‘)
The audio-enhancing features are comparable to other software such as Adobe Audition, where you might be able to scale back some of the costs of post-production recording process, but if you experiment with it, you’ll have a better idea of if it works for you or not. (Also see, ‘Best Podcast Editing Software‘)
- All-In-One Podcasting Platform
- Record, Edit, Distribute and Monetize
- 4K Recording & 48k WAV Audio Quality
Downsides
One of the main problems involves the pricing, as a free hobbyist package offers you a pretty basic recording experience, where you don’t have access to all the features, including the live editing soundboard, a fixed amount of audio and video mixing, and the ability to do the local recording in 16-bit 48k WAV.
If you have a bad internet connection or a low-quality microphone (also see, ‘How To Make Your Mic Sound Better‘), this service might not be able to fix and offer you that VOIP sound.
This can make your production quality a lot clearer sounding, so the service is only as good as the equipment around you.
The idea is that with a standard account, you have to pay for post-production credits based on the number of hours your podcast shows are, so this could put off those who are perhaps getting started.
Zoom
You might be familiar with this service, as it’s become one of the most popular forms of video conferencing for personal or business use.
Zoom is super easy to use for video calls for small teams, remote interviews, and unlimited calling on paid plans. (Also see, ‘Best Podcast Interview Software‘)
Zoom lets you host meetings, invite guests, share files, group messaging, and chats for better collaborations and are being used effectively by businesses to communicate with even more people.
This allows for an excellent opportunity to start recording your voice clips and put them into your podcast, and it’s as easy to set up and edit using third-party editing software if you wish to.
- Popular video conferencing service.
- Supports virtual meetings, webinars, and collaborative work.
- Provides both free and premium plans.
Benefits
Recording on this platform (see also ‘Anchor Vs. Podiant‘) is very easy. Even with a basic plan, all you need to do is turn on your recording options on your account, set up your podcast, then run two programs, and you’re all set.
It can be more convenient than Zencastr, which might make upload times for recordings more time-consuming, whereas you have the files all in front of you with Zoom, which you can make into a WAV recording.
ALSO SEE: Zencastr Alternative
One of Zoom’s unique features is that it also produces transcripts of your conversions if you record to the cloud and is a good way to have notes and quotes for later use, which you don’t have to scrub through a recording to find.
Downsides
The free price option doesn’t allow you to stream, and recording is limited to a local server, meaning you don’t have as much freedom for larger-sized recordings.
Your meeting duration or recording time clocks out at around 40 minutes. You can’t have unlimited guests, and depending on how many participants there are, you’ll find that a pro account is a steep climb in annual costs. (Also see, ‘How Much Does I Cost To Start A Podcast?‘)
You really have to decide whether your podcast is going to benefit from this service and whether you can deal with the limited storage, or you choose to download a third-party program to provide a more convenient service.
Our Verdict
If you’re looking for a semi-professional sound that can be fixed to reduce audio distortions, Zencastr is for you. But if you find the features lacking or average, you can always install DAW software (Also see, ‘Best DAW for Podcasting‘) to record internal sound through Zoom to enhance audio quality.
If you’re a professional who is comfortable with working with this type of software, it has that do-it-yourself type of approach which you can customize to the benefit of your post-production.
Of course, both of these services have their limitations, and you’ll find this as you add more participants to your show. But having 3 or fewer guests generally shouldn’t be a problem, so you might want to use the free packages to see which is most effective for you.
The Bottom Line
There is a massive benefit to trying out the free versions of these services as you get a better feel for the interface, and you can determine how easy it is for you and other guests to acclimate to the system.
You also want settings that are easy to find and customize while giving you a degree of freedom to make your podcast stand out from others. An excellent way to make this process easier for you is to get the best recording equipment available to you.
Best Recording Equipment Articles
| Best Podcast Recorder | Best Microphone Pop Filter |
| Best Dynamic Microphones | Best Lapel Mic for Podcast |
| Best Audio Interface for Podcast | Best Podcast Recording Software |
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