Live Streaming For Musicians Gear Guide

Building A Live Streaming Setup That Sounds And Looks Professional

If you are a musician getting ready to start live streaming, it is easy to get overwhelmed by all the gear options out there. The good news is you do not need to buy everything at once, and you likely already have some of what you need. This guide walks through every piece of the chain, computer, internet, audio, and video, so you know exactly what to prioritize and what to look for when you are ready to upgrade.

Your Computer

You do not need anything exotic here. A desktop or a laptop, Mac or PC, will work fine, and the specs matter less than you might think. Anything purchased within the last two or three years should handle a live stream without issue, so start with whatever you already own rather than treating a new computer as a prerequisite.

Your Internet Connection

A strong, stable internet connection matters more than almost anything else on this list. Whenever possible, connect your computer to your modem using an ethernet cable rather than relying on Wi-Fi. A hardwired connection is far more stable and significantly reduces the chance of dropouts mid-stream.

Before you go live for the first time, run a speed test and aim for at least 10 megabytes per second in both upload and download speed. You can check your current speeds at Speedtest.net.

Choosing A Microphone

Once your computer and connection are sorted, the next priority is audio. If you are capturing vocals, a dynamic microphone is the right choice for a home setup. Dynamic mics are relatively affordable, they are far less prone to plosives, those popping sounds from hard P and T sounds when you sing or talk close to the mic, and importantly, they do not pick up much room sound. That last point matters a lot when you are streaming from home rather than a treated studio space. A dynamic mic will reject creaky floors, road noise outside, or your dog deciding to bark mid-song, far better than a condenser mic would.

Solid dynamic microphone options to consider include the Shure SM58, a true industry workhorse that is affordable and nearly indestructible, the Shure SM7B, a step up in broadcast-quality tone that has become a favorite for vocal and podcast use, and the Electro-Voice RE20, another broadcast-grade option with excellent off-axis rejection for untreated rooms.

Getting Your Signal Into The Computer

To get your microphone's signal into your computer, you need an audio interface. The most important spec to check is how many onboard mic preamps the interface actually has, not just how many total inputs it lists. Plenty of interfaces are marketed as having four inputs, but only include two mic preamps up front, with the remaining two being line-level inputs around the back that will accept a quarter inch jack from a keyboard but will not properly accept a microphone. If you plan to run two microphones at once, make sure the interface you choose has two true mic preamps, not just two total inputs.

If you are shopping secondhand, also check that the manufacturer still supports current drivers for that interface on your operating system. Audio companies do eventually drop driver support for older hardware, and a great deal on an interface is no deal at all if it will not work with your current OS.

Reputable interface brands worth looking at include MOTU, Focusrite, Apogee, Universal Audio, PreSonus, and Steinberg.

Monitoring Yourself

You will also need a way to hear yourself while you are streaming, and a good pair of headphones is the right tool for the job. Monitoring through headphones instead of speakers eliminates the risk of feedback, which is especially important once you are running a microphone and speakers in the same room during a live broadcast.

Mixing Through Your DAW

For the best possible audio quality, route your microphone and any other instruments through a DAW before sending the signal out to your stream. This gives you access to reverb, delay, EQ, and compression on your vocals and instruments, and it is genuinely the single biggest upgrade you can make to how professional your stream sounds, since it is the difference between raw, unprocessed signal and a properly mixed broadcast.

If you do not already have a DAW, a number of good options exist at every price point, including GarageBand (Mac only, free), Logic Pro (Mac only, 90 day free trial), Ableton Live (90 day free trial), Cubase (30 day free trial), PreSonus Studio One (30 day free trial), Ardour (free), Pro Tools, and Reaper (60 day free trial).

Choosing A Camera

For video, your computer's built in webcam is a perfectly reasonable place to start, and there is no shame in using it while you build out the rest of your setup. When you are ready for more flexibility, a DSLR camera gives you a real upgrade, since you can zoom and frame your shot exactly how you want, and you get control over depth of field, brightness, and shutter speed that a webcam simply cannot match. There is also a good chance you already own one.

Most DSLR manufacturers now offer dedicated webcam software that lets you use the camera over USB as a true webcam replacement. Check your camera brand's own utility, including options from GoPro, Canon, Panasonic, Fujifilm, and Nikon.

Capture Cards

If your camera has a clean HDMI output rather than USB webcam mode, a capture card is the other way to get that video signal into your computer. An HDMI cable runs from your camera into the capture card, and a USB cable runs from the capture card into your computer, giving you professional quality video alongside your professionally mixed audio. Options worth considering include a budget-friendly generic capture card or the Elgato Cam Link 4K, a well-regarded, reliable option in this category.

Start With What You Have

If you do not already own all of this gear, start with what you have and upgrade gradually as your streaming grows. Most of this investment pays off well beyond live streaming too, since the same microphone, interface, and DAW setup will let you record your own demos at home and improve your songwriting process along the way, which makes it worth building out over time even if live streaming is not your only goal.