portcaster – Podcastreporter.com

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

In this episode of The Podcast Reporter, we discuss the announcement of what is called “the world’s most portable podcast studio” — aka the PortCaster. This is based on the post from indiegogo.com, and it appeared in the podnews.net newsletter recently.

The description of this podcasting device is: “It’s designed for content creators, who record or live-stream to Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitch, and other platforms. It makes it easy to add music, sound effects and guests to your podcast or stream. About the size of a passport, this product is very portable, so it’s great for any type of recording, especially when traveling. It’s Made in USA and for a limited time it’s very affordable!”

After checking out the image photos in the indiegogo.com post, I was surprised at the versatility and the reach in podcasting and streaming by the detail and the image of some of the controls of such a device.

As is stated in the post, a key aspect of this device is to improve the sound quality. But it also has another purpose for your focus of your podcast: “And that lets you focus on what matters — your content, your guests and your audience.” And you can do this by the following:

livestreaming — i.e., gaming, vlogging and videography;
storytelling — i.e., podcasting, voiceover, broadcasting;
web meetings– i.e., lessons, seminars, conferences; and
worship service — i.e., streaming, recording, teaching.

With rechargeable batteries and the recording medium of an HC-SD card for capturing the content, this system allows your guests to be recorded over the phone. As you can see, the controls for the features look appealing to many podcasters who want this type of power and control while traveling on the road in a device as small “as a passport.”

Details are also given for recording local guests who may be next to you or in the same room or studio.

And the details of all these features are explained in a few sentences in the post that outlines the important aspects of the system. And at the post, you can see images and photos that point out all the ports and connectors and connections of this device, with a simple description of the key ones stressed. In addition, comparison tables with other systems and detailed specifications are also delivered in the post, for your own comparison. Testimonials from musicians and other content creators, along with discounted prices for early adopters are shown. And finally, the timeline for availability in early 2021 is shown.

The most important aspect for many podcasters will lie in the price tags of $299.00 USD and $399.00 USD dollars.

The final part of the post goes into a brief explanation of some risks and challenges of this project and its availability.

Well, for this podcaster, the device seems to be priced quite competitively and contains a value-rich set of features that are highlighted by the sales promotional images contained in the post.

In fact, it reminds me of the days when the Zoom H2 device came out back in 2006-2007 with its feature-rich set of values for the portability of a small device that can fit into a shirt pocket and carry a great punch with a 32-GB HCSD card to run on AC power or batteries. Such was the technology boom for portability in podcasting then.

But for myself, I will wait until the final availability at the beginning of 2021, and for the reviews to come back from professional reviewers with objective descriptions such as Dave Jackson of The School of Podcasting.

In the meantime, this seems to be a device that can appear to be “too good to be true” until the activities in the field of portable podcasting will test its utility and value for the portable podcasters that can use the livestreaming, storytelling and web meetings. Until then, I am surely glad that companies are exploiting new technologies to give us price-performance devices that can help podcasters in the future — especially the new and aspiring podcasters.

Thank you for your attention.