Zencastr and Cast are two online applications that you can use to record a podcast when you have two remote guests.
There are some great reviews of each online. I wrote about Zencaster a while back going through how podcasters can use it to record guests. I also have used other tools like Skype paired with Ecamm Call Recorder.
I wanted to compare and contrast these to podcast recording applications because I think there are pros and cons to each. As a beginner looking to get crystal-clear audio for your show, the tools that you use are critical!
The tools in your podcasting toolbox can make you sound like an amateur or a pro. They can make the recording process easy as pie, or as hard as solving a rubik’s cube.
Let’s get right down to business.
1. Zencastr
Zencastr is an online tool that you can use to record one or multiple guest interviews from around the world. This tool will also create a separate track for each guest, so that you can normalize the audio easily at a later point in time.
It’s nice having Zencastr back up your podcast episodes. It’s also great how you can have one specific room for each guest to keep your show organized. You don’t have to wait for uploads anymore either (like before).
The guest can leave right after the episode is completed. I also enjoy how the app will do a “audio check” and warn you if there may be any connection problems throughout the show. This way, you can as your guest to check their audio before the episode begins. You won’t be as likely to face issues in the middle of the recording.
When you’re using other tools, like Skype, it can sometimes be guesswork as to whether or not your audio will hold up. You have to judge based on how the other guest rates your audio. You never know, in the middle of the podcast, it could completely drop out.
If you’re familiar with apps like Levelator (which was don’t work anymore for mac), then you’ll like the feature called post-production with Zencastr. As I mentioned, the application will create two tracks of audio.
“Automatic Postproduction will mix the tracks together into a single track and also run some audio enhancements to make it sound great. These enhancements include leveling, noise gating/suppression, and dynamic range compression.” – Learn more here.
At the time of writing, there is a free plan and a paid plan for Zencastr. Right now, I am on the free plan, but I can see a lot of value in the paid plan. Especially if you combine it with another tool to publish your podcast to an RSS feed so that it can go on iTunes easily.
Now that you’re familiar with the functionality of this podcast recording application, let’s discuss some of the pros and the cons of this service for beginner, intermediate, and expert-level hosts. This analysis will help you to make a decision if you’re on the fence of whether or not it will be beneficial for your recording needs.
PROS OF ZENCASTR
- FREE plan so that you can test out the service
- Two-track recording for enhanced editing and paid post-production processing
- Don’t need to install any applications. Easy for a guest to join.
CONS OF ZENCASTR
- Sometimes has more cutting out than Skype and a tiny more lag, depending on connection.
- Must subscribe to service, which is a monthly expense
- No video recording option, like Skype
CAST
Cast is an online application that will let you record, edit, publish and host your podcast. It’s a bit more comprehensive than Zencastr in that way. You would use “the studio” to record your podcast. It works online, so you don’t need to download an application.
The first thing that I noticed when joining Cast was that there is a very strong onboarding process, showing you how each of the buttons work. This can be helpful if you’re not very familiar with online applications. The studio also has one difference from Zencastr, which is the “raise hand” tool which lets a particular guest indicate they have something to say.
Of course, you could do this on your own using Zencastr by simply typing in the chat. That being said, it’s a nice nifty feature to have!
After you record your podcast, you can also edit it on Cast using the editing tools which let you use presets like dynamic compression. Again, there is the onboarding process which shows you how it all works. If you’re not familiar with audio editing, this can be very useful.
The dashboard will show you all of the audio from the guests that were recorded. It’s all online, so you’ll use the various tools available on the software. You can then publish the podcast to your own RSS feed, and get accompanying analytics on the downloads. The website will also host the episode shows for you. In this way, it’s a competitor to other apps like Libsyn and these.
You’ll get a unique URL for all of the recordings, and you can also have the RSS feed synch up with other apps, like iTunes or SoundCloud. Cast will also host the media files that make up your podcast, and they will give you analytics on the show downloads.
In terms of pricing, there is a free trial for one month. You don’t have to put in your credit card to try it out. For hobbyists, it starts at $10/month and pro users go upwards of $30/month.
PROS OF CAST
- Comprehensive three in one application for your podcasting needs
- Strong onboarding process to make it easy to see which buttons do what
- Browser-focused audio recording, storage, and publishing. No software downloads like Skype.
CONS OF CAST
- Free trial is only for 30 days
- Audio editing doesn’t have hotkeys or easy editing features like Garageband
- Is an all-in-one solution, so might be overkill if you’re only using it for recording audio.
Which Would Do I Recommend?
This is a tough one because it really depends on your editing needs.
Personally, I enjoy using Garage band to edit my audio (or have my audio editor do it). I also use Libsyn to host my podcast at the time of writing, so I couldn’t envision myself using the hosting features of Cast. To use it just for audio recording, I’d have to pay $10 per month and would get 10 hour of recording time per month. I could instead use Zencastr for free and get 8 hours of recording per month. Therefore, for me, it makes more sense to use Zencastr.
That being said, Cast is a very quality application that can be a great fit for you, especially if you’re looking for more powerful technology in a box. It can make it easier for you to get started with podcasting, rather than trying to also figure out which podcast host you should get, and what application you should use to edit your audio.
