How to Setup a Microphone Stand

I setup a microphone stand for a home recording studio or voice over setup.

Step 1: Microphone Stand Kit

I bought this mic stand together with a wind shield and pop filter. You can find them on eBay for a pretty good bargain. With shipping included, it cost around 25 Euros.

Step 2: Kit Content

The package includes a shock mount holder for a condenser microphone. The suspension boom and a table clamp. I also picked up a pop filter to try to get better sound for my voice overs.

This is probably not the best kit for a professional radio studio or regular podcaster who will use this heavily. I just needed something basic that would hold my microphone in a fixed position.

Step 3: Clamp to Desk

The first step was to mount the table clamp to the side of my desk where I wanted the boom arm to go.

Step 4: Insert Suspension Arm

After tightening it in place, I inserted the boom suspension arm. The suspension arm gets around 1m (3 - 4 feet) of horizontal travel.

Step 5: Inserting Mic Holder

Since I use a shotgun style microphone from Rode that isn’t a condenser type, I used the regular microphone holder that comes with it. If you have a condenser microphone you should install the shock mount type holder.

Step 6: Pop Filter Installed

I then proceeded to install the pop filter to the suspension arm.

Step 7: XLR Input RCA Output

Once complete, it was time to plug in the microphone to the XLR inputs on my mixer. The boom suspension arm has an XLR cable integrated inside of it so you don’t need to have your own microphone cable.

Step 8: Setup Ready to Go

The mixer output is connected to my external sound card via RCA interconnect cables.
My sound card is connected to my computer via USB.