From Novice to Notoriety: Steps for a YouTube Channel in Gaming

The Guide to Starting a Successful YouTube Gaming Channel

Richard Bennett

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

0

Now is the best and easiest time in history for you to start a YouTube gaming channel. Yet a profitable channel? That’s another story. In this article, I am going to highlight the key elements you need to become the best YouTube gamer you can be.

Table of Content:

1. Have a Greater Purpose
2. Create an Identity
3. Type of Gaming Videos
4. Have a Budget
5. Optimization Matter
6. Be Cautious of Content Strike and Demonetization

Starting a gaming channel today will mean that you will be a small fish in a big ocean. The amount of content on YouTube is massive, and in order to stand out, you will need three intangibles:

- Patience

- Consistency

- Creativity

If you are willing to commit to this long term, then it’s the best time in history for you to start a YouTube gaming channel.

The All-in-One Screen Recorder & Video Editor

• Record desktop screen, voiceover, and webcam simultaneously
• Edit recorded clips quickly with a wide range of professional tools
• Built-in plentiful templates and effects
• Export to MP4, MOV, MKV, GIF and multiple formats

Try It Free

For Win 7 or later (64-bit)

Try It Free

For macOS 10.12 or later

Secure Download

It’s the best time because you will have so many pioneers and successful creators to draw inspiration and knowledge from. You’ll be standing on the shoulders of giants like PewDiePie, Markiplier, Jacksepticeye, and CinnamonToastKen.

The trail has been blazed and you’re in the new frontier. Now, here’s what you need to know about starting a YouTube gaming channel.

1. Have a Greater Purpose

According to Tubular Insights , 15% of all content on YouTube is related to video games. That’s a lot.

Additionally, as of 2018, YouTube has a new monetization requirement. To enable monetization, you will need 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 hours of watch time in the last 12 months.

If you think you can make a few videos and start making money, I’m sorry, but I’ll have to disappoint you. YouTube is fun and a wonderful way to increase the social aspect of gaming and enhance your enjoyment. Approach it the same way you’ve approached gaming all along, as a fun way to spend your time.

Enjoy the journey… and what a journey it can be. Do it for the love of playing games and making videos, and not about getting subscribers or views. If you don’t change your attitude, it’s a grueling climb if all you want is to reach the finish line (which is nowhere in sight).

Why am I telling you this? Well, if you don’t have a greater purpose than simply growing subscribers and making money off YouTube, then you are going to get discouraged and give up. It’s not a get-rich-fast plan.

Here is how you find your greater purpose:

1. Give Value

You want to make good YouTube gaming content like those popular YouTubers that came before you.

But… what makes good YouTube content?

Simply put, good content should exhibit these factors:

Entertaining: Tell a story and sensationalize the emotions that come out of you when you play games.

Educational: Find hidden stages, new tricks, and talk about the lore and history that brought this game to life.

Inspiring: Encourage viewers to try new games and play along. Help people discover their next pastime and thank viewers for spending their time with you.

This is what gives your content value, and creating content with value should be your ultimate purpose. Making your viewers feel good is, in a way, better than money, no?

2. Make YouTube a Part of Your Daily/Weekly Ritual

YouTube should be a part of your regular schedule.

At first, it’ll be easy. Like anything new, your YouTube channel will have a novelty to it. It’s this exciting new project that you have.

But after the first month, that excitement will dampen. By the third month, it’ll become familiar. Here’s where you have to fight the urge to stop. This is where author, Seth Godin calls The Dip .

It’s now working. And like all work, you’ll have to schedule it into your daily life. You’ll have to prioritize YouTube above hanging out with friends, watching another movie, or playing video games without the strain of recording it and being entertaining/educating/inspiring.

However, if you are getting fulfillment from YouTube, you won’t stop even when the going gets hard. Like being a parent, it’s not always fun, but it should always be fulfilling.

Pro Tip: Mark when you are going to be working on YouTube in a calendar, so when someone asks you to hang out or go for dinner, you can check it and let them know you already have plans.

3. Have a Passion to Get Better At Every Step

There are many stages to producing a YouTube video, from pre-production to production to post-production. And within those stages are countless steps.

If YouTube is what you want to do, perhaps the greatest purpose you can have is improving on each of those skill sets along the way.

In the beginning, you will have a surplus of ideas, but once your initial stock of video ideas run dry, you will need to practice coming up with more ideas .

You’ll get better at recording your gameplay, at speaking on camera, at editing your footage, at optimizing your content, and at sharing your videos.

You will enjoy certain steps more than others, but if you are passionate, you will find comfort in striving to improve in each one, little by little.

Pro Tip:Focus on telling a great story . In every video, you should have an objective you want to accomplish. You want to beat a stage, you want to learn a new skill, etc. Once you nail that, all the other elements (screen recording, editing, and your commentary) will fall into place to guide your story from beginning to end.

2. Create an Identity

Your personality and your channel will need to go through a littlebranding exercise . You need to find what sets yourself apart from all the other gaming channels on the Internet. Ask yourself, and be honest with the answer: Why should anyone care about my channel?

1. Be Original

Take inspiration from other YouTubers and adjust it so that it’s unique. You cannot copy the ideas of popular YouTubers, because the public can see that. They can tell the difference between originality and imitation.

Being original doesn’t mean doing something that has never been done before.

Take a look at Jacksepticeye and Markiplier, both are popular YouTubers recognized for their colorful hair, mass use of profanity, and their Let’s Play style of gaming videos. But if you watch their videos, you can see that they are not copying each other but rather adjusting what has proven to be effective to suit their personality.

If something inspires you and you want to make an original version yourself, don’t think that you need to do something completely different, rather ask, how can I make that awesome thing better?

2. Focus on a Specific Aspect of Game

Odds are, you’ll end up playing the same game as other YouTubers. If you’re playing a popular game, then it’s going to be hard for you to establish an audience if your videos are broad.

Consider how your viewers will discover your videos. Are they going to find you through search? If so, what are they searching? There are many aspects to a video game: characters, glitches, stages, etc.

Find a specific aspect of the game to focus on.

Take YouTuber, NoughtPointFourLive, who instead of playing the game via a linear campaign, finds ridiculous situations, odd tricks, and easter eggs in Grand Theft Auto:

3. Hook Audience With Something Funny Or Interesting — And Lead Up To It

Every video you make should tell a story. It doesn’t matter if the storyline is the one in the video game or if it’s happening to you in real life. What matters is that you are aware of where the climax is.

The climax is what your story hinges on: it’s when Mario confronts Bowser.

This is what your audience is watching for. They want to know who wins.

To hook your audience right away, open with the most exciting part. The bit leading up to the climax. But don’t give away the ending. You want to hook them. Give a promise that this video is worth watching and that eventually, it will deliver.

Check out this example from YouTuber, Lachlan playing Fortnite and landing back at Spawn Island, an artillery-filled waiting area for players before the game starts.

This structure can be applied with humor as well as climatic events. If you open with something funny, it gets the viewer engaged immediately. They want to know what led up to that humorous moment.

Take a look at this example from YouTuber, Jelly. He does a great job at injecting humor into his first few seconds of video.

3. Type of Gaming Videos

There are no rules to making gaming videos. As long as it’s worth watching and you aren’t stealing content, that is all that matters. Nevertheless, there are a few standard types of gaming videos that have been established over the years.

1. Let’s Plays

Turn the game on and start playing. Let’s Plays give you a lot of freedom to explore the game and let your personality show in the commentary. You don’t need to play with a strategy, but do have a particular goal in mind (Finishing a level, for example).

Let’s Plays are more about watching you experience the game. A demographic of people watching Let’s Plays are those that don’t have the game themselves, but still want to experience it. Let them live vicariously through you.

2. Reviews

When you’re deciding whether or not to buy a new product where do you go to research? Google and YouTube. If you have a lot of interesting insights after playing a game, making reviews videos might just be your calling. There are many games on the market, and for consumers, it can get overwhelming. Reviews help others decide whether they should invest their money and their time into that specific game or continue searching.

3. Walkthrough

Unlike Let’s Plays and reviews, walkthrough videos are mapped out and structured to help the viewers pass the game while experiencing events, side quests, and characters they would otherwise have missed.

4. Reactions

Misery or excitement, when you genuinely react to an event in a game, the audience gets to experience it along your side. Give the moment a bit of lead up, let people know what you are expecting, and then surprise yourself. Reaction videos are great because they are spontaneous and a wonderful form of presenting your personality.

5. Skills

Video games are hard to master. But if you think you are proficient in an aspect of the game, show off your moves. Is there a particular trick that you can do? Is there a stage you can beat quickly? Are you able to take down your enemy with ease? Prove it.

4. Have a Budget

When you begin your YouTube gaming journey, you are going to see a lot of established YouTubers showing off their gear. It’s easy to get carried away with equipment, but we recommend setting a budget and staying within it to start.

What’s a good budget for YouTubers? Some might say you can do it for $600 and others say $3000. That’s a big range.

What you need to ask yourself is what do you currently have.

Are you starting with nothing? Or do you have some essentials? If you have a computer, which can play the game of your choice, you don’t need to spend $2000 on a new one. Look at what you currently have before buying new stuff.

Here is what you will need to get the best results:

- Microphone (Average cost: $100)

- Webcam (Average cost: $100)

- Editing Software (Average cost: $300)

- PC that can handle recording, editing, rendering, uploading, etc. (Average cost: $2,000)

If you are starting out, all you need is a computer with a capable CPU and GPU, a webcam, a microphone, and a free encoding software, such as OBS , and you will be able to stream.

Even PewDiePie started with a basic gaming setup.

I don’t recommend blowing your life savings on all the equipment you want. Don’t have a powerful computer? There are games such as Minecraft and Roblox that are less taxing to your computer, if you don’t have a powerful one.

There are ways to work around it, if you don’t currently have the funds. Being a YouTuber is all about being resourceful and creative.

You don’t need professional editing software, there are affordable ones such as Wondershare Filmora that have all the capabilities.

1. Many Games Are Free

Here’s the great thing about starting as a video game YouTuber, you don’t need to pay for any games. I’m not only talking about the crappy Flash games on the Internet, but massively popular games such as Fortnite and DOTA are also free to start playing as well.

If you’re strapped for cash. Start your channel playing free games and work your way towards more expensive games.

2. Some Software Are Free As Well

OBS: This streaming software allows you to capture your game in top quality and broadcast it directly to YouTube. It’s a simple setup , and it’s completely free.

Audacity: This audio recording and editing software is great if you want to improve the quality of your audio by removing background noise or combining clips.

GIMP: Probably the closest free product to Photoshop you can find. GIMP will help you perform basic image manipulation. It’s not as user friendly as Photoshop, but you can learn the fundamentals here as you save up for the Creative Cloud subscription plan.

5. Optimization Matters

Gaming is arguably the most popular genre on YouTube. So, how is your little video going to be discovered in this vast sea of gaming content?

The answer: with a good optimization strategy.

1. Tags and Title

When conceptualizing your next video, consider what your viewers are going to search to find it. This will help you focus your gameplay to meet the demand of this untapped (or more specific) audience.

You can use a plugin called VidIQ to see the keyword score by simply searching for the content you think your viewers are interested in watching.

If you’re playing Fortnite, and your keyword is simply “Fortnite” you’re using a highly searched term, but the competition is very high as well. The odds of your ranking is incredibly tough as the overall keyword score is 61/100.

However, if you focus on a more specific aspect of the game to make a video around, such as a character, you can heighten your chance at being discovered.

Take the example below, where I added the keyword “Striker” to the search. Its overall keyword score is 87/100, that’s 26 points better in the keyword score, compared to just “Fortnite.”

This will help you identify the content you should be making and then use that keyword knowledge to write a good title and a list of 5-15 tags.

Few more tips to improving your titles include:

- Avoid uninspiring words like “Fun,” “Exciting,” or “Great.”

- Once you have a title do a quick search to see if it already exists. Common titles make it harder for yours to rank.

- Have the title relate to the game. If there are certain words or phrases that players are familiar with, go ahead and use it.

- Make it click-worthy by promising something unique, but don’t mislead viewers.

2. Create Awesome Thumbnails

It doesn’t matter how awesome your video is, if the thumbnail image is boring, nobody will want to click into it. And if nobody clicks into it, you won’t get any views. Simple.

What makes a good thumbnail image?

1. Don’t use the random images YouTube picks for you
2. Have an expressive picture of a human face (preferably of yours, because it’s your gaming channel and you’re the star)

Take a look at The Syndicate Project’s thumbnails and how it evokes an intensity that makes you want to click — or scream with excitement. Both good things.

1. Don’t want to use your face? Create a character for yourself or to represent your channel. Or used the characters from the actual game.

Check out the colorful thumbnails from VanossGaming, where the owl is the mascot of their channel.

1. Use readable text or emojis

If you don’t have Photoshop or don’t have strong design skills, check out Wondershare Pixstudio , a drag-and-drop design tool that makes creating thumbnails easy.

3. Engage with Other Gamers

Don’t forget that YouTube is a social media platform.

It’s all about being a part of a YouTube community, and while you can’t interact with every creator on the platform, you can find those within your niche or specific game and chat with them. Leave a comment if you like their video or have constructive feedback.

Additionally, viewer engagements such as likes and comments have shown to have an indirect effect on your video ranking. That is why you should encourage your viewers to “smash” the like button or join in a conversation by asking them a question in your video.

6. Be Cautious of Content Strike and Demonetization

1. Cause for Demonetization

The YouTube monetization landscape has changed a lot for creators in the past few years. The guidelines are always being adjusted to serve both creators and advertisers. If you’re thinking of making money from YouTube ads, you have to be aware that there are types of content that turn advertisers off, and YouTube knows it. Here are some reasons that YouTube will choose to demonetize your videos:

- Excessive or gratuitous violence

- Hateful content: promotes discrimination or disparages or humiliates and individual or group of people (race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, disability, age, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, etc.)

- Inappropriate use of family entertainment characters

- Incendiary and demeaning content: disrespectful languages that shame or insult an individual or group

2. Avoiding Copyright Strike

Thanks to the fair use doctrine, you’re allowed to take video game content and make videos from it without acquiring permission from the people who made the game.

However, if you step across the fair use line, you can be penalized for violating copyright infringement.

If you get three strikes from YouTube in 90 days, your account and videos will be removed and you won’t be allowed to create a new channel.

Before you publish your video ask yourself these questions, if you answer yes to any of them then you have met fair use standards:

- Is your content creative or educational?

- Is there more original content than copyrighted content?

- Is your video benefiting the original content?

I recommend that you learn more about YouTube copyright , and how to build your content so that it doesn’t get flagged.

Beyond all that, it’s about playing games, having a good time, and meeting awesome people like yourself. Enjoy the journey and take pleasure in every little achievement, be it in the game or on YouTube.

Key Takeaways

1. Don’t go into YouTube gaming for the money, but rather to improve your skills and other people’s lives.
2. Find something special about your channel that people can’t find anywhere else.
3. YouTube gaming can be as cheap and as expensive as you want, create a budget to stay within your limits.
4. Understand optimization to improve your chances of viewers finding your content.
5. Don’t be hateful or advertisers will avoid you, and don’t steal other people’s content without crediting the original creator.
6. Give yourself a unique YouTube gaming channel name .

What’s stopping you from starting your YouTube gaming channel? Let us know in the comment box below!

Best Screen Recorder & Video Editor for Gamers

If you want to record the gameplay and edit it with some text and titles, or creative transitions and effects, I highly recommend you try Wondershare Filmora , which is easy to use yet powerful enough with its editing tools and effects templates. Download the free trial version and get started now.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

0

Now is the best and easiest time in history for you to start a YouTube gaming channel. Yet a profitable channel? That’s another story. In this article, I am going to highlight the key elements you need to become the best YouTube gamer you can be.

Table of Content:

1. Have a Greater Purpose
2. Create an Identity
3. Type of Gaming Videos
4. Have a Budget
5. Optimization Matter
6. Be Cautious of Content Strike and Demonetization

Starting a gaming channel today will mean that you will be a small fish in a big ocean. The amount of content on YouTube is massive, and in order to stand out, you will need three intangibles:

- Patience

- Consistency

- Creativity

If you are willing to commit to this long term, then it’s the best time in history for you to start a YouTube gaming channel.

The All-in-One Screen Recorder & Video Editor

• Record desktop screen, voiceover, and webcam simultaneously
• Edit recorded clips quickly with a wide range of professional tools
• Built-in plentiful templates and effects
• Export to MP4, MOV, MKV, GIF and multiple formats

Try It Free

For Win 7 or later (64-bit)

Try It Free

For macOS 10.12 or later

Secure Download

It’s the best time because you will have so many pioneers and successful creators to draw inspiration and knowledge from. You’ll be standing on the shoulders of giants like PewDiePie, Markiplier, Jacksepticeye, and CinnamonToastKen.

The trail has been blazed and you’re in the new frontier. Now, here’s what you need to know about starting a YouTube gaming channel.

1. Have a Greater Purpose

According to Tubular Insights , 15% of all content on YouTube is related to video games. That’s a lot.

Additionally, as of 2018, YouTube has a new monetization requirement. To enable monetization, you will need 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 hours of watch time in the last 12 months.

If you think you can make a few videos and start making money, I’m sorry, but I’ll have to disappoint you. YouTube is fun and a wonderful way to increase the social aspect of gaming and enhance your enjoyment. Approach it the same way you’ve approached gaming all along, as a fun way to spend your time.

Enjoy the journey… and what a journey it can be. Do it for the love of playing games and making videos, and not about getting subscribers or views. If you don’t change your attitude, it’s a grueling climb if all you want is to reach the finish line (which is nowhere in sight).

Why am I telling you this? Well, if you don’t have a greater purpose than simply growing subscribers and making money off YouTube, then you are going to get discouraged and give up. It’s not a get-rich-fast plan.

Here is how you find your greater purpose:

1. Give Value

You want to make good YouTube gaming content like those popular YouTubers that came before you.

But… what makes good YouTube content?

Simply put, good content should exhibit these factors:

Entertaining: Tell a story and sensationalize the emotions that come out of you when you play games.

Educational: Find hidden stages, new tricks, and talk about the lore and history that brought this game to life.

Inspiring: Encourage viewers to try new games and play along. Help people discover their next pastime and thank viewers for spending their time with you.

This is what gives your content value, and creating content with value should be your ultimate purpose. Making your viewers feel good is, in a way, better than money, no?

2. Make YouTube a Part of Your Daily/Weekly Ritual

YouTube should be a part of your regular schedule.

At first, it’ll be easy. Like anything new, your YouTube channel will have a novelty to it. It’s this exciting new project that you have.

But after the first month, that excitement will dampen. By the third month, it’ll become familiar. Here’s where you have to fight the urge to stop. This is where author, Seth Godin calls The Dip .

It’s now working. And like all work, you’ll have to schedule it into your daily life. You’ll have to prioritize YouTube above hanging out with friends, watching another movie, or playing video games without the strain of recording it and being entertaining/educating/inspiring.

However, if you are getting fulfillment from YouTube, you won’t stop even when the going gets hard. Like being a parent, it’s not always fun, but it should always be fulfilling.

Pro Tip: Mark when you are going to be working on YouTube in a calendar, so when someone asks you to hang out or go for dinner, you can check it and let them know you already have plans.

3. Have a Passion to Get Better At Every Step

There are many stages to producing a YouTube video, from pre-production to production to post-production. And within those stages are countless steps.

If YouTube is what you want to do, perhaps the greatest purpose you can have is improving on each of those skill sets along the way.

In the beginning, you will have a surplus of ideas, but once your initial stock of video ideas run dry, you will need to practice coming up with more ideas .

You’ll get better at recording your gameplay, at speaking on camera, at editing your footage, at optimizing your content, and at sharing your videos.

You will enjoy certain steps more than others, but if you are passionate, you will find comfort in striving to improve in each one, little by little.

Pro Tip:Focus on telling a great story . In every video, you should have an objective you want to accomplish. You want to beat a stage, you want to learn a new skill, etc. Once you nail that, all the other elements (screen recording, editing, and your commentary) will fall into place to guide your story from beginning to end.

2. Create an Identity

Your personality and your channel will need to go through a littlebranding exercise . You need to find what sets yourself apart from all the other gaming channels on the Internet. Ask yourself, and be honest with the answer: Why should anyone care about my channel?

1. Be Original

Take inspiration from other YouTubers and adjust it so that it’s unique. You cannot copy the ideas of popular YouTubers, because the public can see that. They can tell the difference between originality and imitation.

Being original doesn’t mean doing something that has never been done before.

Take a look at Jacksepticeye and Markiplier, both are popular YouTubers recognized for their colorful hair, mass use of profanity, and their Let’s Play style of gaming videos. But if you watch their videos, you can see that they are not copying each other but rather adjusting what has proven to be effective to suit their personality.

If something inspires you and you want to make an original version yourself, don’t think that you need to do something completely different, rather ask, how can I make that awesome thing better?

2. Focus on a Specific Aspect of Game

Odds are, you’ll end up playing the same game as other YouTubers. If you’re playing a popular game, then it’s going to be hard for you to establish an audience if your videos are broad.

Consider how your viewers will discover your videos. Are they going to find you through search? If so, what are they searching? There are many aspects to a video game: characters, glitches, stages, etc.

Find a specific aspect of the game to focus on.

Take YouTuber, NoughtPointFourLive, who instead of playing the game via a linear campaign, finds ridiculous situations, odd tricks, and easter eggs in Grand Theft Auto:

3. Hook Audience With Something Funny Or Interesting — And Lead Up To It

Every video you make should tell a story. It doesn’t matter if the storyline is the one in the video game or if it’s happening to you in real life. What matters is that you are aware of where the climax is.

The climax is what your story hinges on: it’s when Mario confronts Bowser.

This is what your audience is watching for. They want to know who wins.

To hook your audience right away, open with the most exciting part. The bit leading up to the climax. But don’t give away the ending. You want to hook them. Give a promise that this video is worth watching and that eventually, it will deliver.

Check out this example from YouTuber, Lachlan playing Fortnite and landing back at Spawn Island, an artillery-filled waiting area for players before the game starts.

This structure can be applied with humor as well as climatic events. If you open with something funny, it gets the viewer engaged immediately. They want to know what led up to that humorous moment.

Take a look at this example from YouTuber, Jelly. He does a great job at injecting humor into his first few seconds of video.

3. Type of Gaming Videos

There are no rules to making gaming videos. As long as it’s worth watching and you aren’t stealing content, that is all that matters. Nevertheless, there are a few standard types of gaming videos that have been established over the years.

1. Let’s Plays

Turn the game on and start playing. Let’s Plays give you a lot of freedom to explore the game and let your personality show in the commentary. You don’t need to play with a strategy, but do have a particular goal in mind (Finishing a level, for example).

Let’s Plays are more about watching you experience the game. A demographic of people watching Let’s Plays are those that don’t have the game themselves, but still want to experience it. Let them live vicariously through you.

2. Reviews

When you’re deciding whether or not to buy a new product where do you go to research? Google and YouTube. If you have a lot of interesting insights after playing a game, making reviews videos might just be your calling. There are many games on the market, and for consumers, it can get overwhelming. Reviews help others decide whether they should invest their money and their time into that specific game or continue searching.

3. Walkthrough

Unlike Let’s Plays and reviews, walkthrough videos are mapped out and structured to help the viewers pass the game while experiencing events, side quests, and characters they would otherwise have missed.

4. Reactions

Misery or excitement, when you genuinely react to an event in a game, the audience gets to experience it along your side. Give the moment a bit of lead up, let people know what you are expecting, and then surprise yourself. Reaction videos are great because they are spontaneous and a wonderful form of presenting your personality.

5. Skills

Video games are hard to master. But if you think you are proficient in an aspect of the game, show off your moves. Is there a particular trick that you can do? Is there a stage you can beat quickly? Are you able to take down your enemy with ease? Prove it.

4. Have a Budget

When you begin your YouTube gaming journey, you are going to see a lot of established YouTubers showing off their gear. It’s easy to get carried away with equipment, but we recommend setting a budget and staying within it to start.

What’s a good budget for YouTubers? Some might say you can do it for $600 and others say $3000. That’s a big range.

What you need to ask yourself is what do you currently have.

Are you starting with nothing? Or do you have some essentials? If you have a computer, which can play the game of your choice, you don’t need to spend $2000 on a new one. Look at what you currently have before buying new stuff.

Here is what you will need to get the best results:

- Microphone (Average cost: $100)

- Webcam (Average cost: $100)

- Editing Software (Average cost: $300)

- PC that can handle recording, editing, rendering, uploading, etc. (Average cost: $2,000)

If you are starting out, all you need is a computer with a capable CPU and GPU, a webcam, a microphone, and a free encoding software, such as OBS , and you will be able to stream.

Even PewDiePie started with a basic gaming setup.

I don’t recommend blowing your life savings on all the equipment you want. Don’t have a powerful computer? There are games such as Minecraft and Roblox that are less taxing to your computer, if you don’t have a powerful one.

There are ways to work around it, if you don’t currently have the funds. Being a YouTuber is all about being resourceful and creative.

You don’t need professional editing software, there are affordable ones such as Wondershare Filmora that have all the capabilities.

1. Many Games Are Free

Here’s the great thing about starting as a video game YouTuber, you don’t need to pay for any games. I’m not only talking about the crappy Flash games on the Internet, but massively popular games such as Fortnite and DOTA are also free to start playing as well.

If you’re strapped for cash. Start your channel playing free games and work your way towards more expensive games.

2. Some Software Are Free As Well

OBS: This streaming software allows you to capture your game in top quality and broadcast it directly to YouTube. It’s a simple setup , and it’s completely free.

Audacity: This audio recording and editing software is great if you want to improve the quality of your audio by removing background noise or combining clips.

GIMP: Probably the closest free product to Photoshop you can find. GIMP will help you perform basic image manipulation. It’s not as user friendly as Photoshop, but you can learn the fundamentals here as you save up for the Creative Cloud subscription plan.

5. Optimization Matters

Gaming is arguably the most popular genre on YouTube. So, how is your little video going to be discovered in this vast sea of gaming content?

The answer: with a good optimization strategy.

1. Tags and Title

When conceptualizing your next video, consider what your viewers are going to search to find it. This will help you focus your gameplay to meet the demand of this untapped (or more specific) audience.

You can use a plugin called VidIQ to see the keyword score by simply searching for the content you think your viewers are interested in watching.

If you’re playing Fortnite, and your keyword is simply “Fortnite” you’re using a highly searched term, but the competition is very high as well. The odds of your ranking is incredibly tough as the overall keyword score is 61/100.

However, if you focus on a more specific aspect of the game to make a video around, such as a character, you can heighten your chance at being discovered.

Take the example below, where I added the keyword “Striker” to the search. Its overall keyword score is 87/100, that’s 26 points better in the keyword score, compared to just “Fortnite.”

This will help you identify the content you should be making and then use that keyword knowledge to write a good title and a list of 5-15 tags.

Few more tips to improving your titles include:

- Avoid uninspiring words like “Fun,” “Exciting,” or “Great.”

- Once you have a title do a quick search to see if it already exists. Common titles make it harder for yours to rank.

- Have the title relate to the game. If there are certain words or phrases that players are familiar with, go ahead and use it.

- Make it click-worthy by promising something unique, but don’t mislead viewers.

2. Create Awesome Thumbnails

It doesn’t matter how awesome your video is, if the thumbnail image is boring, nobody will want to click into it. And if nobody clicks into it, you won’t get any views. Simple.

What makes a good thumbnail image?

1. Don’t use the random images YouTube picks for you
2. Have an expressive picture of a human face (preferably of yours, because it’s your gaming channel and you’re the star)

Take a look at The Syndicate Project’s thumbnails and how it evokes an intensity that makes you want to click — or scream with excitement. Both good things.

1. Don’t want to use your face? Create a character for yourself or to represent your channel. Or used the characters from the actual game.

Check out the colorful thumbnails from VanossGaming, where the owl is the mascot of their channel.

1. Use readable text or emojis

If you don’t have Photoshop or don’t have strong design skills, check out Wondershare Pixstudio , a drag-and-drop design tool that makes creating thumbnails easy.

3. Engage with Other Gamers

Don’t forget that YouTube is a social media platform.

It’s all about being a part of a YouTube community, and while you can’t interact with every creator on the platform, you can find those within your niche or specific game and chat with them. Leave a comment if you like their video or have constructive feedback.

Additionally, viewer engagements such as likes and comments have shown to have an indirect effect on your video ranking. That is why you should encourage your viewers to “smash” the like button or join in a conversation by asking them a question in your video.

6. Be Cautious of Content Strike and Demonetization

1. Cause for Demonetization

The YouTube monetization landscape has changed a lot for creators in the past few years. The guidelines are always being adjusted to serve both creators and advertisers. If you’re thinking of making money from YouTube ads, you have to be aware that there are types of content that turn advertisers off, and YouTube knows it. Here are some reasons that YouTube will choose to demonetize your videos:

- Excessive or gratuitous violence

- Hateful content: promotes discrimination or disparages or humiliates and individual or group of people (race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, disability, age, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, etc.)

- Inappropriate use of family entertainment characters

- Incendiary and demeaning content: disrespectful languages that shame or insult an individual or group

2. Avoiding Copyright Strike

Thanks to the fair use doctrine, you’re allowed to take video game content and make videos from it without acquiring permission from the people who made the game.

However, if you step across the fair use line, you can be penalized for violating copyright infringement.

If you get three strikes from YouTube in 90 days, your account and videos will be removed and you won’t be allowed to create a new channel.

Before you publish your video ask yourself these questions, if you answer yes to any of them then you have met fair use standards:

- Is your content creative or educational?

- Is there more original content than copyrighted content?

- Is your video benefiting the original content?

I recommend that you learn more about YouTube copyright , and how to build your content so that it doesn’t get flagged.

Beyond all that, it’s about playing games, having a good time, and meeting awesome people like yourself. Enjoy the journey and take pleasure in every little achievement, be it in the game or on YouTube.

Key Takeaways

1. Don’t go into YouTube gaming for the money, but rather to improve your skills and other people’s lives.
2. Find something special about your channel that people can’t find anywhere else.
3. YouTube gaming can be as cheap and as expensive as you want, create a budget to stay within your limits.
4. Understand optimization to improve your chances of viewers finding your content.
5. Don’t be hateful or advertisers will avoid you, and don’t steal other people’s content without crediting the original creator.
6. Give yourself a unique YouTube gaming channel name .

What’s stopping you from starting your YouTube gaming channel? Let us know in the comment box below!

Best Screen Recorder & Video Editor for Gamers

If you want to record the gameplay and edit it with some text and titles, or creative transitions and effects, I highly recommend you try Wondershare Filmora , which is easy to use yet powerful enough with its editing tools and effects templates. Download the free trial version and get started now.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

0

Now is the best and easiest time in history for you to start a YouTube gaming channel. Yet a profitable channel? That’s another story. In this article, I am going to highlight the key elements you need to become the best YouTube gamer you can be.

Table of Content:

1. Have a Greater Purpose
2. Create an Identity
3. Type of Gaming Videos
4. Have a Budget
5. Optimization Matter
6. Be Cautious of Content Strike and Demonetization

Starting a gaming channel today will mean that you will be a small fish in a big ocean. The amount of content on YouTube is massive, and in order to stand out, you will need three intangibles:

- Patience

- Consistency

- Creativity

If you are willing to commit to this long term, then it’s the best time in history for you to start a YouTube gaming channel.

The All-in-One Screen Recorder & Video Editor

• Record desktop screen, voiceover, and webcam simultaneously
• Edit recorded clips quickly with a wide range of professional tools
• Built-in plentiful templates and effects
• Export to MP4, MOV, MKV, GIF and multiple formats

Try It Free

For Win 7 or later (64-bit)

Try It Free

For macOS 10.12 or later

Secure Download

It’s the best time because you will have so many pioneers and successful creators to draw inspiration and knowledge from. You’ll be standing on the shoulders of giants like PewDiePie, Markiplier, Jacksepticeye, and CinnamonToastKen.

The trail has been blazed and you’re in the new frontier. Now, here’s what you need to know about starting a YouTube gaming channel.

1. Have a Greater Purpose

According to Tubular Insights , 15% of all content on YouTube is related to video games. That’s a lot.

Additionally, as of 2018, YouTube has a new monetization requirement. To enable monetization, you will need 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 hours of watch time in the last 12 months.

If you think you can make a few videos and start making money, I’m sorry, but I’ll have to disappoint you. YouTube is fun and a wonderful way to increase the social aspect of gaming and enhance your enjoyment. Approach it the same way you’ve approached gaming all along, as a fun way to spend your time.

Enjoy the journey… and what a journey it can be. Do it for the love of playing games and making videos, and not about getting subscribers or views. If you don’t change your attitude, it’s a grueling climb if all you want is to reach the finish line (which is nowhere in sight).

Why am I telling you this? Well, if you don’t have a greater purpose than simply growing subscribers and making money off YouTube, then you are going to get discouraged and give up. It’s not a get-rich-fast plan.

Here is how you find your greater purpose:

1. Give Value

You want to make good YouTube gaming content like those popular YouTubers that came before you.

But… what makes good YouTube content?

Simply put, good content should exhibit these factors:

Entertaining: Tell a story and sensationalize the emotions that come out of you when you play games.

Educational: Find hidden stages, new tricks, and talk about the lore and history that brought this game to life.

Inspiring: Encourage viewers to try new games and play along. Help people discover their next pastime and thank viewers for spending their time with you.

This is what gives your content value, and creating content with value should be your ultimate purpose. Making your viewers feel good is, in a way, better than money, no?

2. Make YouTube a Part of Your Daily/Weekly Ritual

YouTube should be a part of your regular schedule.

At first, it’ll be easy. Like anything new, your YouTube channel will have a novelty to it. It’s this exciting new project that you have.

But after the first month, that excitement will dampen. By the third month, it’ll become familiar. Here’s where you have to fight the urge to stop. This is where author, Seth Godin calls The Dip .

It’s now working. And like all work, you’ll have to schedule it into your daily life. You’ll have to prioritize YouTube above hanging out with friends, watching another movie, or playing video games without the strain of recording it and being entertaining/educating/inspiring.

However, if you are getting fulfillment from YouTube, you won’t stop even when the going gets hard. Like being a parent, it’s not always fun, but it should always be fulfilling.

Pro Tip: Mark when you are going to be working on YouTube in a calendar, so when someone asks you to hang out or go for dinner, you can check it and let them know you already have plans.

3. Have a Passion to Get Better At Every Step

There are many stages to producing a YouTube video, from pre-production to production to post-production. And within those stages are countless steps.

If YouTube is what you want to do, perhaps the greatest purpose you can have is improving on each of those skill sets along the way.

In the beginning, you will have a surplus of ideas, but once your initial stock of video ideas run dry, you will need to practice coming up with more ideas .

You’ll get better at recording your gameplay, at speaking on camera, at editing your footage, at optimizing your content, and at sharing your videos.

You will enjoy certain steps more than others, but if you are passionate, you will find comfort in striving to improve in each one, little by little.

Pro Tip:Focus on telling a great story . In every video, you should have an objective you want to accomplish. You want to beat a stage, you want to learn a new skill, etc. Once you nail that, all the other elements (screen recording, editing, and your commentary) will fall into place to guide your story from beginning to end.

2. Create an Identity

Your personality and your channel will need to go through a littlebranding exercise . You need to find what sets yourself apart from all the other gaming channels on the Internet. Ask yourself, and be honest with the answer: Why should anyone care about my channel?

1. Be Original

Take inspiration from other YouTubers and adjust it so that it’s unique. You cannot copy the ideas of popular YouTubers, because the public can see that. They can tell the difference between originality and imitation.

Being original doesn’t mean doing something that has never been done before.

Take a look at Jacksepticeye and Markiplier, both are popular YouTubers recognized for their colorful hair, mass use of profanity, and their Let’s Play style of gaming videos. But if you watch their videos, you can see that they are not copying each other but rather adjusting what has proven to be effective to suit their personality.

If something inspires you and you want to make an original version yourself, don’t think that you need to do something completely different, rather ask, how can I make that awesome thing better?

2. Focus on a Specific Aspect of Game

Odds are, you’ll end up playing the same game as other YouTubers. If you’re playing a popular game, then it’s going to be hard for you to establish an audience if your videos are broad.

Consider how your viewers will discover your videos. Are they going to find you through search? If so, what are they searching? There are many aspects to a video game: characters, glitches, stages, etc.

Find a specific aspect of the game to focus on.

Take YouTuber, NoughtPointFourLive, who instead of playing the game via a linear campaign, finds ridiculous situations, odd tricks, and easter eggs in Grand Theft Auto:

3. Hook Audience With Something Funny Or Interesting — And Lead Up To It

Every video you make should tell a story. It doesn’t matter if the storyline is the one in the video game or if it’s happening to you in real life. What matters is that you are aware of where the climax is.

The climax is what your story hinges on: it’s when Mario confronts Bowser.

This is what your audience is watching for. They want to know who wins.

To hook your audience right away, open with the most exciting part. The bit leading up to the climax. But don’t give away the ending. You want to hook them. Give a promise that this video is worth watching and that eventually, it will deliver.

Check out this example from YouTuber, Lachlan playing Fortnite and landing back at Spawn Island, an artillery-filled waiting area for players before the game starts.

This structure can be applied with humor as well as climatic events. If you open with something funny, it gets the viewer engaged immediately. They want to know what led up to that humorous moment.

Take a look at this example from YouTuber, Jelly. He does a great job at injecting humor into his first few seconds of video.

3. Type of Gaming Videos

There are no rules to making gaming videos. As long as it’s worth watching and you aren’t stealing content, that is all that matters. Nevertheless, there are a few standard types of gaming videos that have been established over the years.

1. Let’s Plays

Turn the game on and start playing. Let’s Plays give you a lot of freedom to explore the game and let your personality show in the commentary. You don’t need to play with a strategy, but do have a particular goal in mind (Finishing a level, for example).

Let’s Plays are more about watching you experience the game. A demographic of people watching Let’s Plays are those that don’t have the game themselves, but still want to experience it. Let them live vicariously through you.

2. Reviews

When you’re deciding whether or not to buy a new product where do you go to research? Google and YouTube. If you have a lot of interesting insights after playing a game, making reviews videos might just be your calling. There are many games on the market, and for consumers, it can get overwhelming. Reviews help others decide whether they should invest their money and their time into that specific game or continue searching.

3. Walkthrough

Unlike Let’s Plays and reviews, walkthrough videos are mapped out and structured to help the viewers pass the game while experiencing events, side quests, and characters they would otherwise have missed.

4. Reactions

Misery or excitement, when you genuinely react to an event in a game, the audience gets to experience it along your side. Give the moment a bit of lead up, let people know what you are expecting, and then surprise yourself. Reaction videos are great because they are spontaneous and a wonderful form of presenting your personality.

5. Skills

Video games are hard to master. But if you think you are proficient in an aspect of the game, show off your moves. Is there a particular trick that you can do? Is there a stage you can beat quickly? Are you able to take down your enemy with ease? Prove it.

4. Have a Budget

When you begin your YouTube gaming journey, you are going to see a lot of established YouTubers showing off their gear. It’s easy to get carried away with equipment, but we recommend setting a budget and staying within it to start.

What’s a good budget for YouTubers? Some might say you can do it for $600 and others say $3000. That’s a big range.

What you need to ask yourself is what do you currently have.

Are you starting with nothing? Or do you have some essentials? If you have a computer, which can play the game of your choice, you don’t need to spend $2000 on a new one. Look at what you currently have before buying new stuff.

Here is what you will need to get the best results:

- Microphone (Average cost: $100)

- Webcam (Average cost: $100)

- Editing Software (Average cost: $300)

- PC that can handle recording, editing, rendering, uploading, etc. (Average cost: $2,000)

If you are starting out, all you need is a computer with a capable CPU and GPU, a webcam, a microphone, and a free encoding software, such as OBS , and you will be able to stream.

Even PewDiePie started with a basic gaming setup.

I don’t recommend blowing your life savings on all the equipment you want. Don’t have a powerful computer? There are games such as Minecraft and Roblox that are less taxing to your computer, if you don’t have a powerful one.

There are ways to work around it, if you don’t currently have the funds. Being a YouTuber is all about being resourceful and creative.

You don’t need professional editing software, there are affordable ones such as Wondershare Filmora that have all the capabilities.

1. Many Games Are Free

Here’s the great thing about starting as a video game YouTuber, you don’t need to pay for any games. I’m not only talking about the crappy Flash games on the Internet, but massively popular games such as Fortnite and DOTA are also free to start playing as well.

If you’re strapped for cash. Start your channel playing free games and work your way towards more expensive games.

2. Some Software Are Free As Well

OBS: This streaming software allows you to capture your game in top quality and broadcast it directly to YouTube. It’s a simple setup , and it’s completely free.

Audacity: This audio recording and editing software is great if you want to improve the quality of your audio by removing background noise or combining clips.

GIMP: Probably the closest free product to Photoshop you can find. GIMP will help you perform basic image manipulation. It’s not as user friendly as Photoshop, but you can learn the fundamentals here as you save up for the Creative Cloud subscription plan.

5. Optimization Matters

Gaming is arguably the most popular genre on YouTube. So, how is your little video going to be discovered in this vast sea of gaming content?

The answer: with a good optimization strategy.

1. Tags and Title

When conceptualizing your next video, consider what your viewers are going to search to find it. This will help you focus your gameplay to meet the demand of this untapped (or more specific) audience.

You can use a plugin called VidIQ to see the keyword score by simply searching for the content you think your viewers are interested in watching.

If you’re playing Fortnite, and your keyword is simply “Fortnite” you’re using a highly searched term, but the competition is very high as well. The odds of your ranking is incredibly tough as the overall keyword score is 61/100.

However, if you focus on a more specific aspect of the game to make a video around, such as a character, you can heighten your chance at being discovered.

Take the example below, where I added the keyword “Striker” to the search. Its overall keyword score is 87/100, that’s 26 points better in the keyword score, compared to just “Fortnite.”

This will help you identify the content you should be making and then use that keyword knowledge to write a good title and a list of 5-15 tags.

Few more tips to improving your titles include:

- Avoid uninspiring words like “Fun,” “Exciting,” or “Great.”

- Once you have a title do a quick search to see if it already exists. Common titles make it harder for yours to rank.

- Have the title relate to the game. If there are certain words or phrases that players are familiar with, go ahead and use it.

- Make it click-worthy by promising something unique, but don’t mislead viewers.

2. Create Awesome Thumbnails

It doesn’t matter how awesome your video is, if the thumbnail image is boring, nobody will want to click into it. And if nobody clicks into it, you won’t get any views. Simple.

What makes a good thumbnail image?

1. Don’t use the random images YouTube picks for you
2. Have an expressive picture of a human face (preferably of yours, because it’s your gaming channel and you’re the star)

Take a look at The Syndicate Project’s thumbnails and how it evokes an intensity that makes you want to click — or scream with excitement. Both good things.

1. Don’t want to use your face? Create a character for yourself or to represent your channel. Or used the characters from the actual game.

Check out the colorful thumbnails from VanossGaming, where the owl is the mascot of their channel.

1. Use readable text or emojis

If you don’t have Photoshop or don’t have strong design skills, check out Wondershare Pixstudio , a drag-and-drop design tool that makes creating thumbnails easy.

3. Engage with Other Gamers

Don’t forget that YouTube is a social media platform.

It’s all about being a part of a YouTube community, and while you can’t interact with every creator on the platform, you can find those within your niche or specific game and chat with them. Leave a comment if you like their video or have constructive feedback.

Additionally, viewer engagements such as likes and comments have shown to have an indirect effect on your video ranking. That is why you should encourage your viewers to “smash” the like button or join in a conversation by asking them a question in your video.

6. Be Cautious of Content Strike and Demonetization

1. Cause for Demonetization

The YouTube monetization landscape has changed a lot for creators in the past few years. The guidelines are always being adjusted to serve both creators and advertisers. If you’re thinking of making money from YouTube ads, you have to be aware that there are types of content that turn advertisers off, and YouTube knows it. Here are some reasons that YouTube will choose to demonetize your videos:

- Excessive or gratuitous violence

- Hateful content: promotes discrimination or disparages or humiliates and individual or group of people (race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, disability, age, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, etc.)

- Inappropriate use of family entertainment characters

- Incendiary and demeaning content: disrespectful languages that shame or insult an individual or group

2. Avoiding Copyright Strike

Thanks to the fair use doctrine, you’re allowed to take video game content and make videos from it without acquiring permission from the people who made the game.

However, if you step across the fair use line, you can be penalized for violating copyright infringement.

If you get three strikes from YouTube in 90 days, your account and videos will be removed and you won’t be allowed to create a new channel.

Before you publish your video ask yourself these questions, if you answer yes to any of them then you have met fair use standards:

- Is your content creative or educational?

- Is there more original content than copyrighted content?

- Is your video benefiting the original content?

I recommend that you learn more about YouTube copyright , and how to build your content so that it doesn’t get flagged.

Beyond all that, it’s about playing games, having a good time, and meeting awesome people like yourself. Enjoy the journey and take pleasure in every little achievement, be it in the game or on YouTube.

Key Takeaways

1. Don’t go into YouTube gaming for the money, but rather to improve your skills and other people’s lives.
2. Find something special about your channel that people can’t find anywhere else.
3. YouTube gaming can be as cheap and as expensive as you want, create a budget to stay within your limits.
4. Understand optimization to improve your chances of viewers finding your content.
5. Don’t be hateful or advertisers will avoid you, and don’t steal other people’s content without crediting the original creator.
6. Give yourself a unique YouTube gaming channel name .

What’s stopping you from starting your YouTube gaming channel? Let us know in the comment box below!

Best Screen Recorder & Video Editor for Gamers

If you want to record the gameplay and edit it with some text and titles, or creative transitions and effects, I highly recommend you try Wondershare Filmora , which is easy to use yet powerful enough with its editing tools and effects templates. Download the free trial version and get started now.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

0

Now is the best and easiest time in history for you to start a YouTube gaming channel. Yet a profitable channel? That’s another story. In this article, I am going to highlight the key elements you need to become the best YouTube gamer you can be.

Table of Content:

1. Have a Greater Purpose
2. Create an Identity
3. Type of Gaming Videos
4. Have a Budget
5. Optimization Matter
6. Be Cautious of Content Strike and Demonetization

Starting a gaming channel today will mean that you will be a small fish in a big ocean. The amount of content on YouTube is massive, and in order to stand out, you will need three intangibles:

- Patience

- Consistency

- Creativity

If you are willing to commit to this long term, then it’s the best time in history for you to start a YouTube gaming channel.

The All-in-One Screen Recorder & Video Editor

• Record desktop screen, voiceover, and webcam simultaneously
• Edit recorded clips quickly with a wide range of professional tools
• Built-in plentiful templates and effects
• Export to MP4, MOV, MKV, GIF and multiple formats

Try It Free

For Win 7 or later (64-bit)

Try It Free

For macOS 10.12 or later

Secure Download

It’s the best time because you will have so many pioneers and successful creators to draw inspiration and knowledge from. You’ll be standing on the shoulders of giants like PewDiePie, Markiplier, Jacksepticeye, and CinnamonToastKen.

The trail has been blazed and you’re in the new frontier. Now, here’s what you need to know about starting a YouTube gaming channel.

1. Have a Greater Purpose

According to Tubular Insights , 15% of all content on YouTube is related to video games. That’s a lot.

Additionally, as of 2018, YouTube has a new monetization requirement. To enable monetization, you will need 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 hours of watch time in the last 12 months.

If you think you can make a few videos and start making money, I’m sorry, but I’ll have to disappoint you. YouTube is fun and a wonderful way to increase the social aspect of gaming and enhance your enjoyment. Approach it the same way you’ve approached gaming all along, as a fun way to spend your time.

Enjoy the journey… and what a journey it can be. Do it for the love of playing games and making videos, and not about getting subscribers or views. If you don’t change your attitude, it’s a grueling climb if all you want is to reach the finish line (which is nowhere in sight).

Why am I telling you this? Well, if you don’t have a greater purpose than simply growing subscribers and making money off YouTube, then you are going to get discouraged and give up. It’s not a get-rich-fast plan.

Here is how you find your greater purpose:

1. Give Value

You want to make good YouTube gaming content like those popular YouTubers that came before you.

But… what makes good YouTube content?

Simply put, good content should exhibit these factors:

Entertaining: Tell a story and sensationalize the emotions that come out of you when you play games.

Educational: Find hidden stages, new tricks, and talk about the lore and history that brought this game to life.

Inspiring: Encourage viewers to try new games and play along. Help people discover their next pastime and thank viewers for spending their time with you.

This is what gives your content value, and creating content with value should be your ultimate purpose. Making your viewers feel good is, in a way, better than money, no?

2. Make YouTube a Part of Your Daily/Weekly Ritual

YouTube should be a part of your regular schedule.

At first, it’ll be easy. Like anything new, your YouTube channel will have a novelty to it. It’s this exciting new project that you have.

But after the first month, that excitement will dampen. By the third month, it’ll become familiar. Here’s where you have to fight the urge to stop. This is where author, Seth Godin calls The Dip .

It’s now working. And like all work, you’ll have to schedule it into your daily life. You’ll have to prioritize YouTube above hanging out with friends, watching another movie, or playing video games without the strain of recording it and being entertaining/educating/inspiring.

However, if you are getting fulfillment from YouTube, you won’t stop even when the going gets hard. Like being a parent, it’s not always fun, but it should always be fulfilling.

Pro Tip: Mark when you are going to be working on YouTube in a calendar, so when someone asks you to hang out or go for dinner, you can check it and let them know you already have plans.

3. Have a Passion to Get Better At Every Step

There are many stages to producing a YouTube video, from pre-production to production to post-production. And within those stages are countless steps.

If YouTube is what you want to do, perhaps the greatest purpose you can have is improving on each of those skill sets along the way.

In the beginning, you will have a surplus of ideas, but once your initial stock of video ideas run dry, you will need to practice coming up with more ideas .

You’ll get better at recording your gameplay, at speaking on camera, at editing your footage, at optimizing your content, and at sharing your videos.

You will enjoy certain steps more than others, but if you are passionate, you will find comfort in striving to improve in each one, little by little.

Pro Tip:Focus on telling a great story . In every video, you should have an objective you want to accomplish. You want to beat a stage, you want to learn a new skill, etc. Once you nail that, all the other elements (screen recording, editing, and your commentary) will fall into place to guide your story from beginning to end.

2. Create an Identity

Your personality and your channel will need to go through a littlebranding exercise . You need to find what sets yourself apart from all the other gaming channels on the Internet. Ask yourself, and be honest with the answer: Why should anyone care about my channel?

1. Be Original

Take inspiration from other YouTubers and adjust it so that it’s unique. You cannot copy the ideas of popular YouTubers, because the public can see that. They can tell the difference between originality and imitation.

Being original doesn’t mean doing something that has never been done before.

Take a look at Jacksepticeye and Markiplier, both are popular YouTubers recognized for their colorful hair, mass use of profanity, and their Let’s Play style of gaming videos. But if you watch their videos, you can see that they are not copying each other but rather adjusting what has proven to be effective to suit their personality.

If something inspires you and you want to make an original version yourself, don’t think that you need to do something completely different, rather ask, how can I make that awesome thing better?

2. Focus on a Specific Aspect of Game

Odds are, you’ll end up playing the same game as other YouTubers. If you’re playing a popular game, then it’s going to be hard for you to establish an audience if your videos are broad.

Consider how your viewers will discover your videos. Are they going to find you through search? If so, what are they searching? There are many aspects to a video game: characters, glitches, stages, etc.

Find a specific aspect of the game to focus on.

Take YouTuber, NoughtPointFourLive, who instead of playing the game via a linear campaign, finds ridiculous situations, odd tricks, and easter eggs in Grand Theft Auto:

3. Hook Audience With Something Funny Or Interesting — And Lead Up To It

Every video you make should tell a story. It doesn’t matter if the storyline is the one in the video game or if it’s happening to you in real life. What matters is that you are aware of where the climax is.

The climax is what your story hinges on: it’s when Mario confronts Bowser.

This is what your audience is watching for. They want to know who wins.

To hook your audience right away, open with the most exciting part. The bit leading up to the climax. But don’t give away the ending. You want to hook them. Give a promise that this video is worth watching and that eventually, it will deliver.

Check out this example from YouTuber, Lachlan playing Fortnite and landing back at Spawn Island, an artillery-filled waiting area for players before the game starts.

This structure can be applied with humor as well as climatic events. If you open with something funny, it gets the viewer engaged immediately. They want to know what led up to that humorous moment.

Take a look at this example from YouTuber, Jelly. He does a great job at injecting humor into his first few seconds of video.

3. Type of Gaming Videos

There are no rules to making gaming videos. As long as it’s worth watching and you aren’t stealing content, that is all that matters. Nevertheless, there are a few standard types of gaming videos that have been established over the years.

1. Let’s Plays

Turn the game on and start playing. Let’s Plays give you a lot of freedom to explore the game and let your personality show in the commentary. You don’t need to play with a strategy, but do have a particular goal in mind (Finishing a level, for example).

Let’s Plays are more about watching you experience the game. A demographic of people watching Let’s Plays are those that don’t have the game themselves, but still want to experience it. Let them live vicariously through you.

2. Reviews

When you’re deciding whether or not to buy a new product where do you go to research? Google and YouTube. If you have a lot of interesting insights after playing a game, making reviews videos might just be your calling. There are many games on the market, and for consumers, it can get overwhelming. Reviews help others decide whether they should invest their money and their time into that specific game or continue searching.

3. Walkthrough

Unlike Let’s Plays and reviews, walkthrough videos are mapped out and structured to help the viewers pass the game while experiencing events, side quests, and characters they would otherwise have missed.

4. Reactions

Misery or excitement, when you genuinely react to an event in a game, the audience gets to experience it along your side. Give the moment a bit of lead up, let people know what you are expecting, and then surprise yourself. Reaction videos are great because they are spontaneous and a wonderful form of presenting your personality.

5. Skills

Video games are hard to master. But if you think you are proficient in an aspect of the game, show off your moves. Is there a particular trick that you can do? Is there a stage you can beat quickly? Are you able to take down your enemy with ease? Prove it.

4. Have a Budget

When you begin your YouTube gaming journey, you are going to see a lot of established YouTubers showing off their gear. It’s easy to get carried away with equipment, but we recommend setting a budget and staying within it to start.

What’s a good budget for YouTubers? Some might say you can do it for $600 and others say $3000. That’s a big range.

What you need to ask yourself is what do you currently have.

Are you starting with nothing? Or do you have some essentials? If you have a computer, which can play the game of your choice, you don’t need to spend $2000 on a new one. Look at what you currently have before buying new stuff.

Here is what you will need to get the best results:

- Microphone (Average cost: $100)

- Webcam (Average cost: $100)

- Editing Software (Average cost: $300)

- PC that can handle recording, editing, rendering, uploading, etc. (Average cost: $2,000)

If you are starting out, all you need is a computer with a capable CPU and GPU, a webcam, a microphone, and a free encoding software, such as OBS , and you will be able to stream.

Even PewDiePie started with a basic gaming setup.

I don’t recommend blowing your life savings on all the equipment you want. Don’t have a powerful computer? There are games such as Minecraft and Roblox that are less taxing to your computer, if you don’t have a powerful one.

There are ways to work around it, if you don’t currently have the funds. Being a YouTuber is all about being resourceful and creative.

You don’t need professional editing software, there are affordable ones such as Wondershare Filmora that have all the capabilities.

1. Many Games Are Free

Here’s the great thing about starting as a video game YouTuber, you don’t need to pay for any games. I’m not only talking about the crappy Flash games on the Internet, but massively popular games such as Fortnite and DOTA are also free to start playing as well.

If you’re strapped for cash. Start your channel playing free games and work your way towards more expensive games.

2. Some Software Are Free As Well

OBS: This streaming software allows you to capture your game in top quality and broadcast it directly to YouTube. It’s a simple setup , and it’s completely free.

Audacity: This audio recording and editing software is great if you want to improve the quality of your audio by removing background noise or combining clips.

GIMP: Probably the closest free product to Photoshop you can find. GIMP will help you perform basic image manipulation. It’s not as user friendly as Photoshop, but you can learn the fundamentals here as you save up for the Creative Cloud subscription plan.

5. Optimization Matters

Gaming is arguably the most popular genre on YouTube. So, how is your little video going to be discovered in this vast sea of gaming content?

The answer: with a good optimization strategy.

1. Tags and Title

When conceptualizing your next video, consider what your viewers are going to search to find it. This will help you focus your gameplay to meet the demand of this untapped (or more specific) audience.

You can use a plugin called VidIQ to see the keyword score by simply searching for the content you think your viewers are interested in watching.

If you’re playing Fortnite, and your keyword is simply “Fortnite” you’re using a highly searched term, but the competition is very high as well. The odds of your ranking is incredibly tough as the overall keyword score is 61/100.

However, if you focus on a more specific aspect of the game to make a video around, such as a character, you can heighten your chance at being discovered.

Take the example below, where I added the keyword “Striker” to the search. Its overall keyword score is 87/100, that’s 26 points better in the keyword score, compared to just “Fortnite.”

This will help you identify the content you should be making and then use that keyword knowledge to write a good title and a list of 5-15 tags.

Few more tips to improving your titles include:

- Avoid uninspiring words like “Fun,” “Exciting,” or “Great.”

- Once you have a title do a quick search to see if it already exists. Common titles make it harder for yours to rank.

- Have the title relate to the game. If there are certain words or phrases that players are familiar with, go ahead and use it.

- Make it click-worthy by promising something unique, but don’t mislead viewers.

2. Create Awesome Thumbnails

It doesn’t matter how awesome your video is, if the thumbnail image is boring, nobody will want to click into it. And if nobody clicks into it, you won’t get any views. Simple.

What makes a good thumbnail image?

1. Don’t use the random images YouTube picks for you
2. Have an expressive picture of a human face (preferably of yours, because it’s your gaming channel and you’re the star)

Take a look at The Syndicate Project’s thumbnails and how it evokes an intensity that makes you want to click — or scream with excitement. Both good things.

1. Don’t want to use your face? Create a character for yourself or to represent your channel. Or used the characters from the actual game.

Check out the colorful thumbnails from VanossGaming, where the owl is the mascot of their channel.

1. Use readable text or emojis

If you don’t have Photoshop or don’t have strong design skills, check out Wondershare Pixstudio , a drag-and-drop design tool that makes creating thumbnails easy.

3. Engage with Other Gamers

Don’t forget that YouTube is a social media platform.

It’s all about being a part of a YouTube community, and while you can’t interact with every creator on the platform, you can find those within your niche or specific game and chat with them. Leave a comment if you like their video or have constructive feedback.

Additionally, viewer engagements such as likes and comments have shown to have an indirect effect on your video ranking. That is why you should encourage your viewers to “smash” the like button or join in a conversation by asking them a question in your video.

6. Be Cautious of Content Strike and Demonetization

1. Cause for Demonetization

The YouTube monetization landscape has changed a lot for creators in the past few years. The guidelines are always being adjusted to serve both creators and advertisers. If you’re thinking of making money from YouTube ads, you have to be aware that there are types of content that turn advertisers off, and YouTube knows it. Here are some reasons that YouTube will choose to demonetize your videos:

- Excessive or gratuitous violence

- Hateful content: promotes discrimination or disparages or humiliates and individual or group of people (race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, disability, age, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, etc.)

- Inappropriate use of family entertainment characters

- Incendiary and demeaning content: disrespectful languages that shame or insult an individual or group

2. Avoiding Copyright Strike

Thanks to the fair use doctrine, you’re allowed to take video game content and make videos from it without acquiring permission from the people who made the game.

However, if you step across the fair use line, you can be penalized for violating copyright infringement.

If you get three strikes from YouTube in 90 days, your account and videos will be removed and you won’t be allowed to create a new channel.

Before you publish your video ask yourself these questions, if you answer yes to any of them then you have met fair use standards:

- Is your content creative or educational?

- Is there more original content than copyrighted content?

- Is your video benefiting the original content?

I recommend that you learn more about YouTube copyright , and how to build your content so that it doesn’t get flagged.

Beyond all that, it’s about playing games, having a good time, and meeting awesome people like yourself. Enjoy the journey and take pleasure in every little achievement, be it in the game or on YouTube.

Key Takeaways

1. Don’t go into YouTube gaming for the money, but rather to improve your skills and other people’s lives.
2. Find something special about your channel that people can’t find anywhere else.
3. YouTube gaming can be as cheap and as expensive as you want, create a budget to stay within your limits.
4. Understand optimization to improve your chances of viewers finding your content.
5. Don’t be hateful or advertisers will avoid you, and don’t steal other people’s content without crediting the original creator.
6. Give yourself a unique YouTube gaming channel name .

What’s stopping you from starting your YouTube gaming channel? Let us know in the comment box below!

Best Screen Recorder & Video Editor for Gamers

If you want to record the gameplay and edit it with some text and titles, or creative transitions and effects, I highly recommend you try Wondershare Filmora , which is easy to use yet powerful enough with its editing tools and effects templates. Download the free trial version and get started now.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Elevate Your ASMR Sessions with These Microphones

Best ASMR Microphones

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

ASMR can be triggered by visual, audio, and tactile stimuli, which is the reason why most YouTubers who produce this type of content dedicate a lot of attention to the image and sound quality.

Furthermore, the vast majority of ASMR videos you can find on YouTube utilizes audio triggers to spark the autonomous sensory meridian response in one form or the other. Consequently, the quality of the audio recording determines whether or not your videos will be able to trigger ASMR. That’s why we selected some of the ASMR microphones novice and seasoned YouTubers can use to record the audio for their ASMR YouTube videos.

Part 1: Which Features Should an ASMR Microphone Have?

Thinking that you can use any microphone you can lay your hands on to record sound for you ASMR videos is a mistake, because the quality of the recording may not be at a satisfactory level if your microphone is producing a lot of self-noise or if it is not able to pick up soft noises.

Let’s take a closer look at the features and ASMR microphone should have.

1. The mic’s source of power

A microphone can draw power from two sources, as you can either connect it to a computer via a USB cable or you can use an XLR cable to connect the device to an external power source.

The so-called Phantom Power can be any type of adapter or audio recorder that supplies a microphone with power. All professional condenser microphones are connected to a power source through an XLR connection although some mics can have a built-in phantom power source that requires only an AA battery to function normally.

2. The microphone’s recording direction

Although there are a number of direction categories of microphones, ASMR content produces commonly use Omnidirectional and Binaural mics.

As its name suggests, an omnidirectional microphone can pick up sounds from all sides, which makes it a good option if you want to record ambient sounds like brushing or tapping. However, you should also keep in mind that this type of microphone can capture background noises which may impact the overall quality of the recording.

The binaural mics are composed of two microphones are used to record the left and right channel separately. You don’t necessarily have to get a binaural microphone in order to create a binaural audio recording since you can just use two different microphones to record the left and right channels individually.

3. The level of self-noise a microphone makes

Recording low sounds can be challenging if your microphone is creating humming or crackling noises automatically. The so-called self-noise level a microphone makes is quantified in A-weighted decibels, and ideally, you should get a mic that makes around 15dBA in order to keep sounds a microphone produces automatically at the very minimum.

Besides the self-noise, you should also look into S/N (Signal to Noise Ratio) that depicts the ratio of signal power to noise power. A mic that has approximately 80dBA or more should enable you to record low voices without having to worry about the unwanted noises.

Part 2: What Are The Best Budget ASMR Microphones for Beginners?

If you are thinking about starting an ASMR YouTube channel, you don’t have to get a professional microphone right away, because there lots of affordable mics that will enable you to create crystal-clear audio recordings.

We’ve shortlisted a few of the best budget ASMR microphones for beginners on the market with the aim to help you narrow down your choices. Here’s what they have to offer.

1. Tascam DR-05X Stereo Handheld Digital Recorder

Price: $89.99

This versatile digital recorder can be used for different purposes that range from capturing audio for podcasts to recording your personal notes. The Tascam DR-05X is equipped with a pair of dual condenser microphones that enable you to record low or high sounds with the same level of efficiency.

The device is powered by two AA batteries and it can record for almost 18 hours continually before you have to change the batteries. The Tascam DR-05X’s interface is intuitive which allows you to adjust audio levels, delete a take you didn’t like, or add markers to a recording effortlessly.

What’s more, this handheld digital recorder has a USB port which enables you to connect it to a computer and use it to record audio during live streams or while creating a new ASMR video for your YouTube channel. Nonetheless, this omnidirectional digital recorder doesn’t have an XLR jack and you can’t use it to capture sound from professional microphones.

2. Blue Yeti USB Microphone

Price: $129.99

Arguably the most popular microphone within YouTube’s ASMR community Blue Yeti USB microphone is a versatile mic you can use to record ambient sounds and vocals. The microphone has three condenser capsules which enables you to record audio with it in a broad range of different contexts.

In addition, you can switch between stereo, omnidirectional, cardioid, and bidirectional pattern modes and choose the direction from which the microphone is going to pick up sounds. Blue Yeti has the 20 Hz to 20 kHz frequency response and it features the mute and gain buttons so that you can quickly adjust this value even if you are still recording.

The mic’s signal to noise ratio is 100dBA which means that it produces a minimum amount of noises while you’re recording low sounds. You can use this mic on Windows XP and all other later versions of the OS as well as macOS X or higher.

3. Zoom H4N Pro

Price: $218.99

Yet another digital recorder that is frequently used to capture the audio for ASMR videos. Zoom H4N Pro is equipped with x/Y stereo microphones capable of recording audio at 140dBA SPA and it offers the possibility to record sound on four channels.

What’s more, this device enables you to create 24-bit audio files that can have up to 96kHz, while its output level is set to -10dBu. Zoom H4N Pro has two XLR/TRS jacks that are equipped with locking connectors as well as a 400 W monaural speaker.

Besides connecting XLR microphones to this digital recorder, you can also connect the device to your computer or a Smartphone through its USB port. The device supports SD cards that have up to 32GB of storage space, which means that you can record hours of audio without having to worry about the size of these files.

4. Blue Microphones Baby Bottle SL Large-Diaphragm Condenser Microphone

Price: $399.99

Music industry professionals have been using microphones manufactured by Blue Microphones for decades, which is why it is hardly surprising that their Baby Bottle mic is one of the best ASMR microphones on the market.

This is a cardioid microphone that utilizes the pressure gradient to pick up sounds from all directions. In addition, the device has a large-diaphragm capsule that enables it to produce sounds that are clear and rich in detail.

Moreover, this model has a high pass filter and -20dBA pad that ensures you can record high and soft sounds with the same level of quality. The noise level of this USB microphone is 87dbA which means that it doesn’t create humming sounds while it is recording low sounds. In addition, the microphone’s vintage design makes it a trendy option for all ASMR video content creators in search of a powerful and esthetically pleasing microphone.

Part 3: Which High-End ASMR Mics You Should Try?

As your ASMR YouTube channel grows, the quality of the audio recordings you create is becoming increasingly important, because it impacts the overall quality of the content you’re sharing with your followers.

In case you’re looking for a microphone that is going to improve the quality of your audio recordings you should check out the mics below.

1. Rode NT1-A Stereo Vocal Condenser Microphone

Price: $439.00

Rode is probably the most famous microphone manufacturer in the world, as the company produced some of the best mics ever created. Their NT1-A Stereo Vocal Condenser Microphone features a 1’’ capsule that contains a gold plated diaphragm. The mic has a cardioid polar pattern and its maximum SPL capability cannot exceed 137dBSPL.

Moreover, you can pair two of the NT1-A microphones if you want to create a stereo or binaural recordings. This Rode’s model has a noise level of just 5dB, which makes it one of the best studio microphones on the market.

This mic requires one A battery to function, and it only has an XRL jack, which means that you cannot connect it to a computer via a USB cable. Although its price may seem a bit steep, the audio quality this microphone can produce more than justifies the high cost.

2. 3Dio FS Pro II

Price: $2, 057.88

In case you want to record your ASMR videos with a microphone that meets the highest industry standards, then 3Dio FS Pro II is one of the best choices you have at your disposal. The microphone has the shape of human ears and like all omnidirectional microphones, it can pick up sounds from all directions.

This model has two XLR jacks and a 3.5mm stereo output jack so that you can connect it to a 16-channel mixer or different types of audio recording devices. 3Dio FS Pro II needs 48 V to run normally and it uses 1.9 V batteries that can provide you with up 300 hours of recording time.

The microphone is designed to imitate the way human beings hear by preserving the direction from which the sound came. This means that the listeners of your ASMR recordings are going to be able to detect the direction from which the sounds are coming from.

We’ve summarized the key features of the mics mentioned above for helping you making a quick decision.

Product name	Polar Pattern	Self-noise / S/N ratio	Power Source type	Best for	Price
Tascam DR-05X	Stereo, omnidirectional	92dB	USB	Whispers and low sounds	$89.99
Blue Yeti	Bidirectional, omnidirectional, cardioid, stereo	100dB	USB	Low and high sounds	$129.99
Zoom H4N Pro	Stereo, omnidirectional	140dB	USB	Whispers and ambient sounds	$218.99
Blue Microphones Baby Bottle SL Large-Diaphragm Condenser Microphone	Cardioid	87dB	Phantom power	Whispers and ambient sounds	$399.99
Rode NT1-A Stereo	Cardioid or binaural	5dB	Phantom power	Ambient sounds and voice recordings	$439.00
3Dio FS Pro II	Binaural, omnidirectional	14dB	Phantom power	Ambient sounds and voice recordings	$2, 057.88

Part 4: Frequently Asked Questions About ASMR Microphones

1. Should I use a USB or XLR microphone for ASMR recordings?

Although both USB and XLR microphones are frequently used to capture ASMR recordings, and XLR microphone produces a much better sound quality. So, if you want to prioritize the audio quality you should record all your ASMR videos with an XLR microphone.

However, there are quite a few affordable USB mics on the market that will enable you to capture sound in decent quality at a relatively low price.

2. Which type of microphone should be used to record ASMR sounds?

Condenser microphones are a much better option than the dynamic mics because they pick up soft sounds easily. Also, getting an XLR mic is usually a better choice than opting for a USB mic.

3. Is an omnidirectional microphone better for ASMR than the binaural mic?

The answer to this question depends on the type of ASMR video you want to create. If it is important for you to capture tapping or scratching sounds from all sides then you should choose an omnidirectional microphone.

A binaural mic will enable you to create a more immersive audio recording, but they are also more expensive.

Conclusion

In the world of video production, the quality of your equipment often determines how good the final product is going to be. That’s why a good microphone is one of the essential items for an ASMR artist.

Finding a good microphone you can use to record ASMR sounds shouldn’t be too difficult, because you can get a high-quality option in different price tiers. If you are on a budget, then a microphone like Blue Yeti may be a great choice, because it lets you choose between different polar patterns and it produces a great quality of sound.

On the other hand, 3Dio FS Pro II or Rode NT1-A Stereo microphones are worth investing in because they will enable you to record sound at a professional level.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

ASMR can be triggered by visual, audio, and tactile stimuli, which is the reason why most YouTubers who produce this type of content dedicate a lot of attention to the image and sound quality.

Furthermore, the vast majority of ASMR videos you can find on YouTube utilizes audio triggers to spark the autonomous sensory meridian response in one form or the other. Consequently, the quality of the audio recording determines whether or not your videos will be able to trigger ASMR. That’s why we selected some of the ASMR microphones novice and seasoned YouTubers can use to record the audio for their ASMR YouTube videos.

Part 1: Which Features Should an ASMR Microphone Have?

Thinking that you can use any microphone you can lay your hands on to record sound for you ASMR videos is a mistake, because the quality of the recording may not be at a satisfactory level if your microphone is producing a lot of self-noise or if it is not able to pick up soft noises.

Let’s take a closer look at the features and ASMR microphone should have.

1. The mic’s source of power

A microphone can draw power from two sources, as you can either connect it to a computer via a USB cable or you can use an XLR cable to connect the device to an external power source.

The so-called Phantom Power can be any type of adapter or audio recorder that supplies a microphone with power. All professional condenser microphones are connected to a power source through an XLR connection although some mics can have a built-in phantom power source that requires only an AA battery to function normally.

2. The microphone’s recording direction

Although there are a number of direction categories of microphones, ASMR content produces commonly use Omnidirectional and Binaural mics.

As its name suggests, an omnidirectional microphone can pick up sounds from all sides, which makes it a good option if you want to record ambient sounds like brushing or tapping. However, you should also keep in mind that this type of microphone can capture background noises which may impact the overall quality of the recording.

The binaural mics are composed of two microphones are used to record the left and right channel separately. You don’t necessarily have to get a binaural microphone in order to create a binaural audio recording since you can just use two different microphones to record the left and right channels individually.

3. The level of self-noise a microphone makes

Recording low sounds can be challenging if your microphone is creating humming or crackling noises automatically. The so-called self-noise level a microphone makes is quantified in A-weighted decibels, and ideally, you should get a mic that makes around 15dBA in order to keep sounds a microphone produces automatically at the very minimum.

Besides the self-noise, you should also look into S/N (Signal to Noise Ratio) that depicts the ratio of signal power to noise power. A mic that has approximately 80dBA or more should enable you to record low voices without having to worry about the unwanted noises.

Part 2: What Are The Best Budget ASMR Microphones for Beginners?

If you are thinking about starting an ASMR YouTube channel, you don’t have to get a professional microphone right away, because there lots of affordable mics that will enable you to create crystal-clear audio recordings.

We’ve shortlisted a few of the best budget ASMR microphones for beginners on the market with the aim to help you narrow down your choices. Here’s what they have to offer.

1. Tascam DR-05X Stereo Handheld Digital Recorder

Price: $89.99

This versatile digital recorder can be used for different purposes that range from capturing audio for podcasts to recording your personal notes. The Tascam DR-05X is equipped with a pair of dual condenser microphones that enable you to record low or high sounds with the same level of efficiency.

The device is powered by two AA batteries and it can record for almost 18 hours continually before you have to change the batteries. The Tascam DR-05X’s interface is intuitive which allows you to adjust audio levels, delete a take you didn’t like, or add markers to a recording effortlessly.

What’s more, this handheld digital recorder has a USB port which enables you to connect it to a computer and use it to record audio during live streams or while creating a new ASMR video for your YouTube channel. Nonetheless, this omnidirectional digital recorder doesn’t have an XLR jack and you can’t use it to capture sound from professional microphones.

2. Blue Yeti USB Microphone

Price: $129.99

Arguably the most popular microphone within YouTube’s ASMR community Blue Yeti USB microphone is a versatile mic you can use to record ambient sounds and vocals. The microphone has three condenser capsules which enables you to record audio with it in a broad range of different contexts.

In addition, you can switch between stereo, omnidirectional, cardioid, and bidirectional pattern modes and choose the direction from which the microphone is going to pick up sounds. Blue Yeti has the 20 Hz to 20 kHz frequency response and it features the mute and gain buttons so that you can quickly adjust this value even if you are still recording.

The mic’s signal to noise ratio is 100dBA which means that it produces a minimum amount of noises while you’re recording low sounds. You can use this mic on Windows XP and all other later versions of the OS as well as macOS X or higher.

3. Zoom H4N Pro

Price: $218.99

Yet another digital recorder that is frequently used to capture the audio for ASMR videos. Zoom H4N Pro is equipped with x/Y stereo microphones capable of recording audio at 140dBA SPA and it offers the possibility to record sound on four channels.

What’s more, this device enables you to create 24-bit audio files that can have up to 96kHz, while its output level is set to -10dBu. Zoom H4N Pro has two XLR/TRS jacks that are equipped with locking connectors as well as a 400 W monaural speaker.

Besides connecting XLR microphones to this digital recorder, you can also connect the device to your computer or a Smartphone through its USB port. The device supports SD cards that have up to 32GB of storage space, which means that you can record hours of audio without having to worry about the size of these files.

4. Blue Microphones Baby Bottle SL Large-Diaphragm Condenser Microphone

Price: $399.99

Music industry professionals have been using microphones manufactured by Blue Microphones for decades, which is why it is hardly surprising that their Baby Bottle mic is one of the best ASMR microphones on the market.

This is a cardioid microphone that utilizes the pressure gradient to pick up sounds from all directions. In addition, the device has a large-diaphragm capsule that enables it to produce sounds that are clear and rich in detail.

Moreover, this model has a high pass filter and -20dBA pad that ensures you can record high and soft sounds with the same level of quality. The noise level of this USB microphone is 87dbA which means that it doesn’t create humming sounds while it is recording low sounds. In addition, the microphone’s vintage design makes it a trendy option for all ASMR video content creators in search of a powerful and esthetically pleasing microphone.

Part 3: Which High-End ASMR Mics You Should Try?

As your ASMR YouTube channel grows, the quality of the audio recordings you create is becoming increasingly important, because it impacts the overall quality of the content you’re sharing with your followers.

In case you’re looking for a microphone that is going to improve the quality of your audio recordings you should check out the mics below.

1. Rode NT1-A Stereo Vocal Condenser Microphone

Price: $439.00

Rode is probably the most famous microphone manufacturer in the world, as the company produced some of the best mics ever created. Their NT1-A Stereo Vocal Condenser Microphone features a 1’’ capsule that contains a gold plated diaphragm. The mic has a cardioid polar pattern and its maximum SPL capability cannot exceed 137dBSPL.

Moreover, you can pair two of the NT1-A microphones if you want to create a stereo or binaural recordings. This Rode’s model has a noise level of just 5dB, which makes it one of the best studio microphones on the market.

This mic requires one A battery to function, and it only has an XRL jack, which means that you cannot connect it to a computer via a USB cable. Although its price may seem a bit steep, the audio quality this microphone can produce more than justifies the high cost.

2. 3Dio FS Pro II

Price: $2, 057.88

In case you want to record your ASMR videos with a microphone that meets the highest industry standards, then 3Dio FS Pro II is one of the best choices you have at your disposal. The microphone has the shape of human ears and like all omnidirectional microphones, it can pick up sounds from all directions.

This model has two XLR jacks and a 3.5mm stereo output jack so that you can connect it to a 16-channel mixer or different types of audio recording devices. 3Dio FS Pro II needs 48 V to run normally and it uses 1.9 V batteries that can provide you with up 300 hours of recording time.

The microphone is designed to imitate the way human beings hear by preserving the direction from which the sound came. This means that the listeners of your ASMR recordings are going to be able to detect the direction from which the sounds are coming from.

We’ve summarized the key features of the mics mentioned above for helping you making a quick decision.

Product name	Polar Pattern	Self-noise / S/N ratio	Power Source type	Best for	Price
Tascam DR-05X	Stereo, omnidirectional	92dB	USB	Whispers and low sounds	$89.99
Blue Yeti	Bidirectional, omnidirectional, cardioid, stereo	100dB	USB	Low and high sounds	$129.99
Zoom H4N Pro	Stereo, omnidirectional	140dB	USB	Whispers and ambient sounds	$218.99
Blue Microphones Baby Bottle SL Large-Diaphragm Condenser Microphone	Cardioid	87dB	Phantom power	Whispers and ambient sounds	$399.99
Rode NT1-A Stereo	Cardioid or binaural	5dB	Phantom power	Ambient sounds and voice recordings	$439.00
3Dio FS Pro II	Binaural, omnidirectional	14dB	Phantom power	Ambient sounds and voice recordings	$2, 057.88

Part 4: Frequently Asked Questions About ASMR Microphones

1. Should I use a USB or XLR microphone for ASMR recordings?

Although both USB and XLR microphones are frequently used to capture ASMR recordings, and XLR microphone produces a much better sound quality. So, if you want to prioritize the audio quality you should record all your ASMR videos with an XLR microphone.

However, there are quite a few affordable USB mics on the market that will enable you to capture sound in decent quality at a relatively low price.

2. Which type of microphone should be used to record ASMR sounds?

Condenser microphones are a much better option than the dynamic mics because they pick up soft sounds easily. Also, getting an XLR mic is usually a better choice than opting for a USB mic.

3. Is an omnidirectional microphone better for ASMR than the binaural mic?

The answer to this question depends on the type of ASMR video you want to create. If it is important for you to capture tapping or scratching sounds from all sides then you should choose an omnidirectional microphone.

A binaural mic will enable you to create a more immersive audio recording, but they are also more expensive.

Conclusion

In the world of video production, the quality of your equipment often determines how good the final product is going to be. That’s why a good microphone is one of the essential items for an ASMR artist.

Finding a good microphone you can use to record ASMR sounds shouldn’t be too difficult, because you can get a high-quality option in different price tiers. If you are on a budget, then a microphone like Blue Yeti may be a great choice, because it lets you choose between different polar patterns and it produces a great quality of sound.

On the other hand, 3Dio FS Pro II or Rode NT1-A Stereo microphones are worth investing in because they will enable you to record sound at a professional level.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

ASMR can be triggered by visual, audio, and tactile stimuli, which is the reason why most YouTubers who produce this type of content dedicate a lot of attention to the image and sound quality.

Furthermore, the vast majority of ASMR videos you can find on YouTube utilizes audio triggers to spark the autonomous sensory meridian response in one form or the other. Consequently, the quality of the audio recording determines whether or not your videos will be able to trigger ASMR. That’s why we selected some of the ASMR microphones novice and seasoned YouTubers can use to record the audio for their ASMR YouTube videos.

Part 1: Which Features Should an ASMR Microphone Have?

Thinking that you can use any microphone you can lay your hands on to record sound for you ASMR videos is a mistake, because the quality of the recording may not be at a satisfactory level if your microphone is producing a lot of self-noise or if it is not able to pick up soft noises.

Let’s take a closer look at the features and ASMR microphone should have.

1. The mic’s source of power

A microphone can draw power from two sources, as you can either connect it to a computer via a USB cable or you can use an XLR cable to connect the device to an external power source.

The so-called Phantom Power can be any type of adapter or audio recorder that supplies a microphone with power. All professional condenser microphones are connected to a power source through an XLR connection although some mics can have a built-in phantom power source that requires only an AA battery to function normally.

2. The microphone’s recording direction

Although there are a number of direction categories of microphones, ASMR content produces commonly use Omnidirectional and Binaural mics.

As its name suggests, an omnidirectional microphone can pick up sounds from all sides, which makes it a good option if you want to record ambient sounds like brushing or tapping. However, you should also keep in mind that this type of microphone can capture background noises which may impact the overall quality of the recording.

The binaural mics are composed of two microphones are used to record the left and right channel separately. You don’t necessarily have to get a binaural microphone in order to create a binaural audio recording since you can just use two different microphones to record the left and right channels individually.

3. The level of self-noise a microphone makes

Recording low sounds can be challenging if your microphone is creating humming or crackling noises automatically. The so-called self-noise level a microphone makes is quantified in A-weighted decibels, and ideally, you should get a mic that makes around 15dBA in order to keep sounds a microphone produces automatically at the very minimum.

Besides the self-noise, you should also look into S/N (Signal to Noise Ratio) that depicts the ratio of signal power to noise power. A mic that has approximately 80dBA or more should enable you to record low voices without having to worry about the unwanted noises.

Part 2: What Are The Best Budget ASMR Microphones for Beginners?

If you are thinking about starting an ASMR YouTube channel, you don’t have to get a professional microphone right away, because there lots of affordable mics that will enable you to create crystal-clear audio recordings.

We’ve shortlisted a few of the best budget ASMR microphones for beginners on the market with the aim to help you narrow down your choices. Here’s what they have to offer.

1. Tascam DR-05X Stereo Handheld Digital Recorder

Price: $89.99

This versatile digital recorder can be used for different purposes that range from capturing audio for podcasts to recording your personal notes. The Tascam DR-05X is equipped with a pair of dual condenser microphones that enable you to record low or high sounds with the same level of efficiency.

The device is powered by two AA batteries and it can record for almost 18 hours continually before you have to change the batteries. The Tascam DR-05X’s interface is intuitive which allows you to adjust audio levels, delete a take you didn’t like, or add markers to a recording effortlessly.

What’s more, this handheld digital recorder has a USB port which enables you to connect it to a computer and use it to record audio during live streams or while creating a new ASMR video for your YouTube channel. Nonetheless, this omnidirectional digital recorder doesn’t have an XLR jack and you can’t use it to capture sound from professional microphones.

2. Blue Yeti USB Microphone

Price: $129.99

Arguably the most popular microphone within YouTube’s ASMR community Blue Yeti USB microphone is a versatile mic you can use to record ambient sounds and vocals. The microphone has three condenser capsules which enables you to record audio with it in a broad range of different contexts.

In addition, you can switch between stereo, omnidirectional, cardioid, and bidirectional pattern modes and choose the direction from which the microphone is going to pick up sounds. Blue Yeti has the 20 Hz to 20 kHz frequency response and it features the mute and gain buttons so that you can quickly adjust this value even if you are still recording.

The mic’s signal to noise ratio is 100dBA which means that it produces a minimum amount of noises while you’re recording low sounds. You can use this mic on Windows XP and all other later versions of the OS as well as macOS X or higher.

3. Zoom H4N Pro

Price: $218.99

Yet another digital recorder that is frequently used to capture the audio for ASMR videos. Zoom H4N Pro is equipped with x/Y stereo microphones capable of recording audio at 140dBA SPA and it offers the possibility to record sound on four channels.

What’s more, this device enables you to create 24-bit audio files that can have up to 96kHz, while its output level is set to -10dBu. Zoom H4N Pro has two XLR/TRS jacks that are equipped with locking connectors as well as a 400 W monaural speaker.

Besides connecting XLR microphones to this digital recorder, you can also connect the device to your computer or a Smartphone through its USB port. The device supports SD cards that have up to 32GB of storage space, which means that you can record hours of audio without having to worry about the size of these files.

4. Blue Microphones Baby Bottle SL Large-Diaphragm Condenser Microphone

Price: $399.99

Music industry professionals have been using microphones manufactured by Blue Microphones for decades, which is why it is hardly surprising that their Baby Bottle mic is one of the best ASMR microphones on the market.

This is a cardioid microphone that utilizes the pressure gradient to pick up sounds from all directions. In addition, the device has a large-diaphragm capsule that enables it to produce sounds that are clear and rich in detail.

Moreover, this model has a high pass filter and -20dBA pad that ensures you can record high and soft sounds with the same level of quality. The noise level of this USB microphone is 87dbA which means that it doesn’t create humming sounds while it is recording low sounds. In addition, the microphone’s vintage design makes it a trendy option for all ASMR video content creators in search of a powerful and esthetically pleasing microphone.

Part 3: Which High-End ASMR Mics You Should Try?

As your ASMR YouTube channel grows, the quality of the audio recordings you create is becoming increasingly important, because it impacts the overall quality of the content you’re sharing with your followers.

In case you’re looking for a microphone that is going to improve the quality of your audio recordings you should check out the mics below.

1. Rode NT1-A Stereo Vocal Condenser Microphone

Price: $439.00

Rode is probably the most famous microphone manufacturer in the world, as the company produced some of the best mics ever created. Their NT1-A Stereo Vocal Condenser Microphone features a 1’’ capsule that contains a gold plated diaphragm. The mic has a cardioid polar pattern and its maximum SPL capability cannot exceed 137dBSPL.

Moreover, you can pair two of the NT1-A microphones if you want to create a stereo or binaural recordings. This Rode’s model has a noise level of just 5dB, which makes it one of the best studio microphones on the market.

This mic requires one A battery to function, and it only has an XRL jack, which means that you cannot connect it to a computer via a USB cable. Although its price may seem a bit steep, the audio quality this microphone can produce more than justifies the high cost.

2. 3Dio FS Pro II

Price: $2, 057.88

In case you want to record your ASMR videos with a microphone that meets the highest industry standards, then 3Dio FS Pro II is one of the best choices you have at your disposal. The microphone has the shape of human ears and like all omnidirectional microphones, it can pick up sounds from all directions.

This model has two XLR jacks and a 3.5mm stereo output jack so that you can connect it to a 16-channel mixer or different types of audio recording devices. 3Dio FS Pro II needs 48 V to run normally and it uses 1.9 V batteries that can provide you with up 300 hours of recording time.

The microphone is designed to imitate the way human beings hear by preserving the direction from which the sound came. This means that the listeners of your ASMR recordings are going to be able to detect the direction from which the sounds are coming from.

We’ve summarized the key features of the mics mentioned above for helping you making a quick decision.

Product name	Polar Pattern	Self-noise / S/N ratio	Power Source type	Best for	Price
Tascam DR-05X	Stereo, omnidirectional	92dB	USB	Whispers and low sounds	$89.99
Blue Yeti	Bidirectional, omnidirectional, cardioid, stereo	100dB	USB	Low and high sounds	$129.99
Zoom H4N Pro	Stereo, omnidirectional	140dB	USB	Whispers and ambient sounds	$218.99
Blue Microphones Baby Bottle SL Large-Diaphragm Condenser Microphone	Cardioid	87dB	Phantom power	Whispers and ambient sounds	$399.99
Rode NT1-A Stereo	Cardioid or binaural	5dB	Phantom power	Ambient sounds and voice recordings	$439.00
3Dio FS Pro II	Binaural, omnidirectional	14dB	Phantom power	Ambient sounds and voice recordings	$2, 057.88

Part 4: Frequently Asked Questions About ASMR Microphones

1. Should I use a USB or XLR microphone for ASMR recordings?

Although both USB and XLR microphones are frequently used to capture ASMR recordings, and XLR microphone produces a much better sound quality. So, if you want to prioritize the audio quality you should record all your ASMR videos with an XLR microphone.

However, there are quite a few affordable USB mics on the market that will enable you to capture sound in decent quality at a relatively low price.

2. Which type of microphone should be used to record ASMR sounds?

Condenser microphones are a much better option than the dynamic mics because they pick up soft sounds easily. Also, getting an XLR mic is usually a better choice than opting for a USB mic.

3. Is an omnidirectional microphone better for ASMR than the binaural mic?

The answer to this question depends on the type of ASMR video you want to create. If it is important for you to capture tapping or scratching sounds from all sides then you should choose an omnidirectional microphone.

A binaural mic will enable you to create a more immersive audio recording, but they are also more expensive.

Conclusion

In the world of video production, the quality of your equipment often determines how good the final product is going to be. That’s why a good microphone is one of the essential items for an ASMR artist.

Finding a good microphone you can use to record ASMR sounds shouldn’t be too difficult, because you can get a high-quality option in different price tiers. If you are on a budget, then a microphone like Blue Yeti may be a great choice, because it lets you choose between different polar patterns and it produces a great quality of sound.

On the other hand, 3Dio FS Pro II or Rode NT1-A Stereo microphones are worth investing in because they will enable you to record sound at a professional level.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

ASMR can be triggered by visual, audio, and tactile stimuli, which is the reason why most YouTubers who produce this type of content dedicate a lot of attention to the image and sound quality.

Furthermore, the vast majority of ASMR videos you can find on YouTube utilizes audio triggers to spark the autonomous sensory meridian response in one form or the other. Consequently, the quality of the audio recording determines whether or not your videos will be able to trigger ASMR. That’s why we selected some of the ASMR microphones novice and seasoned YouTubers can use to record the audio for their ASMR YouTube videos.

Part 1: Which Features Should an ASMR Microphone Have?

Thinking that you can use any microphone you can lay your hands on to record sound for you ASMR videos is a mistake, because the quality of the recording may not be at a satisfactory level if your microphone is producing a lot of self-noise or if it is not able to pick up soft noises.

Let’s take a closer look at the features and ASMR microphone should have.

1. The mic’s source of power

A microphone can draw power from two sources, as you can either connect it to a computer via a USB cable or you can use an XLR cable to connect the device to an external power source.

The so-called Phantom Power can be any type of adapter or audio recorder that supplies a microphone with power. All professional condenser microphones are connected to a power source through an XLR connection although some mics can have a built-in phantom power source that requires only an AA battery to function normally.

2. The microphone’s recording direction

Although there are a number of direction categories of microphones, ASMR content produces commonly use Omnidirectional and Binaural mics.

As its name suggests, an omnidirectional microphone can pick up sounds from all sides, which makes it a good option if you want to record ambient sounds like brushing or tapping. However, you should also keep in mind that this type of microphone can capture background noises which may impact the overall quality of the recording.

The binaural mics are composed of two microphones are used to record the left and right channel separately. You don’t necessarily have to get a binaural microphone in order to create a binaural audio recording since you can just use two different microphones to record the left and right channels individually.

3. The level of self-noise a microphone makes

Recording low sounds can be challenging if your microphone is creating humming or crackling noises automatically. The so-called self-noise level a microphone makes is quantified in A-weighted decibels, and ideally, you should get a mic that makes around 15dBA in order to keep sounds a microphone produces automatically at the very minimum.

Besides the self-noise, you should also look into S/N (Signal to Noise Ratio) that depicts the ratio of signal power to noise power. A mic that has approximately 80dBA or more should enable you to record low voices without having to worry about the unwanted noises.

Part 2: What Are The Best Budget ASMR Microphones for Beginners?

If you are thinking about starting an ASMR YouTube channel, you don’t have to get a professional microphone right away, because there lots of affordable mics that will enable you to create crystal-clear audio recordings.

We’ve shortlisted a few of the best budget ASMR microphones for beginners on the market with the aim to help you narrow down your choices. Here’s what they have to offer.

1. Tascam DR-05X Stereo Handheld Digital Recorder

Price: $89.99

This versatile digital recorder can be used for different purposes that range from capturing audio for podcasts to recording your personal notes. The Tascam DR-05X is equipped with a pair of dual condenser microphones that enable you to record low or high sounds with the same level of efficiency.

The device is powered by two AA batteries and it can record for almost 18 hours continually before you have to change the batteries. The Tascam DR-05X’s interface is intuitive which allows you to adjust audio levels, delete a take you didn’t like, or add markers to a recording effortlessly.

What’s more, this handheld digital recorder has a USB port which enables you to connect it to a computer and use it to record audio during live streams or while creating a new ASMR video for your YouTube channel. Nonetheless, this omnidirectional digital recorder doesn’t have an XLR jack and you can’t use it to capture sound from professional microphones.

2. Blue Yeti USB Microphone

Price: $129.99

Arguably the most popular microphone within YouTube’s ASMR community Blue Yeti USB microphone is a versatile mic you can use to record ambient sounds and vocals. The microphone has three condenser capsules which enables you to record audio with it in a broad range of different contexts.

In addition, you can switch between stereo, omnidirectional, cardioid, and bidirectional pattern modes and choose the direction from which the microphone is going to pick up sounds. Blue Yeti has the 20 Hz to 20 kHz frequency response and it features the mute and gain buttons so that you can quickly adjust this value even if you are still recording.

The mic’s signal to noise ratio is 100dBA which means that it produces a minimum amount of noises while you’re recording low sounds. You can use this mic on Windows XP and all other later versions of the OS as well as macOS X or higher.

3. Zoom H4N Pro

Price: $218.99

Yet another digital recorder that is frequently used to capture the audio for ASMR videos. Zoom H4N Pro is equipped with x/Y stereo microphones capable of recording audio at 140dBA SPA and it offers the possibility to record sound on four channels.

What’s more, this device enables you to create 24-bit audio files that can have up to 96kHz, while its output level is set to -10dBu. Zoom H4N Pro has two XLR/TRS jacks that are equipped with locking connectors as well as a 400 W monaural speaker.

Besides connecting XLR microphones to this digital recorder, you can also connect the device to your computer or a Smartphone through its USB port. The device supports SD cards that have up to 32GB of storage space, which means that you can record hours of audio without having to worry about the size of these files.

4. Blue Microphones Baby Bottle SL Large-Diaphragm Condenser Microphone

Price: $399.99

Music industry professionals have been using microphones manufactured by Blue Microphones for decades, which is why it is hardly surprising that their Baby Bottle mic is one of the best ASMR microphones on the market.

This is a cardioid microphone that utilizes the pressure gradient to pick up sounds from all directions. In addition, the device has a large-diaphragm capsule that enables it to produce sounds that are clear and rich in detail.

Moreover, this model has a high pass filter and -20dBA pad that ensures you can record high and soft sounds with the same level of quality. The noise level of this USB microphone is 87dbA which means that it doesn’t create humming sounds while it is recording low sounds. In addition, the microphone’s vintage design makes it a trendy option for all ASMR video content creators in search of a powerful and esthetically pleasing microphone.

Part 3: Which High-End ASMR Mics You Should Try?

As your ASMR YouTube channel grows, the quality of the audio recordings you create is becoming increasingly important, because it impacts the overall quality of the content you’re sharing with your followers.

In case you’re looking for a microphone that is going to improve the quality of your audio recordings you should check out the mics below.

1. Rode NT1-A Stereo Vocal Condenser Microphone

Price: $439.00

Rode is probably the most famous microphone manufacturer in the world, as the company produced some of the best mics ever created. Their NT1-A Stereo Vocal Condenser Microphone features a 1’’ capsule that contains a gold plated diaphragm. The mic has a cardioid polar pattern and its maximum SPL capability cannot exceed 137dBSPL.

Moreover, you can pair two of the NT1-A microphones if you want to create a stereo or binaural recordings. This Rode’s model has a noise level of just 5dB, which makes it one of the best studio microphones on the market.

This mic requires one A battery to function, and it only has an XRL jack, which means that you cannot connect it to a computer via a USB cable. Although its price may seem a bit steep, the audio quality this microphone can produce more than justifies the high cost.

2. 3Dio FS Pro II

Price: $2, 057.88

In case you want to record your ASMR videos with a microphone that meets the highest industry standards, then 3Dio FS Pro II is one of the best choices you have at your disposal. The microphone has the shape of human ears and like all omnidirectional microphones, it can pick up sounds from all directions.

This model has two XLR jacks and a 3.5mm stereo output jack so that you can connect it to a 16-channel mixer or different types of audio recording devices. 3Dio FS Pro II needs 48 V to run normally and it uses 1.9 V batteries that can provide you with up 300 hours of recording time.

The microphone is designed to imitate the way human beings hear by preserving the direction from which the sound came. This means that the listeners of your ASMR recordings are going to be able to detect the direction from which the sounds are coming from.

We’ve summarized the key features of the mics mentioned above for helping you making a quick decision.

Product name	Polar Pattern	Self-noise / S/N ratio	Power Source type	Best for	Price
Tascam DR-05X	Stereo, omnidirectional	92dB	USB	Whispers and low sounds	$89.99
Blue Yeti	Bidirectional, omnidirectional, cardioid, stereo	100dB	USB	Low and high sounds	$129.99
Zoom H4N Pro	Stereo, omnidirectional	140dB	USB	Whispers and ambient sounds	$218.99
Blue Microphones Baby Bottle SL Large-Diaphragm Condenser Microphone	Cardioid	87dB	Phantom power	Whispers and ambient sounds	$399.99
Rode NT1-A Stereo	Cardioid or binaural	5dB	Phantom power	Ambient sounds and voice recordings	$439.00
3Dio FS Pro II	Binaural, omnidirectional	14dB	Phantom power	Ambient sounds and voice recordings	$2, 057.88

Part 4: Frequently Asked Questions About ASMR Microphones

1. Should I use a USB or XLR microphone for ASMR recordings?

Although both USB and XLR microphones are frequently used to capture ASMR recordings, and XLR microphone produces a much better sound quality. So, if you want to prioritize the audio quality you should record all your ASMR videos with an XLR microphone.

However, there are quite a few affordable USB mics on the market that will enable you to capture sound in decent quality at a relatively low price.

2. Which type of microphone should be used to record ASMR sounds?

Condenser microphones are a much better option than the dynamic mics because they pick up soft sounds easily. Also, getting an XLR mic is usually a better choice than opting for a USB mic.

3. Is an omnidirectional microphone better for ASMR than the binaural mic?

The answer to this question depends on the type of ASMR video you want to create. If it is important for you to capture tapping or scratching sounds from all sides then you should choose an omnidirectional microphone.

A binaural mic will enable you to create a more immersive audio recording, but they are also more expensive.

Conclusion

In the world of video production, the quality of your equipment often determines how good the final product is going to be. That’s why a good microphone is one of the essential items for an ASMR artist.

Finding a good microphone you can use to record ASMR sounds shouldn’t be too difficult, because you can get a high-quality option in different price tiers. If you are on a budget, then a microphone like Blue Yeti may be a great choice, because it lets you choose between different polar patterns and it produces a great quality of sound.

On the other hand, 3Dio FS Pro II or Rode NT1-A Stereo microphones are worth investing in because they will enable you to record sound at a professional level.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett