With Black Friday come and gone holiday shopping season is in full swing! If you still need some gift ideas for that special content creator in your life I've got some suggestions for you! As a friendly reminder, unlike the suggestions listed below your support of their content is free. Amazon Affiliate links will be included for each product at the end of the article, if you decide to purchase any of the items listed use my links, great and easy way to support my content and it does not cost you a thing!
1. Rode Podmic
Shopping for a microphone, especially an XLR one, can be intimidating to newcomers and gift givers alike not to mention it can be really expensive. The Rode Podmic is a $100 dynamic XLR microphone that in my experience is one of the best mics offered at that price point. It does a good job at noise rejection and it's easy on the eyes. Rode's Podmic is built like a tank, full metal body means that this little beast is built to last. The sound quality here is great considering the cost. Vocals will come in nice and clear and with the right EQ settings you can get close (heavy emphasis on close) to replicating the Shure SM7B's buttery smooth quality. If you are shopping for a streamer, youtuber, and/or podcaster and want to invest (yes gear is an investment) in their craft this mic is a great place to start!
2. Creative Labs SFXI Gaming Headset
The SFXI headset is my favorite headset of 2021! Where most headsets typically only deliver on two of three categories (build, sound, and mic) the SFXI delivers on all three. The 50mm earcups are well padded and incredibly comfortable, even for long gaming or editing sessions these cans never get too hot or uncomfortable for me. As far as sound is concerned these things sound amazing. The sound stage is on point with its directional queues allowing users to hear what direction footsteps and gunshots are coming from in games like Call of Duty Warzone. If your fellow gamer/creator is not a FPS aficionado and sticks to mainly single player games then no worries this headset brings those games' audio to life. Where the SFXI surprised me was the quality of the detachable microphone. Most headset manufacturers really struggle with mic quality, yet Creative Labs absolutely delivers. Now, don't expect broadcast quality here but definitely a cut above the rest and definitely a mic that lives up to the price. This headset sounds amazing, has great build quality, looks great (yes it has rgb), and has one of the best headset mics. The SFXI is the best headset to get this holiday season no matter the platform.
3. Rode Wireless GO
Sometimes our content creation endeavors require us to be on the go. Recording audio on the go can get tricky if you are not using the right mic set up. Enter the Rode Wireless GO. This wireless lavalier mic system is the answer to all our mobile prayers. With its conveniently small and light form factor recording audio is as simple as connecting the receiver to your camera or phone (using some adapters may be required) and using the included transmitter as your lav mic. Both units have an astounding battery life, good range so that the camera isn't always in your face, and the microphone on the transmitter is a solid option to get the job done. One thing I love about my Wireless GO is the ability to connect any lav mic of my choice to the transmitter, you don't have to only use the transmitter's on-board mic. If you're shopping for someone who wants to vlog, shoot videos without always having a mic in their face, and to be free of wires then Rode's Wireless GO is the GO to stocking stuffer.
4. GOXLR Mini
Don't be turned off at the GOXLR Mini's rather high price, it is worth every penny. This audio interface/mixer is a phenomenal tool at the hands of any streamer, youtuber, and podcaster. The GOXLR enables users to connect XLR microphones (such as the above mentioned Rode Podmic and Shure SM7B) to their pc to use in their videos, streams and podcasts. It's software is very user friendly and comes with some nice features like EQ, Noise Gate and Compression that will help drive excellent sound quality from your microphone. The GOXLR's preamps are powerful enough to feed even the Shure SM7B the gain it needs too perate without the need for a pricey signal booster like the Cloudlifter. This nifty little device also gives you control over the audio mix from all your sources. You decide how loud each source will be (music, game audio, chat audio, mic) and also gives users the ability to route the sources to different outputs. For example, in this day and age where everyone and their mom can get a DMCA copyright strike for listening to copywritten music on stream, the GOXLR allows you to route the music to your headphones but not to your broadcast feed (the audio your stream puts out). The GOXLR has been one of the best items I've bought for my setup and I don't see it going away anytime soon.
5. Canon M50
Though my experience with DSLR's and Mirrorless cameras is very little, I can't help but include the Canon M50 on this list. Whether its for vlogs, streams, or shooting videos, this camera outputs amazing video quality. It's incredibly lightweight making it a great option for on the go vloggers. It has a mic input to connect shotgun mics or other mics such a the Rode Wireless GO system. It also includes an mini hdmi port making it (somewhat) easy to pair it with an Elgato Camlink for use in OBS or example. Fully rotatable viewfinder screen makes taking selfies and shooting vlogs easy with the screen pulled out. It's face tracking autofocus is among the best I've seen across the cameras I've used and creates that nice depth of field (blur) that many streamers use in their face cams. This is the most expensive item on this list but it is an easily justified investment. If someone got me this camera as a gift I'd be the new Nintendo 64 kid. Sure the dslr/mirrorless learning curve can be steep, it is worth it to learn how to properly use these types of cameras because once you get the basics of aperture, ISO, shutter speed down, your video quality will exponentially increase.
6. Shure SM7B
Where do I start here? This mic is legendary. This mic is iconic. If you've heard Michael Jackson's "Thriller" then you've heard this mic in action. If that's too much of a throwback then how about the fact that chances are your favorite content creator/podcaster use this mic. This mic takes the phrase "broadcast quality" and means it. It has amazing noise rejection, delivers buttery smooth vocal quality and it is a beautiful mic to show off on camera. This mic, in my opinion, is the pinnacle of dynamic XLR mics. It just doesn't get any better. Now before you go spending $400 on this mic alone, it is absolutely important that you understand that although all mics might be created equally, our voices are shurely not. This means that the SM7B may sound great for my voice but not so much for yours or for the person you are buying this for. I highly encourage you somehow find a discreet way to take them to a local music shop and have them test out various mics and if they test out this one and absolutely love it then you have a winner. This mic is expensive, the gear needed to use it (audio interface, cloudlifter) can also drive up the total cost but if there is one thing any content creator MUST splurge on is audio and the SM7B delivers audio like no other mic out there can.
There are so many more gadgets out there that would serve any content creator well, these are just a few pieces that I use in my content that I find would do nothing but elevate anyone else's content or gaming experiences. Once again, if you decide to purchase any of the above items be sure to use the provided Amazon links, doing so will support this site and my content. If you ahe any questions or gift suggestions of your own feel free to sound off in the comments. 'Til next time, be good to yourselves, be good to one another, peace out!
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