I've been podcasting for about 3 years now. I started with a $20 headset and recording into my iRiver MPT799. It didn't take long for that audio quality to fall below my acceptable threshold.

At the moment I'm running a Rode NT1A mic through a Prosonus TubePre amp and recording with a Zoom H4. Total cost is under $500 and the improvement in sound quality is huge over the original.

If I were starting out again, I'd think seriously about going with the Zoom H4 by itself. The built in mic is very good and the digital recorder provides a perfectly clear recording without having to deal with harddrive artifacts and memory leaks.

When recording outside, I have an Olympus DS-40 Digital Voice Recorder, which is pretty good for a portable DVR in a mid-price range (under $150 bucks). I use a Giant Squid Audio Lab Mini Gold-Plated Omni Mic. It's inexpensive ($15-$17), but sounds superior to the stereo condensor mic that came with the recorder, or other mics I've tried with it on various recording settings.

For indoors, I have a Audio-Technica AT2020 and a $60 mixer. Both seem to be pretty good. I also have a gate/compressor unit, but I've never managed to get the settings just "right" to suit me. That's the one piece of gear that seems to require the most amount of voodoo. Ideally, I'd have a direct USB mic set up, but I'd still like a noise gate, etc.

I use Audacity for editing. It's surprisingly good software for free, though it can crash on occasion, as Nathan outlines in another thread. As with any recording software, it's a good idea to save, save, save the project, early and often!

I started out with a Samson co3u straight into my laptop recording with audasity.

I am now using

4x Samson c01

Alesis Multi Mix 8 USB 2.0 Mixer

The mixer allows 2 way traffic between mixer and laptop so i can play music directly into the recording and also play skype/whatever else takes my fancy.

We use a Behringer mixer, external mikes and a Zoom H2 digital recorder to record myself and my 2 co-hosts on our weekly podcast The Because Show, recorded weekly here in Los Angeles.

Listen to a new Because Show podcast every week free and on demand via iTunes.A fast and funny conversation by three women in Los Angeles on sex, cuisine and culture. http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=336560437

I record with a crew over skype. Is the a better software recording program I should use for these voice calls to be recorded? Because I am currently using skype recorder and when I move to edit in audacity i have to split the audio track for the voice call into separate mono tracks so that my voice and the voice of the others in my show will be played in both left and right channels.