Is the MacBook built in mic's quality good enough for recording a podcast?

yes. The mic is very clear, and the range is awesome. I used to record lectures in class while playing WoW. (sheepish)

That’s a matter of opinion, if it records your voice, its good enough. But for best quality, I would recommend using QuickTime pro for best quality.

Quicktime Pro is software. A mic is hardware. Not sure what you’re getting at fortris.

I have used the MacBook’s mic to record podcasts in the past. It worked fine for voice, though factors like the acoustics of the room make a big difference.

For the record, the software I used to record and mix my podcast recordings was Garage Band.

Yeah, GarageBand rocks for podcast authoring. Very simple and organized!

Some of the posters above are missing the point-the software is not the issue, the hardware is the issue. Might I recommend going with a USB mic/headset: Logitech has several models that are USB bus-powered, and have good clarity and pickup (mostly for skype and gaming). They price out around $30—$40, and require no additional hardware. A step up from this (esp. if you don’t want to go with a headset) would be BLUE’s “Snowball” USB-powered condenser mic.

As for podcast software, there are a number of options, but most Macs now ship with iLife/GarageBand, which will give you basic audio podcast settings and recording options, but for an even more simplified audio recorder, check out Audacity (freeware, cross-platform). Also, the new PowerPoint (Office 2007 Windows, Office 2008 Mac), and Apple’s Keynote presentation software both have a feature that records audio while in presentation mode. The slides and audio track are combined into a video file that can be prepared for podcast. Serious podcasters on the Mac Platform can also consider Ubercaster as an alternative to GarageBand.

segdeha, if you had READ, I said for best quality auido (compared to default software like windows voice recorder) it is very good quality for the crappy mic I have, but thanks for saying I have no idea what I’m talking about.

@fortis, I did read your comment. All I said was I didn’t know what you were getting at. I see your point now that you’ve more fully explained it. No offence intended.

Okay.

I own the Blue “Snowball” mic and it works great for me. Im sure the built in mic on your MacBook is good enough for voice, but not anything above that (like music).

Built in mic is okay and worth a try, just depends how good you want the end result to be. Blue Snowball recording to GarageBand = great podcast.

I am recording my own voice for a kid sing along on my macbookpro. I am using Audacity with the built in mic. I get a terrible amount of noise, just crunching aluminum foil, crackling and popping. I have researched a lot of blogs and google etc. and I know I must be doing something obviously wrong. Can someone point me in the right direction? (I am of the mindset, hear hoofbeats – think horses not zebras.)
Thanks, RN

rafjin-you may get more results by opening the question up to the entire fluther community-re-post it as a formal question on the Fluther main page, and make sure to add the proper tags in the details section.

Good luck. (btw, see my previous comment above for info on mics). Garbage in, garbage out I say.