Streaming, podcasting, and using your PC as a production studio can be really, really complicated. Or very, very easy. That all depends on what equipment you buy, and it’s easy to get bogged down in a minefield of choices this Black Friday.
Have no fear! Like the world’s nerdiest superhero, I’m sweeping in with my cape of 20 years of audio and production engineering experience to tell you exactly what equipment you should be buying to make your streaming dreams come true.
👉 We’re curating the best Black Friday PC gaming deals right here 👈
With the Black Friday sales well underway, now’s the perfect time to equip your PC with everything it needs to capture your lovely visage, dulcet tones, and sweet gameplay chops with aplomb.
Let’s have a look at my top picks for Black Friday streaming equipment deals, shall we?
Andy Edser
Andy has spent the past 20 years bouncing around recording studios, crawling around the back of live rigs, producing podcasts, and generally keeping an eye on the production game—and as a result he’s learnt a trick or two about keeping things sounding great and looking even better.
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1. A great microphone
First up, you’re going to want a great microphone to capture some sound. Even if your streaming adventures amount to nothing more than an OBS recording of your gameplay with a voiceover (and plenty of streamers and content creators do very well with nothing but that), you’re going to want to make sure your audio game is on point.
I’ve put together three stunning microphone options here, from budget all the way through to studio-level, to ensure your audio is as good as it can possibly be.
Black Friday budget microphone deal
If you’re on a tight budget, there’s no better recommendation I can think of than the Razer Seiren V3 Mini. Don’t let its small size and discount price put you off—this desktop mic captures excellent audio quality, looks great, and takes up very little room on your desk, leaving plenty of space for the most important thing in shot. That’s you, that is.
Black Friday mid-range microphone deal
I reckon this QuadCast S is a truly excellent choice for any streamer. It’s a crispy-yet-warm audio capturing machine, with an integrated pop-filter that removes any worries about plosives (blown out “puh” and “buh” noises that can really ruin your vibes, man). It also lights up with a dazzling display of RGB that looks great on cam.
Black Friday high-end microphone deal
This is simply my favorite vocal capture microphone right now, and our top pick for the best microphone for podcasting. That means it’s perfect for streaming too, although you will have to buy a boom arm (I’m a big fan of Tonor arms, for reference) in order to get it close enough to your face to use it as its best.
It’s a mean, audio capturing machine and ultra-simple to use. Install the Shure Motive Mix software, plug it in, and off it goes capturing the best sound this side of a professional studio setup.
2. A webcam with image quality to spare
Should you wish to show your beautiful visage on camera, you’ll be wanting something that can capture your roguish good-looks with the minimum of fuss.
Great webcams can be expensive, but it’s still possible to pick up budget models that’ll do just fine, particularly if you plan on shrinking yourself down to a small fraction of the video while you show gameplay footage.
If you’re planning on plenty of shots of just you, or perhaps something like unboxing content, then you’ll need something a bit more igh-end. Luckily, I’ve found three great deals on three great webcams, perfectly suited to each price range.
Black Friday budget webcam deal
If you’re just starting out, and especially if you plan on only using your webcam for a picture-in-picture spot on a gameplay stream, then any variation of the Logitech C920 will do you just fine. We recommend the Streamplify Cam as our best budget pick for streamers but it’s currently hard to find in the US, so this Logitech wins out for its sheer price/performance combo.
It’s never going to blow you away with its image quality, but it’s an ultra-reliable stalwart sitting atop many a monitor across the world, and this version even comes with a flip-down privacy shield. After all, it’s easy to forget that you’re still live, so a real-world backup is a nice thing to have, ey?
Black Friday mid-range webcam deal
You may have noticed that many streamers sit in dark rooms, with lots of neon lights to make everything look all glow-y and gamer-chic. That’s a good move aesthetically (and we have some lights down below that would suit), but it means you’ll need a camera that’s better at low light capture than most.
Enter, the Razer Kiyo Pro. In our review we found it was easily the best webcam for dealing with low-light conditions we’ve ever tested, and it’s under half its MSRP right now at Amazon. The auto-focus is a bit fiddly, but it’s a streamer-friendly cam that deals with challenging lighting far better than the rest.
Black Friday high-end webcam deal
Our best webcam recommendation is the Elgato Facecam MK.2, so I’ll leave it there and just tell you to buy it while it’s on discount. Nah, just kidding, you need more, don’t you? Well, it records uncompressed video at 1080p 60 fps, which means you get image quality that surpasses any other cam at this price point.
In our review we discovered that it’s also got an excellent HDR mode, which is something of a boon. Plus, it’s relatively small and discreet while still outperforming much larger models, and the software is truly outstanding, which makes setting it up so much easier than many of its competitors. And at this price? A pretty easy decision, if you ask me.
3. Lights, camera, action
So you’ve got the audio sorted, your new cam is winging its way to you—now you just need to work on your lighting.
Yep, it’s important. If you simply rely on the blazing light of your screen or the odd desk lamp in the background, chances are you’re still going to look a bit amateurish, and that’s not the goal here. We want you and your recording space to look its very best, so here’s a couple of recommendations that should light you up in the way you deserve.
Black Friday key light deal
Key lights are simply the best way of making sure you look great on camera, and there are plenty of different ways you can use them to show you at your prettiest. What you really want here then are options, and this double-bubble kit gives you everything you need to get started.
With lights, stands, power plugs and a carry bag all included, what you’ve got here is a complete package that isn’t just for your streaming setup—you can use it for product reviews, location shoots, and anything else you can think of in the wide world of video production. Think of them as an investment you’ll use for years, and you won’t go far wrong.
Black Friday wall light deal
Ah, so you want that streamer glow then, ey? I don’t blame you. It’s become the de facto look for streamers to bathe their respective shooting spaces in purples, blues and greens, and that’s exactly what this wall light set provides.
We were so impressed with it, we placed it as our top wall light recommendation in our best desk lighting guide. That’s high praise indeed, and with $40 off you can save a tidy sum to put towards some of the streaming gear above while still surrounding yourself in a comforting neon glow.
4. A wildcard audio and stream control setup
Controlling all your inputs and outputs on the fly can be a bit of a nightmare, so I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out this SteelSeries Alias Pro kit that makes streaming audio about as easy as it gets.
Not only do you get an excellent microphone that can compete with some of the better models we’ve tested, but a Stream Mixer that allows you to assign custom controls while acting as a powerful preamp.
SteelSeries’ Sonar software (all the ess sounds, all at once) is remarkably good at simplifying down complicated audio controls into single sliders, and its drag and drop functionality makes juggling all your various configs much simpler than they otherwise would be.
Plus, its built-in Sonar AI-noise cancelling plugin is genuinely good at removing background noise. Of course, you’ll still need a webcam and some lights, and its still very pricey even with this discount.
But if all the fiddly bits of audio streaming are making you pull your hair out with frustration, this setup does its darndest to keep things serene—allowing you to focus on the subtle art of performance rather than losing yourself in the settings menus.
