Have you ever wondered what a streamer’s setup looks like? What microphone did they buy? What camera do they use? Why is it ALL so clean?

Hey folks, it’s OGJunkyard. When I’m watching streams, I ALWAYS wonder how they got it to look the way they did. As streamers, we scrutinize EVERY detail of our streams, and we are always looking for ways that we can raise our production value in hopes that it will help us score that extra follow, subscriber, or headshot. Sometimes, it comes down to the way we lay out our streaming software, such as OBS, and other times it comes down to doing clever tricks and promoting ourselves well. But, one of the most important things before we get to any of that stuff is having the best gear we can and use it well.

In this five-part post series, I’m going to talk about what makes a stream great from a technical aspect. I’m also going to break down my streaming setup in excruciating detail. I’ll talk about why I’ve made just about every single decision I’ve made about practically every piece of gear I own because A LOT of thought has gone into this setup. I’m going to talk about the thought behind all of the choices, but it all comes down to being fanatical about the viewer’s experience.

If you just want to see my gear list, click here.

Who is this series for?

The information is for streamers who know they are going to be streaming for the long haul. You know you are at this point when you’ve been streaming for at least 3-6 months on a consistent schedule. You are probably streaming 3 or more days per week. You probably have 10+ average viewers. You don’t cancel streams without a good reason and you do your best to be on time for every stream. You take it seriously, and for you, this is becoming more than a hobby and something you may want to eventually do as a job/career.

Maybe you’ve made some basic upgrades already, but you aren’t quite sure what your next purchases should be. You know you definitely want your stream to look nicer than LOLTyler1’s stream but definitely can’t drop the big bucks on a S-Tier setup like Ninja.

Why you should trust me

From a PC-building aspect, I’ve built more than a dozen PCs for a variety of use cases, everything from home/gaming PCs to servers that were the backbone for the way major companies shipped software to their employees and end users.

From an audio and video perspective, I’ve taken multiple courses and a workshop around film production and produced my own short film, as well as helped on a half-dozen other short-film and indie films. I’ve read multiple books on audio, photography, and film, so I’ve got a decent head for the theory that underpins video and audio.

I’ve also spent OVER $10,000 on my streaming setup over the course of 7 years. Some of these choices have been great, others could have been money better spent (or not spent at all). There’s been a lot of lessons learned along the way, which I hope to share with you so you can make better choices than I have along the way and avoid the absolute duds.

Even though my setup cost over $10,000, I’ll never ask you to spend that on your setup. In fact, I don’t want you to spend that until you decide that each and every one of those items are worth it and makes sense for YOUR content. I’d much rather you to pick the right upgrades at the right times and your community help you get these upgrades. In fact, upgrades can make great donation goals for your community to chip into, by the way.

What else should you expect

In this series, I’ll also give you a breakdown on what I’d recommend you upgrade in what order. I’ll also have some recommendations at various price points for the big ticket items (Camera, Microphone, etc.) so you can spend your money smarter when it’s right for you. At the very bottom, I have a table of all of my gear and links on where to find it.

Click here to see my gear.

I may present information and/or topics you haven’t heard of before and I’ll do my best to explain the stuff that I feel like most people wouldn’t readily understand. I’ll also link out to other resources as well, but if you need to look something up that I may have missed, go right ahead. If there’s something that you think we should include in the articles or write about in general, please let us know. If you don’t understand what something is or you need more help, please join us in the StreamSounds Discord Server and ask us questions. We’d LOVE to help you improve!

Click here to join the StreamSounds Discord Server.

A cautionary note

Upgrades will not magically make your stream 10x better and get you 10x as many subs as you had before. Your natural stream growth should drive your stream upgrades, not the other way around. Think of stream upgrades as the reward your community gets on your journey of growth. It is validation that you are delivering great content and makes the stream a better entertainment experience for your community, NOT YOU. It’s nice having a great looking and sounding stream, but if no one’s watching, was the money worth it?

The Posts in this Series

Finally, here’s the content to expect:

1. OGJunkyard’s Stream Setup - Part 1: Introduction (This Post)
2. OGJunkyard’s Stream Setup - Part 2: Streaming PC
3. OGJunkyard’s Stream Setup - Part 3: Audio
4. OGJunkyard’s Stream Setup - Part 4: Video
5. OGJunkyard’s Stream Setup - Part 5: Conclusion

At the end of each post, there will be a table of all of my streaming gear, down to the specific cables and adapters I’ve used. I want you to use this content not as a template of what to buy and where to get it, but rather as an idea of what a high quality streaming setup could look like and what thought went into it. You will probably make different decisions than I did, and that can be a great thing. You might find something that fits your situation better than what’s listed in this series of posts.

I hope you are excited to dig into my streaming setup as much as I am, and I’ll see you in the next article.

OGJunkyard’s Streaming Gear