That’s all fine and dandy, but what if you wanted to be more than just a viewer? What if you want to start streaming or, just as likely, improve the production value of your channel?
Either way, it’s surprisingly straightforward to get started; hard work, dedication, and time are essential to move from occasionally streaming to streaming as a full-time job. Whether you’ve got some experience under your belt or you’re new to the process, you need the right gear to make life easier.
Here is the best tech streaming gear for Twitch streamers available today.
Q: Is a Webcam Necessary For Twitch Streaming?
No, it isn’t necessary, but it does enhance the experience. It’s a lot easier to interact with your audience when they can see your face as well.
The Logitech C922 Pro Webcam captures footage within a 78-degree field of view, which is wide enough to show off your face and a fair bit portion of your surroundings. If you’re new to streaming, it isn’t just about showing your face, but also using the background to show off your personality such as colorful lighting and decorations. And hey, if you love having guests over, the C922 Pro has a wide enough view to fit two people, otherwise, you’re welcome to adjust the view using pan and zoom.
More importantly, the Logitech C922 Pro Webcam is a streamer’s best friend when it comes to improving the production value of their channel. Given that it captures colors and detail in low-light settings very well, it can also stream in two modes: 720p at 60fps or 1080p at 30fps. Regardless of your bandwidth, both are great options for streaming your beautiful mug.
Getting the Logitech Litra Glow Premium LED Streaming Light ready is like walking easy street—just clip it to your monitor, power it with USB-A, and you’re good to go. And if you so choose, the 1/4-inch screw thread allows you to introduce a tripod, which is especially helpful for content creation.
Adjusting the brightness and temperature is just as simple, given that it has both physical buttons and control options through Logitech’s G Hub software. At its brightness, it caps at 250 lumens, which is more than enough to create a high-quality stream and a temperature range between 2700K and 6500K.
As far as audio quality is concerned, the Logitech Snowball iCE is surprisingly good. Part of its success is that the custom capsule has a cardioid pickup pattern, ensuring that it picks up your voice with clarity while simultaneously preventing unwanted sounds outside its cone of influence.
Equally helpful is the Logitech Snowball iCE’s design. Given that it’s relatively small, you shouldn’t have any issue placing it nearby or directly in front of you, even. Best of all, it’s plug-and-play, meaning you simply plug in the device and it’s ready to go—no software required.
Comfort is the EPOS I Sennheiser Gaming Headset’s middle name. Wrapped around the ends are plush, velour ear pads that are not only comfortable to wear but allow some much-needed breathing for long gaming sessions. And since the headset is quite lightweight, it isn’t causing unnecessary pressure on your ears or head.
The EPOS I Sennheiser Gaming Headset has to be comfortable given how good the audio quality is. Frequencies are nicely balanced alongside the bass, with the added benefit of open acoustics to improve the spatial sound. More importantly, the microphone picks up your voice with crystal-clear quality, thanks to noise-canceling technology.
Unlike its little brother, the Razer Kiyo, the Razer Kiyo Pro opts for a better light sensor rather than a ring light. That may sound like a downgrade at first, but given the Razer Kiyo Pro’s performance in low-light environments, it’s more than capable of turning the tables on botched lighting setups. It will even adjust automatically if the lighting changes, such as when morning turns to night.
In the event that you have a lighting system that works just fine, the Razer Kiyo Pro is still a must-have for improving the overall quality of the facecam during streams. It bumps up the resolution to 1080p at 60fps, in addition to a wide-angle lens that you’re more than welcome to adjust. Best of all, if you have a colorful background, the Razer Kiyo Pro’s HDR makes colors pop.
For starters, the EVGA XR1 Lite is very user-friendly thanks to its plug-and-play design. Simply plug in an HDMI and USB-C cable, and you’re good to go. The EVGA XR1 Lite even saves you a headache by being easily recognizable by the most popular software.
Of course, what’s the use if it doesn’t deliver good performance, right? Well, with the EVGA XR1 Lite, your viewers get to sit back and relax with a crisp 1080p stream at 60fps while you get to continue enjoying 4K content at 60fps.
The Elgato Stream Deck MK.2 is a marvel of customization. It features 15 LCD keys that directly control and or access software, widgets, and macros. Why awkwardly end a stream with your mouse when a single button does the job? You can even create shortcuts for folders or folders within folders to further expand the usefulness of a single button.
Design-wise, the Elgato Stream Deck MK.2 is small, compact, and just as customizable as the keys given that the faceplate and kickstand can be removed entirely. The former can be painted to something to your liking while the latter allows you to insert the Elgato Stream Deck MK.2 into your very own DIY project.
In fact, if your budget doesn’t allow for a webcam just yet, you can use the camera on your smartphone as a webcam via third-party apps. Software like OBS can actually recognize this as a viable source. It’s a tedious process and doesn’t always work, but it’s a good choice if you’re just starting out and are still on the fence about streaming.
Q: What’s the Most Essential Streaming Gear For Streaming?
The holy trinity of streaming is good lighting, a webcam, and a microphone. Out of those three, a good streamer microphone is the most essential streaming gear. Part of the streamer language is speaking to the audience, so it’s important for your voice to be captured as clearly as possible.
Preferably, you want a streamer microphone that connects via USB. They’re easy to set up (just plug it in) and require no additional software to work, not to mention easily recognized by the most popular streaming software. If you’re new to streaming, a good microphone is the best place to start.
Q: Does Twitch Require a Subscription to Stream?
Nope! It doesn’t cost a cent to start streaming on Twitch.
As long as you have a Twitch account—even if it was originally created to watch content creators—it can be repurposed for streaming. Starting a stream doesn’t need any additional software other than what Twitch provides. There’s also a helpful tutorial to break down the process.
