The holidays bring family, great food, and also a chance to upgrade your stream setup! 🙂

This article will be shorter but I thought I would go over some of the things you should look into when browsing for some Boxing day deals, or adding that last minute item to your wish list ;). There won’t be specific items on this list rather, I’ll go over the benefits of upgrading each area of your stream. This is the perfect time to get some new things and spice up your channel a bit!

Monitors

If you don’t already have a second monitor GET ONE as this is the first area of upgrading I would look into. This is almost a requirement if you plan on talking with chat as well as if you run quite a few extra programs such as donation/follower/sub trackers, Skype, Music, etc. it helps in screen management. If you spend most of your time on the computer, even if you don’t stream that often having an extra monitor is AMAZING when it comes to watching Twitch and being able to play games or work on other things with the second monitor. However, there is a diminishing returns almost when it comes to monitors. I feel having two is the best thing ever when it comes to a computer setup, however a third one and more is more luxury and isn’t really “needed” especially when it comes to streaming.

If you’re looking at getting a second monitor and you plan on mainly using it for streaming, I would also try and get a monitor that has the ability to be either portrait or landscape (Vertical/Horizontal). For an example of what I’m talking about here is a monitor that can be portrait or landscape:

Recording/Audio:

Definitely another important area of streaming, if you’re going to be interacting with chat a solid microphone is a must. There are going to be many headsets on sale for Boxing day but if you can avoid it, to achieve the best quality you will need an external mic. Take the time and do your research because there are plenty of microphones out there that can compete with things such as the Blue Yeti or AT2020. You can check out my review of the blue snowball microphone. While those will likely be on sale and are quite popular, make sure you are finding a microphone best for your situation. For example some mics will come with extra polar patterns that may be useful if you want to get into podcasting later on or do interviews while other mics may just have a cardiod pattern but better quality for voice over work. Some mics will work better for you than others and some can work better in different recording environments. Additionally, if you are a bit more knowledgeable on audio and also don’t mind even more work then XLR mics are going to be better than USB mics and also will allow for further upgrading in the future plus more control over your recording.

Getting a Mic arm is another accessory you want to look for during the sales. Keeping the mic off your desk and away from your keyboard/mouse clicks can help prevent unwanted noise. On top of that if you’re getting a non-headset mic that’s going to be up close to your mouth make sure to pick up a pop filter; another must have for those types of microphones.

If you don’t have an environment where playing sound through your speakers alongside your mic works out too well, picking up a headset would be nice as well. Saves time and work in setting up your mic to not have it echo through your speakers but it’s more of a personal preference. Even if you use a headset and you have the extra money, I would still pick up an external mic rather than use the headset microphone.

Other Helpful Items:

XBOX Wired controller! As much as I love my keyboard and mouse, it can definitely come in handy playing certain games. I personally use a controller for racing games and also for The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth 🙂

Graphics! Even though there usually isn’t really sales for this kind of thing, if you end up getting some extra Christmas money, upgrading your stream set up with overlays, info bars, and more is a nice way to use the funds! You can get custom graphics at PixelKhaos.com.

Hope this small list helps you decide what to spend those holiday funds on :). Happy holidays!

Kiratze
twitch.tv/kiratze