If you want to make Clubhouse, Greenroom, social audio, or podcasting seriously, you need to upgrade from the default audio options. Unfortunately, if you’re not a tech geek or trained audio engineer, it can be a pain.

Here are a few options to make magic happen, like playing music in your rooms, connecting Greenroom to Clubhouse, creating overflow rooms within the same platform, recording rooms from the stage, and more.

There are no affiliate links in here – I make nothing if you decide to buy anything on this page. I got it all mostly for free to review for you.

QQFM Audio Link – It Works!

Zheng Lei is a maker, creator, and Clubhouse user who figured out a simple device from China that makes it easy to connect multiple devices to enable everything you need to do in audio.

QQFM Audio Link is a simple device that has a lot of sound options when you connect multiple devices.

Line 1 is a one-way input that can feed music and a sound board into your rooms. All you need to do is load the app on a phone, tablet, laptop, or even use a physical device with a 3.5mm headphone jack.

Line 2 is a two-way input that can connect Clubhouse rooms to each other or Greenroom and vice-versa. It also lets you call somebody and patch their audio into the room so they don’t need an account of their own. It can also be used to record rooms.

Line 3 is a mix of both Line 1 and 2 that feeds into your device running your social audio app.

It took a minute to figure out some things, like keeping the mic muted and disconnecting any chargers, which interferes with the signal. Once I got the hang of it, I found this to be the easiest way to do whatever you want.

All you need is at least 3 devices – one to play music, one to feed it into the app, and another on a second account to hear the final mix.

Each line also has its own individual monitor, so you can pull each into its own channel for the best possible mix. The sound quality will easily outperform default recording options in either Clubdeck or Greenroom.

If you have any issues, Zhang is very responsive and is more than happy to jump in a Clubhouse room with you to troubleshoot. The device is $99 on Kickstarter.

iRig 2 = It Works!, iRig HD 2 = Doesn’t Work :,(

IK Multimedia’s iRig2 is by far the most popular method of connecting audio to your Clubhouse/Greenroom stage. at only $39.99, it’s also the cheapest option you’ll find. Be sure to not overspend on other models, like the $99.99 iRig HD2 pictured above, which does not work.

The company’s media rep confirmed with me that they’re in meetings with Clubhouse, and there’s a good chance by year end, they’ll have more compatible models. Alpha Exploration is working hard to beat Spotify, Fireside, Twitter, and Facebook to the podcasting punch.

Once you have the iRig2 connected to your phone, you simply need to connect to your existing audio equipment. If you’re the type who already has guitar cables, mic cables, a mixing board, and other professional equipment, this is the option for you.

Simply upgrading your phone’s microphone can go a long way to improving your audio quality, so let’s review another option that doesn’t require you to have your own home studio set up.

Audio Technica Open Air AD700X Gaming Headset – It Works!

Audio Technica one of the more prominent audio companies, and these Open Air gaming headphones are my favorite to use for pretty much everything. They add several features, like an independent volume control and mute, and they sound much like studio cans.

The biggest difference is the open air design makes them light as a feather. You can barely tell you’re wearing them, and the 53 mm drivers honeycomb casing make for an unmatched sound.

It’s not cheap though – these $199.95 headphones were sent to me for free several years ago when they were $299.99, and I wouldn’t pay either of those prices otherwise. If you have money like that, they’re the best and most versatile audio experience in my opinion and greatly outperform earbuds (even wired) on every end.

Of course, for the iPhone, you need this $9 3.5mm to lighting adapter from Apple for it to work. And if you want a bit more power, there’s a Hi-Fi option too.

Questyle M12 Hi-Fi Headphone Amplifier + DAC – It Works!

This highly engineered piece of equipment works well with my Samsung Galaxy Android phone and iPhone. It replaces the adapter above while also offering a bit more power to the mix.

The Questyle M12 automatically detects the impedence of your headphones and self adjusts to fit the ideal listening range. It took several years perfecting the DAC to help enhance the full range of the audio spectrum on your devices.

It also supports MQA encording, which is often used by streaming services to compress and decompress audio files for bandwidth and speed. It’s a plug-and-play device for $139.99 that can quickly turn your podcast into a hi-fidelity experience.

The material in the cable is high quality, and everything about this device’s build is premium. Its ESS flagship DAC chip can decode up to PCM 384kHz/32bit or DSD256, and an LED light will let you know whether you’re listening to PCM, DSD, or MQA audio.

This tiny thing easily doubles the sound of my Audio Technica Open Airs and can make it easier to hear people speaking in whisperes. When adding it into any of the setups above, you may find it worth spending the extra $130 over the default Apple solution.

Of course, this is just a small sampling of possible audio options. If you have any other setups or advice, feel free to leave a comment, reply to this email, or reach me at BPenny@thoughtforyourpenny.com