Which microphone is the best

Well, if you don't mind reaching deep into your pocketbook, that is. There are affordable mics on this list, but it is still absolutely true that if you want the best, you will have to pay for it. While it is more expensive than your average premium mic, its versatility completely justifies the cost. There's a reason Blue microphones tend always to have a place on our list.

The Blue Yeti X is a hybrid model of the Nano and the original Yeti, an amalgam of the better bits of both. Even as new microphones enter the space, the Yeti X continues to be a reliable recommendation for anyone looking for a great-sounding mic. The sturdy microphone now has an LED-lit front panel that usefully monitors your volume levels at a glance, and the sound quality remains top-notch. It's clear why this is still the mic of choice of many professional podcasters and streamers.

It offers the same features as the Yeti X, except it's rocking a nice black with gold trim design along with some neat fantasy glyphs all over the mic. More importantly, it lets you choose to voice to various Warcraft races like gnomes, imps, and of course, Orcs.

The HyperX SoloCast is the best of a slew of new budget-oriented microphones. This new breed delivers their more expensive siblings' audio performance, prioritizing the sound over extensive feature sets for a frankly fantastic price. That's a fantastic microphone in its own right, and we can bear losing the full list of features and range of polar patterns when we want an easy plug-and-play mic. I mean, you lose the sexy RGB lighting of the QuadCast, which is missed, but they sound almost identical.

And if you're just after higher-quality audio, and don't want to start messing around with gain settings mid-stream, then the SoloCast could be all the mic you need.

Read our full HyperX SoloCast review. It takes everything we want from a premium mic and shrinks down to something more affordable but still retains the top-tier audio quality we've come to know from Rode. It's a solid-sounding microphone despite its tendency to pick up some background noise. That's great for podcasts, or streams featuring multiple people, along with being a pretty handy tool for folks who hate dealing with messing with audio settings during a stream.

The gamer-centric HyperX Quadcast S is an excellent microphone for the gamer or streamer looking for an easy-to-use, clear-sounding mic. While it doesn't quite match up to the Yeti X in terms of sound quality, the Quadcast S makes up for it in design and feature set. The touch-sensitive mute button at the top of the microphone is a good example of this. Often, mute buttons and switches make a loud click when recording. This doesn't. The Quantcast S hits the sweet spot of price, sound, and features if you're looking to add something to your live stream.

The biggest difference between the Quadcast S and last year's Quadcast is that it offers dynamic RGB lighting, so it looks like you're speaking into a lava lamp. Read our full HyperX Quadcast S review.

Elgato's debut microphone is aimed at streamers looking to add quality audio to their streams with the minimum of fuss. The Wave 3 is a feature-packed 96kHz microphone that sounds incredible, is easy to use, and is compatible with most desk boom arms.

The digital audio mixer supports up to 8 channels of audio and can output to OBS and Xsplit, giving you more control over your stream's audio without needing to be a sound engineer. The capacitive mute button is a nice touch with Clipguard tech that automatically adjusts your levels from ever hitting red.

The single cardioid polar pattern ultimately limits the Wave 3's versatility, but if you're looking for an easy-to-use microphone for your next stream, this is a decent option. Now, dynamic mics such as the sm58 are great for certain styles of music. But since large diaphragm condensers are normally the go-to mic for vocals…. When it comes to mid-priced vocal mics, Rode Microphones are the best of the best.

And that is why, the Rode NT1A is only the first of two condenser mics on this list. The combination of price, sound quality, and overall reputation make this mic the obvious choice for your first vocal mic. The small team of 50 develops breathtaking original microphones and manufactures all critical components of these microphones in-house.

Schoeps has long been a pioneer in the professional audio industry. They are a customer-focused company, and their customers have come to expect exquisite quality in Schoeps microphones, which combine razor-sharp transparency and stunning authenticity in simple yet elegant designs. Schoeps was founded in by Dr. Karl Schoeps in Karlsruhe, Germany.

To this day, the family-run business is headquartered in Karlsruhe, Germany. Schalltechnik Dr. Schoeps GmbH Germany official website. Though best known for their headphones, Audio-Technica also boasts a wide line of excellent consumer and professional-grade microphones.

Audio-Technica makes up a worldwide group of companies devoted to designing, manufacturing, marketing, and distributing problem-solving audio equipment. One major sector of this audio equipment is microphones, and AT is a leading manufacturer of microphones for practically all applications.

Audio-Technica boasts numerous industry awards for its microphones, and their mics are accepted as standards around the world. Some Audio-Technica microphone installations include the U. House of Representatives and Senate and the U. Like all the manufacturers on this list, I could name plenty of Audio-Technica microphones the deserve recognition.

However, to name my top 3, they are:. Check the price of these Audio-Technica microphones at select retailers by clicking the following links:. The company is headquartered in Machida, Tokyo, Japan. Audio-Technica Corporation Japan official website. Royer may be the least known microphone manufacturer on this list. Guitarists privy to microphones will likely know of the legendary R, but Royer Labs makes many high-quality ribbon microphones that sound absolutely stunning.

Since its inception in , Royer Labs has nearly singlehandedly brought ribbon microphones back to popular demand worldwide. Royer Labs has a dedicated team determined to impart warmth, realism and musicality into the digital recording process. They do so with industry-leading innovation in ribbon mic technology. Royer Labs U. Blue Microphones has become extremely popular with the rise of their flagship Yeti USB microphone line. The other type of popular microphone type is a condenser.

This works slightly differently and uses capacitor plates instead of a coil and magnets. While dynamic mics are fine to use with bass drums, condensers are not. The Rode NT1-A is one of the most popular condenser microphones. The use cases for condenser microphones are typically much more static than those of dynamic mics, mainly because those capacitor plates are far more fragile than dynamic mics.

The exception to this is shotgun microphones, which are the giant mics you see people holding on movie sets. Phantom power is required for condenser microphones. Usually, this is found in audio interfaces or some portable recorders like the Zoom H5. Less common types of microphones include ribbon mics.

Typically the thing that gives ribbon microphones their name, also happens to be the reason they are easy to bust: a ribbon. Essentially a conductive ribbon rests between two electromagnetic poles detecting your sound source. These mics are technically a sub-type of the dynamic mic category. Most of the time these mics have a bidirectional polar pattern more on those below.

A bidirectional polar pattern works well for recording two sources at the same time on either face of the mic, like two people speaking, if you control for volume difference in a pinch. Ribbon mics make great vocal microphones too. Many early broadcast microphones, after all, were ribbon, so they work great for podcasters if well-placed. While sound is objective, taste is subjective. If you like how sensitive the condenser is to registering all sounds, but want a different tone, try a ribbon microphone.

USB microphones are not only convenient and easy to use, but are also typically cheaper than XLR microphones. XLR mics can be pricey and require the purchase of an audio interface , but they typically produce audio of much higher quality than USB microphones. Do you want your microphone to record only what is perfectly in front of it or if you want to pick up sound all around you? A cardioid pickup pattern can record sound from the front and sides of the unit.

One very common polar pattern is the cardioid.