Looking to start the world’s most popular podcast? Or maybe you are already into podcasting and want to upgrade your microphone? Here is our review of the best podcast microphones available. The rise of podcasts has been nothing but incredible in the 21st century and the forecast for podcasts looks bright. As of right now, around 73 million Americans identify themselves as podcast-listeners. That’s a lot and the numbers are rising!
Now, If you are serious about podcasting and want to deliver the best audio quality to your audience, then investing in a top-notch podcast microphone is a must. Think about it, the story your voice is going to deliver or the fantastic interview of an interesting person is what makes the podcast. I like to scroll through the app podcaster and discover new podcasts created by fascinating people. But if the audio quality is bad and I have to make an effort to actually hear what they are talking about, I’m not even giving the podcast a chance. The human voice is what makes the podcast. No instruments or no sound effects. Finding the best podcast microphone is crucial for the voice recording! You don’t like poor audio quality and your listeners sure don’t do it either.
Before we dive into our review of the best podcast microphones, here’s a quick buying guide for you!
Why investing in a professional podcast microphone is crucial
So why investing in a professional podcast microphone? It seems like an obvious answer but if you are serious about trying to make a living of your podcast you are going to struggle to find your first designated fans if you are blabbering away in a tinny headset microphone. If you are going to record in a professional podcast studio or a home studio environment with 1 on 1 conversations, finding the best podcast microphone is the way to go. If you think about it, it’s the microphone that captures the audio waves of your voice and transforms it into digital bits and bytes.
Choosing the best podcast microphone
When you are trying to find the best podcast microphone for your podcast, there are two major things to consider:
- Your recording environment
- The size of your wallet (a.k.a your budget)
With microphones you get what you pay for. A $7.99 microphone won’t get you very far in terms of sound quality. If that’s what you can afford and will get you started with podcasting, go for it!
With that being said, the best podcast microphone for you won’t cost you a fortune!
Condenser microphone vs dynamic mics
The two most common types of microphones are condenser- and dynamic microphones. I won’t get into heavy detail about how they work here but there are some different characteristics that you should be aware of.
Dynamic microphones
Dynamic microphones are good for vocals but have rougher sound characteristics than condenser microphones but they tend to eliminate background noise. If you don’t have access to a professional podcast studio and recording from home, noise from computers, refrigerators or air conditioning won’t mess up your recordings too much. Dynamic microphones are also more durable than condenser microphones.
- Durable
- Eliminate background noise more efficiently
- Can record higher volumes without distortion
Condenser microphones
Condenser microphones have a smoother frequency response than dynamic microphones. The sound is often more clearer and detailed with crisper highs and superb low-frequency response. Condenser microphones are more suited for studio environments. They tend to pick up background noise so unless you’re recording in a super-quiet room you’ll have some problems with disturbing ambient noise in your recordings.
- Produce a clarity of voice with warmth and presence
- Great low-frequency response
- Need external power source (phantom-power) to operate
Polar patterns
Polar patterns is a term in microphone technology that describes how a microphone picks up sounds from different directions. If you are talking into a microphone from an angle where it doesn’t pick up sound waves the recordings will sound bad. Imagine sitting and recording a podcast for hours and realize that you have been talking off-axis the whole recording session. So if you are looking for the best podcast microphone for your setup, make sure to get a basic understanding of polar patterns. The most common types of directionality (polar patterns) are cardioid, bidirectional and omnidirectional.
Cardioid
A microphone with a cardioid polar pattern is most sensitive at the front and least sensitive from the back. This is ideal if you don’t want to prevent background noise from getting into the recordings. This is the most commonly used polar pattern and very popular for vocal microphones. If you’re having 1 on 1 conversations in your podcast you should have two cardioid microphones (one each). If you are four people, then you should have four microphones. You get the point!
Bidirectional
Bidirectional microphones (also known as “figure-8”) are equally sensitive to sound waves coming from the back and the front. Sound coming from the sides is picked up poorly. Bidirectional is the standard polar pattern for ribbon microphones. A bidirectional microphone could work if you are sitting in front of your co-host and both of you are talking into the microphone but I would still recommend choosing a pair of cardioids instead. For me bidirectional microphones are more useful for “advances” stereo techniques and not very suitable for podcasts.
Omnidirectional
Omnidirectional microphones are equally sensitive from all angles and don’t have to be aimed towards a specific direction when recording. This type of microphone picks up a lot of ambient sounds which could be ideal for some situations but one downfall is that you can’t really aim away from an undesired sound source.
USB or XLR
There are two main types of connectors for microphones, USB and XLR. USB microphones are easy to set up and all you really need to start recording is a computer. You don’t need any mixer or audio interface. They are ideal for beginners but the sound quality is not as good as XLR microphones. It’s not unusual for podcasters to start their podcasting with USB microphones but they usually progress on to a XLR microphone. A computer doesn’t have any XLR-inputs so if you are going for a XLR-mic you’ll need a separate mixer or audio interface to get the audio signals into the computer and start recording.
Review: best podcast microphones
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