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Podcasting every bit a business is growing fast, and one of the all-time podcasting microphones will help you go on board with a show of your own. Maybe even ii or three, if you’re inviting guests and co-hosts.

Whereas the best USB microphones are all about keeping things unproblematic, for podcasting it can be worth choosing a mic that’s either more specialized or more avant-garde more often than not: when your product consists of nothing merely your voice, you’d amend make it sound as practiced as you can.

And permit’s not forget another audio hardware essentials, many of which are listed on our best headphones, best laptops, and all-time webcams guides.

Keep edifice your audio setup with the aid of our guides to the best computer speakers, the best gaming microphones, and the best streaming microphones while as well spending less.

Read on, so, for our picks of the best podcasting microphones that we’ve tested ourselves and don’t forget to check out our guide to the best microphones overall.

What are the best podcasting microphones?

As long every bit you lot can accommodate an XLR connectedness, the Rode PodMic is our top selection of the best podcasting microphones. You’ll also need to provide your own stand, only otherwise the downsides the minimal. This is an excellent-sounding podcaster’s mic with an easily affordable price tag.

While it’s versatile plenty for gaming and streaming utilize, the flagship Blue Yeti also makes a very good microphone for podcasting. Its recording quality is excellent, especially because its relatively affordable cost, and with bidirectional and omnidirectional recording modes you can use a unmarried mic for multiple speakers — handy if yous’re podcasting on a budget.

As far as USB-enabled podcasting microphones go, the JLab Talk also deserves a expect — information technology sounds and operates like a Blueish Yeti, simply for even less greenbacks. The Blue Yeti 10, meanwhile, rewards those who pay more than with improved controls and user feedback.

The best podcasting microphones you can buy right at present

The PodMic is small-scale, merely overflowing with high-quality recording capability. While serious podcasters should always fine-tune their recordings earlier publishing, 1 of the best things about the PodMic is that it doesn’t accept much setup to become it sounding crisp and articulate in the first place.

Non in the pure audio sense, anyway; you will need to purchase a stand separately, and the XLR cable won’t just plug into whatsoever laptop or PC. But the microphone itself is inexpensive enough that you can spend more on stands and interfaces, with the ultimate upshot of superior sound quality to that of many more expensive USB microphones.

Read our total

Rode PodMic review
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Where in that location’s a discussion of outstanding microphones, the Blue Yeti is never far away. Nosotros rate this convenient mic highly for merely about anything that involves voice recording, and it’south just at domicile on a podcast as information technology is on a gaming stream or Skype call.

In addition to working well in cardioid style — that’south when the mic only records the surface area straight in front end of it — the Blue Yeti also offers bidirectional, omnidirectional and stereo recording patterns. These can give y’all some extra flexibility with your podcast formats, as yous could tape interviews or panel discussions with a unmarried microphone.

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Bluish Yeti review
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The JLab Talk has stuck around the sub-$80 mark for a while now. If this holds, it’southward a fantastic deal on what was already a solid USB mic when information technology launched at $99. Like the Blue Yeti, information technology’due south kid’s play to set upward and use, and y’all fifty-fifty get the same four recording patterns to play with.

Nosotros as well like the adjustable tripod stand and the combined proceeds/volume dial, which glows blue or green depending on which level you’re adjusting. If you need to purchase multiple microphones for guests and co-hosts, the Talk is an extremely cost-effective choice.

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JLab Talk review
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Then far we’ve seen several smashing-value podcasting mics, but what if yous can spare some actress change? Bank check out the Blue Yeti X: a bigger, upgraded version of the crowd-pleasing Yeti. Amid the improvements are front-mounted gain controls, so you lot don’t need to reach around the back to make adjustments, and an onboard level meter that makes it much easier to bank check your settings are how yous like them.

These might not sound like major differences, considering how much cheaper the standard Blueish Yeti is, only in a live recording situation these actress tools tin assist you make on-the-fly corrections. This, in turn, could salvage y’all editing fourth dimension later.

Read our total

Blue Yeti X review
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The Elgato Wave: iii is neither a dedicated podcaster’s mic nor a true generalist like the Blue Yeti or JLab Talk. How, then, is it one of the best podcasting microphones? For starters, it’s a very skillful-sounding cardioid mic, with an nigh retro look that fits in well with any studio space.

More than importantly, its streaming focus could actually interpret into podcast effectiveness. It’s designed to work in conjunction with the Elgato Stream Deck, a multi-button panel used by streamers to make sound adjustments while they’re live; yous could easily adapt this setup to work for podcasting, with the Stream Deck simplifying your mic controls so that you can focus on discussions and banter.

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Elgato Wave: three review
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The UM700 is another solid all-rounder. It’s a more affordable take on the Bluish Yeti formula, though build quality hasn’t suffered for it, and you can picture show betwixt different recording patterns should yous need to record a group conversation without multiple microphones.

Sound quality is fine — you may need to touch up recordings when editing, but that should exist normal practice if yous want your podcast sounding professional. You get a total fix of onboard controls also, including a mute push button and a gain dial. Give the UM700 a shot if y’all want Yeti-manner pattern at an fifty-fifty lower price.

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Movo UM700 review
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Like the Wave: iii, the QuadCast Due south’s podcasting credentials could be considered a happy accident: whereas the Elgato mic was built for streaming, HyperX’due south is primarily concerned with gaming. As if the light-up RGB grille wasn’t enough of a giveaway.

Even so, there’due south plenty here for regular podcasters. The QuadCast Due south sounds great with minimal setup, can be easily mounted to a boom arm or other custom stand and includes some handy bonus features that could relieve y’all money on accessories. These include a shock mount, which quietens downward any adventitious bumps the mic might take while recording, and a built-in popular filter for cleaner-sounding speech.

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HyperX QuadCast South review
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If you find the QuadCast South a little too ostentatious, yous’ll probably capeesh the sharp lines and fashionable stand of the EPOS B20. This USB microphone covers all the essentials (like onboard gain control) and adds birdirectional, omnidirection and stereo recording patterns. These all work well, especially the bidirectional fashion, though it’s the cardioid fashion that’s best for solo recording.

To wrangle the maximum potential out of the B20, be sure to download and install the EPOS Gaming Suite. And don’t be fooled by the name: its drove of tools, which includes a noise gate control, tin help the nigh serious podcasts sound as good as the hardware will permit.

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EPOS B20 review
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How to choose the best podcasting microphone for you lot

Sound quality

Recording quality is a vital quality for any type of microphone, but information technology’s easily the nearly important attribute of any podcasting mic. Yous could probably go away with a chip of fuzziness or proceeds imbalance for the odd gaming session, merely in a voice-but medium like podcasting, yous should but demand the all-time.

Even then you should exist prepared for some audio editing one time recording is consummate, just by choosing i of the models above you tin can at least minimize the endeavour required in the mail service-production stage.

Recording patterns

Consider too the format of your podcast, and how your recording hardware will need to fit. If you’re simply recording yourself speaking to remote-connecting guests, all you demand is a mic with a cardioid recording blueprint; this is also fine, if not ideal, for in-person grouping recordings where everyone has the luxury of their own microphone.

If you lot tin only budget for a single mic, you’ll need 1 that can tape in wider patterns. Bidirectional modes permit you record one person straight in forepart and ane person directly behind the mic, so it’s suited for 1-on-one chats. An omnidirectional pattern should be used when at that place are multiple speakers encircled around a unmarried mic, while a stereo pattern is ideal for when several speakers are lined upwardly in front of the mic. This won’t record everyone at equal volume, hence requiring some editing later, merely you’ll get a sense of where individual speakers are positioned.

How nosotros test the best podcasting microphones

We test microphones using similar methods to how yous’d record and produce a podcast: speaking into the mic, using unlike recording patterns if there are any, and listening dorsum to hear how it sounds and whether whatsoever post-production editing would exist required.

To get to the recording phase we also need to set up and configure each microphone, which again reflects what their owners will eventually demand to do. We’ll permit y’all know in each mic’s total review, all of which are linked above, if this process is especially easy or hard.

In one case we complete our testing, we rate Bluetooth speakers based on our five-bespeak arrangement (1 = worst, 5 = best). If a product is truly exemplary, it’s awarded an Editor’s Choice.