20 Best Cheap Mics For Podcasting (2023 Updated)

Great sounding microphone! This needs a lot of gain to get a good signal, but that’s typical for dynamic microphones. You’ll need an XLR interface and optionally a microphone activator (low end XLR interfaces won’t have enough power).

I’m using a Wave XLR which gets up to +75dB gain which is more than enough. (+60dB seems to be right for me) Build quality is top notch. Full metal. I could tenderize steak with this thing. Shock mount is built-in.

It’s isolated from light handling of the mic like adjusting position, but not banging on the desk. Windscreen is sold separately, which is a bit of a bummer, but the price for what you get is more than fair.

I found this Microphone by accident which is a brilliant accident. I was looking at the Shure Podcast Microphones but they was out my budget, not knocking Shure they are still a good company. When I was doing my search for Podcast Microphones the Rode Podmic came up, I didn’t know Rode did these kinds of mics, I thought it was just DSLR Camera Microphones they did.

But yeah, it’s got an amazing sound. You can’t really hear the background noise but it depends on how well your room is treated & how high you turn up the gain in the Audio Interface. I did a bit of rapping on the mic on one of my beats & it’s good for that too, well only for when you’re doing singing/rapping for your Podcast.

If you’re going to make a song or an album it’s better to obviously use a Condenser Microphone in a treated vocal booth as the Podmic is more for Podcasting. I would suggest buying a 3 metre (or longer) XLR to XLR cable & buying an Audio Interface if you do not have a Mic Lead or Audio Interface as it doesn’t come in the box.

I also would avoid getting the cheap £10 quid mic boom arm from Argos that they have at the moment & just get a steady mic boom arm or a steady mic stand on your desktop. I say this because the Podmic is quite weighty.

Would I recommend the Podmic? 110% Yes. You’ll have a lot of fun with this mic.

Very decent mic with good sound quality and background noise rejection. I had a condenser mic before this and it was picking up way too much ambient noise in my recordings so I had to look for dynamic mic alternatives.

I don’t have an interface and USB dynamic mics are particularly scarce so my options were limited. After watching and reading multiple reviews on this mic, I decided to pick it up to try it out. It works well for the most part, but there’s one big caveat that people with Windows PC/laptop should know about.

The input level is very low on this mic so I have to turn the gain all the way up to about 85% and put my mouth right in front of the mic in order to get good recording volume. Unfortunately, with the gain that high, it also introduces a low level of hissing/static noise in my recordings.

The hissing is only noticeable with headphones on or when I boost the volume up in post during silent bits when I’m not talking. It is easily removable in post or via noise reduction/noise gate filters in Zoom/Discord/OBS, so it’s not a deal breaker for me compares to the amount of audible ambient noise that was picked up in my previous mic.

My unit is not defective as I actually temporarily purchased a 2nd one just to do a comparison test and that one also produced the exact same result on the same settings. After researching around, I found out that this was a common issue for USB mics on Windows 10 as the system audio driver is rather crappy.

Theoretically, it’s a solvable problem once I upgrade to XLR down the line so I’m hopeful that it’ll be worthwhile then. (I accidentally tore off a bit of the foam windscreen so I can’t return this item, unfortunately).

Other than the input issue, this is a really nice mic for all of its functions and versatility. The audio monitoring is very clean, the sound quality is crisp and full, and I appreciate all the accessories that come with the mic which help make setting up very easy.

It has a decent build quality although the headphones volume control buttons aren’t very flush and just recessed in a bit (they work just fine though). If you’re planning on using this on a Mac or via an audio interface, this is a solid mic.

However, if you’re planning on using it via USB on Windows, keep in mind the low volume input as that might be a deal breaker.

Big thanks to the BH team for making such a great kit. The crane arm blows the stock mic tripod out of the water and offers better support and more flexibility. I suggest using the original mic clip, as it fits better than the one that comes with the crane arm.

A shock mount would be great, but I didn’t expect it (though it’s mentioned on the crane arm box, which can be misleading). The headphones are comfortable and do their job just fine. And I really appreciate the thought behind adding a USB extension cord and cord straps.

It’s my first mic setup, and I wouldn’t think about these minor but important things. Q2U is great for me (I don’t even hate my voice somehow), and even though I record in an untreated room, I get quality sound with just minor post-editing.

The only problem I had was with connecting to my phone, but I suspect the issue is with either my phone’s receptacle or a faulty OTG adapter. All in all, I’m happy with this purchase.

I would rate this product a 4. 5 since the stand that comes with it! Is kind of flimsy and it is hard to keep the microphone standing up most of the time. I know that I could swivel the microphone around a little bit and adjusted, but sometimes I have noticed it either drop downwards and the microphone just doesn’t seem as sturdy.

Overall this product is excellent though with regards to microphone usage it does come with an XLR cable and a USB cable along with the stand and a pouch. The pouch is really useful to store the equipment on the go and it is a quick insert of a USB to get it going and it is easily recognized by a Windows machine the sound quality is pretty good and I have the filter on top of it that is another piece that comes which is a foamy ball like object that you put on top of the metal I have left a little bit of room for it to have a little cushion on top.

This helps with wind noise a little bit better rather than having it touching all the way down really tight against the metal. Overall it is a good microphone if you need something in a jam, and it has capabilities of expanding into a interface with XLR if necessary and other equipment.

The power button does make a little bit of noise so whenever using that to mute might appear that that sound might come through. Go overall it is a really sturdy mic with volume controls at the bottom a power button and the ports along with a headphone jack where you could use to listen to your own recording voice or what have you.

Overall not at all a bad purchase for the price.

Microphone works excellent, good feedback from listeners on other end of video conferences. The cardioid pattern works great, filters out extraneous noise well. The big concern I had was picking up the noise of my keyboard when taking notes, but there is minimal sound heard (tested with friend over Zoom meeting, she could barely hear my keys typing).

The microphone itself is a beast, very heavy compared to other microphones of similar or even bigger size. I have a Rode NTG4+ Shotgun Microphone and the Procaster is easily three times as heavy. The NTG4+ was super sensitive and picked up all sorts of sound, which is why I decided to switch the Procaster.

Being a Dynamic Mic, you will get best quality when the mic is closer to your mouth. This is fine if I am not on a video conference, but if your audience is not expecting to see you with a huge mic in your face, then this mic may not be best for you.

That said, I did position the mic out of camera view and bumped the gain up a bit and my friend said she could still hear me well, but I am guessing there was additional hiss and potential background noise being picked up.

The sound quality is excellent for the price point of this mic (and I bought used so I spent even less than retail). The low end registers strong but not overly bassy, and I really like the mids and high tones are still crisp.

Some mics fall off on the high ends and sound washed out – not the Procaster! I have a mid to low tenor-range voice and it does well with this mic, nice and warm but still bright enough to sound natural and full.

If I sit my mouth right on the mic I can get a really strong proximity effect, giving that NPR-radio sound some people like! It is a bit bassy for me, but the mic can definitely serve well if that is your thing.

The Dynamite Active In-Line Preamp by sE Electronics is great! I was able to turn the gain down on my audio interface from high 6/low 7 to a 4, which eliminated some of that hiss you hear in the background.

Shock mount is a shock mount, it does it’s job well, no complaints. The Mogami cable will be a back-up, I already had a cable set up for the NTG4+ Happy with the purchase, highly recommend the Procaster microphone, and if you can get the sE Electronics Dynamite preamp get it, you will not be disappointed.

I have a podcast where I mostly interview a solo guest. For that we use two Shure SM7Bs. Whenever we’d have a pair of guests, we’d put them on the 7Bs and I’d just use a Rode Podmic. I wasn’t happy with how thin the Podmic sounded compared to the other mics (not a fair comparison due to the price, I know) so I got this as an upgrade.

I couldn’t be happier. The sound is almost as smooth as the SM7B, but it doesn’t have that dark feel to it. It also has bit more clarity on the high end. It’s almost like using the 7B with both the low-cut filter and the presence boost enabled.

If I were to compare it to Shure mics, it’s somewhere between the sound of the Beta 58a and the SM7B, in terms of sound (and price). A couple of things I really about this mic. 1) Background noise rejection is great, comparable to some handhelds.

2) It’s gain hungry, but not as much as the Rode Podmic or Shure SM7B. A couple of things I wasn’t too crazy about. 1) The included mount isn’t that great. It does nothing to stop bumps from the table.

(I used a cheap shock mount for large mics and found that it did the trick. ) 2) The mic isn’t good with handling noise. I know it’s not meant for holding, but since a shock mount isn’t included, you really have to be careful of noisy bumps.

Overall, thr Rode PSA1 works great. I have been using both a Shure SM-58 and a Rode NT-USB. Holds and adjusts very well. It could use a better screw option to tighten/loosen for hand tighten instead of a flathead (my only issue with this).

Comes with an adapter screw so I didn’t need to buy anything for wider screw mounts. Currently using the screw mount option as I don’t have a need for the hole mount ( that came with the pre drilled mount hardware).

Definitely recommend this product if you’re looking for a mount.

I debated whether or not to upgrade my microphone for my podcast, but decided it was time. I’m SO glad I did. With the Rode Podcaster, I hear a massive difference in the quality. It’s easy to use and perfect for podcasting.

Plus American Musical Supply shipped it fast, packaged it well, and had wonderful communication during my buying process. Definitely recommend the mic and the company!.

The Rode podcaster is a craftsmanship and quality. Its stlyish, and simplisity itself when setting it up. But that doesnt mean the Rode podcaster has placed form before function. The sound quality is excellent.

Although the Rode pod caster is heavy, it isnt designed as as a handheld and is best paired with a Rode boom or desk mount. If you are after a mic and want quality with a 10 year warranty then Rode podcaster is what you are after.

I’m no expert in microphones so this is a very amateur review! Bought this product for game streaming purposes and so far it has been fantastic (used for a few weeks). My voice sounds crisp and dynamic especially when up close to the grill.

I do have to use audio filters such as noise suppression and noise gates to mute out typing and white background noise but there have been no issues. The mic has weight to it and feels very sturdy, also love that it comes with a 6m cable and pop filter.

Only thing I would say is missing is a gain knob, seeing that most other mics have this, not sure why they didn’t put one on, but this hasn’t been a huge issue as I hardly change the input volume in the settings anyway.

I’ve paired the microphone with the RODE PS1 boom arm so I’m able to place it at an optimal height/level which has been great. I was tossing up between this and AT2020 and have no regrets picking this one up! It’s a great USB mic option with everything you need in one package.

Also kudos to DJ City for shipping the product the next day I ordered even when it said it was back ordered on the site (maybe my timing was just too good?). Nonetheless, I was super impressed with the speed of service.

Looked towards getting this product after I watched a Linus Tech Tips review. I did a sync recording of both the mic and my phone and the quality is vastly different (obviously). But I especially like how there’s significantly less background noise and hum compared to my phone which makes levelling out the audio much easier to do.

The audio from the mic is really smooth and clear and pleasant to listen to. Great quality mic that also looks flashy on my desk, and the pop filter is a great plus too. Also hot tip: check for a coupon in the item window to save more off this item if you want to.

For the price, this is a solid microphone, good for voice, instruments, or drums (overheads or room mic). It is definitely not as clean and detailed as a $2000+ Neumann U87 but it is a reasonable lower-cost version of the low/medium-priced condensers (eg AT4040, Shure KSM32, Blue Sparkle).

Includes a pad and high-pass filter options, which add flexibility when recording different sounds. I do recommend an inline activator ($150 cloudlifter, or the lower-priced options: ~$100 SE Electronics TNT or Triton Audio Fethead) in case you have a quiet source.

That should be all you need. This is much better than the AT2020. Worth the extra $50. I’m not the most accomplished producer (!) but definitely not a robot, in case you’re wondering. My proof? (1) I have a home studio and have songs published on Spotify and other streaming platforms.

(2) I love Monty Python and a spot of tea. (3) Long live 70s British punk! < insert vomit noise > Happy Recording!.

I purchased the Audio Technica AT-2035 mic for Zoom meetings and to record some concerts. I wanted something that was not real expensive, but I wanted high quality. This mic is a great deal. Plus, it is highly rated.

This mic is great sounding and looks good. I also wanted a large diaphragm mic to record band and choir concerts. This mic has a good sound pressure level without distorting. That worked for me as I want to put the mic near the stage to avoid the room echo.

I haven’t tried it yet, but I think it will work great. For my Zoom meetings I connect the AT-2035 mic to an Art MP Studio Tube preamp with phantom power. The Audio Technica AT-2035 mic requires phantom power to operate as it is a condenser microphone.

I noticed that the AT-2035 is not as sensitive as some other mic’s I have used. I need to turn up the preamp quite a bit to get the level I want. But that isn’t a big issue. Plus I can talk real close to the mic for a great proximity effect without distortion.

The mic is well made and looks like it will work for many years. The shock mount is great. It has large rubber bands to isolate the mic from the stand. The mic is very snug in the shock mount. It takes a little work to get it fully in place.

The AT-2035 model has a base roll off switch and a -10dB switch on the back. There are slots in the shock mount for easy access to the switches. I’m pleased with my purchase. The PigHog mic cable that came with this purchase is great.

It is a heavy duty cable, but flexible and easy to coil. I’m pleased with my purchase.

I own one of these already, and wanted to add more reinforcement of these microphones to my collection. Using the microphone I already own as a Internet Radio DJ microphone, adding on a desktop boom stand, and a professional dual-mesh pop filter.

I purchased two additional AT2035 microphones to allow guests on the radio programme. The unit comes with a compact, well designed shock mount, and a convenient carry pouch. The shock mount attaches easily with some force, but the pouch is useless if you want to keep the shock mount attached to the microphone and travel with it.

The pouch would better be useful if it were a protective satchel or bag. It feels like the included protective pouch was designed to just protect the microphone, before the inclusion of the shock mount.

In either case, the microphone and shock mount are a good combination, and has nice warm sound. Using it mostly for vocal speech DJ hosting work, can’t say much for the singing. My original AT2035 microphone has been in service, doing weekly radio programmes for more than a couple of years now, without fail.

So the unit is well designed, robust, and even though I marked “Heavy/Bulky” under “Cons”, it is ACTUALLY a PRO. This microphone is not intended to be hand-held, and should always be mounted on a boom, or microphone stand, along with some form of shock mount, and therefor, the heaviness and bulkiness of the unit is a POSITIVE thing.

This quality not only adds to the sturdiness of the unit, but its stability in its use. Metal construction on the outside, and thick metal wire mesh to protect the internal cardioid capsule, the microphone can not be picked up without feeling that the unit is built with some degree of durability.

This quality comes across as a sense of ruggedness for the touring or concert performance arena.

Post 2-year review. Does a great job and works well for video prod, voice narration and team meetings/calls. The only fault is that the ring mount is very poor quality and Rode know this. If you do a google search, you can find a number of people saying their NT USB ring mount (that holds the pop filter and mic) snapped/broke and this happened to me also.

I’ve had to order spare part from a bloke on ebay Australia otherwise there is just nothing around or distributors that sell parts for these locally. Rode did refer their NZ warranty repairer but after multiple attempts they either don’t exist, have no physical shop and have no info on their website.

Great mic overall though other than this.

This mic is amazing! I wanted something simple, easy but with great quality (compared to having been using the computer mic), to produce good quality music. This mic exceeded my expectations, and they were reasonably high! So happy with the quality, knobs and buttons are smooth etc.

The pop filter is also a very useful item to have. I am 15, worked during the holidays (to earn the dosh) and have wanted to start recording my music, after doing some research into good quality mics, that are also budget friendly – this came out as one of the best options and I 100% agree!! The set up is unbelievably easy, I plug it straight into GarageBand on an iMac, and it connects and starts straight away! The sound is crisp, and for once I like the sound of my own voice and instruments recorded! The mic also arrived very quickly, and was in great condition! (Thank you DJ City!) Highly recommend!!.

OK, I’ve been using these for years now and not a single one has gone bad. I play at least 5 shows a week, often more, and these have all been dropped multiple times. They are as tough as anything on the market.

They sound better than anything in the SM58 price range also – shimmering highs without being brash, good mids and bass also. These are my favorite mics now – I own probably everything on the market, Senheiser, Beyer, Shure, AKG, Neuman etc.

For the price, these are by far the best. You do need to be aware that hypercardoid pattern mics have a node at 180 so you need to remember that when placing monitors. Our bass player has a horrible memory and I have to tell him daily not to point the mic directly 180 degrees from the monitor, but he does the same thing the very next show – they will feedback of course when you point them directly at a speaker or exactly the opposite, which seems strange when you don’t understand the physics – it isn’t the fault of this mic anymore than any hypercardoid pattern mic.

When used properly, this has no feedback problem and very little off-axis sound gets in. It is definitely the richest sounding mic anywhere near the SM58 price point. Works well as either vocal or instrument mic.

Very tinny, high-pitched sound comes when you sing especially high notes or loud whispers. The mic makes your voice very loud which is great but when you sing high there’s a tinny, high-pitched sound that comes with it.

It’s very annoying. I wouldn’t recommend. It also doesn’t mute breaths and you can hear when your lips smack and stuff like that. This mic is probably best for podcasting or ASMR. And lastly, it made me dizzy for like 3-5 seconds at a time as I kept using it.

It’s something to do with the sound but I’ve never felt dizzy after using a microphone.

I got this for better audio on video/Zoom/Meet/Skype calls, and I’m happy with my purchase. It’s a very noticeable upgrade when I listen through a decent pair of headphones: clearer and no echo. Through terrible laptop speakers, it’s better, but not worth the hassle.

Setup was easy: plug in and go. The headphone jack is bad; don’t plan on using it. I couldn’t adjust the volume well, so it was too loud, and the signal quality was noticeably poorer than my laptop’s headphone jack: I could hear static while not moving or making noise.

I had to manually disable the output in volume settings so that I could use the laptop speakers. You need to get a separate stand. The included one is so promising: with my laptop on a few books to make the camera the right height, the microphone on stand was just the right height to sit near my mouth but still be out of frame.

Unfortunately, the included stand build is terrible. I broke off part of it while trying to adjust the mic clip, and I wasn’t using that much pressure. If you get this, be extremely delicate putting it together and never expect to remove the mic clip without breaking it.

I might have fared better if I had gripped the neck with a pair of pliers while adjusting the mic clip. I got a Shure windscreen and it fixed any plosive problems. The name-brand one that was a few dollars more expensive than the generic one did a noticeably better job.

I got this mic to replace a cheaper one i got from amazon for streaming on twitch. The audio quality is stellar, and i would even argue that its on par with the higher end stuff from rhode and sure, except its much cheaper AND its made by what is essentially a gaming company.

With just a noise gate and a noise supression filter through OBS it already sounds like a professional grade mic. The physical aspects of it leave a few things to be desired as it is quite large. There is a more important problem though, the USB C port is on the back which creates the need for a steep bend in the cable right at the connector.

So far i havent had any problems and the cable it comes with is pretty sturdy so its not a deal breaker, but i feel like it could have definitely been designed better. Overall the lighting, sound quality and construction make this a very solid choice.

One of the problems of working from home is finding the right audio setup for conference calls. I’ve tried over a dozen headsets as well as built—in microphones in cameras, laptops, and a USB speakerphone, but of them was able to capture my (admittedly deep) voice.

That one is a goofy looking Bluetooth headset that loses clarity whenever the household microwave oven is used. Enter the Snowball iCE. It easily picks up my voice and delivers a natural sound. Using the Snowball as a USB microphone frees me to use whatever headset I want, as I don’t have to worry about audio quality or 2.

4gHz interference. The only downside is that it requires a custom tripod (included), and the legs fold down, not up for easy carrying. The hinges on the tripod feel a bit cheap, but so far I’ve not had any issues with them and a online search shows no long term complaints.

If you’re looking for a way to capture your voice without emptying your wallet, this is a great option,.

The microphone on the only computer I had with a webcam wasn’t working, and I needed it for a job interview the next day. So there was no time to order anything in. Compared to other options at other local stores, this one had the advantages of being one of the least expensive while looking like my kids probably wouldn’t be able to easily break it, and also wouldn’t require an adapter.

From the pictures online, I imagined the round part was around the size of a golf ball. So at Target I looked on the shelves for something about that size hanging from a hook. Not finding it, I asked for help, and the clerk pulled out this box from inside a locked glass cabinet on the bottom shelf.

The box was almost big enough for a loaf of bread. I was startled at the large size but with no better options I bought it. Opening it at home, I was again surprised at the large size. What I had gone to the store imagining would be about the size of a golf ball was in fact about the size of a grapefruit! But it worked great, and worked on the first try.

I tested it and found that the sound on the recieving end on the other side was very good. I had no problem with it at all. Highly recommended! If you have room for it that is!.

Meh and letdown would be the words to describe this. First of all they need to remove the $20 Ubisoft part of the item description. The codes these contain are all from 2020/2021 and well expired. But we don’t buy microphones for whatever dollar off codes they contain – this was meant to be used in place of a full-on gaming headset – hoping the mic quality would be better than a my laptops mic array, without looking like a knob on conference calls while working from home with a cumbersome gaming headset on.

Mission accomplished? Nope. Well. You at least look normal speaking – the downside here is this mic picks up EVERYTHING. Like. Everything. Typing? Kids? Someone in the house on the other side of the same floor flushing a toilet? Yep, check everything.

To the point co-workers asked how I even got any work done. I can’t have that while working. And being a Blue product, I expected some customization in voice and some sort of background canceling – but the software is limited to showing you your iCE mic and controlling only the gain.

And even then unless I was on top of the thing, it wasn’t picking up my voice very well – but had no problem with everything else leaking through in my house. Disappointing. Back to the store this went.

I could only see low end streamers using this in a sound proof room. Otherwise I’d highly recommend skipping.

I bought Red Onyx color Nano because it is the lowest priced among the Nano siblings. This Red Onyx color Nano is odd among the Nano siblings, because it is smaller than Shadow Grey, Vivid Blue and Black out Nanos.

There is no Volume Gain control in Nano. One needs to download and use Logitech G HUB (though the user manual says Blue Sherpa software and Blue Sherpa software download leads to Logitech G HUB) for Volume Gain Control.

I am very impressed with Logitech G HUB software. The Nano product requires one to activate Blue Voice so that the various preset professional broadcaster settings can be used. One can also mimic in various ‘funny’ voices such as demon, robot, dreamer, etc using the effects in Blue Voice.

One can also use nVIDIA broadcast settings as alternate to Logitech’s Blue Voice pre- Pro settings. I used both and found both are excellent. For those singing or playing music, I feel that NVIDIA broadcast settings are better.

There are also samplers such as Air Raid, Eastern Sounds, Rain sounds, etc. The Logitech G HUB software is excellent. Nano Product is well constructed. This Nano product is good for traveling vloggers, travel broadcasters and traveling consultants, since it is smaller and lighter than Blue Yeti X and Blue Yeti Classic.

I have used the Nano for Laptop Whatsapp calls, G-chat calls, WebEx & Zoom calls, etc and every one advised me that my voice is extremely clear as if I am sitting next to them and talking to them. However I chose to give 4.

5 stars only for the following reasons: (1) This Nano product is not plug and play unlike Blue Yeti Classic and it requires software. Without software, the voice quality is feeble. Many Office laptops do not allow installing Logitech G HUB software and it may be difficult to use in Office laptop.

(2) There is no manual volume Gain control, which is a big disadvantage. (3) The custom condensers are smaller (12 CM ) (4) The colors (or painting) can be better quality and more brighter and shinier.