From the giants that sell more than a billion dollars a year to the boutique builders who hand-wire vintage tube mics in small workshops — every name worth knowing, with a plain-English page on each one. Click any company to read more.
The dominant name in vocal mics and wireless systems. SM58, SM7B, Beta series. Founded 1925 in Chicago.
2Broadcast, live, and pro audio. MD 421, MKH shotguns, Evolution wireless. Sold consumer division to Sonova in 2021.
3Mics are a small slice of a huge company. Strong in broadcast, lavaliers (ECM series), and pro wireless.
4Legendary studio mics — C414, C12, D112. Owned by Harman, which Samsung bought for $8B in 2017.
Huge range, budget to pro. AT2020, AT4040, AT4050, broadcast mics. The best value-per-dollar maker out there.
6Mostly speakers and headphones, but builds headset and conferencing mics under the Bose Work and Aviation lines.
7Owns Steinberg, NEXO, and other pro audio brands. Mics are a smaller part of their music and audio business.
The content-creator era’s favorite. PodMic, NT1, Wireless GO. Now owns Mackie and SoundField.
9Yeti, Snowball, Bluebird. The brand that put a USB mic on every streamer’s desk.
10The premium studio standard. U87, U47, TLM 103. The mic name engineers say with reverence.
11Broadcast headsets and the legendary M88. Also makes the DT 770 / DT 990 studio headphones.
The RE20 — the broadcast classic Howard Stern made famous. Also strong in live PA and instrument mics.
13Premium lavaliers and instrument mics. The lapel mic on Broadway, in opera houses, and in serious classical recording.
14A young brand by mic-industry standards (founded 2009). The LCT 440 Pure punches well above its price.
15British design with industrial-looking grilles and bright sound. Origin, Spirit, Stealth.
16Famous for the Reflexion Filter (the foam shield behind a vocalist) and for value condensers like the X1 series.
17High-end measurement-grade condensers. The SR314 and SR40V are favorites of broadcast voice purists.
18Reissued versions of the legendary U47, ELA M 251, and C12. Tube studio mics costing as much as a used car.
19Modern ribbon mics. The R-121 brought ribbons back into style for guitar amps and brass.
20The 4038 ribbon — the BBC’s broadcast standard since the 1950s. Hand-built in small batches.
21The CMC modular system: a body and interchangeable capsules. The orchestral and film-set standard.
Bob Heil’s broadcast and ham-radio favorites. The PR 40 is a budget alternative to the RE20.
Recreations of vintage classics at fraction-of-vintage prices. WA-87, WA-47, WA-251.
Affordable USB and live mics. The Q2U is a popular dual USB/XLR podcast starter.
The pocket-sized mic everyone’s talking about. USB-C, built-in noise reduction, 8 GB recorder, designer colors.