The right microphone depends entirely on what you’re doing with it. Eight common situations, eight short pages telling you what to buy and what to skip.
Some of the questions on this site come from the brand or the type. But sometimes the right place to start is “what am I actually trying to record?” Each of the pages below picks out the mics that work best for one specific job.
Recording a podcast at a desk. The Shure SM7B and MV7+, the Rode PodMic, and the Samson Q2U are the names that come up.
Read the picks →Live streaming on Twitch or YouTube. The Blue Yeti, Shure MV7+, and HyperX QuadCast S dominate.
Read the picks →Vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar amps, drums. Where condensers, ribbons, and dynamics each have their place.
Read the picks →Audiobook narration, commercials, e-learning. The Sennheiser MKH 416 and the Neumann TLM 103 are the genre standards.
Read the picks →Stage vocals and instruments. The Shure SM58, Beta 58A, Sennheiser e935, and on-stage wireless systems.
Read the picks →Shotgun mics, lavaliers, on-camera mics. Sennheiser MKH 416, Rode NTG, DPA 4060, Rode Wireless GO.
Read the picks →Run-and-gun, sit-down, and remote. Handheld dynamics, lavaliers, and small portable recorders.
Read the picks →Working from home. The simplest path from voice to a virtual meeting that doesn’t embarrass you.
Read the picks →