Most of the higher-quality USB mics are very big (see M-Audio Uber Mic, Blue Yeti, Samson G-Track Pro). The mic comes with a USB Type B cable which is fine for general use, but if you want to use this with an iPad (which Røde advertises), you have to go buy a Lightning to USB Type B cable. What you get in the box is a mountable pop shield for blocking plosives (an unwanted air popping sound from letters like P and B), a stand, and a cable. Voice recordings are rich and full, with a wide signal-to-noise ratio (the amount of background noise in a recording in comparison to your recorded voice), and require little equalizing. Testing out 12 USB mics plugged into my MacBook Pro in a quiet environment (Vox Media’s podcast studio), the clear winner for bestsounding mic was the Røde NT-USB. The best option for most podcasters: Røde NT-USB So before media companies gentrify the podcast industry, here are some microphones that can help you start making your show sound its best on a budget. With the rise of podcast companies and the booming on-demand audio industry, there are independent creators left behind who cannot afford a multitude of equipment, space, and time to produce an audio show. Podcasting at its heart is independent and accessible to everyone for both the creator and the listener. The microphone should be user-friendly, accessible, and provide excellent sound quality.

The qualifications for this list are specific to a podcaster starting out or upgrading to using a higher-quality microphone. So we’ve tested out the top USB microphones on the market today to help you choose your next podcast or streaming investment. Now that the market is full of these types of microphones, it can be difficult to understand what the best option is for your own setup. When Apple started to sell Blue’s Snowball microphone in their stores in 2005, it opened doors for independent creators to make their home recordings sound significantly better than what the consumer market had offered previously, by just plugging a microphone right into the USB port on their computer.

But for a hobbyist or someone starting out in the field, there are now more options than ever to get your show up and running for a fairly low price. You can’t just plug any microphone into your computer and start recording. For professional use, the answer is complicated. As the resident audio engineer at The Verge, I am occasionally asked what microphone one should get if they wanted to start a podcast.

Best buy music recording software