Budget Microphones

[Đorđe]

What are some of the best microphones for the money?

[Aytex]

2020 and SM58's are pretty n i c e, I use a MXL 990 its like $80 so pretty c h e e p

 

cad u37 and snowball are decent.

Cheapest is the neewer combo on amazon

[AAJoe]

I'm hella bias on this subject (See signature), but I don't know that this is an easy question to answer.

 

What's "Best" in this scenario and what is "the value of a dollar" to you? Is a 50 dollar difference not a big deal? A 20 dollar difference? a 1000 dollar difference? Also are we talking 3.5mm, USB, or XLR mics? Are we comparing the portability of a Lav mic or, dare I say, a ModMic, to the quality of a desktop mic with a shock mount? Are we including the shock mount, pop filters, and other add-ons you may need as part of the quality question? What about mixers and amps?

 

Not saying this to be rude, so please don't take it that way, I am saying this is not quite the right question to ask. The right question is "What is the best mic for <insert setup> between <insert price range>.

 

EG: What is the best mic for USB or 3.5mm desktop recording without the need for mounts or extra hardware between 50 and 150 USD. (Which is probably the Yeti)

 

Vs. What is the best mic for travel under 100 USD? ... where I would say our ModMic is . (I couldn't resist)

[Đorđe]

20 dollars difference does not matter to me if it's a slight quality difference, because I'm an audiophile, and we're talking about USB and 3.5mm microphones, and let us say every single one of them is coming with a pop filter, even if it isn't, and the price range is $40-$200.

[NoobCase]

On 18/2/2017 at 5:11 PM, Đorđe said:

20 dollars difference does not matter to me if it's a slight quality difference, because I'm an audiophile, and we're talking about USB and 3.5mm microphones, and let us say every single one of them is coming with a pop filter, even if it isn't, and the price range is $40-$200.

200 USD... Think the Rode NT-USB takes the title there.  Comes with popfilter and stand. 

 

If you are looking for a pure streaming podcast mic something like the Rode Podcaster USB might be a more solid choice as it picks up less background noise than the NT-USB

[AAJoe]

Haha I forgot I replied to this thread when I clicked on it and was like "Boy that Antlion guy knows his... wait a minute..."

 

Rode has some good options, like @NoobCase said. They're pretty popular. You gave a fairly wide range, so some other options I'd look into is the AT2020, which runs about $128 and the Blue Yeti as I stated, which runs about the same price or the Blue Yeti Pro, which will put you back at the 200 dollar mark.

 

If quality is your game and USB is your input, I think those 5 options (NT, Podcaster, Yeti, Yeti Pro, and AT2020) will give you good options to research and listen to sound samples.

 

I'll be interested to hear what you pick and why though!