Best USB Microphone for Podcasting

All of our top picks are good choices for podcasting. Condenser microphones (as opposed to dynamic) are better for capturing spoken voices, and they all have good frequency responses, sample rates, and bit depth to create professional-quality audio.

USB connectivity makes capturing, storing, editing, and sharing your audio easier.

There are a huge number of software packages for sound editing and mixing, and even free tools like Audacity do an excellent job of creating and exporting high-quality audio.

Most new computers and devices use USB Type C connectors, which are typically backward-compatible with earlier USB types.

Using a microphone with cables that are the same USB type as your device is preferred, when possible – there is less possibility of audio “noise” from cables, connectors, and adapters, and newer USB types are faster and more reliable.

Some of the other factors to consider when buying a USB microphone for your podcast are:

Your Recording Environment

Will you be at home when you record? Are there other people or sources of noise in the house? Do you have a loud refrigerator, or a neighbor who does lawn work, or airplanes overhead?

If you can’t control sources of external noise and create an isolated environment, you want a microphone with a tighter pickup pattern (unidirectional or super-cardioid), and you may want to consider a microphone with noise-isolating capabilities.

How Many People Will You Be Recording?

If your podcast has a co-host, frequent guests or interviews, or is a group activity, you will either need individual microphones for every speaker, or a microphone with a pickup pattern that will capture all the voices.

Bidirectional or figure 8 pickup patterns are designed for two speakers with the microphone between them, while omnidirectional microphones record the sound from a full 360 degrees.

How Much Audio Post-Production Do You Plan on Doing?

Some of our top USB microphones have on-mic gain controls and simple channel mixing, so you can minimize mixing and editing after recording.

If you will be doing more sophisticated sound design, however, you may want to avoid that and keep your signals clean for processing all at once.

What Kind of Accessories Will You Need?

Depending on your speech patterns, your microphone, and your environment, you may want a wind screen and/or a pop filter to reduce noises while recording.

You may want a microphone stand or boom arm to position the mic in a way that is comfortable for long recording sessions.

You may want a shock mount, that minimizes vibrations to the microphone, particularly if you will be touching the microphone, or there will be tapping, impacts, or vibrations on the floor, tabletop, or other surface where you have mounted the microphone.

How will you monitor your audio? If you don’t have high-quality headphones, you need high-quality headphones, and should listen to signal coming directly from the microphone while recording.

If you plug your headphones into your computer, there is likely to be a small delay as your sound card processes the audio, and that can be distracting.

Good headphones will also help you appreciate the quality of the sound of your microphone, rather than the sound of your computer speakers.

Recording and mixing with good headphones helps you create better, higher quality sound, that your listeners will appreciate.