We live in the era of home recordings where you can easily set a small studio and create multimedia content of great quality with no need to spend a fortune like you were a music studio label. USB Microphones are one of the greatest adds for the recording of sounds, voice and music in general on a budget standard, and here are out tips for you to find the best USB microphones, for several different purposes: voice recording, VoIP chat and ambient recording are some of the key possibilities of register with the use of USB mics, so take a look on our list with 5 of the best usb microphone models and also check our guide on what you need to know to get the ideal product for your needs.
Contents
Best Usb Microphones
Blue Yeti USB Microphone
- Tri-capsule array - 3 condesner capsules can record almost any situation
- Multiple pattern selection - cardioid, bidirectional, omnidirectional & stereo
- Gain control, mute button, zero-latency headphone output
- Perfect for vocals, musical instruments, podcasting, voiceovers, interviews, field recordings, conference calls
- Compatible with Windows 10, Windows 8 (including 8.1), Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP (Home and Professional), and Mac OS X (10.4.11 or higher), and requires a minimum of 64 MB of RAM(remove existing and upload)
Yeti is one of the flagships of Blue Microphones – do not mistake name with color of product. The brand has become popular in the ’00s with their models of computer oriented mics, more recently with their USB powerful devices. This Yeti compares to many pro studio mics, as it is developed with three different condensers, so you can capture really a handful of sounds, ideal for home studios that have some acoustic isolation. As it is an USB microphone, it is much more affordable but can work with some of the best studio boards with no problem. This model also includes controls built-in with the microphone.
Features:
- 3 condenser capsules
- Includes multiple pattern selection (cardioid, omnidirectional, bidirectional and stereo)
- Includes controls for gain and mute
- Zero latency output
Benefits:
- Compatible with Mac OS X 10.4.11 (and higher) as well as Windows XP and all later releases. Plug and play.
- Its multi condenser build allows you to record several different scenarios with rich details.
- Available on six different colors
Audio-Technica ATR2500
- Side address condenser microphone with USB output for easy connection to your computer
- Ideal for podcasting, home studio recording, field recording, and voice over use
- Built in headphone jack allows you to directly monitor your microphone output without audible delay
- Adjust headphone volume with easy to use controls on the front of the microphone
- High quality AD convertor with 16 bit, 44.1/48 kiloHertz sampling rate
This model is a little bit less potent than our previous Blue, as it has less condensers, only the lateral ones, so there is less potency of pick-up which is good depending on the use of the mic, ideal for home recordings where you do not have an appropriate structure even though you don’t want to lose quality on the recordings of sounds like vocals. This USB microphone also includes some controls built-in, as well as a headphone jacket.
Features:
- Mic with side-address condenser build
- Cardioid polar pattern
- Includes built-in volume controls in the mic
- Zero latency
Benefits:
- Better suited for field recording, voiceover and podcastings as well as home recordings.
- Compatible with Mac OS and Windows
- Includes a headphone jack built-in so you can connect it directly to the mic and save the bother of wiring cables around the room.
CAD U37 Studio Microphone
- Large condenser microphone element for warm, rich recordings
- Cardioid pick-up pattern minimizes background noise and isolates the main sound source
- Smooth, extended frequency response is excellent for singing, speech and instruments
- It has 10dB overload-protection switch minimizes distortion from loud sound sources
- Bass-reduction switch reduces room noise
The CAD’s U37 is developed especially for vocals / voiceover capture, as it is designed for high and mid ranges. This kind of mic is great to home recordings as it has a Bass switch that will filter deep low frequencies, something that is ideal to filter a lot of noises from the ambient. Additionally, this USB microphone has an overload protection of 10 dB to filter noises nearby the mic. As a plus, you can get in on several different colors.
Features:
- Large condenser build USB mic
- Cardioid pick-up
- Bass reduction switch
- Overload-protection of 10dB
Benefits:
- Extended frequency condenser that works great for the recording of vocals
- With the bass-reduction switch you can filter deep bass sounds and avoid capturing noise.
- Plug and play function for Windows and Macintosh systems.
- Available on several different colors
Blue Snowball iCE
- Custom Condenser Capsule: Powered By Blue’S Custom Condenser Capsule, Snowball Ice Microphone Delivers Crystal-Clear Audio Quality That’S Light-Years Ahead Of Your Built-In Computer Microphone
- Cardioid Pickup Pattern: Captures Your Voice With Clear, Focused Sound For Streaming, Podcasting, Broadcasting, Skype Calls And Zoom Meetings
- Stylish Retro Design: Record Or Stream In Style With A Classic Recording Equipment Design That Looks Great On Your Desktop And On Camera
- Adjustable Desktop Stand: Allows You To Position The Condenser Microphone In Relation To The Sound Source, Improving Sound Quality And Saving Space On Your Desktop For The Optimal Broadcast Setup
- Skype and Discord certified: Whether conducting interviews over Skype, streaming live gameplay on Twitch, or communicating across the globe, you’ll be heard loud and clear on leading VOIP platforms
The second model developed by Blue on our list is strictly designed for use with computers. It is a stylish USB mic with a desktop stand that works great for online conversations, you won’t get any kind of noise or distortion speaking to your friends on Skype, FaceTime and similar VoIP softwares. The Snowball also comes with the plug and play function so there is no additional software you should download to make it work properly in your computer.
Features:
- Custom condenser capsule
- Cardioid pick up build
- Plug and Play on Windows and Mac
- Includes desktop stand
Benefits:
- Ideal for online conversation through Skype and other platforms
- Works good to recording vocals as it includes a built-in technology to clean the sound from noise and white noise.
- Available on black or white
Samson Go Mic
- Portable USB condenser microphone
- Plug and Play Mac and PC compatible, no drivers required
- Custom compact design that clips to a laptop or sits on a desk
- Perfect for recording music, podcasting and field recording
- Ideal for voice recognition software, iChat, VoIP and web casting
The last item of your list is also a computer-oriented USB microphone. The Samson Go Mic is developed with the plug and play functionality too, but different from the previous model, you can handle it due to its fancy vintage design. When you are tired of holding it, just place it onto the desktop holder. This model is also developed to work well with voice software and voice recognition.
Features:
- Custom condenser mic
- Cardioid Plug and play compatible with most current OS (both Windows and Mac)
- Includes a desktop stand
Benefits:
- Another model ideal for online conversations, includes technology to filter noises from the ambient.
- Works really great also with software that work with voice recognition like iChat and VoIP related software.
What is the difference between standard mics and USB microphones?
Basically, a USB microphone will work directly with your home computer, it doesn’t need a complex recording board to mediate the recording and the register, not to mention the fact many models also offer some exclusive features that no standards mics do, like controls built-in for you to control the output like volume and noise filtering. However, this kind of microphone surely has its limitations compared to normal ones. While the latter is in general design to offer the best possibilities of sound registering, USB microphones offer a quite decent quality, being possible to record professional music with no worries but for the HQ aficionados, some details are lost with this kind of registering, starting by the fact a USB port doesn’t offer great latency of data. To compensate this kind of low quality is the reason why USB mics come with many built-in functionalities, especially when it comes to noise reduction, while standard mics are so sensible you really require an hermetically isolated studio to avoid the register of any interference.
How do I find the best One?
That will always depend on what you are looking for. If you just need a decent mic for your VoIP chats, you can stick to quite simple models of our list that will register vocals with high quality and filter interferences like white noise or deep frequencies (from breathing for example). Is essential that USB microphones come with noise reduction functionality, whether it is built-in and not manageable or optionally activated, like the CAD U37 model that has the Bass switch function. The number of condensers here is also another essential feature, the more condensers the more sensible the microphone is. But, once again, if you want to chat on long distance calls via Skype with your friends you won’t need one hyper sensible mic like the Blue Yeti, as it might register the noise of the cooler of your computer, that neighbor of yours coming home late, the dog barking one block down the street and perhaps, even the growl of your stomach if you get hungry during the conversation.
What our Reviews Have to Say?
Sensibility on registering sounds here talks when the matter is the cost. You can see a difference of almost 65% on the prices between the most sensible model (Yeti) and the most simple ones (Blue Snowball or Samson’s Go). That’s quite reasonable and understandable, so is a matter of investment. Either way, you are not required to spend too much on fine USB micro