The 6 Best Microphones for Streaming

No matter what you’re streaming, a quality microphone makes a world of difference. While mics on phones, laptops, and webcams have improved over time, they are still miles behind the quality found in even the most basic stand-alone mic. With the rise of livestreaming and working from home, the demand for clear, quality sound is stronger than ever. Luckily, these top rated mics deliver on sound, usability, and design.

What to Look For

If you’re used to using your phone, laptop, or webcam for recording audio, basically any stand-alone mic is going to sound leagues better. But amongst mics, the competition is fierce, and the offerings are varied. The main thing to consider before searching for a great mic is what you’ll be using it for. Depending on your needs, the best mic for you will vary drastically.

Terms to Look Out For

Buying a microphone, even a simple one, can quickly turn into a blur of technical terms involving waveforms, frequency response, and concepts usually relegated to audio production. While certainly intimidating, there are only a few basic concepts beginners need to know before deciding to buy. Here’s a summary of a few of those terms to know.

Condenser Microphone: One of the two most common microphone types. Condenser microphones are generally sensitive, accurate mics that are great for capturing normal speech.

Dynamic Microphones: One of the two most common microphone types. Dynamic mics are great for music, capturing loud sounds like instruments, amps, and live performances with ease and clarity.

Polar Pattern: Indicates which direction audio will be picked up by your microphone.

Cardioid: The most common polar pattern. Captures audio in a cone-shape directly in front of the microphone. Perfect for anything involving one person speaking.

Bidirectional: Captures audio directly in front of and directly behind the microphone. Great for across-the-table interviews.

Omnidirectional: Captures audio 360 degrees around the microphone. Great for group conversations.

Stereo: Captures audio in front of the microphone, in dual-channel, aka stereo, format. Great for recording vocal harmonies or autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR) speech.

Frequency Response: The range of sounds a microphone is able to pick up. Generally speaking, the human ear can hear frequencies between 20 Hz and 20 kHz, so most mics encompass at least this range.

How We Selected

We strive to rigorously test every product we recommend. For those products we can’t test ourselves, we perform intensive research, reviewing content from expert sources like PC Gamer, Eurogamer, IGN, Tom’s Guide, Soundguys, and others, as well as thousands of consumer reviews from online storefronts on Amazon, Best Buy, and Walmart. As for the products themselves, we evaluated them on sound quality, features, design, accessibility, and cost.