The microphone is the only piece of gear your listeners hear directly. Everything downstream — the mixer, the processing, the encoder — can only work with what the mic hands it. Spend carefully here and a modest studio sounds professional. Get it wrong and no plugin will save you.
We first published this list in 2020. The market has changed enough since then that a light edit would have been dishonest, so this is a rewrite. The biggest shift: microphones that carry USB and XLR in the same body are now genuinely good, which means a beginner no longer has to buy twice.
Prices are approximate US street prices as of August 2026. They move, so treat them as a guide.
How we ranked these
Three things decided the order. Room tolerance came first — most people record in an untreated spare room, and a microphone that ignores the room is worth more than one with a prettier frequency response. Gain behaviour came second, because a mic that needs a $100 booster to work with an ordinary interface is not really the price on the box. Longevity came third: will you still be happy with this in three years, or will you replace it?
What did not count: brand loyalty, and whether a mic looks good on camera.
The short answer
| # | Microphone | Type | ~Price | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shure MV7+ | Dynamic, USB + XLR | $279 | Almost everyone |
| 2 | Rode PodMic USB | Dynamic, USB + XLR | $200 | Solo hosts |
| 3 | Shure SM7B / SM7dB | Dynamic, XLR | $400 / $500 | Permanent studios |
| 4 | Electro-Voice RE20 | Dynamic, XLR | $450 | Presenters who move |
| 5 | Rode PodMic | Dynamic, XLR | $99 | Multi-host desks |
| 6 | Heil PR40 | Dynamic, XLR | $379 | Deep voices |
| 7 | Samson Q2U | Dynamic, USB + XLR | $70 | Starting from zero |
| 8 | Audio-Technica AT2040 | Dynamic, XLR | $99 | Untreated rooms on a budget |
| 9 | Audio-Technica AT2020 | Condenser, XLR | $99 | Quiet, treated rooms |
| 10 | Neumann BCM 705 | Dynamic, XLR | $700 | Professional on-air studios |
1. Shure MV7+ — the one to buy if you only read this far
Around $279 · Dynamic · Cardioid · USB and XLR
The MV7+ solves the problem that used to force people into two purchases. Plug it into a laptop over USB today; move it to an interface when your setup grows, without buying another microphone. The capsule is dynamic, so it forgives an untreated room, and Shure’s onboard processing handles the levels well enough that a beginner does not have to learn compression on day one.
It is not the most characterful microphone here. The SM7B has more weight, the RE20 more authority. But the MV7+ is the one we would put in front of someone starting a weekly show and expect to hear no complaints two years later.
2. Rode PodMic USB — the value pick
Around $200 · Dynamic · Cardioid · USB and XLR
Same idea as the MV7+ for about $80 less, with a built-in pop filter and a warmer, slightly heavier low end that suits speech. If your voice is on the thin side, this flatters it. If you already have plenty of chest in your voice, it can tip into muddy — back off the mic a few centimetres.
Choose it over the MV7+ if budget is the deciding factor. Choose the MV7+ if you want the more neutral starting point.
3. Shure SM7B and SM7dB — the studio standard
Around $400 (SM7B) or $500 (SM7dB) · Dynamic · Cardioid · XLR
The SM7B rejects room noise beautifully, flatters almost every voice, and has switchable bass rolloff and presence boost on the back. It is built like it expects to outlive you.
Here is what the product photos never mention: it is very quiet. You need roughly 60 dB of clean gain. Plenty of people buy one, plug it into an entry-level interface, hear thin hissy audio and assume they got a faulty unit. They didn’t — they need a better preamp or an inline booster, which is another $100 on top.
Which is exactly why the SM7dB exists: the same microphone with an active preamp inside. At around $500 it is the cheaper option once you count the booster you would otherwise buy. If you are choosing today and your interface is modest, take the dB.
4. Electro-Voice RE20 — for presenters who will not sit still
Around $450 · Dynamic · Cardioid · XLR
The RE20’s Variable-D design all but eliminates proximity effect. Lean back to read a screen, turn to a co-host, sit up straight again — the tone barely shifts. For live shows with guests who cannot be trusted to hold position, that is worth a great deal, and it is why the mic has been a fixture in American talk radio for decades.
It is heavy. Pair it with a boom arm rated for the weight, or it will droop over the course of a show.
5. Rode PodMic — the best cheap dynamic
Around $99 · Dynamic · Cardioid · XLR
The XLR-only original, and still the answer when you need to put three or four microphones on one desk without the bill getting silly. Internal pop filter, solid metal body, a voicing clearly aimed at speech rather than music.
It needs a decent preamp — not SM7B levels of gain, but more than the cheapest interfaces provide comfortably. Budget for that.
6. Heil PR40 — for voices with weight
Around $379 · Dynamic · Cardioid · XLR
A large-diaphragm dynamic with unusually good rear rejection and an extended low end. On a naturally deep voice it sounds expensive in a way that is hard to describe and easy to hear. On a lighter voice it can be too much of a good thing.
Try before you commit if you can. This is the most voice-dependent recommendation on the list.
7. Samson Q2U — the cheapest mic we would still call good
Around $70 · Dynamic · Cardioid · USB and XLR
Around seventy dollars, and it comes with a cable, a stand and a windscreen. It is dynamic, so it ignores most of the room. It has both connections, so it survives your first upgrade.
No, it does not sound like a $400 microphone. But nobody has ever stopped listening to a show because the host used a Q2U, and plenty of people have talked themselves out of ever starting because they thought they needed to spend more.
8. Audio-Technica AT2040 — the untreated-room budget answer
Around $99 · Dynamic · Hypercardioid · XLR
The sensible alternative to the AT2020 below. Same money, dynamic instead of condenser, hypercardioid pattern with an internal shockmount and pop filter. If your recording space is a bedroom with hard walls and you cannot fix that, this is the better buy of the two by a clear margin.
9. Audio-Technica AT2020 — only if your room is quiet
Around $99 · Condenser · Cardioid · XLR
The default beginner recommendation for over a decade, and it earned that. More detail than any dynamic at this price, well built, simple.
The condition attached is real though: it is a condenser, and it will faithfully reproduce your fridge, your neighbour’s dog and the reflections off your bare walls. In a treated corner it is excellent. In an ordinary room the AT2040 will make you happier. Buy the shockmount separately — desk thumps travel straight up a rigid mount.
10. Neumann BCM 705 — the end of the road
Around $700 · Dynamic · Hypercardioid · XLR
A broadcast dynamic from a company better known for condensers costing several times as much. Excellent off-axis rejection, an integrated elastic suspension, and a top end that stays open in a way most dynamics do not manage.
This is a purchase for a permanent on-air studio, not a first microphone. If you are asking whether you need it, you don’t.
What about the older favourites?
Three microphones from the previous version of this list did not make the top ten, and it is worth saying why rather than quietly dropping them.
The Behringer B-1 is still a lot of condenser for around $100 and it still comes with a shockmount and a case. But it is a condenser, and after several years of reading how people actually set up their studios we no longer think an untreated-room beginner should be pointed at one. The AT2040 does the same job with far fewer ways to go wrong.
The Rode Broadcaster is a fine microphone with a built-in pop filter and an on-air LED, but at roughly $420 it is a condenser sitting in the same price band as the SM7dB and the RE20. Those are safer choices for most rooms.
The Behringer XM8500 remains the cheapest usable option at well under $30, and for a handheld spare or a guest mic it is hard to argue with. It just is not something we would build a show around.
Before you spend anything
One last piece of advice that will save more money than picking the right microphone: your room sets the ceiling. A $400 mic in a hard, echoey room will lose to a $100 one in a space with a rug, curtains and a bookshelf. If your total budget is $300, spending $120 on the mic and the rest on a boom arm, a pop filter and something soft on the walls is almost always the better trade.
Getting your voice on air
A microphone only matters once there is a station behind it. If you have not set one up yet, our guide on how to create your own online radio walks through it, and there is a wider rundown of equipment for radio and podcasting if you are building a studio from scratch. Radiolize handles the streaming, scheduling and listener stats so you can concentrate on the part that needs a human in the room.
