Which microphone do I actually need?

Microphone choice is presented as a quality ladder and it is really a set of trade-offs about pattern, sensitivity and connection. The diagram shows what each pickup pattern hears, which is where most of the decision lies.

Step by step

1. Start with the room, not the microphone.A cheap microphone in a soft, small, quiet room beats an expensive one in a bare echoing one. If the room is hard and reflective, that constrains the choice towards a dynamic microphone used very close.
2. Understand dynamic versus condenser.A dynamic microphone is less sensitive, needs no power, tolerates loud sources and hears less of the room — which is why broadcasters use them in imperfect rooms. A condenser is more sensitive, captures more detail and more room, and needs phantom power or its own supply.
3. Choose the polar pattern.Cardioid picks up in front and rejects behind — the default for a single voice. Supercardioid is tighter and picks up a little from directly behind. Omnidirectional hears everything equally, which suits a round-table recording and a lapel microphone. Figure-of-eight hears front and back and rejects the sides, which suits two people facing each other.
4. Decide the connection.USB microphones plug straight into a computer and are the simplest way to record one voice well. XLR microphones need an audio interface or a recorder, which adds cost and gives you better preamps, multiple inputs and an upgrade path. If you might ever record two people at once, start with an interface.
5. Match the microphone to the job.A large-diaphragm cardioid on a stand for voiceover and podcasting at a desk. A lapel microphone for anything on camera or where the speaker moves. A shotgun on a boom for filming. A handheld dynamic for interviews in noisy places. An instrument or small-diaphragm condenser for acoustic instruments.
6. Add the parts that are not the microphone.A stand or boom arm, a shock mount to stop desk vibration, a pop filter, and a cable. These are routinely left out of the budget and every one of them affects the recording.
7. Check what the microphone does when misused.Every directional microphone gets bassier as you move closer — the proximity effect — and thinner and roomier as you move away. A dynamic used at ten centimetres sounds full and controlled; the same microphone at half a metre sounds thin and distant.
8. Buy for the recording you will actually make.Most people record one voice at a desk, and a well-chosen dynamic or a mid-priced condenser plus a stand and a pop filter covers it completely. The next useful spend is on treating the room, not on a better microphone.

Tips

• Headphones matter as much as the microphone. You cannot fix what you cannot hear, and cheap headphones hide exactly the problems you need to catch.
• A used microphone is a safe purchase — they are simple, durable devices with little to fail.
• If you record in a room you cannot treat, choose a dynamic and get close. That is what the equipment is for.

Common mistakes

• Buying a sensitive condenser for a bare room — It faithfully records the room, which is the problem. The extra detail is spent on reflections. A dynamic used close is the right answer until the room improves.
• Buying the microphone and not the stand — Held in the hand it picks up handling noise; on a desk it picks up every keystroke and knock. A boom arm or a shock-mounted stand is part of the microphone, not an accessory.

Alternatives

• USB condenser or dynamic: One cable, no interface, good results immediately. The right first purchase for a single voice at a computer.
• XLR microphone plus interface: More cost and one more box, better preamps, multiple inputs and a system you can extend. Worth it if you will record more than one person.
• Wireless lapel set: Two small transmitters and a receiver. Transformative for video and for anyone who moves, and now inexpensive.
• Handheld recorder: A self-contained recorder with built-in microphones. Excellent for interviews, live music and field recording, and portable in a way a computer setup is not.

Questions people ask