I rarely write about physical products except in the case when it appears that clear advice is lacking in the marketplace. While that situation seems almost impossible, I did find this issue recently when shopping for a personal microphone for my office. The purpose of this post is to help save time for another person in the same situation.
First, these assumptions:
Business audio communication increasingly requires something more than just a telephone. A microphone is required for Zoom, Team, and Meet, and similar services, and also for recording podcasts or live streaming,
The built-in microphones in desktop or mobile computers are a low quality that may distract from business communications.
Many or most of the microphones sold in the under $100 retail market are not much better.
Many or most small business people simply want to plug one microphone into one computer for their work. Let’s call this Situation 1.
Some people need to use multiple microphones, may need mobile setup, or need to plug it into devices other than a PC. Let’s call this Situation 2.
If you do not other: 1) upgrade your microphone, or 2) use editing software to improve the sound, then your audio work product will be noticeably below par.
Given these assumptions above, and after what seemed like too much confusing search for information, I arrived at these conclusions:
1. The best value microphone for Situation 1 in the current market is a Blue Yetti brand at a little over $100. Since I did not want to lose desk space for it, I also bought a boom arm for about $70.
2. The best value microphone for Situation 2 is a Shure brand at around $350. An additional device may be required depending on the use.
After about a month of testing, I reaffirm that these were solid decisions. I just wish that it had not taken so much time to gather this information to reach a simple conclusion.
Next up, inspect to go through the same process soon for a desk camera.