Everyone has something to say.
Whether it's an in-depth review of last night's Love Island, sharing satirical commentary on current political hot topics, or deep diving into the world of true crime, you no longer need the backing of a major media company to get your opinion out there, as, beyond comedy cat memes and utter unfiltered filth, the internet exists to give everyone a voice.
Naturally, I’m talking about podcasting – the great leveller when it comes to giving the famous, the infamous and the unknown alike the same opportunity to say what they want about literally anything, generally with absolute impunity. But then, you don’t have to be controversial to attract attention, the sheer range of podcasts expands to art, business, comedy, music, and beyond. All you need is an idea, internet access and, of course, a good microphone to make sure you chime as clear as a bell and don’t end up with a muddled, mumbled mess.
Of course, when it comes to that latter requirement, there is an embarrassment of options available for all casters, covering wildly different needs and costs, so to help you cut through the microphone morass, I’ve been busy testing, testing, 1, 2, 1, 2, some six splendid sound-capturers to please all podcasting pockets…
Best podcast microphones at a glance:
- Best for next-level home recording: Shure MV7+ - £253, Amazon
- Best for content creators on the go: Shure MoveMic Two - £329, Amazon
- Best for serious audio with serious ease: Alias Pro - £319, Amazon
- Best for no-risk podcast passage: Trust Gaming GXT 232 Mantis USB Streaming Microphone - £24.99, Amazon
- Best for pro-level, low-cost: Joby Wavo POD Streamer Kit - £69.02, Amazon
- Best for looks and talent: HP HyperX QuadCast S - £120, HP
- Best for letting the kids get creative: Studio Creator Podcast and Vlogging Kit - £13, Amazon
- Best for podcast perfection: Shure SM7dB - £444, Amazon
Joby Wavo POD Streamer Kit
Best for: Pro-level, low-cost
Available as a desk-stander or with a too-tempting-to-resist boom arm, the Wavo Joby Streamer Kit is exactly that – a simple and straightforward solution to producing professional quality podcasts with audio quality and production that excels.
The Wado POD is also easy-as-podcast-pie to set up, simply plug the USB into your PC or console and you’re away. The condenser capsule captures crystal clean broadcast-level vocals, the pop filter keeping things clear while the boom arm reduces distortion from vibrations and ensures the mic is always absolutely where you need it in proximity relation to your speakhole.
Built-in volume, mute, and gain controls allow you to tweak and adjust as you talk/sing/rant and the 3.5mm headphone input means you can hear what and why you need to tweak and adjust in real-time, while the Wavo POD’s LED light lets you know what you’re tweaking and adjusting on the multifunction knob.
Great looking, great sounding and giving you great pro-style audio at a ludicrously low price for a mic of this magnitude, I had a blast broaching the online air with this and I suspect you will too. Oh and, yes, the boom arm does make you feel like a maverick DJ from the old days of radio.
Buy now £69.02, Amazon
Shure MV7+
Best for: Next-level home recording
Shure’s original MV7 was one heck of a mic, its very creation inspired by the now-legendary SM7B pro podcasting microphone. But although the MV7 is still one heck of a mic, a refresh was ordered, complete with a customisable LED panel that was so lacking before, and thus was born, the stunning new Shure MV7+.
The MV7+ had many plus points, including both USB and XLR outputs for PC and pro use alike, Auto Level Mode via the ShurePlus MOTIV app to keep control over your tone, digital popper stopper, real-time Denoiser and reverb effects, Voice Isolation tech to hang onto your every word and not the ambient noise around you, and that natty aforementioned colour LED panel that lets you meter and mute audio at a touch, customising it from a palette of literally millions of wavelength of light to monitor your levels at all times.
In the box comes the MV7+ itself complete with mount, 1x USB-C to USB-C cable and a quick start guide to get you up and running. So, yes, although it is XLR compatible, you’ll have to provide that cable yourself, along with a boom arm or desktop mount.
Out of the box, the MV7+ has a reassuring weight and a very sturdy build quality, and given it is so simple to set up, it’s also eminently transportable, making it an ideal ‘pack and play’ mic for those who like to stream and/or record out and about.
In use, as you might imagine, the MV7+ is a tremendous all-around, great-sounding dynamic mic, with a nice warm sound that lends itself perfectly to podcasts, both amateur and pro, radio and voiceovers, if that’s your bag/work. Plus, at £269, it’s an undeniable bargain for a microphone blessed with so much quality and recording/streaming/casting flexibility.
Buy now £253.00, Amazon
Shure MoveMic Two
Best for: Content creators on the go
Most used their phones to capture content, but image quality is generally shaky at best and audio quality is nothing short of an absolute audio abomination. This has led many to more professional mics, but what they all actually need is the MoveMic Two Receiver Kit from Shure, because having played with it for the best part of a month now, any outdoor journalising I do in future will be conducted with these two mics or not at all!
Right, out of the box, there’s a charging case in which you’ll find the 2x MoveMic Wireless lavalier microphones, the MoveMic Receiver, 2x USB-C to USB-C cables, 1x 3.5mm – 3.5mm cable, and a roll bag carrying case. So, 2x two-channel wireless mics that connect to the Receiver for use with a camera, computer or pair directly to any Android or Apple phone to work in conjunction with Shure MOTIV Video or Audio apps. With a nicely discreet form factor, built-in clips for attaching to clothes, and a simple one-button system of operation, once paired up they’re good to go in seconds, so you’ll miss nothing.
With an eight-hour battery per piece in the mics and the charging case stretching that to 24 hours, there’s time aplenty to play with, just as there is when it comes to recording and refining your audio, with gain configuration, limiter, EQ, compression and noise reduction all available on the app, alongside editing facilities to enhance, fade, trim and split your tracks, plus the option to set markers. All remarkably intuitive, even if you’ve never used a proper audio recording app before, MOTIV makes editing easy.
Offering audio recording excellence in a carry roll, the Shure MoveMic Two Receiver Kit may well have a spec and price that suggests it’s more aimed at professional individuals, but if you have the readies and audio recording/interviewing is also your bag, then bag yourself the MoveMic and get one step closer to going pro.
Buy now £329.00, Amazon
Alias Pro
Best for: Serious audio with serious ease
The word ‘Pro’ in the name is a bit of a giveaway as to who this splendid slice of the microphone maker’s art is targeting. Small enough to fit comfortably on a desk without hogging the whole thing, yet big enough and clever enough to capture a pleasingly wide vocal range with audio aplomb, the SteelSeries Alias Pro is a condenser mic that’s been created to serve the ends of podcasters, gamers and general streamers alike, featuring a pro-grade XLR connection, a sizeable capsule to allow for a bigger sound, and a XLR Stream Mixer with mappable dial and button that hooks up to your PC and the ‘Sonar for Streamers’ software for incredible ease of use.
Mix audio, drag and drop apps such as Spotify or Discord, apply studio effects, and employ AI noise cancellation all on screen, the all-in-one software lets you do the lot until you’re left with a recording that’s polished and, ahem, completely Pro. The interface is simple to operate and will leave you wondering how you managed without it or, at least, why you managed without it.
With a shock mount to eliminate unwanted vibrations and RGB lighting to bring the whole thing to vivid life, this is a professional podcasting tool at a surprisingly low price. If you’re already in the podcast game and looking for a substantial step-up, or are new to the concept of casting but want the strongest of starts, then sort yourself with the Steel Series.
Buy now £320.00, Amazon
Trust Gaming GXT 232 Mantis USB Streaming Microphone
Best for: No-risk podcast passage
If you’re not fully sure that podcasting is for you, but you want to dip your toe in the water just to check, then Trust Gaming has exactly the mic you need in the staggeringly affordable shape of its GXT 232 Mantis.
The affordable price tag means that if you do end up losing confidence/interest/the will to live on your very first podcasting attempt, you’ve lost next to no money in the process.
Connecting to a PC or laptop over USB, this is plug-and-play territory, so you’ll be up and running instantly, able to create content for podcasts, vlogs, your YouTube channel, and all the other online arenas where your audio can be aired.
Taking up very little desk space, the Mantis captures crisp, clear audio, free from the destructive effects of distortion thanks to its shock mount and pop filter, so while you’re not recording studio-quality stuff, for the keen amateur interested in creating content for universal online use, in GTX 232 you can Trust.
Buy now £24.99, Amazon
HP HyperX QuadCast S
Best for: Looks and talent
The HyperX QuadCast S not only has the most endearing name of any podcast mic on this virtual page, but it also looks the part. Yes, finished in gloriously minimalist Black-Grey or White-Grey with radiant, dynamic RGB lighting effects, the QuadCast S will automatically enhance the atmosphere of any desk.
Connecting to your kit over USB, the HP features no fewer than three 14mm electret condenser capsules for clear capture with four polar patterns available (stereo, omnidirectional, cardioid, bidirectional) to suit your exacting audio requirements, while the pop filter and shock mount work in tandem to keep distortion and disturbance to an absolute minimum, resulting in smooth sound as course, leaving you to simply deal with sensitivity and lay down your podcast law.
Compatible with PC, Mac, PS4 and PS5, creating professional-sounding content is second nature to the QuadCast S and, at just over £100, you won’t have to break the bank to revel in its slick good looks and even slicker poddy performance.
Buy now £119.99, HP
Studio Creator Podcast and Vlogging Kit
Best for: Letting the kids get creative
Okay, because not everyone is a grumpy grown-up with ‘beef’ to bang on about or someone who simply loves the sound of their own voice, the people who make microphones got together and said: “Hey, what about something for the kids too?”* And from that came a whole variety of financially accessible, easy-to-operate podcasting kits and, indeed, kits to allow the youth online too.
Take this for example, the Podcast and Vlogging Kit from Studio Creator, a combined mic, LED light, mobile phone holder, tripod/grip that lets kids create content on the fly, prior to editing using any of the countless available apps and storing or sharing where age-appropriate, obviously. Oh, and it costs £15 (down from £20) so even if the kid in question is prone to violent temper tantrums when recording doesn’t go to plan like a tiny prima donna, replacement costs won’t cut to the quick.
A great first foot into the podcast, Tik-Tok and YouTube domain, the Studio Creator Podcast and Vlogging Kit is rated 6+ but, let’s face it, we’d all want to have a go.
Buy now £12.99, Amazon
Shure SM7dB
Best for: Podcast perfection
When the podding gets tough, the tough go pro, and although that’s not a real expression, you get the gist. Yes, pro. Over £500’s worth of pro. What I like to term ‘Shure Fire Territory’, because if you’re in the market for a podcast mic this accomplished and pricey, then a) you’re probably already coining it in with your online antics, and b) you know that a Shure microphone will only serve to ramp your ratings into the realms of ‘podcasting omnipotent’.
This is the kind of podcast kit that other lesser podcasters make envious podcasts about. It features a pro-XLR connection, a built-in preamp, a dynamic transducer, a flat, wide-range frequency response for clean and natural reproduction of music and speech, bass roll-off and mid-range emphasis EQ controls, shielding against broadband interference and electromagnetic hum, internal air suspension and a pop filter that takes no prisoners.
As a result of all that, sound quality, as you may have guessed, is nothing short of exceptional, cleaner and clearer than a mountain stream and deliciously distortion-free, making you sound like the podcast pro you were so clearly born to be.
Built to feel bomb-proof too, the Shure SM7dB is the Mercedes-Maybach of podcast microphones.
Buy now £444.00, Amazon
Verdict
As I promised, there’s a little something for everyone here, with prices ranging like a yawning chasm from £15 to £519. But for me, the Joby Wado POD Streamer Kit provided the most fun and at a price that gives real value for money, too. However, if you’re looking for something more than ‘fun’, perhaps something to build a profitable podcast empire with, the Alias Pro offers the absolute lot (and more) for considerably more moolah, maybe, but you’ll be made for life.
