If you are in search of a PC microphone, it’s likely because you understand that the built-in one on your computer may not provide the best performance.
Recordings of a personal or professional nature, as well as communications with other people, need the best equipment for them to function effectively.
In this guide, we will show you the best alternatives and tips to help you find the right PC microphone for you, according to your needs. A good choice, sooner or later, involves economic savings.
- Gradient RGB Symphony Lights: Cyclic and gradient RGB lights, in line with your live broadcast aesthetics. Bring you an immersive gaming experience and awaken all your senses. There's also a palpable sense of security, and when the COCONISE microphone is muted, the RGB lights go off to let you know you're working. Prevent accidents when you forget to mute your PC microphone for gaming.
- Practical and convenient function: It is equipped with a one-button mute touch sensor. When you want to close the microphone, you only need to touch it lightly to mute the sound, and the RGB light will go out to inform you that the microphone has been successfully closed. Equipped with a rotary control volume button at the bottom. There is a 3.5MM headphone jack in the middle, you can plug in the headphones to monitor your own voice in real-time and make adjustments in time when recording.
- Cardioid Polar Pattern: This microphone features a cardioid polar pattern that captures crisp, smooth, and clear sound in front of the microphone, reducing side pickup so it can focus on your voice. At the same time, it is equipped with a 25mm ultra-large capacitor diaphragm capsule, which can capture a wider range of audio with a sampling rate of up to 192kHz, and the pickup is delicate and noise-free.
- 360 Degree Position Adjustable Gooseneck Design --Plug and play USB microphone Pick up the sound from 360-degree with high sensitivity, in the best possible location for sound to your PC gaming, dragon voice dictation, and talk to Cortana
- Mute Button & LED Indicator --One-click to mute/unmute your microphone for pc, Build-in LED indicator tells you the working status at any time
- Intelligent Noise-Canceling Tech --Premium omnidirectional condenser microphone with noise-canceling technology can pick up your clear voice and reduce background noise and echo
- Plug N Play audio recording with USB-C connection: Get quality audio recordings with this easy-to-use USB condenser microphone. The cardioid polar pattern is most sensitive to sound sources in front of the microphone, and reduces background noise.
- Hi-Res 24-bit/96 kHz recording: SoloCast supports a high, studio-level bit depth and sampling rate.
- Tap-to-Mute sensor with LED status indicator: Simply tap the top of the mic to mute, and the easy-to-see LED indicator lets you spot whether or not you’re broadcasting.
- 【HIGH DEFINITION AUDIO 】 This microphone embeds a patented audio filter in order to record only your voice. Good for home studio, Chatting, Skype,Discord, Yahoo Recording, YouTube Recording, Google Voice Search and Steam.
- 【PLUG & PLAY 】 You just need to plug the microphone and it will work ! No software to install. A single button to turn it on or off. Compatible with every operating system - Mac OS X Windows Linux - and every PC brand.
- 【SMOOTH AND CLEAR】 Noise cancellation and isolates the main sound source, This USB Microphone is perfect for videoconferencing, Skype, dictation or voice recognition. The audio filter will give you a clear and confident voice. Anti-pop filter included !
- 【All Metal Cavity & Plug and Play】LiANGSTAR USB Microphone body with metal material, provide stability. Easy Plug and play microphone, built-in sound card, no drivers to install, use type-c port simply plug the microphone into any available USB port, select and default it as your input device in software settings
- 【Flexible & Adjustable】Our USB Computer microphone body can be rotated and adjusted 360-degree, metal body pipe pickup the sound from 360-degree with high sensitivity, you can adjust to any angle. This flexibility make mic to be folded up for portability and easy to use anywhere
- 【Multi-Compatibility and One-button Mute】The Mic is compatible with Windows 7/8/10/11, Mac OS, and PS4/PS5 systems. The unique one-button mute button design meets your convenience needs in different situations.
- [Right Out-of-the-Box] The plug-and-play gaming microphone set doesn't need additional plug-ins or complicated device setup steps. The USB gamer microphone for PC is compatible with PS4/PS5, Windows, Mac OS and Mac, and platforms like OBS or Streamlabs. The streaming microphone end is reversible type-c interface, no trouble to plug the right way in dim game atmosphere. The 8.3ft (2.5m) USB cable is long enough to extend from behind the host to the desktop for clear audio gaming singing recording.
- [Cool Lighting Design] Two-tone automatic gradient RGB makes your PC windows microphone icing on the cake. With soft and coordinated light effects, more than 7 kinds of color mode, your game video or live streaming will be more rainbow eye-catching via the USB mic with boom arm. Make your channel stands out from ranking list. If you are just a game player, the rich RGB on the stream microphone for PC matching with your flowing colors computer accessories can meet the needs of more game atmosphere.
- [Easier Function Use] Setting touch-mute button on the top of USB desktop mic for PC can be easily tapped with one hand, instead of holding the computer microphone for gaming to press a button. Quick mute will not affect your Macbook computer keyboard operation, nor making a ticking sound. The big volume knob control at the bottom of Youtuber microphone makes fine-tuning easier, and you can adjust the volume on the boom stream mic for gaming at will without leaving sights from the game screen.
- PLUG AND PLAY: Compatible with Mac, PS4/5 and Windows PC computer laptop that has USB-A or USB-C port. No extra driver is required, it also compatible with Android Phone (Type-C Port).
- ONBOARD AUDIO CONTROLS: Sensitive mic gain and volume knobs allow you to adjust the appropriate volume at will to record sound more comfortably. This gaming microphone's 3.5mm headphone output provides direct, latency-free monitoring. The quick mute functionality is very handy for users, with built-in LED light to indicate the working status.
- EXCELLENT SOUND QUALITY: This podcast microphone has a cardioid pickup pattern, allowing it to capture the clear, smooth, crisp sound and suppress unwanted background noise. Supports sample rates up to 192kHz/24bit, Great for presentations, podcasts, Zoom, Skype, Recordings,YouTube, instant messaging, gaming, and streaming on Twitch.
- ✔ Smooth Recording & Clear Sound for podcasting, chatting, recording vocals - Built-in high-performance CMTECK CCS2.0 SMART CHIP can effectively block the background noise
- ✔ Compact Design with adjustable neck - convenient using, suitable for podcasting, YouTube, Twitch, Skype, FaceTime, Gaming and more（Cable length: 6ft）
- ✔ USB Plug&Play - built-in sound card, no drivers to install, hassle-free installation, well compatible with Windows(7, 8, 10 and 11), Mac OS, and PS4.(NOT compatible with Raspberry Pi/Android）
- Gradient RGB & Quick Mute - Bicolored RGB automatically alters between 7 gradient color modes. The RGB microphone adds carnival atmosphere with light-up computer setups, putting you in the fierce game arena. You can immediately mute USB gaming mic when you concentrate on the game via the handily quick mute button. RGB LED is off when the studio microphone gaming is muted to tell you working status. Prevent your streaming from accidents caused by forgetting to mute USB PC microphone gaming.
- Vivid Voice Enjoyment - Designed for streaming microphone for PC gamer, the built-in PC mic capsule offers clear and full sound. That will sound like your whole team members are playing side by side. Cardioid condenser mic for PC sensitively picks up the front sound. There will be less ambient noise in recording. Your friends can clearly hear your call no matter it is PS5 or PC gaming, making it easier to get champion.
- Handy Use - Gain knob at the bottom is quick to access. If game sound affects your voice, you can instantly adjust the volume from USB computer microphone for podcast instead of shouting to your teammates or lowering your own voice while playing games. Thumbscrew on the desktop vlogging microphone helps you adjust to the optimal recording positioning and angle in advance, to get a pleasant speaking posture during games or streaming. (Tips: No need any additional drivers for PS4/PS5/PC)
- 【Crystal Clear Audio Quality】Our Cardioid pattern condenser microphone accurately captures your voice, making it perfect for dictation, online classrooms, and more.
- 【Active Noise-Cancelling】Come in CMTECK CCS2.0 SMART CHIP with Cardioid Polar Pattern, which can effectively block the background noise. The pop filter prevents plosives from overloading the microphone, ensuring only your voice is heard.
- 【Convenient Mute Button with LED Indicator】You can quickly mute/un-mute the microphone with the Mute Button and the built-in LED light lets you know the working status(Greenlight: Connected; Red light: Mute mode).
Buying Guide to Select the Best Computer Microphone
With the arrival of the Internet, the main elements for the different uses have become an essential part of our life. The microphone once intended almost exclusively for the professional market.
Today represents an indispensable tool for most computer operations. Let’s see what are the most frequently asked questions by users.
What Exactly Is a Computer Microphone?
It consists of a diaphragm attracted by an electromagnet which, when it vibrates, modifies the electrical energy transmitted to a circuit by different pressures.
It is used to transform sound waves into electricity and vice versa in the process of recording and reproducing sound, in order to increase its intensity, transmit it, and record it.
Its name derives from the word micro which means small and f ono which means sound. It is used for various functions that are done daily with the computer, such as to do video conferencing, recording king the music, talk, participate in online games, add sound to videos we post on social and in many other contexts.
Why It Is Used?
Microphones have many applications in different sectors: telephony, science, health, concerts, public events, mass media such as audiovisual productions (cinema and television), radio, live and professional audio recordings, development of sound technology, and voice recognition.
Today the use of microphones has increased considerably in all homes. It has stopped being almost exclusively a professional product.
The most important platforms offer us the opportunity to communicate through audio, and the microphone has become one of the indispensable tools in our life.
What Are the Microphone Models?
The microphones are divided according to the type of transducer (energy converter), which is condenser or dynamic, and for its directional characteristics.
Sometimes other functions are used to distinguish the microphones, such as the size of the diaphragm, the intended use or the directionality of the main sound input:
- Condenser Microphone: Also called “electrostatic microphone” or “capacitive microphone”, in this type of microphone the diaphragm acts as a foil that “condenses” the vibrations of the sound waves, which cause changes to causes of changes in the distance between the diaphragm and the lamina.
- Dynamic Microphone: Dynamic microphones (also known as magneto dynamic microphones) work through electromagnetic induction. They are solid, relatively inexpensive, and resistant to moisture.
- Ribbon Microphone: They use a thin metal ribbon (usually corrugated), suspended in a magnetic field. The tape is electrically connected to the microphone output, and when it vibrates in the magnetic field it generates the electrical signal.
- Carbon Microphone: Also known as a push-button microphone, it uses a capsule or button that contains carbon granules between two metal plates. By applying a voltage on the plates, low electricity flows to the coal.
- Piezoelectric Microphone: A crystal microphone or ceramic microphone is based on the property of piezoelectricity (the ability of some materials to generate an electric potential when subjected to mechanical pressure, to convert vibrations into an electrical signal).
- Fibre Optic Microphone: Transforms audio waves into electrical signals by detecting changes in light intensity. During its operation, the light of a laser source travels through an optical fiber to illuminate the surface of a reflective diaphragm.
- Microphone No Laser: It can be used to capture sound remotely through microphone detectors. A laser beam is directed towards the surface of a window or on another flat surface affected by sound. The vibrations of this surface modify the angle in which the beam is reflected, allowing to detect the movement of the point of the laser beam which, once reached the instrumentation, is converted into an audio signal.
- Microelectromechanical Microphone: MEMS microphones (in English “microelectromechanical systems”), also called microphone chips or silicon microphones. A pressure-sensitive diaphragm is recorded directly in a silicon chip by MEMS processing techniques, and in general, it is equipped with an integrated preamplifier.
- Hydraulic Microphone: It consists of a metal container filled with water in a small amount of sulfuric acid. A sound wave causes the diaphragm to move, moving a needle up and down in the water.
The directionality of Pc Microphones?
The directionality of a microphone or polar model indicates the sensitivity of picking up the sounds that come from different angles around its central axis.
The way in which the microphone body is oriented with respect to the diagrams depends on the design. Some associate various principles in the realization of the desired polar model. It ranges from the coating of its housing (diffraction/dissolution/absorption), to electronically join double membranes.
The polar pattern is defined as the focal distraction of sound. It is the absorption angle of the microphone according to an estimate. This factor depends, among other things, on the level, direction, and frequency.
Appropriate Directionality of Pc Microphones?
We have to choose what best suits our needs, taking into account that we can also access professional microphones that offer the possibility to choose between different modes since they are not limited to a single configuration.
Based on these characteristics, we can distinguish three types of microphones:
- Omnidirectional Microphones: these microphones pick up sound from all directions.
- Unidirectional Microphones: pick up the sound only from a predetermined direction.
- Bidirectional Microphones: they pick up sounds from two sources facing each other thanks to a membrane that vibrates in two opposite directions.
What Is the Sensitivity of A Pc Microphone?
The sensitivity of a microphone indicates the decibels it can pick up. The lower our microphone is able to “listen”, the more sensitive it will be and will reach silent sounds.
To get the opposite result we will set it to SPL (sound pressure level), which will show us how loud a microphone can receive sounds. The sound of a drop of water as it falls or the whispers of a distant conversation can only be achieved by high sensitivity.
Instead, the performance with the SPL must capture every detail in the midst of a confusion of indistinct sounds, without hearing any annoying noise.
What Frequency Response Should Microphone Have?
Another point to know is how a microphone responds in certain frequencies. The ideal is the one that has the greatest response. You can compare it on the manual in the frequency response table.
We will check how a microphone picks up the low, high, or medium sounds and we will know if it satisfies the characteristics we are looking for.
For example, a vocalist will see in the frequency response curve of the microphone if it is more suitable for low, medium or high voices.
Although the response is flat and the system treats all incoming sounds equally, in practice the response is not the same, and often the difference is very relevant.
What Characteristics of A Pc Microphone do We Need?
The main characteristics of the microphones will help us to know better the performances and, therefore, to find the device that best meets the requirements we are looking for.
However, they will help us try to get closer to the more powerful and defined sound. Among the main features we can indicate:
- Maximum Sound Pressure Level: Indicates the maximum level at which a microphone starts to distort. The more pressure it bears, the better performance it will offer us.
- Proper Noise Level: It is the noise that occurs when the air molecules collide against the membranes of the microphone due to thermal movement. In this case, it will be better the lower the level.
- Signal-To-Noise Ratio: Staying at the maximum pressure level the proper noise level is calculated. So, the higher the result, the better the quality offered by the microphone.
- Sensitivity: Indicates the effectiveness of picking up weak sounds. Greater sensitivity corresponds to greater ease in picking up more distant or weaker signals.
- Impedenzia: It is the measure of the resistance to the passage of alternating current, in this case inside the microphone, with respect to its frequency.
- Saturation Limit: It is not a data available since there are no objective values to measure it. It depends on the construction of the microphone and what it can handle. All microphones distort the signal when the pressure level is too high.
Purchase Criteria
If you’ve come this far, you’re already at a good level of knowledge of many aspects of computer microphones. However, it is good to keep in mind a series of purchase criteria to choose the device that best suits your needs.
Below, we will summarize the main points to check before buying a microphone:
- Using the microphone
- Directionality
- Compatibility
- Quality
- Ratings and comments
Using the Microphone
Depending on the use you want to do with your microphone, you can choose from many alternatives offered for each situation, for pure fun, to carry out conversations via the platform such as on Skype, to upload videos to YouTube or other social networks, as well as for professional work that requires maximum quality. The range of solutions is vast.
Directionality
It is very interesting to know the direction or directions of the sounds you want to pick up. So you can decide for a particular option that meets your needs, even if there are professional microphones configured to work alternating the three characteristics:
- Omnidirectional
- Bidirectional
- Unidirectional
Directionality (polar model) indicates how a microphone is sensitive to sounds coming from different directions with respect to its central axis.
The unidirectional one is sensitive in one direction, the two-way one receives the sound from the front and rear, and the one-way one has a 360º polar pattern.
Compatibility
It is essential to check the compatibility of the computer microphone you want to buy with the operating system (Mac, Windows, Linux) that uses our device, just as it is important to check the different versions. However, most products usually work with all systems.
Furthermore, we have to check if the connection process is simple (directly from the USB port) or if it requires some software or drivers. In the second case, we will only need a little time to install and start working or having fun with our microphone.
Quality
Let’s not be fooled by the first impression. A very cheap product in the long run will cost expensive. Good quality is not negotiable if we want to avoid disappointment and inconvenience. ‘
For this we must know the materials and properties of the product, and also consider that the best-known brands usually offer greater guarantees on the success of the purchase.
It is very important to analyze its characteristics, as they indicate the microphone response level with respect to the greatest needs. However, the quality evaluation meter is also a function of the result we expect to achieve, certainly, a chat on Skype cannot be compared to professional audiovisual work.
