If you are looking for a PC microphone it is because you probably know that the one integrated into your computer cannot offer you great performances.
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.
- ■ 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
- Gradient RGB & Quick Mute - Bicolored RGB lighting alters seven color modes itself gradiently. 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 AmpliGame USB microphone is muted to tell you working status. Prevent your streaming from accidents caused by forgetting to mute PC microphone gaming.
- Vivid Voice Enjoyment - Designed for streaming microphone 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. 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 computer microphone for podcast instead of shouting to your teammates or lowering your own voice. Thumbscrew on the desktop microphone helps you tilt the best streaming recording angle in advance, to get a pleasant speaking posture during games or streaming.
- 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, and 10), Mac OS, and PS4.(NOT compatible with Raspberry Pi/Android）
- 【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 (Apple Asus HP etc)
- 【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 !
- Custom three-capsule array: This professional USB mic produces clear, powerful, broadcast-quality sound for YouTube videos, Twitch game streaming, podcasting, Zoom meetings, music recording and more
- Blue VOICE software: Elevate your streamings and recordings with clear broadcast vocal sound and entertain your audience with enhanced effects, advanced modulation and HD audio samples
- Four pickup patterns: Flexible cardioid, omni, bidirectional, and stereo pickup patterns allow you to record in ways that would normally require multiple mics, for vocals, instruments and podcasts
- Plug and Play: With a USB 2.0 data port, the TC-777 is plug and play, no any additional driver is required. Ideal for conference, distance learning, streaming, chatting, podcasting, recording, Zoom, Skype, YouTube video, etc.
- Cardioid Pickup Pattern: This mic has a cardioid pickup pattern that captures the clear, smooth and crisp sound in front of the microphone and suppresses unwanted background noise.
- Easy to Install: Without any assembly, only need to unfold the three-legged stand directly and adjust the position of the pop filter, then it can be plug and play.
- Custom Condenser Capsule: Powered By Blue’S Custom Condenser Capsule, Snowball Ice Microphone Delivers Crystal-Clear Audio Quality That’S Light-Years Ahead Of Your Built-In Computer Microphone
- Cardioid Pickup Pattern: Captures Your Voice With Clear, Focused Sound For Streaming, Podcasting, Broadcasting, Skype Calls And Zoom Meetings
- Stylish Retro Design: Record Or Stream In Style With A Classic Recording Equipment Design That Looks Great On Your Desktop And On Camera
- 🔎【Air Conduction Open-Ear Headphones】Open ear air conduction headphones free your ears! Bluetooth headset compared to in-ear and over-ear headphones, which with an open-ear design do not require the headphones to be tucked into your ears. Open ear headphones wireless Bluetooth not only keeps your ear canal clean and does not damage your eardrums, but also does not cover your ears, so you can be aware of your surroundings and avoid potential dangers and stay safe!
- 📞【Detachable Noise Cancelling Microphone】The Open ear headphones is equipped with dual noise-cancelling microphones with DSP noise reduction technology to ensure clear calls and a great music experience. The detachable boom is magnetically designed and it can rotate 360° to maximize your voice pickup to improve call quality! In addition, Bluetooth headset with microphone has Φ15.4mm driver speaker, it is the bigger than others and the sound will be more clarity and louder.
- 🎶【Lightweight and Comfortable All Day】The wireless headphones is ergonomically designed. The ear hook is made of silicone, skin-friendly and comfortable, fits your ear, stays firmly in place, does not move around or bounce back, and can be worn for long periods of time without ear pain. Bluetooth headset with mic has no deformation 360 ° bending memory wire, twist at will without breaking. Easier to carry, you can hang it around your neck and take it anywhere you want to go.
- 【High Cost Performance & Classic Design】This is a classic desktop microphone designed by Fduce. The shell design of the microphone is all metal, with first-class touch and texture, shock absorption and drop resistance, bringing you a unique high cost performance experience.
- 【Excellent Sound Quality】With Cardioid polar pattern, FDUCE condenser microphone can accurately capture your voice and output clear and smooth sound by reducing surrounding noise. Recording studio quality sound can be achieved even on a computer.
- 【Multi-function & Removable Stand 】The mute key design provides convenience to mute immediatly by simply one press. The sensitive volume control button allows you to adjust the appropriate output volume at will. The tripod is made of solid metal which supports FDUCE microphone stably. Flexible stand and additional stand extensions can adjust the angle and height of the microphone as your needs.
- Omnidirectional Microphone - It is not a Speaker or Speakerphone, it is a condenser microphone. The microphone has an omnidirectional pickup pattern with a pickup distance of 11.5 ft, making it easy to capture the most subtle sounds from 360° directions and transmit the sound more loud and clear. Participants can hear each other without raising their voices.
- Made for Conferences - This microphone is perfect for small or medium meetings over an internet network by using Skype/GoToMeeting/WebEx/Hangouts/Fuze/VoIP/Zoom and other softwares. You can also use it for court reports, seminars, remote training, business negotiations, video chats, etc.
- Plug & Play, No Drivers Required - The microphone is compatible with all operating systems - both Windows and macOS. You just need to plug the microphone to start recording. If there is no response after inserting the mic, please go to the microphone setting of your computer and select the mic as the INPUT device.
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.
