RØDE - Procaster

I've been using a RODE ProCaster for 6 years and it has not missed a beat. The thing is solid as a rock and has a 10 year warranty. My mic faces me directly and the back end of the mic faces the soundbar if that makes sense - even with a bit of volume it does not pick up anything but my voice. The speakers/soundbar are about a 18 inches (45cm) behind the back end of the mic. The ProCaster is a dynamic mic which has been mentioned before - it only picks up things that are directly in front of it. Perfect for your (and my) situation. My original headset was quite heavy and also leather which looked cool, sounded amazing but got very hot after a while and felt heavy after long sessions. It was for that reason I explored my current option. I have not looked back - my current set up is much more preferrable to using a headset - at least from where I stand. I can still hear what else is happening in the house, if our dog needed to go outside I could hear her - when my son was a baby I could hear him if he woke up at night etc etc. Now I still have a good headset but I only use that when travelling on the laptop - OR if I want to belt out some tunes late at night (or during the day) and not wake up the good lady who may be napping! I suspect that is why she bought it for me! The ProCaster is an XLR mic and does require an interface. I use the Elgato Wave XLR which is pretty easy to set up. Previously I used the ProSonus (?) simple XLR interface. I believe RODE (and likely others) now make a USB dynamic mic which is probably good too (Pod Caster?) but I have no experience with those - they are rated well though. Good luck!

I will say, Røde Procaster XLR mic - it's 90%of the sm7b for half the price, easy to dial in, needs about same amount of again, but overall a very quality mic (i upgraded from a 12yo blue yeti) - if you wanna hear it in action you can DM me for more info, and or sound clips/call audio on say discord, and decide for yourself if it has the mic quality you want. I however will not be upgrading to a sm7b, as for costs yo performance it just gets beaten easily

Most content creators are using Shure SM7-B Shure MV7+ or Rode Procaster. The Procaster is within your price range while the SM7-B/MV7+ is round about 400 quids. Keep in mind that you need an audio interface which is an extra 100 quids depending which brand you want. I usually go for Focusrite Scarlett Solo in this case which is sufficient enough. These mics are fantastic but their use case are a bit different. The SM7B is what most musicians use for recording vocals but is also great to record a podcast. The MV7+ is more meant to be used for podcasts and doesn’t need an audio interface since it’s USB powered. The Procaster is always a good option if you’re not planing to record vocals for music.

We used to run Blue Yeti USB, and recently switched to Rode XLR. MASSIVE difference in audio quality, ease of operation, and customization. Not close