Shure - MV7X XLR Dynamic Microphone

I’ve used both USB and XLR setups for my podcast, so here’s my take. USB mics are definitely simpler and more plug-and-play. If you’re doing solo episodes or just starting out, they work fine. But once you start adding multiple guests or want more control over sound quality, XLR is the better route. I switched to an XLR mic (Shure MV7) with an audio interface, and the difference in clarity and background noise was noticeable right away. The other advantage is flexibility, you can upgrade individual components like the interface or preamps over time. For recording, separate audio tracks using software like Audacity, Riverside, or GarageBand are usually better than relying on the camera’s built-in audio. It makes editing and syncing cleaner and gives you more control over each speaker’s sound.

Yep, exactly! Or even the MV7+/MV7x, which is totally adequate for these uses. Or, gasp, look at other brands besides Shure!

The answer already is great! I will add, I have found sound absorption panels helpful for this, in addition to the mics and audio mixer. I had 4 of us recording in a smaller space, and I could tell a difference when I put those on the big, hard walls in the room. My space is an octagon room (who builds those? annoying AF), but we had sound bouncing from one person into another's mic. We also worked on placement, where each of us sat, where the mic faced, and talking directly to them, in a normal speaking voice. I have one cohost who naturally speaks louder, and her sound was picking up constantly if she was sitting directly next to someone. I don't know what your set up is like for video recording, but maybe with some creativity and placement, it will help. I have a tascam audio mixer, because I can plug 4 xlr mics into it, as well as a usb connection, phone, etc if someone has to record virtually. I've used the Scarlett focus rite for 2 mics which is great too. I use Shure MV7X XLR Podcast Microphones, and they aren't entirely perfect for not picking up others all the time, but they do a great job when we have only 2 of us. They are actually on a pretty good sale right now. This is something that drives me nuts when i'm editing, I hope you find a great solution for you two!

I just got a shure mv7x and a goxlr mini and I’ll never use anything else so fire

Just to counter what someone else said, a decent mic can ABSOLUTELY make an untreated room sound way better than a cheap one would. But you also need the RIGHT mic. Get a dynamic XLR, my recommendation is a Shure MV7X. You can combine with a mixer, but getting something like an Mtrack solo and just using vst plugins in OBS is perfectly fine. On the subject of plugins / filters… Do 👏 not 👏 use👏 a 👏limiter 👏or 👏noise 👏suppression 👏 These will both just ruin your audio. You want a COMPRESSOR instead of a limiter, and a GATE rather than a suppressor (and same basic sound treatment). I can’t tell you how many people I’ve encountered that didn’t realize their voices were getting cut off.

Hey! So, about microphones. If you want a top notch mic, you're going to want to skip out on microphones that use USB connection and go for a microphone that uses an XLR cable instead. There's nothing inherently wrong with USB connections, however XLR microphones are generally made more for professional applications whereas USB mics are more often made cheaper and marketed towards gamers and such, so as a result their quality is generally lower. **There are two main types of XLR microphones. The type you want is called a “dynamic” microphone.** I won't get into all the technical details, but basically there are condenser mics and dynamic mics. To put it simply, condenser mics are more sensitive and will tend to pick up everything, whereas dynamic mics are less sensitive and will pick up less background noise. There's some other key differences between the two but I'll focus on dynamic mics. Unlike condenser mics, dynamic mics do not need “phantom power.” **Dynamic microphones will also need to be placed closer to your face than a condenser microphone (generally 3-5 inches away)**. Someone else mentioned that a good mic isn't actually good if you don't sound proof your room properly, and this is absolutely true for condenser mics! However, dynamic mics give you a bit more leeway in terms of your space. Sound proofing is still super important and I'll go over that soon, but **by design dynamic mics are less sensitive so they are much better at isolating your voice.** **So which dynamic mic should you get?** Here's a few options at different price points. 1. Rode PodMic - $100 2. Audio Technica AT2040 - $110 3. Shure SM58 - $110 4. Shure MV7X - $200 (my mic!) Since dynamic mics use XLR cables, **you're going to need an audio interface** to convert the analog signals to digital signals that your computer can use. There are thousands of interfaces out there all with different specs and use cases, blah blah blah, I won't bore you with that so I'll give you my top two recommendations in no particular order. - Focusrite Scarlett Solo - $150 - Topping Pro E2x2 - $160 (my interface!) The Solo is the classic starter interface. It has decent specs all around and 1 XLR input. The E2x2 is similar to the Solo in a lot of ways but has slightly better specs across the board and has 2 XLR inputs instead of one (not that it matters if you're only going to be using the one mic). Do a bit of research on both and pick whichever you like!

Without hesitation an MV7X, unbeatable level of quality at this price

For straight gaming, I’d probably say no. The MV7X/MV7 is very similar sounding without the same price tag. You don’t get the same level of bass from the MV7, but the SM7B is really not needed unless you’re streaming or recording. Plus, the SM7B needs more juice than the MV7, so you’re looking at a cloudlifter or the SM7DB, which is like $500+ before the actual interface itself (if you don’t already have one, that’s another $100 or more, depending on the interface you get). Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great mic, but unless you need it for streaming/recording/music, you won’t see much benefit from an SM7B/SM7DB mic setup. If you don’t have an interface as-is *and* you feel the itch to have something that sounds kind of like *and* looks like an SM7B, there’s the Beacn Mic for $350. It’s pretty good, and I love the Beacn software (just really simple and intuitive to use). That said, if you already have an interface and you’re only going to be chatting with friends and using in-game chat, I genuinely think the MV7X is probably the highest I’d go in the XLR section. For USB, the Beacn’s definitely pushing it at MSRP, but it goes on sale down to like $280 or so every so often and I didn’t mind paying that.

The Shure MV7X is a great podcasting mic.

Shure MV7 XLR. Cheap compared to many XLR mics, sounds amazing, but you gotta pay to run XLR. I use Steam Deck + XLR Mixer. Don’t really need a a cloud lifter for the MV7