MV7X XLR Dynamic Microphone

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

The Samson Q2U is the budget king. Also has the benefit of both USB and XLR, so you can start with USB, buy an interface later and keep using it, then ultimately upgrade your mic later if you want. The Podmic USB is great, but at $200 it’s a lot to ask. That said it does come with the APHEX processing and also includes XLR, but you lose the APHEX processing when you run it in XLR mode if I remember correctly. I’ve used a Podmic in the past, albeit the XLR only version, and while it’s a great sounding mic, over time I grew to not really like how it sounded with my voice and ended up switching to the MV7X. It’s a very bright microphone. It sounds much better when paired with Rode’s processing.

The Shure MV7X is a great podcasting mic.

I strongly recommend XLR into an interface, but I can recommend the Shure MovieMic lavalier wireless. I use them on internal company projects, but not lengthy podcast material. For that I use Shure MV7x into a Scarlett. I also use Shure 58 into Behringer Euphoria. If you insist on wireless, like I said, check out the MovieMic. Comes with a pair that are easy to use into laptop or into a camera if you are using one.

OK, I see from previous replies that you're really a gamer with $500 burning a hole in his pocket and don't plan to record anything. What your AI assistant doesn't know is that Shure has released a bunch of modern versions of their classic SM7B because the original was kind of a hothouse flower that required a ton of gain. The MV7x you mentioned is one of those, but it has an XLR output and requires an audio interface and then you have to get the gain structure set correctly. The MV7+ doesn't need an interface because it can connect via USB. For an extra $100, you can get a MV7i, which has an extra combo input on the back in case you ever do want to do an interview or record a guitar solo. All of these MV7 versions are voiced a little more forward than a SM7B, and they have a more aggressive bass roll-off to compensate for proximity effect. Shure assumed that podcasters wouldn't know how to use EQ productively, and they were probably correct. Everyone who suggested entry-level recording mics missed the use case. It's voice-over in a completely untreated room. This is the right tool for that. (I actually use a RE20 for the same purpose, but it's another hothouse flower that needs a great preamp/interface. Leave it for the pros.)

AI says the XLR version sounds better, but AI has never heard it through a bottom-of-the-line Scarlett interface -- in fact, AI has never heard it at all! (AI doesn't have ears.) You're not saving any money with the MV7x because you have to buy other stuff to use it. The MV7+ still has an XLR output in case you want to use that later, for example with an external podcasting console, or a full-on analog channel strip like I use. (Actually, scratch that last option, because a good one costs $2-3k.) Please don't buy audio gear off Amazon. Half the stuff on offer is counterfeit. Buy it from someone like Sweetwater or B&H who will still get it to you the same week and will stand behind it if something goes wrong.