LPGuard’s Best USB Microphones In 2021

USB microphones are better than your laptop’s built-in mic. If you’re into music, podcasts, gaming, and video-conferencing, choose the best USB microphone for your personal needs. We got the best list for you to buy. 

Are you looking for a good USB mic? We understand. You can’t rely on the wimpy built-in mic on your laptop for video-conferencing, podcast, gaming, and many other audio contents especially if you’re a creative professional. 

With that said, we round up the best USB mics for your personal needs. 

Blue Snowball Ice

The best budget USB recording mic

The Blue Snowball Ice is a great USB mic if you have a tight budget. In fact, it offers great value for your money. Thanks to its excellent audio recording qualities for your streaming and recording sessions. With that said, this entry-level mic offers a classic, mid-century look, solid build, excellent sounds, and portability. 

With Blue’s range of USB microphones, you’re guaranteed of a quality product that goes well for your streaming, gaming, audio and video conferencing, and podcast needs. In addition, the company has given its loyal customers something to look forward to, especially if the budget is really tight. 

Blue Yeti Nano

The best budget USB mic for podcasters

The Blue Yeti Nano offers almost the same audio quality as its more expensive counterparts but at a significantly lower price. With that said, it’s a streamer’s favorite mic. Likewise, it’s an excellent USB microphone thanks to its range of extra polar patterns with clean and refined sound. 

This USB mic is very portable, it comes with an illuminated control dial, and you can choose from a variety of colors. Just what you’d expect from the makers of the best gaming microphones that streamers love. This mic, however, is made for streamers and starting podcasts with a limited budget.

Razer Seiren Elite

The best for audio live-streaming 

The Razer Seiren Elite is a classy but capable cardioid condenser mic. It offers a warm tone, solid build, great headphone monitoring, and a high pass filter for better audio quality. As a popular gaming accessories brand, this Razer mic is giving a noticeably warm sound. 

Moreover, the high pass filter is effective at reducing ambient noises, especially if you’re using a mechanical keyboard or a desktop PC with a loud fan. Likewise, it also cuts room noise for low frequencies below the human voice, along with other muddy sounds in your recording. 

Apogee Mic Plus

The best for non-DSP vocal recordings

The Apogee Mic Plus is a cardioid condenser USB mic that offers both professional quality and good pricing. It offers an excellent sound quality thanks to its DSP-free recording. You can use it for a wide range of devices such as Mac, PC, and iOS devices. 

It features a traditional front-address system, condenser build, a 7.2-ounce weight, and a small solid body. With these qualities, the Mic Plus is a great on-the-go mic. In addition, this mic offers a clear and clean, unmuffled sound. 

Apogee Hype Mic

The all-in-one vocal USB mic

The Apogee Hype Mic is a condenser mic. It uses the same cardioid pattern as the Mic Plus. However, the Hype model offers a unique and charming feature, analog compression. This USB mic uses an adjustable analog compressor that offers more flexibility in terms of dynamics. 

The Apogee Hype Mic offers pure sonic clarity and excellent DSP-free recording. This is apparent since the company has a reputation for building useful tools for USB mics. In addition, the compression is a very welcome feature that’s worthy of its price that it almost feels like a bargain. 

Blue Microphone Yeti X

The best USB mic for flexibility

The Yeti X is the bigger addition to the Yet line of excellent USB microphones. It offers great sounds, diverse pick-up patterns, and on-mic level display, and flexibility. With that said, the Blue Microphone Yeti is a highly revered USB microphone for streamers, YouTubers, amateur podcasters, and a variety of creative audio professionals. 

This USB microphone features amazing components. That made this brand very popular in the home-recording space. Likewise, Yeti also offers some of the most price-friendly options. On the other hand, the Yeti X is a front address USB mic that you can use in many ways. Thanks to its clever four-capsule design, it makes switching between podcasting, recording, and streaming much faster. 

Shure MV88

Best portable USB microphone for iOS devices

Just a few years back, Shure released the Motiv line of microphones that improved recording sessions significantly. That’s mainly because of their easy and accessible microphones. With that said, the Shure MV88 is a part of that line. 

It’s compact, DSP-free, offers mono and stereo options, and an extra useful microphone. With sound quality, it offers crisp highs and rich low sounds. Moreover, it supports multi-pattern stereo images and mono cardioid modes, user-friendly operation, and adjustable DSP. 

Shure MV7

The versatile microphone

The Shure MV7 is a small microphone that can almost do anything. It offers support vocals, easy to setup interface, excellent software, XLR and USB options, solid build quality, versatile, and has a Teamspeak and MFI certification. With that said, it’s highly used by professional streamers, YouTubers, podcasters, and even DIY musicians. 

Probably one of the coolest features of the Shure MV7 is the simultaneous use of the USB and XLR outputs. That means you get the benefits of a low-resolution file of the USB and the high-resolution of the XLR connection. This is a welcome addition if you love editing both audio files. Moreover, this microphone has everything you need to start any recording. 

Sennheiser Memory Mic

Best mic for wireless recording

The Sennheiser Memory Mic is designed for smartphone recording. But don’t get deceived by this small package. In fact, it offers professional sound quality at an affordable price. That means it can enhance your audio production if you’re using your smartphone most of the time. It’s a cost-effective option since smartphones have average mic sound quality. 

On the other hand, the company promises hassle-free range effectiveness when connecting the mic via Bluetooth. It also features up to four hours of audio recording that syncs automatically to your smartphone. This is thanks to the Sennheiser Memory Mic App that runs on iOS and Android devices. 

Shure MV5

Best for adjustable DSP

The Shure MV5 offers high-quality recording in a portable and compact package. This entry-level mic is an excellent option for on-the-go recording sessions. However, you need to be careful since its lightweight makes it easy to drop. It also supports cross-platform connectivity even with a silver metal base, a classic appearance, and easy to operate. 

Additionally, the MV5 model proves that this popular brand can also make affordable mics that can manage high-quality audio. It’s a plug-and-play device that you can use immediately. It has two DSP modes. This is a rare feature since it offers both the DSP and non-DSP signal options. 

Rode NT-USB Mini

The best USB mic for DSP-free recording

The NT-USB Mini from Rode is an excellent option. While it doesn’t boast a set of features, it does offer crisp and clear audio recording quality, a DSP-free signal, easy-to-use, and very affordable pricing. It’s a no-nonsense mic in a compact and very portable package. It’s excellent for recording instruments and vocals for streaming, podcasting, and even business conferences. 

While some would argue that it lacks the adjustable mic patterns along with the EQ/DSP modes, these same features don’t always come even with the more expensive professional mics. On the other hand, this USB mic is best for those who have basic recording knowledge. The company recommends using the mic at least four to six-inch away to get the clear and crisp audio quality when recording podcasts or vocals.