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Importance of microphones
YouTube Videos have become the part and parcel of the internet business. YouTube Vlogging is the rising trend which is becoming the #1 choice these days.
After the video quality, sound quality of the vlogger really matters in a YouTube video. Definitely, what really matters and captures the interest of a viewer is your audio quality.
In spite of good quality video, Vlogging will not be effective or convincing if the voice quality is not proper and the listener is facing difficulty in understanding what you are trying to explain or narrate about the topic
When you are going to start your vlogging career, you should avoid the biggest mistake that most vlogger do, and lose their audience for being unaware of the importance of a good microphone.
Along with a good quality camera a stand alone powerful microphone, that delivers the best audio quality to the viewers is the backbone of the whole planning.
There is a huge variety of microphones in the market at the moment and for a new vlogger it may not be easy to pick and choose the right one.
That’s why we have researched and short listed for your convenience the top 13 best microphones for YouTube vlogging in 2019.
Before we go towards the top list, it would be pertinent to tell you that there are four main types of microphones
Types of Microphones
What are Camera Microphones?
Camera microphones are basically attached to your camera so you do not need a separate recorder for recording your voice and send this camera will be facing use it well eliminate all the background noise and we’ll just keep your voice quality maintained.
What are Lavalier Microphones?
The lavalier microphone is basically a small microphone that can be clipped on your clothes and is usually clipped around the collar of your shirt so that it can record your voice perfectly.
It is not attached to the camera like the camera microphone but it is hands-free so that you can speak conveniently. Not only this, but Lavelier microphones are used by talk show hosts and anchors so that they can speak freely.
What are USB Microphones?
USB microphones can be connected to a wider range of devices that have a USB port and since they don’t need any specialized drivers they can work easily with the audio editing programs. However, it is not as portable as compared to other microphones.
What are Portable recorders?
Portable recorders are basically small portable devices that record your audio and is a modernized version. It can work along with the camera, you can connect it, and then while recording your audio, you can make a video as well.
If the camera is unable to connect with the portable recorder, then you have to make the video and record the audio separately. Other than that, it is a very useful microphone which you can use anywhere you want, keeping it in your pocket.
Best Camera Microphones
Camera microphones are basically connected to the camcorder or your DSLR camera already, so you don’t need an external device for recording audio. They are also called Shotgun mics.
This microphone will reject all the external noises and will only record your voice because the camera will be facing you! Other than that, it’s not heavy, so you won’t face difficulty in carrying it from here to there.
Built-in microphone cameras are not preferred by many because sometimes they record the camera’s mechanical noise or sometimes the background noise as well.
Therefore, it’s better to use and On-camera microphone. We will be including some 3 to 4 best On-camera microphones that are currently available, with their qualities that will tell you why you should choose it.
1. Rode Video Mic
An Australian audio company, Rode has produced this shotgun microphone which is an excellent product with great quality and many features.
It actually consists of Rycote Lyre shock mount which leaves behind all the external
mechanical noises of the camera and it’s a unique mount that is easily fit into the camera and will not lose its shape which most of the mounts tend to do.
This microphone is best in public places where you face difficulty while recording because of too much noise. Rode Video Mic is an excellent choice that will ignore all the background noises and only record your voice because the camera will be towards you.
The most interesting and comforting thing about it is that it comes along with a 10 year warranty too. Although, it is a bulky product but it is quite expensive and many people reject it because of its price. For your help, you can check the prices on Amazon.
2. TACKSTAR SGC – 598
This product of Tackstar, is basically an excellent product with impressive features and one of the main advantages of using this product is, it is affordable.
When we say the word affordable, it does not means that we
it does not means that we
will underestimate its qualities. It is smaller equipment as compared to other products, which means that we can easily carry it wherever we want.
Although it faces difficulty while cutting off too much external mechanical noises but it removes most of the useless noise. Knowing the fact that it is not that much sensitive, people still buy this product because of its price; they can afford it and secondly, it is capable of avoiding electromagnetic interference.
3. Shure VP 83
Shure’s product VP 83 is the most preferred product because of its excellent sound quality and impressive features. It provides the same sound quality just like a professional microphone that is 5 to7 times more expensive than this.
It has a three option gain settings which means that we don’t have to worry about how far or how close we are to the camera and it just maintains the quality perfectly. It is also resistance to RF emissions which does not let the audio quality get affected.
So, along with the quality of recording at larger distances, it cuts off the off-axis sounds. The most interesting thing is that it has a Rycote Lyer mount which is one the best mounts used to record! Although people claim that it’s very expensive and large equipment, but this product is worth all these things.
Best Lavalier Microphones
Lavalier microphones are basically small microphones that can be clipped on your clothes so that you can move your hands freely. You won’t need a stand in front of your desktop to use the mouse or type in the keyboard.
They are basically used to interview guests on television channels or by the show hosts. Since they are small microphones, they are not that much sensitive nither do they come with wide range of features but yes, they are very easy to use and portable as well.
Although they have the capacity to record just your own voice perfectly, but most of them are affordable. So here are the best 3 Lavalier microphones that you can use for YouTube Vlogging.
4. Audio Technica ATR 3350IS
Audio Technica is one of the most preferred company that has produced excellent audio equipment like headphones and turntables like products.
This company has also introduced ATR 3350IS microphone which provides us with superior audio quality and features.
Omni directional pickup pattern which means that whichever direction we turn our microphone to, it will record our voice perfectly.
It has a smart phone splitter, which can be connected with our smartphone or any of our smart device so that we can listen to it while recording. Another positive thing about it is that it is affordable and it’s one of the best microphones I’ll advise you to choose.
However, it has some issues too that the wire of this equipment vibrates too much, sometimes making noise and it does not have a battery indicator light. Still, these small issues are underestimated seeing amazing audio quality it provides us.
5. Vidpro XM- L Lavalier
This Lavalier microphone provides you with outstanding features such as long length of cable so that you can take your favourite position without being uncomfortable and avoids stretching of cables.
Secondly, it’s affordable price encourages the customer to buy this equipment. Furthermore, this microphone can be connected easily to your smart devices or your computers as per your wish to ensure that you don’t face any difficulty while recording and editing the audio.
However, as everything is not perfect, users of this equipment face some issues regarding its reliability but the positive qualities of this microphone hide all these issues.
6. Rode Smart Lav+
This smart Lav+ microphone of Rode is expensive but since it provides high quality audio efficiency and is compatible with Rode Rec app, this Lav+ is worth the money.
The rode Recc app that can be used along with this microphone enables to edit your audio accordingly right after your recording.
udio from any direction and from any distance as per your convenience.
Then comes the pop filter which makes sure that your sound is not too much high-pitched to the listeners and they don’t get irritated by your voice. There are just two things that stop the customer from buying this equipment; The first thing is that it cannot be connected with all the Android devices and the second thing is that it is pricey.
USB Microphones
USB microphones are easy to use because they are compatible with most of the devices and computers along with the hardwares and softwares. Any device that have a USB port or can be connected to USB will support this microphone.
Moreover, the reason why people choose USB microphones is the fact that they are more affordable than other types of microphones with wider range of features too. However, USB microphone is not that much portable as compared to the smaller microphones because it will work once it’s connected to the device and you cannot carry the big devices everywhere.
So the four best USB microphones include
7. Blue snowball Ice
Blue Snowball Ice is a USB microphone which has low cost but is fully reliable and easy to use. Since it is sperical in shape, you won’t need a separate pouch to cover it and you can put just like that in your bag or your purse wherever you want to. It follows the patterns, Omni directional
(Record voice of all the directions) and Cardioid pattern (which means that it will just record your voice and will ignore all the background noise).
For the beginners who have just started YouTube vlogging or the streamers, it is easier to use for them because it can be connected to any device that has a USB port and does not need any specialized driver.
It consists of a tripod stand, which enables you to record your voice comfortably while using your computer.
It is very popular among the famous vloggers because of its price; they can afford it and the main thing is that it comes in different colours. So, if you want to show it in your vlog, you can show your favourite coloured microphone too.
The only thing that it lacks, is a shock mount which you need to purchase separately.
8. Blue Yeti
This is one of the most versatile microphones I can advise all the YouTubers to use, because it’s easier to use as well like all the other USB microphones; since you just need to plug in and start recording.
This Blue Yeti microphone provides us with different types of condensor capsules (3). Although the dials to switch among these variety of modes, is difficult to turn, these three capsules enable us to record in four different patterns like if we want it record our own sound and ignore all the background noise, then we should set it to Cardioid.
The other three patterns are Stereo, Omnidirectional and bidirectional. Apart from this quality that also have a desktop stand which help us to place it on a good side where we are satisfied to record. This Blue Yeti microphone is expensive and costly but when people get aware of it’s qualities, they don’t think about money.
9. Audio Technica AT2020
Blue Yeti offers many modes and so switching these modes is a little bit tough. Hence, this audio technica AT2020 microphone can be used to avoid these difficulties and it has just one mode that is the cardioid mic which actually ignores all the background noise and just records your own voice.
This microphone does not have a mute switch that is the reason it is not so costly but it gives high quality audio even though, they do not provide many features but having so many features for just Youtube vlogging is not so necessary as well.
Audio Technica AT2020 microphone is considered one of the best microphones for YouTube vlogging and podcasting as it provides high quality audios and is way more easier to use than other technical Microphones.
10. Rode NT- USB
This NT USB microphone basically provides you the opportunity to create more advanced YouTube vlogs and to do streaming in a professional way because of its amazing build quality and also that it has a tripod stand that enables us to use desktop freely while recording.
Since it’s a USB microphone, it can easily be connected to any device which has a USB connection port and secondly, it is compatible to all types of hardwares and softwares mostly.
So, we won’t face any difficulty in editing our audio. It also consists of a Pop filter that increases the quality of your consonants along with a headphone monitoring Jack which enables you to check your recording side by side as you keep on speaking.
People prefer using this equipment even though it is quite expensive and large so it will occupy a a lot of space.
Portable Recorders
Portable recorders are basically used when we have cameras without a microphone Jack. These portable recorders are just like recorders used in the olden days but they are the modernized version of it.
Although the quality of this portable recorder is not that much superior than a professional microphone or the microphones mentioned above, but they are portable and they don’t occupy that much space so there is difficulty while carrying ot anywhere.
Hence, we can record audios whenever we want comfortably without any issue regarding the space. Here, we are going to mention some of the great portable recorders that you can use if you want to to go for youtube vlogging.
11. Zoom H2N
Zoom H2N recorder is basically for those people who have experience and can handle technical recorders like this. It has the battery span of 20 hours.
Not only this, but it has four different modes of recording along with some controls on the recorder which you can adjust as per your choice.
Like this, you will be able to change the pitch of your sound or you can change the playback speed of your recording so it’s all up to you.
It also has an LCD screen which makes it much more complicated to use but it’s outstanding features impress the vloggers to buy a recorder like this.
12. Zoom Z H1
This microphone is very affordable and portable device with wider range of features. In addition to it, it is quite small equipment which obviously won’t occupy a lot of space.
So, if we are in a hurry, we can just slip it in our bag and carry it anywhere we want to. Apart from that, it can be used as a USB microphone too. It consists of a 2GB SD card so that there is enough space to save your recording.
Moreover, it’s battery span is up to 10 hours. This Zoom Z H1 microphone consists of buttons which tend to feel loose after some time of use.
Secondly, it will need a Pop filter too. However, it is affordable and a perfect choice for all the vloggers who want to choose a recorder in low cost!
13. Zoom H4N Pro
It has a rubberised covering that increases it’s durability and has a back lit LCD so when it’s dark, you won’t face issues while setting the menu. It’s not that much portable because of it’s size but
yes it gives you an excellent sound quality with the battery span of around 6 to 10 hours depending on the type of recording. It’s costly and has a short battery life but it’s excellent voice submission is what a vlogger just needs.
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Although, there is a huge variety of microphones and we have given you the detailed overview of these to look in the details. After reading the article you must have formed your opinion according to your requirements. I can suggest you one thing that whatever you choose must match your video quality to rank higher.