Best microphones for streaming / gaming

Sep 1, 20213 min read

Updated: Nov 5, 2021

A quality microphone is a much needed asset in your streaming or video making arsenal. A good microphone can provide clear sound with new technologies which are crafted to the highest standards to improve the listeners experience.

What makes a microphone good?

Diaphragm

Of course the diaphragm is the most important (but just barely). This is the part that moves in response to the sound and somehow converts the sound to electrical signals. This is the part that determines if your mic is a dynamic, condenser, ribbon, or other type of mic.

To get good frequency response the diaphragm must be very light. The lighter the better. But the lighter something is, the more fragile it is. So steps have to be taken to make it more robust and/or to protect it from damage.

A good diaphragm will also resist environmental damage. Mostly humidity, but also smoke, temperature extremes, shock, etc.

Building a diaphragm is super difficult and requires specialized materials and machinery. This is beyond almost every hobbyist, and even most companies. Odds are that more than 75% of the mic brands sold in places like Guitar Center do not make their own diaphragms-- and it could be as high as 90%.

It is possible to make a diaphragm in your home, but it won't sound good at all. You would be lucky to make one that has "telephone quality".

Sometimes the diaphragm is called the "mic capsule", but that can sometimes be misleading.

Mechanical

The mechanical properties of the mic should not be underestimated. By mechanical stuff, I mean everything that is not the diaphragm or electrical. The body of the mic, the grill, the positioning of the diaphragm inside of the mic and even the mic clip.

It is primarily the mechanical design that determines if the mic is a cardioid, omnidirectional, or hyper-cardioid. Probably more to the point, it is the mechanical design that determines how much unintended noise is rejected. This is done through the placement of the diaphragm and the design of the grill.

Another important task of the mechanical design is to reduce handling noise-- noise caused by someone holding, moving, or adjusting the microphone. In really bad mics, just flexing your hand while holding the mic will be clearly heard.

The mechanical design also helps protect the mic from wind, breath, spit, smoke, beer, etc.

Electrical

Most mics, particularly condenser mics, have electronics in them to boost the signal from the diaphragm before outputting it. Some mics also have simple switchable high-pass filters that further reduce handling and wind related noise.

Of course the electronics have to be low-noise while being able to handle a huge dynamic range without distortion. Even though these circuits are usually very simple, making them high quality is easier said than done.

This gets even harder for the USB-Mics that are coming out. Making a consumer grade USB mic isn't too hard, but a studio grade USB mic is difficult due to the extra electronics.

Consistency

Doing the above things consistently is super important for a microphone manufacturer. Once you have the expensive manufacturing equipment it is relatively easy to make a quality mic. But making two quality mics that match each other in output level, frequency response, transient response, etc. is difficult.

This is super important if you need a pair of mics for stereo recordings. If the left mic has a slightly different frequency response than the right mic then the recording will sound weird. Almost every mic company will sell "matched pairs" of mics, where they go through a batch of mics and find two that are very closely matched. Other companies won't even bother since they have a hard time making 2 that are the same.