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So I know microphones can be a sticking point for a lot of people, but they are a must. Not only for commentary (I mean, otherwise you’d be talking to yourself, not that there’s anything wrong with that!) but to enrich the quality of your Let’s Plays. A crappy mic can make or break your channel.

Sounds silly, but given the option of watching a video that has voice audio that sounds like a garbage disposal, or the smooth Canadian voice of Northernlion, NL will win, every time.

Here we will cover desktop and or mountable mics. While headsets are fine, a desktop mic is much preferred for a few reasons:

1. You can position it wherever you please. This means less breathing into the mic, which means less editing out your creepy breathing into the mic.

2. The sound quality is usually better. Don’t get me wrong, there are some AMAZING sounding headsets, but most of the time you can’t beat the sound of a desktop mic.

3. Pop filters don’t work very well on your head.

I will list 3-4 in each category.

So, lets get started, shall we?

Disclaimer – Prices are in USD and may vary by region. Prices listed are the prices at the time of posting.

Low Tier $0-$45

If you’re really desperate, and bought Rock Band ages ago and still have all the gear, the USB microphone works on PC, and sounds decent.

Zalman ZM-Mic1 – $8.48 – TEST – Thanks WhyBeAre

Connectland CL-ME-606 Good Neck Desktop Mic – $11.18 : TEST

Logitech Labtec Desktop Microphone 600 – $15.99 : TEST –

Samson Go Mic Compact USB Microphone – $39.99 – TEST

Blue Snowflake – $42.39 – TEST

Mid Tier $45-$110

Audio-Technica ATR2500-USB Cardioid Condenser USB Microphone – $48.90 – TEST

Audio-Technica AT2020 – $62.87 – TEST

Blue Snowball – $68.66 TEST

Samson C01U – $79.99 TEST

M-Audio Producer usb Mic – $89.98 – TEST – Thanks Kelshmo1

Blue Yeti – $104.83 – TEST

High-end Tier $110+

Samson G-Track – $119.99 – TEST – Thanks Thadiwyn

Blue Spark – $199 – Test

RØDE Podcaster – $229 – TEST

Shure PG42 – $249**TEST**

Well, that covered a few microphones within a decent price bracket. This is by no means a review of any of these mics, just a few quick links to help those either looking to improve their audio quality, or looking to start out with LPing. If you have a mic you like using and recommend, drop a comment with what mic you use, it’s price, and a sample of it’s audio and I will try and add it to this list! Hope this helped, and thanks for reading!