MICROPHONES

A good microphone can be the difference between a professional sounding triumph, or a crackly, tinny disaster

- Andy Edser

Capturing great vocal audio from your PC used to be a bit of a teeth-clenching experience. Esoteric cables, strange terminology, and fiddly equipment once made the process a lot more difficult than it needed to be. Luckily, there are now many easy-to-use microphone solutions on the market at a range of price points, taking the stress out of capturing top-quality sound. Whether you’re looking to break out as the next streaming sensation, finally start that podcast, or simply want to improve the audio in your daily meetings, a good microphone will take your audio to the next level.

However, with a wealth of options to choose from, finding the right mic for you can still be a bit of a conundrum. Here are six microphones that might fit the bill for supremely smooth sounds and eardrum-tingling audio.

Alias
STEELSERIES £180

Premium contender

SPECS POLAR PATTERNS: CARDIOID / CONNECTIVITY: USB-C / SAMPLE RATE: 96KHZ / FREQUENCY RESPONSE: 50-20,000HZ

For most uses, a good cardioid desktop mic will capture a great vocal sound, providing it's got a quality capsule. The SteelSeries Alias certainly has one of those, but also comes nestled in its own supportive shockmount, meaning table bumps and vibrations are much less likely to make an appearance in your audio. The slim design means it doesn't take up too much room on your desk either, and with a robust aluminium construction the Alias doesn't only feel the part, but looks it too.