Best Microphones for Video Conferencing and More

What is the best microphone for video-conferencing?

Well, that's a great question. Like many things in life, it depends. It will depend on how much money you're willing to spend and what you're going to use the microphone for. Are you traveling a lot? That's another consideration you have to take into account. In this article, we'll show you the best microphones for different budgets and different use cases.

Why you should invest in a microphone

You might be wondering whether it's really worth investing in a new microphone for your video conference calls or webinars. After all, your laptop already has a built-in microphone, so why spend extra money? It's a fair question, and you're not alone in feeling unsure about the need. But here's the thing: the microphone that comes with most laptops is far from ideal.

Built-in Laptop Microphones Aren’t Great

While your laptop might have a built-in microphone, it's typically not designed for high-quality audio. Laptop manufacturers often focus on other features like screen resolution or processor speed, leaving the microphone as an afterthought. This means that, while people can hear you, they may struggle to understand you clearly. You might sound distant, muffled, or even have issues with echo and distortion.

Better Sound for Clearer Communication

A good microphone drastically improves the sound quality of your voice. Instead of being unclear or hard to hear, you'll come through crystal clear, making communication smoother for everyone. This is especially important if you're having a meeting where precise, clear information needs to be shared. Whether you're talking through a presentation or giving feedback, good audio ensures your message comes across without distraction.

Noise Cancellation for Busy Environments

If you work in an open office or a noisy environment, a high-quality microphone becomes even more valuable. Many microphones come with noise cancellation features that help isolate your voice from background noise. This means that even if there's chatter or other sounds happening around you, your voice will stand out clearly, making it easier for everyone to focus on what you're saying. For the people on the other end of your meeting, this creates a much more pleasant experience.

Make a Professional Impression

A good microphone doesn’t just improve the technical quality of your calls—it also helps you look more professional. When you're meeting with potential clients, colleagues, or customers, clear audio adds to your credibility. It shows that you care about providing the best experience for your audience and that you're serious about your communication. Investing in a good microphone can make you sound more polished and authoritative, which is especially important for business or networking situations.

Small Investment, Big Return

You might be surprised by how affordable a decent microphone can be. For just a small investment, you can significantly improve the quality of your virtual meetings. Whether you’re attending online meetings, teaching classes, or hosting webinars, the value of clear, professional sound can’t be overstated. It makes your interactions smoother and helps you build a better connection with others, ensuring that nothing gets lost in translation due to poor audio.

The best microphones for video-conferencing and meetings

I don't feel like spending a lot of money on a microphone

Today, even without a budget you can improve the audio quality of your built-in microphone.

If you own a modern Apple computer, you can improve the audio quality by simply using a feature called Voice Isolation. When you're in your video-conference call, click on the camera-icon in your tool bar on your computer. Now select Voice Isolation. With a bit of AI, all background-noise will be filtered out and your voice will sound crisp and clean.

If you don't have a Mac or want to benefit from even better voice isolation, you can use Krisp. This is a tool that works almost the same as that of Apple, but in our opinion a bit better. They have a free plan that you can use.

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I don't mind spending money if the value is good on a video-conferencing microphone

If you're ready to invest in a microphone for your meetings, we can suggest two options. If you want something that you can carry with you at all times and don't take up any place – you can go with the standard Apple Earpods. They're dangerously cheap at just €19,- and come with a good quality microphone.

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Not traveling around much and do you want higher audio quality? Go with the Røde Podmic for €99,-. This microphone is a great all-rounder that you can use for both video-conferencing and also webinars.

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The best microphones for Zoom

If you're having a lot of Zoom-calls, we suggest to invest in a good microphone. It will make it more pleasant for people to meet with you. Especially if you're in an open space, your microphone will pick up a lot of noise that will distract from what you have to say.
If you're working in a role where you're meeting a lot of potential customers, we think it's even more important to invest in a good quality microphone. They make you sound more professional and help you communicate clearly. This always has net-positive effects for you and your business.

The best microphones for webinars

If you host a lot of webinars, it's worth investing in a microphone. Especially if you're going to repurpose your webinar for social media. A good microphone will also make you sound a lot more professional, so this is a great option to consider if you're presenting to big audiences with potential customers. Of course, audio is only one piece. The platform you run your webinar on shapes the full experience your attendees get.

I don't feel like spending a lot of money on a webinar microphone

We mentioned before to use Voice Isolation if you're a Mac-user. You can also use Krisp if you don't have a Mac. These tools will help you isolate your voice and cancel out all background-noise.

But if you're running monthly webinars, we think it's worth to ask your company for a small budget to purchase a microphone. They will greatly improve the experience for your attendees and improve other webinar metrics such as view time.

I don't mind spending money if the value is good on a webinar microphone

Here at Contrast, we love using two microphones. The Rode Wireless Go 2 and the Blue Yeti. Sure, they cost quite a bit of money. But we think they are worth the investment, especially if you're going to record more video content. They are great all-round microphones.

Røde Wireless Go 2 for webinars

These are great for when you're travelling a lot. As the name implies, they are wireless. They're small and you can thus take them anywhere. Besides using them for our webinars, we also take them with us on off-sites for example to shoot other video content.

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Blue Yeti microphone for webinars

This is the microphone you will see most streamers and podcasters use. It's a great mic and offers good audio quality. You'll likely need to tweak it a bit depending on the space you're in. But once you've nailed it, it will keep on performing.

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The best microphones for YouTube and other video recordings

The unfortunate truth is that when you're going to record videos for a YouTube channel you will need a high quality microphone. The competition on YouTube is fierce and everyone is trying to get promoted by its algorithm. This means people have started investing in great cameras and microphones to boost the look and feel of their content.

I don't feel like spending a lot of money on a YouTube microphone

This is going to get very difficult. But if you really don't have a budget, the best possible microphone is your phone. Use the recorder app on your iPhone or Android phone to record audio. You'll later have to sync the audio with the video, but that's perhaps a compromise you're happy to make.

I don't mind spending money if the value is good on a YouTube microphone

Here at Contrast, we're lucky to have YouTubers that know all about the best microphones. We'll discuss 3 options, in each a different budget category. Let's start with the option that's affordable and is considered the gold standard. My colleague Karim suggests that you look for the Sennheiser MKE 600 this one comes in at €299,- but is a great quality microphone.

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Another option, that is cheaper too, is the Røde Podmic. It's a good quality microphone that punches way above its weight. At just €99,- this is almost a steal.

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If you really want the best of the best, Karim suggests that you look at the Sennheiser MKH 50-P48 (what's in a name..). This microphone is used by all the pro YouTubers, but also TV crews. Not a surprise if you look at the price tag of €1700.

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