The 3 best microphones for streaming

Last Updated on October 23, 2020

When you decide to stream over at YouTube or Twitch, you invest in yourself when buying the best microphone for streaming. But more importantly – you invest in your audience, because they are the people that will hear you, and you want them to hear you loud and clear.

I present to you what I think are the best microphones for streaming.

Quick note on microphone types:

One thing to note before we begin is what types/patterns of microphones exist out there So, a microphone can be:

• Cardioid: Records in front, great for streaming.
• Bidirectional: Records in front of and behind the mic, good for 1-on-1 interviews.
• Omnidirectional: Picks up sound from every direction.
• Stereo: Perfect for studio recordings and record production.

There are XLR microphones and USB microphones.

For this article we reviewed the best USB streaming microphones, because they are cheaper than XLR microphones and don’t require much tuning before recording (you plug the mic in, adjust volume and start recording, where XLR mics require I separate sound and settings adjustment station).

Blue Yeti X

There’s a reason Blue microphones show up in best streaming microphones reviews. The superb sound quality is what makes it the best streaming microphone for those who chose streaming as their main source of income.

The Blue Yeti X Professional Condenser USB Microphone has four condensers (capsules). This is what sets it apart from the regular Blue Yeti microphone, which has only 4 condensers. More capsules – better clarity and focus.

The front panel is LED-lit and monitors your volume levels in real time. It features the smart knob, with which you can make many on-the-fly adjustments. Features also include Blue Vo!ce and zero-latency monitoring (it records when you actually speak).

This beautiful streaming microphone comes with software to help you adjust its settings even further to your liking (the software even has a toggle for noise reduction, so your air conditioner doesn’t get in the way of your recording session).

The body of this microphone is all-metal, making it sturdy and solid. It comes with a desktop mount attached to it out of the box. The microphone is compatible with both Windows and Mac, but the Blue!Voice is only available when this mic is used in Windows.

Yeti X can be mounted to a stand adapter, which you will benefit from using when you want to hear less keyboard typing sounds while you are recording, for example.

This streaming microphone can function in multiple patterns, depending on its position and settings.

Elgato Wave:3

Elgato is making products which many streamers use already, but with this microphone the company has entered the sound game. And it is a great entrance, to be honest.

The Elgato Wave:3 – USB Condenser Microphone and Digital Mixer is for those streamers, who really want to protect their audio from any outside annoyances that can happen during the recording session. It is easy to use, it sounds amazing and is compatible with most desktop boom-arms.

The manufacturer says this microphone was designed from the ground up with streaming in mind. And honestly, it shows.

Elgato Wave:3 only has a single cardioid pattern, but if you are looking for the best streaming microphone, this can be considered an advantage.

This microphone gives you up to 8 channels to control, so you can fine-tune your audio streaming quality if needed. But to be completely honest with you, the out-of-the-box quality was enough for me.

Upon unboxing, you will find the microphone itself with a desktop stand already mounted to it, as well as a boom-arm adapter and a USB-C cable.

The mic is very light and very easy to move around. At the same time it’s almost impossible to knock the mic over, because the desktop stand is heavy enough. That’s what I call good balance.

I should mention that the desktop stand is a bit short to my liking, so if you are a bit on the taller side, you will feel more comfortable using it on a boom-arm.

The dial on the front control your volume and acts as a switch between gain, monitor volume and mixer. On the back of the microphone you have a standard headphone jack for direct monitoring of your mic’s audio and a USB-C port. I also have found the mute button on top very handy.

The one single best feature of this microphone is no clipping and distortion that follows. The recording process just sounds flawless having no distortion. That’s the Elgato Wave Clip Guard taking action.

At the end, it all fits together into a compelling, high quality package I really think you should try for yourself.

One thing to note, it is not plug-and-play right out-of-the-box – you have to use the software that Elgato provides to be able to start using it (it’s a mixer microphone, so no surprise here). The setup is very easy, and the quality of the sound that this streaming microphone provides totally make up for this small extra step.

HyperX QuadCast

The HyperX QuadCast Microphone streaming microphone is outstanding. If you are thinking about embarking on your streamer path, this mic may amaze you.

HyperX is known for a lot of gaming peripherals (we had reviewed their keyboard and mouse previously, for example). I am pretty hyped to see a microphone from them, and they did not disappoint.

The red and black appearance of this microphone (which follows the HyperX branding), is very aesthetically appealing. In fact, as someone who pays attention to how my home workspace looks, I could probably start replacing my current peripherals with those from HyperX for the looks alone. The thing just looks awesome, and the picture doesn’t do enough justice in this case.

(Imagine how awesome the HyperX Alloy FPS Pro – Tenkeyless Mechanical Gaming Keyboard, the HyperX Pulsefire Surge – RGB Wired Optical Gaming Mouse and the HyperX QuadCast Microphone would look together on your desk to get the feeling I’ve got actually having the three for this review series).

Included inside the box are a long micro-USB cable, and a boom-arm adapter.

The mic comes with a shock mount which easily eliminated any micro-vibrations. The smooth volume/gain dial is the bottom of this microphone. The indicator is not LED-lit, and has simple dots that serve indication purposes.

In the back of the microphone you have a separate dial to switch patterns (all four mentioned at the beginning of this article possible choices).

There are 3 capsules inside this model. A headphone jack and a USB port are also in the back.

The top of this microphone is a mute button, and the light the microphone is lit with goes off (all you have to do is just touch the top; very convenient if you ask me).

Granted, the 3 best streaming microphones reviewed in this article are all over $100 but for all the features the three products have, the prices are well worth it, to be honest.

Interesting thing to note is all the mics really deserve the 100/100 score. The answer to the “which one out of the three mics to buy?” question really comes down to what you are looking for.

About your guides

Val Paliy

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Dan Reviews Staff

(Dan Reviews is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission)

Featured Image Source: Unsplash.

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