When creating videos for YouTube, you need to consider what the best microphone for YouTube is. However, this isn’t actually an easy question to answer as our voices are all different. The best choice for one person may be the worst for another, but this guide to the best microphone for YouTube should be helpful for when it’s time to choose.

There are different types of microphone available to purchase, each with their own general characteristics. But then the microphones themselves all have their own individual positives and negatives. What we’ve attempted to do today is compile a list of microphones that’ll most likely suit everybody. There will be better microphones for your voice available, so we still recommend you try some out if possible, but this will provide a good starting point for you.

We’ve given three or four microphones within each type in order to suit your budget. All of the prices were taken from the website of a shop called GAK, based in Brighton, UK.

Condenser microphones are ideal for recording in a studio-based environment, where there is little-or-no background noise to interfere. These microphones generally pick up sound from the front only, but the more expensive ones allow you to change that and pick up sound from multiple directions. On the negative side, they are very sensitive and wouldn’t be the best microphone for YouTube if you’re planning to film your vlogs outdoors. The microphones below are generally considered all-rounders, but we’ve looked for the ones that are most suitable for the spoken voice.

• SE Electronics X1 A (£79)
• Rode NT1-A (£129 including extras)
• MXL Genesis (£379)
• AKG C414 XLS (£615)

Our pick for this category is the Rode NT1-A as it comes with a great set of extra products that are essential for your recording, including a pop filter for those harsh ‘S’ and ‘B’ sounds and a 10-year warranty. This particular microphone also boasts to be very quiet, helping to give you clear recording.

Ribbon microphones were very popular for radio broadcasts back in the 1950’s. For a while though, they became very unpopular and hard-to-find, but in the past five-or-so years there has been a resurgence in the popularity of these microphones due to advances in technology and a desire for the warm, vintage sound they produce as opposed to the bright sound of condenser mics. Similar to condenser microphones, they are quite sensitive, but they generally pick up sound from the back as well as the front and are often more expensive.

• SE Electronics X1R (£139)
• SE Electronics Voodoo VR1 (£294)
• Rode NTR (£471)

Our pick for the best microphone for YouTube in the Ribbon category is the SE Electronics X1R. This particular microphone incorporates technology from condenser mics into the design, giving you the best of both worlds in both sound and durability. Ribbon microphones have a reputation for being fragile, but the X1R doesn’t suffer from this issue as much as others on the market.

The most common microphone for live music performances, these microphones tend to only pick up sound that is coming from right in front of it. This makes it the best microphone for YouTube if you’re planning to record outdoors, where there is a lot of background noise. When speaking into the microphone, you will need to keep your lips fairly close to the microphone in order to ensure your voice is being picked up, but this also leads to a lot of bass in the recording.

• Sennheiser E845 (£99)
• Sennheiser E945 (£179)
• Shure SM7B (£329)
• Shure KSM8 (£417)

One of the biggest positives for purchasing a dynamic microphone is that you can actually get ones that have been built specifically for recording speech. The one in this list is the Shure SM7B. If you wanted to choose a singular microphone from this entire article, we’d recommend this one over everything else, as it’s capable of fulfilling the most applications, whether it be indoors or outdoors.

USB microphones offer a cheap and simple way for people to record directly onto their computer without the need for additional equipment, such as an audio interface. Whilst often considered inferior in terms of sound quality and recording capabilities, Daniel Bedingfield actually used a cheap USB microphone to record his UK number-one song ‘Gotta Get Thru This’.

• MXL Tempo (£79)
• Rode Podcaster (£158.87)
• Sure PG42USB (£239)

Our pick from the USB microphones is the Rode Podcaster. Simply put, this was the only USB microphone we could find that was specifically built for recording speech.

The subject of the best microphone for YouTube is a tricky one, as every channel and business has their own specific need when it comes to recording voice-overs or testimonials. The best way to find the right microphone for you is to simply try some out, but be sure to check out some of these ones we’ve listed as a starting point.

After choosing your ideal microphone and started making some videos, be sure to read our Videographer Brighton blog on what to do after uploading your videos to YouTube.