Speaker 1: Let's talk about USB microphones. When you're recording your content either at home or when traveling a good USB microphone can still provide high quality audio and the convenience of just one cable from the microphone to your computer. We're going to cover the top seven choices for USB microphones and give you audio samples of each so you can compare and decide what's right for you. For all our microphone tests I'm not going to EQ the audio at all so this is going to be a flat EQ only adjusting volume to make sure it matches the rest of the video but no other effects will be applied to the microphone samples. Our first recommendation is the Audio-Technica ATR2100X. I've used this USB microphone in many situations. Not only does it sound great but it's very convenient. This microphone has an on-off switch for easily muting yourself and what's great is it has both a USB-C connection and XLR connection so you can use it as a USB only microphone if you're recording solo. It has a headphone jack for monitoring yourself and if you ever want to use this in an upgraded setup later the XLR connection is great for that. I would recommend using a windscreen like this. These are pretty inexpensive. You can get them on Amazon. Links to everything in the video description but the 2100X is about $80, comes with the cable and a small stand and again has great sound quality for the price. This is a test of the Audio-Technica ATR2100X USB microphone. Riverside is the best way to record high quality video and audio content online and with remote guests. A similar option to the 2100X is the Samsung Q2U. Again depending on the current sales going on these two microphones can be very comparable in price and again check the links in the video description. The next step up would be the Rode NT-USB Mini. It's about $100 but it's a great quality microphone, sounds good and also has that USB-C connection. And as you can hear the

Speaker 2: result is professional sounding audio that's incredibly easy to set up and will sound great

Speaker 1: in a huge variety of situations. At this point we should talk about the Blue Yeti microphone. It's about $130 and is recommended as an entry microphone by many people and it's an okay microphone. It is a condenser microphone meaning just like the Rode USB Mini it's going to pick up a lot of room noise if you're not careful. So you need a kind recording environment. You might need to go into your clothing closet to make sure there's no echo or background noise because this microphone will pick it up. The Blue Yeti does have a headphone jack so you can monitor your input but it uses mini USB which is not as convenient as USB-C. You'll need a specific cable with this connection to connect it to your computer. There's also settings for pattern and gain on the microphone. You have to test these to make sure the gain is not too hot where it's distorting and picking up so much room noise that will be unusable. And you need to make sure your pattern is correct. If you're recording two people at once the Blue Yeti can record two different directions for two people and that's what that setting is. But if you're recording alone or doing an online recording with just remote guests you really want to use this cardioid pattern so it will just pick up your voice and try to not pick up the things behind the microphone or as much room noise. This is a test of the Blue Yeti USB microphone. Riverside is the best way to record high quality video and audio content online and with remote guests. Now moving into the mid-range USB microphones we highly recommend the Shure MV7. You can get this model with USB and XLR connections and it's kind of the little brother to the Shure SM7B, that very popular microphone you probably see in many video podcasts. The MV7 costs about $250 but you do get options in software to change the tone and timbre of the microphone from a dark to a natural to a higher pitch tone. The MV7 could serve as your main microphone at home or in the office or as a travel microphone and companion to your professional home setup. This is a test of the Shure MV7 USB microphone. Riverside is the best way to record high quality video and audio content online and with remote guests. A new entry in the USB microphone space is called Tula, T-U-L-A. It is a very compact microphone. It is condenser but actually has some great features built in. It's a very compact microphone that fits in this little case that you get with it and it even has a built-in kickstand you can set on a desk. The Tula has a headphone jack for monitoring yourself and lots of options to even reduce room noise or background noise and you can record locally to this device. So even if you don't have a computer you can actually record directly to this microphone's hard drive and connect it to your computer to pull the files later. We also like that it is USB-C on the back instead of micro or mini USB. This is a test of the Tula USB microphone. Riverside is the best way to record high quality audio and video content online and with remote guests. The Tula costs about $260 so again very comparable to the MV7. It would be a great travel microphone especially because of its compact size and its high quality. Finally a higher-end USB microphone option is the Earthworks Icon. This is a USB only microphone. It's about $350 but gives you great audio quality and this could be set on a desk if you were streaming or wanting to live stream with the camera off microphone. This can pick you up from that distance. Like other condenser mics it can be sensitive so you have to be in a room with not a lot of background noise or echo to get the best quality. Unfortunately it is micro USB instead of USB-C but Earthworks includes multiple cables in the box. It has the headphone jack so you can monitor yourself and the gain adjustment knob. This is a test of the Earthworks Icon USB microphone. Riverside is the best way to record high quality video and audio content online and with remote guests. So those are some of the best options for USB microphones. If you have any questions drop a comment below this video we'd love to answer you there. Hit the like button and subscribe to the Riverside channel. We have lots of content on automating your podcast, how to upgrade to a video podcast, and a lot more. Thanks for tuning in. We'll catch you in the next video.