Streaming Microphones

A streaming microphone captures your voice while you play, provide commentary or chat live with viewers on Twitch or YouTube. This page brings together microphones whose manufacturers explicitly list streaming as one of their uses. You'll find USB microphones that connect straight to your computer, as well as microphones with an XLR output for an audio interface or mixing console. Some models, such as Shure MV7+, have both outputs.

USB or XLR: which streaming microphone should you choose?

A USB microphone has a built-in audio converter. You connect it to your computer with a cable, select it as the input in your streaming application and need no other equipment. Rode NT-USB+ and Audio-Technica AT2020USB-X are examples, with a USB-C connector and a headphone output.

You connect a microphone with an XLR output to a USB audio interface or a mixing console with a microphone preamp. This adds one more piece of equipment, but makes it easy to expand your setup with a second microphone or an instrument later. Shure MV7+ and Rode PodMic USB have both USB-C and XLR, so you can start with your computer and use XLR later on.

Dynamic or condenser microphone for streaming?

A dynamic microphone mainly picks up your voice at close range and captures less sound from the room, your keyboard or your computer's fan. It suits an ordinary room if you speak a few centimetres from the grille. A condenser microphone captures more detail in your voice, but also more of the surrounding sounds, so a quiet room suits it well. A cardioid polar pattern helps with both types by reducing sound arriving from behind the microphone.

How does a streaming microphone differ from a podcast microphone?

When streaming, you sit at your computer, play or provide commentary, with the microphone on your desk or on an arm beside your monitor. A microphone arm keeps it close to your mouth, clear of your keyboard and out of the camera's view. Many microphones work for both streaming and podcasts; if you're recording a conversation with several people, take a look at podcast microphones too.