Buy microphone: which one do I need?
Which microphone you should buy depends on the exact purpose. In this practical tip, we show you which microphones are suitable for which areas of application.
Which microphone for on the go? Everything about the clip-on microphone
If you always want to have your microphone with you, you should buy a clip-on microphone. These are small, handy and allow you to take high quality pictures anywhere.
- Use: A clip-on microphone is attached to your body, usually on a suit / shirt collar or a fabric fold. A cable then leads either to a radio transmitter or to a recording device. The Zoom H1 is one of the best recording devices under 100 euros.
- Setup: You can use a clip-on microphone for recordings from a short distance from the speaker. Thanks to the omnidirectional characteristic, it doesn't matter if you don't speak into the microphone from the front.
- Quality: Due to the small size, the recording quality rarely comes close to that of larger microphones. Clip-on microphones often require phantom power, so the signal must be amplified electronically.
- Price: Due to the small design, the price for better microphones including recording device quickly rises to at least 150 euros.
Which microphone for speech and vocals? Everything about the condenser microphone
If you want to take studio-quality recordings from home, the best thing you need is a condenser microphone. This is operated with phantom power. Some microphones can be operated with a rechargeable battery, otherwise you need a recording device that offers phantom power.
- Use: A condenser microphone needs a firm hold on a stand or a holder, because it is very sensitive. You should also use a "spider" to protect it from vibrations in the floor or the table top, an additional "plop protection" protects you from annoying noises caused by plosive sounds such as "p" or "b".
- Construction: This type of microphone is very sensitive and picks up the slightest noise from you. For a good result, you should be between 20 and 30 cm in front of the microphone. If you are closer to the microphone, the bass of your voice often becomes stronger, further away there is a reverb effect and the noise is louder. For microphones with cardioid characteristics, you should also speak into the microphone from the side.
- Quality: The recording quality is already relatively good with microphones for little money. The built-in hardware for converting the signals for the USB connection is often responsible for bad results. For perfect results, you should buy a microphone with a cable output (XLR) and a small mixer.
- Price: You can also spend a lot of money here for very good recordings. For hobby projects or a small home studio, microphones between 50 and 200 euros are enough.
Which microphone for interviews outside? Everything about the directional microphone
Directional microphones - as the name suggests - only record sounds from a certain direction:
- Use: Directional microphones are built to record only certain sound sources from the front, like through a pipe, and to mask out all other sounds. As a result, you are relatively insensitive to external influences and can also be well protected against weather conditions by a windbreak.
- Setup: The closer you are to a directional microphone, the easier it is to hear the bass and the better the recording quality. However, you can also record sound sources further away. This type of microphone is also a good addition to cameras that are aimed at the speaker anyway when filming. We show you 3 good external microphones for DSLR cameras. In another article we have summarized what you need to pay attention to when buying.
- Quality: The recording quality is often not as good as that of a condenser microphone, but the selective recording of sound sources means that you only pick up a few external noises. Basic smoking is also very high. With these tricks you improve noise-prone recordings.
- Price: Rich microphones range from 100 to 300 euros.
Tip: microphone to-go
There are special microphones for your smartphone, iPhone and iPad that almost match the quality of expensive recording devices:
- We show you good microphones for iPhone and iPad in an etxtra article.
- You will also find an article with 5 good microphones for your smartphone.