I’ve published an update to this review that you’ll probably find more useful.

They say for the average bear it takes about 10,000 hours of doing something before you become an expert. While I am not quite there yet, I’d guess I am nearing it with the many late nights and 48 hour week-end marathons I have pulled recording and editing Podcasts.

Throughout this time I have gotten my chance to try out different styles of microphones, some good and some great.

I put together quite the video, with different samples from each microphone and a bit more information than is covered in this post, so I highly recommend you check it out:

If you’re shooting video, especially since a lot of online video sites now support HD video you’ll want to get good audio to match that great video quality. I don’t have a lot of experience with camera microphones, but the one I current use and like a lot is the Rode VideoMic, and it does a great job. It’s a shot gun Mic, meaning it picks up audio from what it is directly pointing at. Very handy for avoiding SOME of the noise from the tap drive in my HV20 camera.

I bought mine from Amazon.com, and they say only 3 left in stock.. So if you want one buy one soon:

Next up is the Mic I like to use when I am recording in front of my computer. I have a Logitech Logitech QuickCam Pro 9000, which is a nice cam with a built in Mic… But after using the mic built into the webcam I have found the audio quality lacking. It seems to distort from time to time and does not sound great.

So I opted to pickup a USB connected Snowball from Blue. Most the time I try to have it just out of the camera shot, but close enough to pick me up decently. From a looks standpoint it might just be the coolest looking microphone I have ever seen. From a sound standpoint (which is all that matters) is it decent. The quality is not as great as some of my high-end mics, it does not sound as warm or deep to me. But when I listen to it, it may be the most honest sounding mic, the most true to my real voice. Plus since it is sort of my true to my real voice, that does give me a wider range of tweaking I can do in post editing.  I should note, that all tweaking must be done in software, since you can’t run the Snowball through a mixing board since it is USB only and connects directly to your computer.

I also bought the Blue Snowball from Amazon, where you can also read some other buyers thoughts:

My old standby, the mic Bryan and I have used for years in our shows is the MXL 990s. These are condenser mics (meaning they need to be supplied phantom power) and they have great sound. On top of the great sound, they come at a great price. You can pick up an MXL 990 with shock mount and carrying case (handy if you record at different locations) for $60.

These microphones (4 of them to be exact) are what we use even today to record our CastaBlasta podcast.

They might not produce radio broadcaster quality sound, but they will sound better than nearly every other podcast out there, and they are a heck of a bargain. Like my other microphones, I have bought four MXL 990s from Amazon:

The last microphone in the roundup is my favorite by far. The amazing Heil PR-40! I’ve always been impressed with the sound quality Leo Laporte has gotten out of 64kbps mono MP3 files that he releases for his TWiT podcasts, so I set off to find out what microphone he uses.

What I found was a whole ton of well known, long time broadcasters praising the merits of the PR-40. After doing some research I ordered mine and have been delighted.

The microphone is not cheap, I bought mine for around $330 just for the Mic, then I bought a stand for another $100 and the spider shock mount for another $100! So I could not dive right into this mic, the time had to be right for such an upgrade.

When we launched Jupiter Broadcasting it really felt like it was time to step up once more, and upgrade to something top of the line to reflect our ambitions for Jupiter Broadcasting, enter the Heil PR-40. The PR-40 is truly a modern achievement in amazing microphone design, it has amazing highs, mid’s and lows. Its top fire-end design means that background noise is cut way, way down.

The only major negative thing I have to say about this microphone is it has a major learning curve. The PR-40 requires a new technique to use it, no more sloppy positioning, and breathing. Once you get that down, and really only practice makes perfect, you have a super great microphone.

Like the others, I bought my Heil PR-40 from the store Amazon (only a few left in stock):

I’d love to hear your thoughts! Twitter me up at twitter.com/ChrisLAS and tell me your microphone experiences!