The short answer
For most podcasts recorded in an ordinary room, choose a dynamic microphone and speak close to it: it hears your voice far more than the room, the keyboard or the person next to you. Then choose the connection by how many people talk at once.
One host at the computer
A USB microphone plugs straight into the computer and needs nothing else. A hybrid (USB and XLR) gives you the same start and lets you move to an interface later without replacing the microphone.
- Shure MV7+: dynamic, USB and XLR, so it grows with the setup.
- RØDE PodMic USB: dynamic, USB and XLR, built for speech, on a boom arm.
- Samson Q2U: dynamic, USB and XLR, with its cables and a desk stand in the box.
- Shure MV6: dynamic, USB only, the smallest path to a clean voice.
Two or more people in the same room
Two USB microphones on one computer are two separate devices that can drift apart and are awkward to record together. Use XLR microphones (or hybrids on their XLR output) into one interface or mixer with an input for each voice, so every voice gets its own gain and its own track.
- Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 4th Gen: two microphone inputs, the simplest two-person recorder.
- Elgato Wave XLR Pro: two XLR voices and two headphone mixes in one box.
- RØDECaster Duo: two voices plus a remote guest and computer sound, with separate mixes.
A remote guest
Your guest must hear you and not themselves. That needs a return without their own voice, called mix-minus: a mixer like the RØDECaster Duo builds it for you, and an interface needs routing software to do the same. Loopback and mix-minus explains both, and guest hears their own echo fixes it when it goes wrong. Best streaming mixer for your setup sorts the mixers that build it for you.
A quiet, treated room
In a quiet room with soft furnishings a condenser such as the RØDE NT-USB+ catches more detail and lets you sit a little further back. In a normal room the same microphone also hears the walls, so most podcasts sound better on a dynamic one spoken into from close up.
The broadcast classic and its catch
The Shure SM7B is the microphone many podcasts are known for, and it is XLR only and quiet: it needs an interface with plenty of clean gain. Check its gain figure against the interface before buying both; the setup builder does that comparison for you.
Record each voice on its own track
Separate tracks let you fix one person’s level or a cough afterwards without touching the others. In OBS, give each microphone its own audio track under Advanced Audio Properties and record with multiple tracks; most mixers and interfaces can also record each input separately. Separate stream, recording and VOD audio shows the OBS side.
Test before the first episode
Speak at your normal level and your loudest in the microphone test: your voice should reach the yellow on OBS’s meter and the room should stay low between words. Then record ten minutes with everyone talking and listen back on headphones. To stream the show live without cameras, see Stream audio only.
Equipment for these connections
Start with the kind of gear you’re missing, and read its full profile before adding it to your setup.
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USB now, an XLR interface later
Shure MV7+
Use USB for the microphone’s DSP and headphone features. On XLR, plan processing and monitoring at the interface; those USB features do not follow the analog cable.
Connections & full profile →A USB and XLR microphone: a computer now, a mixer later
RØDE PodMic USB (Black)
Choose a mount that supports the microphone’s documented weight. Use USB for its onboard processing, or plan processing and monitoring separately on the XLR route.
Connections & full profile →A USB and XLR dynamic microphone with its cables and a desk stand in the box
Samson Q2U
Its USB audio is 16-bit at 44.1 or 48 kHz. On the XLR route it needs an interface with a microphone preamp.
Connections & full profile →View at Samson ↗A broadcast dynamic microphone for a close, speech-focused voice
Shure SM7B
It needs more gain than most entry-level interfaces give: Shure asks for a preamp with more than 60 dB of gain, or an inline booster. Choose the interface before the microphone.
Connections & full profile →View at Shure ↗An XLR voice microphone for use with an audio interface
Elgato Wave DX
Add an XLR cable and an interface with a microphone preamp. A USB cable or passive XLR adapter alone cannot connect this microphone to the computer.
Connections & full profile →A plug-in USB dynamic microphone for voice
Shure MV6
Use it directly over USB. Choose an XLR or hybrid microphone instead if you intend to move the same mic onto a standalone analog mixer.
Connections & full profile →A USB condenser for a controlled recording space
RØDE NT-USB+
Use the direct USB route and place the microphone close enough for a clear voice before treating room reflections with processing. Choose another microphone if an XLR mixer connection is required.
Connections & full profile →Two people in the room, plus a remote guest and computer sound
RØDE RØDECaster Duo
Assign the stream, headphones and guest return explicitly. Exclude the guest’s own voice from their return, then record a call to check the mix before going live.
Connections & full profile →Two independent microphone inputs for a two-person recording
Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 4th Gen
Loopback alone does not remove a guest’s voice from their return. Build a separate mix-minus route before using remote guests, or choose a mixer with that routing available.
Connections & full profile →Two XLR voices and two headphone mixes in a compact interface
Elgato Wave XLR Pro
Plug your streaming computer into the main USB socket. Keep the second USB socket for the other device, and set up what each one hears separately.
Connections & full profile →