Hardware Tips

Best Gaming Microphone for Streaming

A stylish, weighty, and iconic gaming mic with four polar patterns and easy-to-use on-mic controls.

3. HyperX QuadCast S

Best Gaming Microphone for Talking

A long-standing favorite mic with bright, colorful RGB, four polar patterns, and the best tap-to-mute implementation around.

4. Logitech Yeti Orb

Best Budget Gaming Microphone

The new, darker, $60 snowball that sounds awesome out of the box.

5. Beyerdynamic FOX

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Best Gaming Microphone for Music Recording

A hi-res mic with 96 kHz/24-bit recording, on-mic controls, and a sturdy pop filter.

6. Audio-Technica AT2020USB+

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Best Gaming Microphone for Podcasting

A premium mic with warm, detailed vocals and a pleasant high-end — perfect for speaking.

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The Best Gaming Microphones You Can Buy Today

Why you can trust Tom’s Hardware Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you.Find out more about how we test .

Best Gaming Microphone for Most

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1. Rode NT-USB+

Best Gaming Mic

Specifications

Sample rate: 48 KHz

Bit rate: 24-bit

Frequency response: 20 Hz-20 KHz

Condenser Type: -

Polar Patterns: Cardioid

Cable length: 9.8 feet (3m)

Connectivity: USB-C

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Reasons to buy

Sturdy, well-built

Comes with detachable pop filter

Sounds fantastic

Reasons to avoid

No on-mic gain control

Louder audio sources still clip

Rode’s NT-USB+ retains the sturdy, professional design of its predecessor — the NT-USB — but adds some pretty impressive upgrades, including enhanced circuitry, Rode’s Revolution Preamp technology, and an internal DSP (as well as USB-C connectivity). This condenser microphone produces excellent vocals with a solid low end and very little self noise — giving you broadcast-quality sound in an easy-to-use, plug-and-play package.

The NT-USB+ comes with a 9.8-foot (3m) USB-C to USB-C cable, a plastic tripod desktop stand, a detachable metal mesh pop shield, and a detachable ring mount that can be easily mounted on a boom arm (or a different stand). It features a 3.5mm high-power headphone output for zero-latency monitoring on the mic, as well as two dials to control mix and headphone volume level. It does not have a gain dial or a mute button. The NT-USB+’s internal DSP allows for advanced audio processing, which can be activated using one of Rode’s apps — Rode Central, Rode Connect, or the new Rode X Unify software.

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The NT-USB+ improves upon the NT-USB — already an impressive USB microphone — to deliver fantastic-sounding, clean audio with a low noise floor. If you’re looking for a mic that will make you sound great while you’re chatting with teammates or streaming over Twitch, look no further.

Read: Rode NT-USB+ Review

Best Gaming Microphone for Streaming

Clear vocals and stability make the Blue Yeti USB the best streaming microphone.

2. Blue Yeti USB

Best Gaming Microphone for Streaming

Our expert review:

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Specifications

Sample rate: 44 KHz

Bit rate: 16-bit

Frequency response: 20 Hz-20 KHz

Condenser Type: Back electret

Polar patterns: Cardioid, bidirectional, omnidirectional, stereo

Cable length: 3.3 feet (1m)

Connectivity: USB Type-A

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Reasons to buy

Stable stand

Crystal clear vocals

Easy control layout

Reasons to avoid

Outmatched for sound quality by rivals

No hi-res recording options

Crunchy audio characteristics

The Blue Yeti was there at the birth of the streaming boom, and it’s still a ubiquitous desktop feature on Twitch — and with good reason. It’s just about the easiest mic to use on the market and it excels at picking up a single vocal signal.

Logitech’s Blue Yeti is built to a very high standard and will stay where you angle it on its weighty desktop stand. The design of that stand, along with the understated, retro aesthetic of the mic capsule itself, makes this the an iconic and stylish USB microphone — and that’s important when you’re streaming yourself for an audience of judging eyes. It doesn’t have RGB lighting to sync to your stream, however — you’ll need Logitech’s newYeti Orb or one ofHyperX’s mics for a lightshow.

The Blue Yeti’s controls couldn’t be easier to use while you’re streaming. A single volume control and a mute button on the front of the mic are all you get, and for the intended purpose that’s all you really need. — you’re never going to accidentally hit the wrong thing mid-stream.

While the Blue Yeti does best when it’s picking up just one person’s voice, it does have four polar patterns for versatility. While everyone will tell you that you should have a separate mic for each individual speaker (and you should), the Yeti can be used to pick up multiple speakers or spatial sounds in a pinch.

Best Gaming Microphone for Talking

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3. HyperX QuadCast S

Best Gaming Microphone for Talking

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Specifications

Sample rate: 48 KHz

Bit rate: 16-bit

Frequency response: 20 Hz-20 KHz

Condenser Type: not disclosed

Polar Patterns: Stereo, omnidirectional, cardioid, bidirectional

Cable length: not disclosed

Connectivity: USB-A to USB-C cable

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Reasons to buy

Very useful shock mount

Superior build quality

Sounds as good as similarly priced competitors

Four polar patterns

Reasons to avoid

Not much different from original QuadCast

Software needed to turn RGB off

Not quite a studio mic

The HyperX QuadCast S is another gamer-oriented USB mic that’s been around for a while (the QuadCast S is a refreshed version of the originalQuadCast ). The QuadCast S will work for a variety of situations, thanks to its large capsule, which features an internal pop filter and four polar patterns. It comes with an attached shock mount and a desktop stand, and — as of the most recent refresh — in black and white colorways.

It has on-mic gain control and a surprisingly unique touch-sensitive mute button that eliminates the audible pop you get when muting mics with mechanical buttons/switches. The mic’s capsule is fully-lit with bright, colorful RGB lighting (which might be a tad ostentatious for some); this goes red when the mic is muted, leaving no ambiguity as to whether people can hear you. (In other words, it’s perfect for conference calls.)

The QuadCast S’s main downside is that it’s limited to 48 kHz/16-bit recording — which is fine for voice chats and streaming, but not great for podcasting or recording music. If you don’t need four polar patterns, theHyperX DuoCast records audio in 96 kHz/24-bit format, and is smaller and less flashy than the QuadCast S (same tap-to-mute, though).

Read: HyperX QuadCast S Review

Best Budget Gaming Microphone

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4. Logitech Yeti Orb

Best Budget Gaming Microphone

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Specifications

Sample rate: 48 kHz

Bit rate: 24-bit

Frequency response: 70 Hz - 20 KHz

Condenser Type: Condenser

Polar patterns: Cardioid

Cable length: -

Connectivity: USB-C

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Reasons to buy

Sounds great

Light changes color when recording

Budget-friendly

SO EASY TO USE

Reasons to avoid

No on-mic controls

Stand is not adjustable

Need to be close for the best sound

Logitech’s Yeti Orb is the soft successor to the classic Blue Snowball: a round, ball-shaped USB condenser microphone with a cardioid polar pattern and a frequency response rate of 70 - 20,000 Hz. Featuring customizable RGB lighting, a removable desktop stand, and a softer, more modern-looking design, this perfect plug-and-play mic sounds fantastic for its budget-friendly $60 MSRP.

The Yeti Orb is simple by design. It only has one polar pattern (cardioid), but it records audio at 24-bit / 48 kHz and has a relatively wide frequency response range. It comes with a sturdy (if slightly short) plastic tripod stand and has two mounting points that let you mount the mic either straight on or at an angle. It works very well out of the box, offering up full, relatively warm vocals and keeping plosives at bay, but it does do best when it’s optimally positioned (i.e., not behind your keyboard). It works with Logitech’s Blue Vo!ce software, which features real-time voice modulation as well as a 3-band EQ, a high-pass filter, noise reduction/noise gate, a compressor, a de-esser, and a de-popper, as well as vocal effects and a sound sampler library for streamers.

The Yeti Orb doesn’t have any on-mic controls, but it does have customizable RGB lighting that can be set to change color when the mic is active/idle. The RGB lights up the Logitech G logo on the mic’s band, but it features a hood that lets you see the color even if the logo is facing away from you (toward your camera, I guess).

Read: Logitech Yeti Orb Review

Best Gaming Microphone for Music Recording

If your focus is music recording, the Beyerdynamic FOX is the best gaming microphone.

5. Beyerdynamic FOX

Best Gaming Microphone for Recording Music

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Specifications

Sample rate: 96 KHz

Bit rate: 24-bit

Frequency response: 20 Hz-20 KHz

Condenser Type: Back electret

Polar patterns: Cardioid

Cable length: 3.3 feet (1m)

Connectivity: USB Type-A

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Reasons to buy

96 KHz/24-bit quality

Great pop shield design

Studio mic capability

Reasons to avoid

Headphone preamp breaks up easily

Only cardioid polar pattern available

Higher quality bit/sample rate is irrelevant for streaming platforms

If you like to break out into song during your Twitch stream, this music-centric microphone is a great choice. Beyerdynamic is a respected name in pro audio, and the company’s expertise in the studio carries over beautifully in this compact, no-fuss USB mic.

Unlike most USB gaming mics, the FOX offers hi-res 96 KHz/24-bit recording quality, which is impressive for a mic you can simply plug in via USB and hit record on. This won’t make much of a difference if you’re on a platform that compresses audio and video, such as YouTube or Twitch, but if you’re into podcasting or music production you’ll probably want the option to go beyond CD-quality 44 KHz/16-bit.

The mic features on-mic controls for mix and volume, as well as a headphone input for zero-latency inline monitoring. The preamp that outputs this monitoring signal ran a little hot in our testing, distorting well before the mic itself did, but it’s still a useful feature when the gain’s rolled off.

There’s also a mute button at the top, and a high-low gain toggle (essentially a pad) at the rear of the mic. Beyerdynamic throws in a sturdy metallic pop shield that clips on without the need to unscrew anything, and you can angle the mic on its stand.

The Beyerdynamic FOX is loaded with features, but ultimately it’s the sheer recording quality and usability that wins out and makes the FOX our pick for home studios.

Read: Beyerdynamic FOX review

Best Gaming Microphone for Podcasting

The Audio-Technica AT2020USB+’s soundscape make it perfect for podcasts.

6. Audio-Technica AT2020USB+

Best Gaming Microphone for Podcasts

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Specifications

Sample rate: 44 KHz

Bit rate: 16-bit

Frequency response: 20 Hz-20 KHz

Condenser Type: Fixed-charge plate, permanently polarized

Polar Patterns: Cardioid

Cable length: 10.2 feet (3.1m)

Connectivity: USB Type-A

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