People can work with lower quality video, people can’t stand low quality audio.

Look, you can dedicate every waking hour of your life studying and mimicking Roger Deakins or Christopher Doyle’s work — your audience will still click out of your video faster than you can yell “speeding!” if you have horrible audio. I’m presuming you’ve read our post on, YouTubers Reveal EXACTLY How Much They Make, if you’re set on pursuing a YouTube Career, you definitely don’t want to skimp out on decent audio equipment (and don’t worry – it won’t break the bank).

You’ve probably found out that internal mics on your camera suck, but talk surrounding different mic types and polar patterns can sound overwhelming for an aspiring content creator, especially after you’ve just poured so much time and research into buying your first camera.

But if you stick around for a bit, we’ll run through the basic audio concepts that you need to learn as a beginner, and round up the best microphones you can get for YouTube at every price point.

Overall, for most YouTubers, I’d start with a shotgun mic.

This will work for 99% of YouTubers who basically speak directly to the camera. The only exceptions would be for interviews and podcasts. For that, just copy what the most popular podcast uses; Joe Rogan’s Podcast Equipment (his mics are featured below). If you want to save a little more money, check out Tim Ferriss’ Podcast Setup.

It’s also a good start for any other type of video productions (Also See: How to Become a Videographer), I’ve shot weddings on a budget with a lot of the equipment I mention here, just shotgun mics, a personal recorder and a couple of lav mics.

Before we move over to our mic recommendations, let’s briefly touch on polar patterns and the most popular microphone types for content creators and filmmakers, because it’s important in deciding on which mic(s) you will ultimately choose.

Directional Polar Patterns

Now microphones with directional polar patterns are what you need if you only want to pick up audio from a certain angle relative to the mic, and ignore anything else. A shotgun mic is the poster child for directional microphones because it concentrates on a much narrower angle than omni mics, while also isolating most sounds coming from anywhere else. Note that directional polar patterns are further divided into subcategories such as cardioid, hypercardioid, supercardioid, and lobar patterns but the idea remains the same. Shotgun mics, studio mics (or condenser mics) and some lav mics have directional pick up patterns.

Rode VideoMic Go or VideoMicro

Let’s face it, your camera’s internal microphone is hot garbage. A quick and easy upgrade like the $99 Rode VideoMic Go, an on-camera shotgun mic, will deliver a world of difference. If you can sit within a few feet from the camera, you can expect to get competitive audio quality and pretty much do everything with this little shotgun mic. I personally use the smaller Rode VideoMicro, which is a better fit for my smaller Micro Four Thirds cameras.

IMPORTANT: Rode has acknowledged that there are a lot of Rode knockoffs out there, when you purchase Rode mics make sure it’s from an authorized seller. On Amazon, make sure it’s sold and shipped by Amazon, and avoid 3rd party vendors that aren’t on Rode’s authorized vendor list. 

The VideoMic Go does not require batteries and only relies on the in-line power from your camera. It also doesn’t have any complicated buttons or switches that may scare off the average newcomer. And because it’s connected directly to your camera, you won’t have to do any syncing in post — it’s as plug and play as it gets.

Here’s an awesome video from Jay SonyAlphaLab demonstrating how the Rode VideoMic Go compares to his studio mic and camera’s internal microphone.

Omnidirectional Polar Patterns

Imagine a perfect sphere with a microphone in the middle — the omnidirectional mic will capture natural-sounding audio from all angles within this sphere. You’ll want omnidirectional mics for capturing audio from a moving talent, as these won’t completely “miss” the source if it veers off away from the mic. Lavaliers and hand-held mics (or reporter mics) often have omnidirectional polar patterns.

Rode SmartLav+

You’ll see a lot of bloggers/Youtubers recommend the personal audio recorder like the Zoom H4n or something similar. But I’d recommend something even simpler… everyone already has a recorder, a smartphone. 

The Rode SmartLav+ is an omnidirectional mic that just clips on to your shirt and plugs directly into your phone. From there, the lav will run through your recording app and you’ll just sync your audio files with your footage later in post. At only $79, I think you’ll have trouble finding a lapel mic with a better value proposition.

If you’re willing to do the extra grunt work in the form of a little synching in post — and I promise it’s a very simple process even for a complete editing newb — then the Rode SmartLav+ is easily one of the best ways to get a quality lavalier on a budget.

A few scenarios where a lav is better then a shotgun mic are:

• You need the ability to move around (with a shotgun mic should be fixed a few feet from the camera)
• Depending on the proximity to the shotgun mic, I’ve found lavs perform better outdoors.  But I’d always recommend using a lav in addition to your shotgun mic in this scenario.

The con to lavs is that they’re often in the shot (ie. hard to hide), and can sometimes pick up noise from rubbing against clothing.

I personally love this mic, and I use it in addition to a Zoom H4n + a lav for weddings.

Have a look at Totally Exposed’s thorough testing of the SmartLav+, including a handy comparison between using a field recorder on the budget lav versus recording with it as intended: directly on a smartphone.

Blue Yeti

The Blue Yeti has been around for a while now and has served as a standard for YouTube audio since its introduction over 10 years ago. It’s great for gaming/eSports and streaming, for the level of quality you’re getting with this condenser mic, it’s amazing how incredibly simple it is to operate. The Yeti simply plugs on to your PC via USB and you’re pretty much done.

Aside from the quality audio, the Yeti has a few more tricks up its sleeve. It can easily switch between 4 polar patterns: cardioid for solo recording, figure-8 (front and rear) if you’re interviewing a guest, stereo mode for music recording, and omnidirectional if you want to record a live band performance. The Yeti is the best first studio mic to get for your content creation, podcasting and streaming needs.

It’s pretty mind-blowing how you can get a fully-pledged, all around studio microphone for just $130. Check out Andy Skye’s review of the Blue Yeti with some tips about how you can get the most out of this mic.

Azden SMX-30

The Azden SMX-30 differentiates itself from the shotgun mic crowd with its ability to switch between mono and stereo modes. This means you can use the SMX-30 like your regular mono shotgun mic to record dialogue and isolated vocals, while giving you the option to record in stereo (using the SMX-30’s secondary stereo mics) to capture super realistic, immersive environmental audio.

For $250, you’ll also get additional features such as a high-pass filter, and +20 dB, 0 dB and -10 dB gain adjustments that you won’t see on entry level on-camera mic alternatives.

You should seriously consider this shotgun microphone if you’re a filmmaker who needs a great all-rounder mic for YouTube. Here’s no other than Caleb of DSLR Video shooter testing out this beast of a mic.

Rode Wireless Go II

The Rode Wireless Go II, which just launched in February of 2021, is already shaping up to be the best lavalier mic system in the mid-range segment. Headline features include an insanely compact, two-person receiver and transmitters with built-in omni mics. The receivers also feature a gorgeous display that lets you monitor and adjust your gain levels in 3 stages (0 dB, -12 dB, or 24 dB).

With a 200m line of sight transmission range and simple initial set-up (mainly just pairing and selecting either mono or stereo channels), the Rode Wireless Go II is the perfect companion for run-and-gun shooters.

If you’re going to be interviewing people or will be having guests onboard a lot on your channel, I think the $299 sticker price on this wireless lav kit is well worth it. It’ll run you an additional $150 if you want to get the full system which includes 2 dedicated Rode Omni Lav Mics.

Here’s Caleb once again with a super in-depth review of the newest iteration of the Rode Wireless Go:

Shure SM7B

How do you know if it’s worth shelling out more than a couple hundred dollars for a studio microphone? Here’s a simple test you can do. Ask yourself this: is this the exact same mic Joe Rogan and Gary Vaynerchuk use in their podcast?

The Shure SM7B is a top-shelf, professional microphone that’ll take your audio game for your podcasts, streams, voice over work, and talking head videos to the next level. It’s got a dynamic cardioid polar pattern with a flat and smooth response, topped with internal air suspension and interference shielding tech to produce some of the cleanest and crispiest and files out there.

The SM7B alone will run you $399, however, most pros recommend pairing this mic with a Cloudlifter (for an additional $150) for more gain and better results. Check out Javier Mercedes’ comparison of the Shure SM7B with and without the Cloudlifter.

Rode NTG3

Capping this list is one of the best, professional-grade shotgun mics you can get. We’re talking indie film, documentary, television production quality here. The Rode NTG3 produces a clean, flat sound that is both rich and warm.

Truly a workhorse microphone, the NTG3 is also moisture-resistant so you can film in and out of the studio during less-than-ideal conditions. It’s frankly the ultimate all-around microphone you can have in your arsenal as a YouTuber.

Like the Shure SM7B, the Rode NTG3 is also an XLR mic which will require additional gear like field recorders and audio recorders. It’ll run you $699 for the mic alone. But you’ll of course need some additional accessories such as a boom pole (or a mic stand), shock mount, dead cat windshield etc. B&H offers a Deluxe Location Recording Kit that has all these and more at around $1,259.

The extra work (and budget) you’ll sink into this microphone, however, will be all worth it once you see what it brings to the table for your production quality. Have a listen to Bandrew Scott of the Podcastage as he puts the NTG3 through its paces.

Final Thoughts

That has been seven different microphones at different price points ranging from the entry level up to the mid-range and higher end segments, with each recommendation excelling in their own unique, specialty applications.

Broadcast quality audio for YouTube videos can be had for less than $100. So for or all you up and coming YouTubers out there, we’ve hopefully shown you how there’s really no excuse for skipping out on a mic purchase even if you’re working with a shoestring budget.