ItвЂ™s helpful if youвЂ™re switching from a boisterous speaker to a soft-spoken one, say, or from a lullaby to an aria. In-mic volume (gain) control: This feature gives you more control over the volume from the microphone as itвЂ™s feeding into your computer.Without this addition, you have to plug your headphones into your computer, and the resulting slight delay (due to the processing the analog-to-digital converter uses as it encodes your voice) can be infuriating if you are trying to match a beat or narrate over a video, or if you just donвЂ™t want to discover after your recording that all your PвЂ™s were popping. Headphone jack on the mic: A zero-latency headphone jack helps you hear exactly what the mic is sending to your computer without any distracting delay.The more switches and knobs there are, the more overwhelming a mic is to use, and the tougher it is to dial in perfect settings. Ease of use: A great microphone should offer options for those who want to fiddle, but those options shouldnвЂ™t make things complicated.In our latest round of testing, however, we did test a couple of more-expensive microphones just for comparisonвЂ™s sake. Many of those pricier options offer high-definition audio recording, but according to our experts and our tests, most people canвЂ™t tell the difference in the results.

Some microphones made for voice and music professionals cost more than twice that.

Among the models we looked at, a majority of the microphones with our desired features, the highest recommendations, and broadly positive reviews fall between $60 and $100. Price under or around $100: Because a USB mic exists in the realm between built-in recording and the expensive world of studio-level microphones, the price should be in that middle range, too.

Usb vs xlr microphone