Best Microphone for Zoom Meetings

Web conference platforms like Zoom and Microsoft Teams are pretty cool. They allow our remote teams to talk face-to-face across thousands of miles in real time. In that way, they’re a big improvement over traditional phone calls or teleconferences. Once the connection moved from telephones to the internet, and our devices changed from telephones to laptops, though, some things got worse. Internet connection quality is one big issue. If you’ve solved that though, the audio quality is the most annoying. You need to find the best microphone for Zoom meetings.

When you’re on a call and you can’t tell what your colleagues are saying, your time is wasted. If you’re talking to clients, it’s frustrating for them. Leaving an impression of frustration and poor communication can’t be good for building rapport and making sales.

Bad audio can create misunderstandings, missed opportunities, and lost sales. If you’re in B2B sales, how much could that cost you?

How fast do you need to fix this? How about immediately? After all, when is the next time you want to make a good impression on a videoconference?

Bad microphones for Zoom meetings

I’ve tried a lot of microphones for videoconferencing from my computer over the years. Frankly, most of them suck for one reason or another. Many of them just give you bad audio. Some are clunky or look stupid. Some can provide excellent audio quality but aren’t practically useable. 

I’ve made quite a few mistakes before getting to something that works well. So let’s run them down.

Lenovo Thinkpad built-in microphone

My work laptop, which I use for 99% of my video conference calls is a Lenovo Thinkpad. It has a built-in microphone and webcam. They’re awful. Just say no unless you have no choice. There’s not much else to say. 

The built-in microphones in most business laptops are terrible. Since they’re built-in, you can’t place them properly, and you can’t sound isolate them from your desk. Their only saving grace is that they’re always available. Their convenience isn’t a good excuse to use them though. 

These are not the best microphone for zoom meetings.

On-camera microphones

Once I moved to upgrade my webcam (which you should, too. right now.), I tried microphones built into a Logitech webcam, a Sony a5100, and a Nikon Z6ii. These are in the same category as the Lenovo laptop’s built-in microphone. Just no. Even expensive modern cameras like the beautiful Nikon Z6ii have pretty bad microphones. Again, since they’re built in, you can’t change the placement relative to the camera. Fortunately, you can plug in a reasonably affordable and much higher-quality microphone if you’re using a camera with an audio input port like the Nikon Z6ii.

The Boya BY-MM1+ is a pretty nice on-camera mic. Similar (and possibly better) options include the Rode VideoMic line or the Deity V-Mic line. These mics sit on top of your camera in the hot shoe and plug into the audio input. I have found the Boya to be much better than any built-in mic, and certainly good enough to be a major upgrade for Zoom. If you want to be further away from the camera, you can even mount it on a boom, closer to your mouth, and use a TRS extension cable to plug it into the camera. Most HDMI to USB capture cards (which you’ll need to take the video signal from your camera and deliver it to Zoom or Teams) can simultaneously handle the audio. Like all external inputs, you just need to be sure to select the right source for your video conferencing platform.

Headsets and lavalier microphones

If you’re on the go and need to travel light, Apple ear pods (or Airpods) are a decent choice. Their sound quality is certainly not the best, but the simplicity, mic proximity, and clarity at least mean you’ll probably be heard and understood. That is more than you can say for the built-in microphone options.

For a little while, I used a Sennheiser PC 36 USB headset. The sound quality through the headphones was good and meant I could hear my colleagues better. The mic worked well enough, too. It just made me look silly (according to a couple of colleagues) and tethered me to my computer with an annoying wire.

I also tried a PowerDeWise 3.5mm lavalier. Ah, the lavalier. It’s a common choice, and, in the right situation, a very good choice. Not so much for video conferencing. There are (expensive) wireless options, but mine had a long cord and a TRS plug. That meant that when I plugged it into my laptop, I was, once again, annoyingly tethered. Worse though, my speakers turned off. So I couldn’t hear my colleagues. At that time, I didn’t have a USB or Bluetooth speaker, so I was out of luck.

Once I solved the speaker problem with a Jabra Speak 510, the lavalier turned out to be a bad choice anyway. Its omnidirectional pickup pattern meant that every keyboard click, desk thump, and passing-car noise came through. Every time I moved, it rustled. That could be because of my skills in placing the microphone and avoiding touching it, but who needs that? 

I need to concentrate on my call, not the gear. These are not the best microphone for zoom meetings, either. Let’s move on.

XLR condenser microphones

The microphones most commonly used by professionals are XLR condenser microphones. They are usually more sensitive and often sound more natural than dynamic microphones, and they come in a variety of forms (and prices). So, why don’t I use one?

I do, just not on video conference calls. 

Why not?

There are two problems with condenser microphones for videoconferencing. First, they require phantom power. My Focusrite Scarlett Solo USB audio interface can provide phantom power for a condenser microphone but every time my computer turns off or goes to sleep, the phantom power turns off. That means I have to remember to check that it’s on every time I join a call.

I join and start talking. People can’t hear me and say “you’re on mute.” Then there’s a moment of confusion when I realize I’m not on mute, but the mic isn’t working. It’s annoying.

I could fix this by switching my Solid State Laboratories SSL2 audio interface to my work laptop. Its phantom power remembers its state when the computer sleeps and stays on unless you turn it off. I don’t, though, because I want that interface on my home PC for other uses.

That’s one reason I don’t use a condenser microphone for video conference calls. The other reason is sensitivity.

I have recorded some voiceover audio and videos in my office, too. For voiceover recording, there are sound level standards for the dialog and noise floor (a whole different article) that I couldn’t meet with the dynamic mic setup. It wasn’t sensitive enough (or I didn’t have enough clean gain).

A condenser microphone is more sensitive. So when I use my Samson C02, I don’t need as much gain, and I can get a better quality recording if I take care with microphone technique and keep the room quiet. 

Microphone technique is another article, but suffice it to say that you must watch your proximity, direction, plosives, sibilants, and mouth noises. It also means making sure my washer and dryer aren’t running, that people aren’t walking around the house talking, and that the TV is off downstairs. I place some acoustic treatments (by which, I mean moving blankets) over reflective surfaces. I don’t type while talking if I’m using this setup because the key clicks will be audible.

Taking care of details makes for better audio with less noise and a more pleasing sound, but it’s too much of a pain for back-to-back video conferences where I sometimes have to take notes by typing.

If your office during a video conference isn’t the perfect acoustic environment, save yourself some headaches, and don’t use a condenser microphone, it’s not the best microphone for zoom meetings.

The dynamic mic setup beats it.

Better microphones for Zoom meetings

Speakerphones

One more category to talk about before we get to what I recommend is speakerphones. I’ve used the Jabra Speak 510 a lot. It is a speakerphone with an omnidirectional microphone. It can connect by Bluetooth or USB, and it has a rechargeable battery. It’s a pretty good device. 

I typically use it as a speaker for my laptop, and it’s much better than the built-in laptop speakers. As a microphone, it’s decent, too. It’s designed for phone calls, so it doesn’t give a natural sound, but it is clear. With its battery and Bluetooth, you can connect it to your favorite smartphone, so it works well on the road, too. If you’re not too concerned about the sound of your voice but just want to be sure it comes through understandably, I can recommend it as a plug-in and forget option.

You can do better, though, it’s not the best microphone for zoom meetings.

Buy the right tool for the job.

The best option I have tried is a Scarlett Solo USB audio interface with a Shure SM58 dynamic cardioid microphone mounted on a boom arm slightly above and in front of me. It picks up my voice quite well without picking up every other thunk, hum, and click in the room. It’s not the most sensitive mic (which is good for rejecting background noise), so I do have to have the gain on my interface turned up fairly high. If I were recording for a video, I’d use a different setup, but for web conferencing, it works well.

XLR dynamic microphones

The Shure SM58 is the most widely used microphone on stages around the world and has been since the 1960s. It’s that good. In a loud environment, you can hold it right up to your mouth and amplify your voice without adding the roar of the crowd to the mix. Some have said you can hammer nails with it. It’s solid.

As noted above, this is what I currently use. It’s pretty great. I set it up once, and now I don’t have to think about it. The settings stay the same. Nothing turns off. I just boot my laptop, open Teams (or Zoom) and it’s ready to go. Sitting at my desk, I can place the microphone about 8 inches from my mouth without it entering the frame of the video. In the reasonably (but not perfectly) quiet environment of my home office, that’s close enough to get a good signal-to-noise ratio. It doesn’t look bad either. So if you have it in the frame, it’s fine.

As a dynamic microphone, it doesn’t require phantom power. With its cardioid pattern, it rejects noise from the sides and behind it quite well. If you don’t have a super quiet and acoustically treated room, this is the kind of setup I recommend: a dynamic microphone with a cardioid or supercardioid pattern, and an XLR to USB audio interface. 

It works, and it could be the best microphone for zoom meetings.

If you don’t want the additional clutter and expense of an audio interface, there is another newer option.

USB microphones for Zoom

USB microphones are usually condenser microphones with a built-in interface to USB so you can plug them directly into your computer. They used to be pretty terrible, and many still are. There are some very good ones, now, though. For live work like video conferences, you want a dynamic mic. In the past, almost all USB mics were condenser mics.

For example, the Blue Nessie is the oldest USB microphone I own. It’s a condenser mic. It’s OK with a couple of flaws. Similar to the popular Blue Yeti, they’re good enough microphones and they look good, too. The downside (which is true for most mics in this category) is twofold. First, they sit on your desk. I can’t speak for the more recent versions, but the Blue Nessie is poorly isolated from thunks and clunks through the desk, and it can’t be removed from its base to mount on a boom arm. Second, as a condenser mic, the background noise rejection isn’t very good, either. It’s hard to place it near enough to you without it getting in your way on the desk if you need to type. I can’t recommend mics like this anymore, at least for videoconferencing.

I can recommend a couple of dynamic USB microphones that have come to market recently, though. The Deity VO-7U and the BEACN mic, specifically. Both of these microphones can be mounted on a  boom for easy placement, out of your way, isolated from your desk, and still in a good position. Both are USB mics, so you don’t need a separate interface. Best of all, both are high-quality dynamic mics with excellent audio quality and good noise rejection.

What would I choose today?

If I were buying a new microphone for use in web conferences today, the best microphone for zoom meetings is the Deity VO-7U. It’s plug-and-play, with no software or drivers to install (helpful if you have a corporate IT-secured laptop), and it works seamlessly on both PC and Mac. The sound is good, and the price is quite reasonable. As a bonus, it’s cheaper from Amazon today in 2022 with a quality boom arm and cable included than my Scarlett Solo plus Shure SM58 were in 2020.

Go buy one now

You’ll be glad you did, your coworkers will be glad you did, and your clients will appreciate being able to understand you. Who knows? It might even help you make more sales.