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The Best Microphones and Pop Filters for your Home Recording Studio

There are hundreds of microphones to choose from. All are better for some things than others e.g. vocals. You can spend from a few hundred pounds to thousands so making bad choices can be costly.

Ideally, try and purchase the best microphone you can but, not at the expense of getting your home studio up and running. Remember you can always upgrade in the future.

There are 2 main categories of microphone Condenser microphones and Dynamic microphones. There are some general statements that can be made around the two types of microphones.

Comparison of Condenser and Dynamic Microphones
Feature	Condenser Mics	Dynamic Mics
Which should be my first Home Studio purchase?	Great for vocals and instruments.
Frequency Response	Better for High to Medium	Better for Medium to low
Sound Capture	By small light diaphragm	Heavier less responsive diaphragm
External power	Yes, requires phantom power (generally 40V)	No external power needed
Robustness	The light diaphragm is fragile and can be damaged with high sound pressure	The heavier stronger diaphragm means it can be used where more sound pressure is produced by louder instruments
Practicality	Low resistance to knocks, drops and humidity. Careful transportation needed.	High resistance to knocks, drops and humidity. So is much better when transporting and for the stage.

It is definitely worth investing in one or more pop-filters. This helps to eliminate the 'plosives' the high pressure sound you often hear ,for example, when words beginning with P are pronounced. They also protect your microphone from anything expelled from the performers mouth.

Look out for microphone bundles where a pop filter is also supplied when you purchase.