

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 don’t want to discover after your recording that all your P’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.

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.
