People always say XLR mics are the way to go. But they're

3.5mm mics generally suck. High self-noise/noise floor, clip like crazy, piss poor gain control.

Mics get good with regard to self-noise and sensitivity around the $50 USB level. From that point on it's about finding something convenient that you like the sound of.

USB mics tend to fail me on the convenience parts. I'm not sure how fine the gain control is for them. In order to do direct monitoring, I'd have to plug my headphones into the USB mic, and plugging in and out from that would be annoying as fuck. USB mics also tend to be overly proprietary (see the Blue lineup).

Also, I should add that, with condenser or any costly microphone, you're not gonna be really happy with your recordings unless you're in a good recording environment, which you're not. It's far better to have a cheaper mic and a better recording environment than the other way around.

The SM7b is an absolutely fantastic microphone but it's also incredibly picky. You basically have to use a Cloudlifter unit with it to get any reasonably volume without clipping, and then you better use an XLR interface with a good preamp. Then, you're going to have to be DIRECTLY on top of it for it to sound any good.

If you're expecting a setup where you put the mic in the corner next to your monitor and have it sound good, get an AT2020, USB or XLR.

Personally, I'm a fan of the Shure SM58 or the Sennheiser E835 stage mics for their ability to be used to mic just about anything. Vocals, guitar amps, drums, all of it can sound good through an SM58, it's a swiss army knife.

>>56167594
If you are recording music (instruments or vocals), then you will probably want an XLR microphone and the control an interface offers.

If you are just recording voice, you can use a USB mic like the AT2020 or Perception120 and no one will know the difference if you have it properly adjusted in a proper environment.

>>56170372
SM57 is just a little bit better for drums and amps while the 58 is better for vocals. However, in a pinch they're still the best go to mic you can have at a gig. Odds are most any recorded song you've listened too in the past 40 years has had a SM57 recording some part of it

>>56170608
Yeah, SM57 is tailored to mic up an instrument, but as a podcaster who does instrument recording occasionally, I just bought five or six SM58s and I can pop off the little grille with it's built in pop filter if I need to mic up an instrument and it works just fine.

I just assumed because OP was asking about the SM7B that he was mostly interested in voice.

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>>56167594
Buy this chink condenser mic for 15 bucks and call it good.

>>56167594

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000JRPYGE/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I have that one and I like it. check out mic name on youtube to listen some demos.

demo ex: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvWQu6lNGFY

but as others stated: you have to have a good recording environment in the first place. like a recording room or booth.

do you have the necessary knowledge on recording? if not I advise you to learn the basics of recording before you search a mic. so you'll discover what to look for your applications?

good luck have fun.