Best XLR microphones 2023: Serious sound for those that demand the best

If you’re looking for the most professional sound capture for your streaming, recording, voice-over or content-creator efforts, then an XLR microphone is the way to go.

These types of microphones offer a better sound quality than cheaper USB microphones, but they require a pre-amp in order to power them and hook them up to your computer. This makes this a more expensive and complicated route to go down, but it also results in a far superior sound.

If you want to increase the production value of your recordings, then we’ve got the low down on the best XLR mics to buy.

Best XLR microphones: Our top pick

The Blue Sona is an interesting XLR microphone for a number of reasons. The company has set out to knock the Shure SM7B off the top spot. This mic is therefore packed with tech to do just that.

It’s an XLR microphone that requires a pre-amp before it can be connected to your machine. There’s no USB connection here, as with the other microphones on this list, which means you need to spend some extra cash on something to power and control the microphone.

For streamers, we’d recommend something like the GoXLR and for podcasters, there’s the excellent Rodecaster Pro 2. These are substantial extra investments, but they do give you all manner of other controls and customisation options for your audio, too.

The Blue Sona has a dual-diaphragm mic capsule setup that’s designed to pick up your voice while also eliminating background noise. With an internal shock mount and super-cardioid pick-up pattern it certainly does just that.

The ClearAmp technology inside also gives it a nice boost, so you don’t need a Cloud Lifter or other booster like you might require with the Shure SM7B.

We found this mic was a lot easier to set up with an XLR interface with minimal fuss to get it sounding good and that’s one of the biggest selling points, but it’s also wonderfully rich sounding.

The Shure SM7B is a studio-quality microphone that’s renowned worldwide for its capture capabilities, rich sound and capable background removal.

If you’re serious about voice capture and having only the best quality, this is the microphone you need.

We’ve used it for streaming and voice-over work, and the results are fantastic. Because of the way the Shure SM7B picks up sound, you need to keep it close to your mouth to get the best results, so a good boom arm is a must.

The mic itself doesn’t have much in the way of hardware settings, though. On the rear, it has a bass roll-off switch and presence boost adjuster but otherwise, the setup is controlled by your pre-amp.

It can be fiddly to get the sound right, as well – especially when tweaking things like compressor, de-esser, noise gate and more, but the end result is undeniable.

All told, the Shure SM7B is easily one of the best microphones we’ve tested, and a highly recommended piece of gear to add to your arsenal. It might have a hefty price tag, but it’s well worth every penny in our view.

The Rode NT1 5th gen is a flagship studio condenser mic and it shows. This mic is absolutely brilliant for a number of different reasons.

Firstly, it comes with its own shock mount and pop filter included in the box. Secondly, it offers both plug-and-play with USB-C connection and the ability to work with XLR interfaces.

With that USB connection, you can take advantage of the 32-bit floating point digital output and onboard DSP (Digital Signal Processing) so there’s no risk of clipping and just fantastic audio.

We found that the Rode NT1 not only sounded great, but it was straightforward to set up and much less hassle than other XLR mics we’ve tried. Thus it’s a perfect mic for beginner XLR users but also amazing for pros too.

The Neat King Bee II is a hefty, imposing and seriously impressive piece of kit. This is an XLR mic which doesn’t cost the earth but captures a high-quality sound that’s comparable to other, significantly more expensive mics.

We were impressed by the quality of this microphone, but also by its ability to reject noise. It’s able to eliminate background noise really easily and even shrugs off knocks to boom arms too.

It’s a heavy microphone, which is worth keeping in mind when shopping for a boom arm, but packs in some serious tech to help you sound your best.

This is a fantastic microphone for the money.

Elgato has already crafted a fantastic USB mic in the form of the Wave:3. Now the company has gone a step further with a great-sounding dynamic XLR microphone.

This mic pairs logically with the Wave XLR interface and offers a really rich-sounding capture quality.

It has a built-in pop-filter which helps eliminate problem sounds and it’s fairly compact too. Fitting nicely on any boom arm without overpowering your setup.

How to buy an XLR microphone

Buying an XLR microphone involves more considerations than you think. We’ve already mentioned that you need a pre-amp or XLR interface in order to connect these mics to your PC. You also generally need both an XLR cable and a boom arm or mic stand as these microphones don’t usually have a desk stand.

XLR or USB?

Are you sure you really need XLR? If you’re a streamer who’s looking to route different audio sources on Twitch or YouTube then there are some software options for doing the same with a USB microphone. Also, some USB microphones, like the Elgato Wave:3, are designed to allow this sort of control with more plug-and-play convenience.

XLR microphones are a touch more fiddly to get set up and get working properly. You’ll need to tweak them to get them to sound good and the process can be frustrating for beginners. That said, with a little effort and research the difference is incredible.

How soundproof is your room?

Some microphones can be a bit punishing in terms of picking up environmental noise. XLR mics can often be tweaked to ignore a lot of this noise and improve the sound quality. These mics are often better at background noise elimination than USB microphones, as long as you can tweak the settings.

To make your life easier you can also use something like Elgato’s Wave sound panels. These help to absorb some of the sounds that might otherwise harm recordings and ruin your audio.

How much space do you have?

As we’ve mentioned, many XLR microphones require a mic stand or boom arm in order to sound best. So you’ll need enough space to negotiate one of these into your area.

The XLR microphones also need an XLR interface which means an extra gadget on your desk. Some of these are larger than others too, so plan out what you’re getting and check you have the room before you commit.