The Best Microphone for Vocals (My Mic Shootout + Ratings)

About a year ago, I set out with a challenge: find the best vocal microphone for my voice.

My plan was simple — grab a few popular mics, compare the results, and pick the best one for me.

I filmed the whole process, and you can watch it here:

The video

The video goes into detail about what I think about most mics — what I like, what I don’t, what I recommend, and what I’d avoid.

But there’s still another piece of the puzzle: how do they actually sound while recording?

The mic shootout

To keep the video short, I didn’t include every vocal recording I did (there were a lot). If you want to compare the mics in more detail, here’s the full playlist of the vocal tests:

During these tests, I sang each song the same distance away from the microphone, in the same room, and tried to replicate my vocal performance as closely as possible.

It would be more accurate if I could record all microphones at once, but that comes with its own problems. These recordings were done one mic at a time, so there may be slight variances in performance.

Next time, I’ll do what I can to eliminate that and get as close of a comparison as possible — but this experiment still gave me a really solid idea of what works on my voice.

My ratings

Here’s how I’d rate each mic from this shootout:

Microphone	Type	Sound profile	Best for	Rating
AKG C214	Condenser	Well-balanced, clear	Extra clarity, clean recordings	9.1/10
WA-87	Condenser	Midrange focus, vintage vocal sound	Works well with many sources	9.2/10
Rode NT1-A	Condenser	Very crisp high-end focus	Singers with deeper voices	8.6/10
Audio-Technica AT2020	Condenser	Clean, clear	Beginning studio vocalists	8.4/10
Electro‑Voice RE20	Dynamic	Warm, crisper than other dynamics	Studio vocals, warm voices	9.0/10
Shure SM7B	Dynamic	Warm, thick/boomy	Studio vocals, untreated rooms, BG vocals	9.4/10
Shure SM58	Dynamic	Warm, boomy	Performances, untreated rooms	7.9/10
Neumann TLM 103	Condenser	Detailed, airy high-end	Premium high-end shine	8.9/10

Note: I’ll add “View price” links once I decide where I want to point them (Amazon/Sweetwater/etc.).

My recommendations

All of the mics I tested were fantastic. A well-trained engineer in a treated room with a good vocalist could use any one of these mics to get a platinum record.

That said, my personal favorites were the WA‑87 and the Shure SM7B. They’ve been staples in my studio since I got them, and I use them all the time.

But remember: that’s what I prefer on my voice. Your setup and your voice may react differently.

Unfortunately, that’s one of the hard truths about microphones: different voices are different, which means different mics might sound better.

The good news is that any of the mics in this shootout can get the job done — and hopefully this comparison helps you make a smarter decision for your own studio.