Type of Mic for recording voice indoors about 1ft to 2ft away (2.5' from wall)

ReelVibes

New member
Disclaimer: I'm new at this stuff. My knowledge comes from articles and YouTube videos. I don't have any actual experience.

I need a mic for content creation (YouTube videos) and streaming (twitch). I don't necessarily need specific brand recommendations (although that would be welcome) more so than I need to know what kind or type of mic I should get.

Setup:
My 2.5 ft deep desk abuts a wall, with three monitors in between my face and the wall. The left wall is about 4.5 ft away, the right wall is about 7.5 ft away, and the rear wall is about 10.5 to 11 ft away. Very little wall decorations so sound will be echoey. I can always put things up to try to dampen the echo but for now let's assume the walls are mostly bare.

I don't want a mic that will sit on my desk in front of me like a lot of streamers or podcasters. I don't like desk clutter and I'm a very animated person, so my flailing arms are bound to knock it over at some point. I also don't want a mic that needs to be 2 to 3 inches from my mouth for basically the same reason, but mostly because I don't want to block my field of view if the mic is hanging from a boom (not sure if this is actually an issue or not). Finally, I don't want a lapel mic because animated movement and wires do not mix.

A shotgun mic sounds like a good choice at first since the mic doesn't have to be in my face and can directionally pick up sound at a reasonable distance. But since the rear of the microphone will basically be right up against a wall I am worried I'll have that reverb problem that's common with using shotgun mics indoors. I suppose I could move it up and away from the wall with a boom, but still unsure of how it'll handle echoes. Perhaps a small, less sensitive shotgun mic?

Based off my research all the other mic options seem to require my mouth to be really close. Of course, I could be totally misinformed about this. Perhaps there are large or small diaphragm condenser mics for my needs, or perhaps a specific type of dynamic mic. I don't know, that's why I'm asking the experts!

I'm starting to drive myself crazy with research. All I really need is to be pointed in the right direction considering my needs and room setup.
 
Most directional mics have a progressive change of tone as they get closer to your mouth - a phenomena that is used to make voices sound warmer. The snag with further away is that instead of your voice being very prominent and the 'sound' of the room less so, we start to hear the room. Which can sound great if the room is nice sounding, but most sound small and boxy. Being further away can sound poor. You could clip a mic on - but before you start this, so some experiments with your phone. Record in your space your voice from various distances, then have a listen on headphones. This will be tonally pretty much what your real mic will capture, in terms of wanted to unwanted sound. Once you find the position you can think about buying a mic that will work well in it!
 
Back
Top