A microphone alone doesn’t make a recording. You need a way to mount it, power it, route its signal, kill its pops, and hear what you’re recording. Every piece of supporting gear, explained in plain English.
You can buy the best microphone in the world and still sound bad if you don’t have a way to mount it, a way to keep your “p” bursts off the capsule, or a way to get its signal into your computer. The accessories below are what turn a microphone into a working setup.
The mesh or foam screen between you and the mic. Stops the “p” and “b” bursts that pop a recording.
Read about it →The cradle that holds the mic in elastic suspension. Stops desk-thump and footstep rumble from reaching the capsule.
Read about it →The articulated swing arm that gets the mic in front of your face. Frees up desk space.
Read about it →Floor stands, desk stands, tripod stands, low-profile drum stands. The boring, essential foundation.
Read about it →The 3-pin balanced audio cable that connects most professional mics to interfaces. Boring, critical, often where problems start.
Read about it →Foam covers and furry “deadcat” windshields for outdoor and shotgun mic use.
Read about it →The box that turns your XLR mic signal into something your computer can record.
Read about it →Boosters that add clean gain to quiet mics like the SM7B. Cloudlifter, FetHead, and the standalone preamp world.
Read about it →Closed-back tracking headphones and open-back mixing headphones. Sony 7506, AT M50x, Beyerdynamic DT 770.
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