That’s something I noticed a while ago: all podcasters have those huge microphones in front of them - sometimes with a gigantic boom - that wouldn’t look out of place on 1950s TV. But unlike in the 1950s, they’re not trying to hide them, no no: the more visible, the bigger, the better.
I can’t figure out the point of that prop. If I did a podcast, I’d try to unclutter the shot myself.
Do you really believe you need a giant microphone to get clear sound in 2026? Someone should tell almost all TV news studios, because they all seem to produce perfect audio without a single microphone in sight.
Also, most podcasts are streamed, which is going to compress perfect audio into internet-friendly crap.
Condenser mics generally have a much larger diaphragm than dynamic mics. Closer to 1 inch in diameter.
They generally have a much greater sensitivity and can capture a lot more detail especially in the upper frequencies.
Another contributing factor is that there is more electronics housed in the microphone body and they require 48 volt power supply to operate. This voltage is often fed from the mixing console via the same cable that the audio from the mic is carried on. Often referred to as phantom power.
There are also versions that use vacuum tubes in that circuitry within the mic and you might even find dedicated power supplies. These preamp tubes can be an inch in diameter and roughly 3 inches tall, this also increases the physical size of the microphone.
And then you get to the point of marketing. Make something that resembles what professional studios use and the masses will buy it because it merely looks professional.
In pro audio it’s often said you can get 90 percent of the result for 10 percent of the cost. That last 10 percent will cost 90 percent.
In a bedroom podcast setup there enough issues with just the room usually to negate the 10 percent it takes to get to a pro level. In a studio purpose built hundreds of thousands have gone into making the rooms themselves optimal and that last 10 percent starts to matter a great deal more especially in terms of multi track recording with dozens of sources being miced and recorded to separate tracks. The noise of inferior equipment multiplied by those dozens of sources begins to add up into an audible problem.
I work in live TV. The podcast mike’s are tiny compared to the ones used in most TV work. A shotgun mic, with a windshield can be bigger than your forearm.
E.g. the Sannheiser MKE 600 is 20mm diameter and 256mm long (10"), without its windshield.
The lapel mics are both expensive as hell, and far lower quality. They are only used when a better mic can’t be.
The mics used by many podcasts are similar to those used by radio stations and music recording. They trade directionality for compactness, without dropping quality.
When you can’t see a microphone the big boom mic is either out of frame (likely the case for tv news) or the sound isn’t from the recording itself
You know what’s a lot more expensive than a really big nice mic? The small shit real producers use.
Eh, that is highly dependant on the specific mics involved.
Quality size price. Pick 2 unless you want to be dropping a lot more money to get the best of all 3. Jesus Christ you people will argue anything.
Fair point lol!
There is nothing to “believe”, it is documented fact that large microphones does tend to produce the clearest sound.
Your mistake is comparing TV, a visual audio medium, to podcasts, a mainly audio medium, and expecting the same needs.
This is wrong.
TV has to compromise the audio quallity with the visual aspect.
TV accepts getting 90% of the audio quallity as large mics would be too impractical, radio doesn’t have the visual limitations, and they use large membrane mics, same with podcasts.
I currently use a shotgun mic at home, mounted on a microphone arm, my setup is a Röde VideoMic Go II and a pair of Philips Fidelio X2HR headphones, it is brilliant for normal gaming/discord, the mic acts an audio interface that my headphones connects to as well and it is out of my way. But while the audio is excellent for gaming and would be find for podcasting guest apearences, for anything more demanding I would probably get a large membrane mic.
I may be an IT guy, but I am also a hobby photographer who finds AV tech fascinating.
Bruh thinks the year has an affect on physics.
I said clearest sound. Yes, Shure SM7B is widely considered to be among the best at that. If you’re producing an audio product then it makes zero sense to buy an inferior microphone just because it looks better. That’s entirely missing the point of the format.
Movies and TV shows sometimes (more often than you’d think) have to re-record the speech, effectively dub over themselves, because the audio from the live shoot isn’t usable for one reason or another. And of course, almost all sound effects are foley and recorded in a studio with those giant microphones too.
But you’re not wrong, boom mics and smaller mics can be really effective. But it takes a lot more effort both during recording and afterwards in post production to achieve the same level of audio clarity. For podcasts it’s not worth the extra effort because they don’t mind the giant mic being in the shot.