Best Budget Microphone Clones (2024, Ranked)
In recent years, music production culture has really changed.
People are buying more software than ever, in part due to a backlash from software developers who have spoken out about their struggle to make ends meet in an age of normalised digital piracy. But alongside this blossoming of support, producers from all genres are beginning to buy more hardware.
Companies like Korg, Behringer, Roland, and Arturia have turned the once laughed at bedroom producer setup into something compact, powerful, and professional; as well as easily transferable to the live music setting. This has led to a huge amount of creativity and innovation in ‘bedroom music’, making the process more interactive and exciting for fans to watch - just search any of these brands on Instagram or Tiktok and you will find thousands of ‘WIP’ and live performances that are genuinely engaging. In our opinion, this is such a healthy development for online music culture and is helping to bridge the gap between digital communities and the physical world MUCH more quickly than any other innovation today.
But there’s one piece of hardware that isn’t quite catching up at the same rate - the microphone. When you ask the average person to think of a microphone, they think of the SM58 - a classic dynamic model by Shure that is known for its versatility and all-around use. But at nearly $100 for a microphone and cable, it’s not exactly something that everyone can afford…
So we’ve spent the last few months trawling through forums, conducting polls on social media, and even testing some of the most-hyped clones, to provide this list of the best budget microphone clones on the market today.
Sennheiser E385. Available at Amazon (UK / US / EU)
Dynamic Microphones
Sennheiser E835
The Sennheiser E835 is a great budget mic that has a very distinct wide cardioid pattern. As such, it offers minimum proximity effect issues and is quite forgiving if the performer goes a bit off-axis. This makes the mic really easy to handle and is ideal for home recording all types of instruments and voices. It can produce quite a clean, unobtrusive, and intelligible voice as long as you don’t push it to the limits; and this is a key point. The E835 gets a bad rep because it may produce some feedback (think horrible high-pitch screeching when you get close to a PA) in a live setting, but the levels would have to be pretty damn loud to mess with this formidable budget microphone.
There is also a cheaper model, the E285, which is also very good. Available on Amazon.
4/5
★★★★☆
Behringer XM8500 Dynamic Vocal Microphone. Available at Amazon UK, EU and US.
Behringer XM8500 Dynamic Vocal Microphone
This next microphone is marketed specifically for vocals but really works well for drums, percussion, foley, and reamping instruments too. At the measly price of £19, and with the hit-and-miss reputation of Behringer clone products, you might be inclined to think that this sounds terrible.
BUT… you’d be wrong.
The look and build quality of this piece of budget gear easily rivals Shure’s SM58 and even has a two-stage pop filter for reducing clicks and sibilance. There is a tiny reduction in the high-end compared to the SM58, which has a solid boost around 2KHz-12Khz, but this is something that is easily replicated with a bit of EQing. It’s also a nice weight and looks great in a studio or live setup.
This is a really competitive microphone that, for studio use and experimentation, ends up being a lot more interesting than a standard SM58 to play with.
4/5
★★★★☆
Pyle-Pro PDMIC78. Available at Amazon UK / US / EU.
Pyle-Pro PDMIC78
Our personal favorite whilst researching this article is the infamous Pyle PDMIC78. A quick Google search shows conflicting opinions about this piece of gear, with many different reasons for its inferiority to its high-end equivalent; the Shure SM57. But to fair to Pyle - a quick scan of these forums shows that a lot of the complaints rely on some pretty questionable home experiments… so this got us interested in trying out this microphone ourselves.
When we first ordered this microphone, it took about a week and a half to arrive. We didn’t know what to expect, so set out expectations REALLY low. We read so many reviews about having to resolder components, dodgy cables, high noise floors…
But the PDMIC78 definitely did not disappoint!
This microphone has a great cardioid pattern, dealt with proximity effect low-end effectively and has a great frequency response for both male and female vocals.
On drums, it sounded great too. Especially a snare or kick style transient sound, but also had a really nice frequency response to bright percussion like tambourines, chimes, and maracas/egg shakers. This is a seriously underrated clone of the SM57. Don’t take our word for it though, check out this comparison of the original SM57 and the PDMIC on a snare drum.
This microphone is £19 currently on Amazon UK, comes with an XLR-jack cable, and sounds almost identical to an SM57 (if not better).
5/5
★★★★★
Looking for more options?
These budget microphones above are replacements for two classic microphones - the Shure SM57 and SM58. These are used for everything from live performances to intimate studio sessions, for all types of instruments and voices (even for amps and synthesizers too). But some other Shure products, like the SM7B, produce a more open, nuanced sound, which is perfect for podcasting or tactile recordings.
Here are a few of them…
One of the best budget podcast microphones, Rode Podmic, available via Amazon (UK / EU / US)
Rode Podmic
You may look at the price tag on this particular model and think ‘why is this a budget microphone’? Well, we included it because it is such a strong alternative to the famous vocal microphone, the Shure SM7B. Used by famous streamers, podcasts and studios alike, the SM7B has a hugely loyal and dedicated fanbase who proclaim that it is the best all-around microphone for capturing professional audio that is neutral, nunanced and ready to go. But comes at a price: $389 from most retailers, to be precise.
Great all-around microphone, perfect for vocals and for percussion. Warm, balanced low end with a built-in pop filter to curb sibilance and other unwanted recording artifacts.
5/5
★★★★★
Samson Q2U
Q2U combines the convenience of digital and analog audio capture into one dynamic microphone. With XLR and USB outputs, the Q2U is the first choice for home/studio and mobile recording, as well as stage performance. The Q2U is simple to setup and outshines microphones that cost more than twice the price. It comes with a mic clip, desktop tripod stand with extension piece, windscreen, XLR cable and USB cable... A package with everything you need to start recording right out of the box.
The best thing about this microphone is the types of output you can have. You can take this out to a park, set up with just your laptop or your phone (Android & iOS) and record professional quality audio at any time, anywhere. It doesn’t look great, and definitely needs a bit of EQing and extra accessories, so we haven’t given it the highest rating. But if you’re just using this for gaming, home production or field recording, it’s a serious competitor with any other high-end model!
3/5
★★★☆☆
Zoom ZDM-1, available via Gear4Music (UK / EU / US)
Zoom ZDM-1
The final choice on our budget microphone list was the Zoom ZDM-1 podcasting microphone. Although it is marketed specifically for vocals, this sturdy all-in-one pack records all types of instruments and voices with ease and clarity.
The best thing about the Zoom ZDM-1 Podcast Mic is the bundle you receive when you purchase it (pictured above) — a microphone, headphones, a tabletop mic stand, a mic cable, and more for the same price.
The Zoom ZDM-1 dynamic mic and its custom windscreen help you record your voice with full, broadcast-quality tone and minimal noise from breaths and room ambience, while the ZHP-1 closed-back headphones ensure transparent audio reproduction for critical listening. The XLR cable you receive with it ofa surprisingly good quality and all of the accessories seemed to fit firmly with a real professional-looking finish to them. Not bad for 119$!
4/5
★★★★☆
