A great singing microphone doesn’t make a bad performance good. But the right microphone can make it much easier for your real voice to come through.
It can add clarity to a live vocal, reduce feedback on a noisy stage, capture subtle details in a studio performance, and make your voice easier to mix.
The challenge is that there isn’t one microphone that’s perfect for every singer.
A singer performing with a loud rock band needs something rugged and directional. Someone recording vocals in a quiet home studio may be better served by a sensitive condenser microphone. A singer-songwriter who performs in small venues may want something affordable enough to take everywhere without worrying about it.
For most live singers, the Shure Beta 58A is my favorite overall choice. It’s a professional dynamic vocal microphone with a supercardioid pickup pattern, a vocal-focused frequency response, and excellent rejection of unwanted sound.
For singers on a tighter budget, the Shure SM58 remains one of the easiest microphones to recommend. For studio recording, a large-diaphragm condenser microphone usually makes more sense.
What is the Best Singing Microphones?
Here are some of the best singing microphones to consider.
1. Shure Beta 58A – Best Singing Microphone Overall
The Shure Beta 58A is designed specifically around vocals. That’s a good place to start. It’s a dynamic microphone with a supercardioid polar pattern and a frequency response of 50 Hz to 16 kHz.
Shure tunes the frequency response for vocals, with a brightened midrange and bass roll-off designed to help control the proximity effect. The supercardioid pattern is another important advantage.
It provides strong rejection of sound arriving from unwanted directions, which can help when you’re performing beside drums, guitar amplifiers, monitors, and other musicians.
That tighter pickup pattern also gives the Beta 58A strong resistance to feedback when the microphone and stage monitors are positioned correctly.
Shure uses a neodymium magnet for relatively high output and an internal pneumatic shock-mount system to reduce handling noise. There’s also a built-in pop filter.
For singers regularly performing live, it’s an excellent combination of sound quality, durability, and stage-friendly design.
2. Shure SM58 – Best Value Singing Microphone
There is a reason the SM58 appears almost everywhere. It’s simple. It’s reliable. And it works. The SM58 is a cardioid dynamic vocal microphone with a specified frequency response of 50 Hz to 15 kHz.
Like the Beta 58A, its response is shaped specifically for vocals, including a brightened midrange and bass roll-off.
The cardioid pattern focuses on the singer while reducing unwanted background sound.
Shure also builds a pneumatic shock-mount system into the microphone to reduce handling noise, along with a spherical wind and pop filter.
One of the SM58’s biggest strengths is durability. This is the type of microphone you can carry to rehearsals, gigs, open-mic nights, and recording sessions without treating it like an expensive piece of glass.
It also works for many different voices and musical styles. If you’re buying your first serious singing microphone and don’t know exactly what you need yet, the SM58 is an extremely safe place to start.
3. Sennheiser e 935 – Best Alternative Live Vocal Microphone
Shure isn’t your only option for stage vocals. The Sennheiser e 935 is another excellent dynamic vocal microphone.
It’s particularly attractive for singers who want a strong, clear vocal presentation that can cut through a busy live mix.
Like any good stage microphone, the goal isn’t simply to capture your voice. It also needs to reject enough of everything else happening around you.
The e 935 is worth auditioning alongside the SM58 and Beta 58A because microphones interact differently with different voices.
One singer may sound fantastic through a particular Shure model while another prefers the character of a Sennheiser.
4. Shure SM7B – Best Dynamic Microphone for Studio Singing
The SM7B is famous for podcasting, but it isn’t only a spoken-word microphone. It’s also an excellent vocal recording microphone.
Its smooth sound works particularly well for singers whose voices become too sharp or aggressive through sensitive condenser microphones.
The SM7B is also useful when your room isn’t perfectly treated. Because it’s designed for close microphone placement, you can position yourself relatively near the microphone and get a strong vocal signal.
That can help reduce the relative level of room reflections and background noise. The downside is output.
The SM7B is a low-output dynamic microphone, so you need an audio interface or preamp capable of providing enough clean gain. It also isn’t designed to be used like a typical handheld stage microphone. Think of it as a studio vocal tool.
Final Thoughts
For professional live vocals, choose the Shure Beta 58A. For an affordable all-around live vocal microphone, choose the Shure SM58.
For an alternative live sound, consider the Sennheiser e 935. For studio vocals in a less-than-perfect room, consider the Shure SM7B.
For detailed vocals in a quiet, treated studio, start with a good large-diaphragm condenser.
And if you’re a complete beginner, don’t overcomplicate the decision. Buy a dependable dynamic vocal microphone and spend time improving your microphone technique.