The microphone is probably the most vital tool on your computer, whether you have a lot of regular meetings or want to lend your sweet vocals to, say, a podcast or a virtual tabletop session. My favorite microphone for many years has been the Neat Bumblebee 2, a cardioid USB microphone from a company that knows what it’s doing in space (compatible with both Mac and Windows PC). Right now you can get a phenomenal discount on the microphone at Woot where it’s on sale for just money $16.99 for the next four days or while supplies last.
This model’s cardioid microphone is great for blocking out background noise, and it comes with a headphone jack so you can directly monitor your voice playback to make sure everything sounds right when you adjust settings. I’ve been using Bumblebee 2 on my desk since it launched in 2018, accompanying me on countless calls and game nights. I appreciate its effortless button layout, which includes a mute button that turns on the red LED indicate very clearly no one will hear you. The main star is the multi-function knob, which allows you to control the mix and adjust the way your voice comes out.
Neat is a microphone company with quite a long history, in case you haven’t heard of it. She founded Blue Microphones, which was so successful with its Blue Snowball and Yeti microphones that Logitech acquired it in 2010. In the end it was neat acquired by Turtle Beach in 2021
