I have a Samson Q2U and have had a few people tell me I sound like a podcaster.

I, too, have the Q2U.

The great thing about the setup, aside from the microphone being solid, is that it gives you an upgrade path but works right out of the box fully (mic, stand, pop-filter, USB or XLR).

Phase 1: Plug it in via USB, use the included stand. GO!

Phase 2: Upgrade the stand to a desk-isolating one (e.g. arm/freestanding, etc).

Phase 3: Upgrade to XLR instead of USB (e.g. buy an audio interface/mixer).

Phase 4: Upgrade the microphone at some point.

You can literally buy it and stop at Phase 1 forever, but if you wish you can use it as a jumping off point to a higher end setup and won't have to buy it all at once (easily $300 or more total, for arm/audio interface/pro grade microphone).

Thanks for the breaking up that information so nicely :)

Snowball or Yeti consistently get good reviews.

Yeti picks up too much background noise.

Note that studio mics recommended in this thread, like the SM57 or the C1, need to be plugged with an XLR cable into an audio interface. Focusrite, for one, makes good USB audio interfaces - but it's still an extra device to buy and then keep on your desk/carry around (and, optionally, to understand).

For conferencing, it's much more convenient to just use a USB mic. I can recommend the RØDE NT-USB for this purpose - all it needs is an available USB-A port.

Most of these are great options but I don't have the will nor interest in buying some new interfacing device to mimic a radio jockey-esque voice over environment.

Just a simple plug and play will do, I actually just searched hard and finally ordered the Rode NT-USB. thank you.

The SM58 is still great for a dynamic mic (condensers are good but often pick up too much). Will need a good preamp, though.

Here's a 20$ clone with a switch. Switch is definitely worth it.

Despite it not being a Shure itself, it seems like the clones are fine up to high frequency singing.

https://www.amazon.com/GLS-Audio-Vocal-Microphone-ES-58-S/dp...

I don't know about the clones tbh. I compared a genuine SM58 to a clone once and it had a lower noise floor, as well as better quality in the low range than the clone.

Yeah and a sm58 isn't that expensive, I just bought a mic to have one. When I start recording out an amp I'll probably get a 57.

Heard good things about the Behringer C-1U.

My daughter uses one for recording songs; very clear, and was (IME) slightly simpler to set up under Linux than Windows as the latter took some fiddling to sort out low gain on that platform.

thank you!