I started with a Samson Meteor USB mic. Great mic, very small and portable. Got it for $40 on an Amazon Black Friday deal. I recommend getting a desktop mic stand so you can put up the mic close to your mouth. Sounds almost studio-quality.

Later, I invested in an XLR microphone setup. I do not recommend that for beginners. Got confusing and expensive.

Current mic setup:

Audio Technica AT875R shotgun mic

iRig Pre HD Digital Microphone Interface - XLR mics can not be plugged into a computer, so you need a USB audio interface like this to connect an XLR mic to a computer. The iRig is good for the price. However, because it's so small, I have to keep turning it over to see the controls I want to adjust.

So if I could do it now I'd buy the Motu M2 2x2 USB-C audio interface. Has all the features I want and the controls are easy to access on the front of the device.

Fethead Phantom - Most entry-level audio interfaces don't have enough \"microphone gain,\" so XLR mics often sound too soft and low volume. This was frustrating for me to learn because it meant I had to buy yet another piece of equipment to get everything to work.

This Fethead is a preamp or signal booster to make your mic louder. If you have a condenser microphone that needs \"phantom power,\" get the Fethead Phantom. If you use a dynamic mic, get the regular Fethead (non-Phantom).

Hoya XLR cable

The setup sounds good, but I'm not entirely convinced it's better than my simple Samson Meteor mic :p

If you really want to go down the rabbit hole, check out the Podcastage YouTube channel and his Find the Right Mic guide. Best microphone reviewer, he really puts the microphones through all kinds of tests.

Hope this helps.

What kind of microphone do you use to record?