I started a new podcast a few weeks back. It's called The Celtic Geek. It's a spoken word podcast that is run through my SoundCloud account. I'm even trying out their Beta Podcast service. So far, everything has been smooth and simple.

I LOVE that I can record the entire show direct through the SoundCloud app. Then I just head over to my website to update the shownotes. It's simple and a nice change from the hours of time I put into the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast and my now expired Pub Songs Podcast, that The Celtic Geek replaced.

The one problem I have is the sound. My iPhone has a decent microphone overall. However, I'm used to making professional-sounding podcasts. You can see my full setup on my Starting a Podcast website. Needless to say, I use a professional AKG microphone, compression, and do lots of editing. This show is sans editing, all done live. But the microphone?

It lacks the Oomph. So I decided I'm gonna try buying a good external microphone for my iPhone. So last week, I ordered two low-cost microphones from Amazon: iRig Ultra-Compact Microphone and Dayton Audio iMM-6 Calibrated Measurement Microphone for iPhone, iPad Tablet and Android. A few months ago, I also bought a Audio-Technica ATR-3350 Lavalier Omnidirectional Condenser Microphone. Find links to all down below.

I tested them all out and did new iphone/microphone review and comparison on my YouTube page.

Comparison and Review of Four Microphones

Dayton Audio iMM-6 Calibrated Measurement Microphone for iPhone, iPad Tablet and Android. This microphone had a nice punch of low end to its sound. The problem was the peaking… or some sort of error with the device. It was annoying enough that I decided not to keep it.

iRig Ultra-Compact Microphone. The iRig is supported by Apple. You can find these in their physical stores. The sound is nice and smooth. The low gain might've even had a slightly better sound than the iPhone microphone. But I really didn't feel it was any better such that I should keep it. The high-gain is a nice feature for something like my podcast, but overall it just made the sound nastier.

Audio-Technica ATR-3350 Lavalier Omnidirectional Condenser Microphone. This microphone must be combined with the PC Headset to 3.5mm Smartphone Adapter to use it with my iPhone. Overall, I thought the sound was better. I plan to use this for my next episode on Monday. 

iPhone Microphone. Overall, the microphone compared fairly well against the three mics I reviewed above. If I forget to bring my Audio-Technica, I will definitely use this and feel good about it. But I will continue to try out some other microphones and adapters so I can offer the best possible sound for my listeners.

I'd love your feedback regarding this review. It's my first video review. Not sure if I'll do a ton more or not, but I had fun doing it. So ye never know.