> The cost of entry is somewhere around $50-$100 for USB microphones, although if you're willing to spend closer to $250, you can get a decent USB audio interface ($120) + standard (XLR) microphone ($100) + XLR cable ($10) + stand or boom arm ($20).
Is a XLR microphone worth the cost increase - for meetings, not streaming(or youtube creation)?
> Is a XLR microphone worth the cost increase - for meetings, not streaming(or youtube creation)?
I'm not sure how to quantify it, and I've not used USB microphones. By the time USB microphones appeared on the market, I already had microphones and there was no reason to downgrade.
My point of reference is the Shure SM57 / SM58 (which are very similar). The SM57/SM58 is dirt cheap at $100, extremely reliable, and has a very good sound to it. The "sound" of the microphone is largely created by the construction of the capsule and the construction of the microphone body. When you listen to a recording, you're hearing not only the sound, but also the resonances of the microphone capsule and body. My experience is that as you explore cheaper options below $100, you see microphones with much cheaper construction and noticeable resonance problems. I am extremely skeptical of USB microphones that are radically cheaper--up to 80% less expensive--than the most basic, inexpensive USB interface + microphone combo I could come up with.
For this reason, when I give advice to people who want to make music using a microphone, I recommend that they start with the $250 (total budget) USB interface and SM57/SM57. If $250 is out of their budget, then they should just save up until they can afford it.
So I will tell you that I am not happy with the quality of microphones in general under $100, or the quality of condenser microphones under $200-$300. I'll also tell you that the main thing I've been using Zoom for in the past couple years has been remote vocal lessons, so my needs are different from yours.
I would also caution you that there is an enormous amount of misinformation and bad advice about microphones online. People forget about acoustic treatment (super important), recommend that someone starting out get the SM7b (awful choice for first microphone), or tell you that condenser microphones are more sensitive to background noise and poorly treated rooms (just plain false--this one makes no sense at all).
So is it worth it? Don't know--how much money can you play around with, and how much do you care about audio quality?
I care enough to want to upgrade my work-issued Plantronics headset. Not enough to spend $500 doing so. $250? Possibly since it's a one-time investment, as long as there's a significant upgrade that can still be perceived in low bandwidth online meetings.
One thing I would like to avoid is the 'youtuber' setup. Ideally I'd like the microphone to be able to pick up my voice without it itself being in the camera view.
Fair. I'd prefer to call it the "Johnny Carson" setup, though!
Microphone placement is a massive subject by itself. The basic idea is that you make the signal loud by moving the microphone reasonably close to your voice and point it at your mouth, and simultaneously, the part that people forget, you put the microphone far away from noise sources and pointing away from them. This second part is what built-in laptop microphones are especially bad at. (Note that microphones have different pickup patterns, so pointing "away" from a source means different things to different mics, and it's irrelevant for omnidirectional mics.)
Depending on the camera set up, you can put something like an SM57 just out of frame and still have it be fairly close to your mouth, away from noise. A boom arm or mic stand will help. Setting your mic on the desk can work but this will pick up vibrations from the desk.
Other common setups are lavalier microphones, headset microphones, and shotgun microphones. Fair to assume you're not using a shotgun microphone.
Lav mics are simple and unobtrusive. TV hosts use them a lot. (You can see that late night TV hosts have a lav mic in addition to the desk mic... 99% of the time, you're hearing the lav mic, and the desk mic is off.) Headset mics give you more consistent and clear sound, with more freedom of movement, which is why singers and presenters use them a lot. Beware that cheap lav / headset mics will sound as bad as your laptop microphone, just with less background noise. You can watch reviews on YouTube for these kind of mics and decide if you want to try one out.
I'm almost convinced to get a real microphone(probably with a stand, for the time being). Doing some research on models now. The Johnny Carson setup may not be a big deal if most of the time the camera is off, but audio is important. And even then I might be able to keep it off frame. We'll see :)
Is a XLR microphone worth the cost increase - for meetings, not streaming(or youtube creation)?