Sorry, your Soundblaster card is not a proper audio card/interface. You are correct however that a dynamic mic like a Shure SM57/SM58 would be your best value for the money. All the chinese condenser microphones you listed are not ideal for most home environments and some are just not good quality generally. A USB mic could be utilized but again that is a condenser of sorts so not ideal. Something like the Scarlet 2i2 would be a good place to start or on a Mac even an Apogee Duet.

The sm58 is kind of a easy and safe answer for all live applications where there's no room treatment and or risk of feedback. 90% of the time I agree, the 10% left, is where the voice is nasal or lacks clarity. Then I'll choose the AKG 880 (I have 3 of those) or it's replacement the AKG D5. The main reason is that I find it is a bit clearer and some vocal will get through the mix better with them.

Now for the soundcard, it all depends on the seriousness of what you want to do. If podcast/commentary are to be done commercially: Treat a room, get a good audio interface with decent a preamp and a quality condenser mic that fits your voice. If it's just for fun.. The X-fi might be ok but not alone. You'd still need a preamp for any mic and for condensers, you need phantom power. (unless you already have all that in a mixer or other gear)

With all that said.. A usb condenser mic is still a good option. ONLY IF you can somehow treat the room to control internal reverb an frequency issues. You know, those recordings where you here the vocal very far in a bad sounding room.. That's what you want to avoid.

I don't think any background noise would be a problem, as I'm in a very quiet room that's got pretty good sound dampening. I guess I keep getting put off by the sm58's looks, but everyone seems to recommend it. I also thought dynamic mics worked better for deeper voices, so I'm curious about which microphones would be best for my voice; I'm not sure if I would care whether it's a condenser or dynamic as long as I sound good on it.

The only way to know if you sound good on a mic is to try it ! Vocals are like DNA, they are all different. Go in a store and sample all mics up to your budget limit. You'd be surprise !
Of course, you better bring a pair of headphones you know well and ask the seller not to use high end Preamps to trick you... but rather something equivalent as what you will use.

Room dampening is not the only thing that matters. Every room will resonate to certain frequencies according to their dimensions. I worked on tracks from an other home studio once. The guy had made him self kind of a tent with foam.. It sounded terrible. all his tracks had too much 200-300hz. It's either the room resonated to those frequencies or his treatment removed everything else but those. Last thing that can go wrong and I've been there, your favorite preamp and/or AD converter might not be transparent enough so you can end with a boost or cut of frequencies on all your tracks..

Okay. Well, I'd like to know your opinions on which of the mics I posted above are worthy of at least looking into more and maybe buying. If the microphone doesn't work well in my room or doesn't sound too good for me, I can return it. Firstly though I'd like to know which of the mics I posted are reputable and good quality.

if you'd like to sound more nasaly get the nt1-a. i own one, use it for hand drums. in the lower tier AT stuff, get the '3035', it's discontinued, but performs better than it's price tag. it's a truth that when most begin a typical dynamic mic, and interface (like presonus, or tascam) will get it right. I am a fan of the 'joe rogan experience' and that podcast reaches millions of people. they use shure mics. in their earlier days, of the pod casts i've spotted akg's, and at's, but they settled on a typical tried and true mic for talk stuff. they also happen to work on alot of things, and tend to not exaggerate the surroundings.

xSpartanCx, post: 407032 wrote: I'm looking to get a microphone for general home podcast/commentary use. I'm a male with about an average tone voice, but I sound kinda nasaly on my microphone. I've got a mechanical keyboard so I'm thinking a dynamic microphone would be best, but I'd like to hear your thoughts as it's not necessary to me. I'd only like to spend around $200. I've heard good things about the Blue Yeti Pro, M-audio producer, the AT2020/2035, MXL USB.006/009, RODE NT1A and Rode Podcaster/procaster. I've currently got a modmic and want to upgrade. I also have a Titanium HD sound card, so that shouldn't be a quality limitation.

Shure SM7b (y)

I don't get the love the SM7b(349$) is getting.. It's basicly a sm57(99$) with a better popfilter for 3 times the price..
[[url=http://[/URL]="http://www.youtube…"]Recording 101 - Demonstration - SM7b and SM57 comparison - YouTube[/]="http://www.youtube…"]Recording 101 - Demonstration - SM7b and SM57 comparison - YouTube[/]

In any case, never buy a mic for your voice without trying it !! The best model is not from any company and any specific model. The best mic is the one that makes your vocal shine!!

Some of my customers sound best with a 1200$ mic, some sound best with a 300$ mic.. You just need to take time to do the tests..

The capsule of the SM7b is exactly the same as the SM57/58. Because of the extra foam in the head basket it is NOT a good match for a Soundblaster gaming card. The SM7b really requires more quality gain than the Soundblaster can provide.