hivelogic.com
If you want a general purpose, gold-standard inexpensive mic, go with a Shure SM-58 or SM-57. They're designed for live performance, so they're really durable. They sound pretty good for the price, which is under a hundred bucks.
Also, it's weird that the article talks about "XLR mics" as if they're something special - XLR is just a type of connector, and it's the type that 99% of all mics use anyway. USB and anything else is the exception, and you're paying a big premium for a USB mic.
IMO if you ever plan on using your mic or the rest of your recording equipment for anything besides podcasting, you're better off NOT getting gear specifically designed for podcasting. No matter what you're recording, the fundamentals of a good sound are the same - a good mic, good preamp (which excludes most preamps built into live mixers, though the Mackie Onyx pres are pretty good), and a good analog to digital converter (which the Onyx doubles as too). If you get a condensor mic, you need to make sure your preamp has an option for "phantom power", which is what your mic will need in order to work.
Actually, the most important consideration here is YOUR VOICE. There's a reason that professional recording studios always have multiple vocal mics - different mics are best for different voices. If you've got a nasal or high-pitched voice, make sure you get a mic that can counter that and make you sound more soothing. If you have a deep voice (like me!), make sure you get a mic that can bring out the higher frequencies enough that you don't sound like a movie preview all the time.
Lastly, make sure your recording location is QUIET and has minimal echo/reverb. If you have to record halfway in a closet, so be it - your listeners will thank you.
Not really. This is an article geared towards people used to amateur or, at best, prosumer computer mics. 99% of those are not XLR.
What isn't mentioned is the video side which would be interesting to understand but also how the whole link with the guests thing works would be very interesting to understand too.
PS: Love 5by5 - keep up the great work.
An example of why I think it detracts from the article: You link to Monoprice.com for an XLR cable (good!) and then immediately link to a more expensive cable on Amazon. Why? Not because it's a better choice of cable, but because with any luck, someone will click through and you'll earn some cash. If you're going to link to a $13 mic cable for the opportunity to make money rather than just link to the $6 equivalent, what's to say half the links on the page are even genuinely good choices, or if you're linking to them because you'd potentially make an extra buck or two.
I'm not crapping on you loading up a blog post with affiliate links - I know that even before I signed up to eBay and Amazon affiliate programs, I often linked to them when telling people where to buy stuff, and now the affiliate programs simply paid me for doing what I always did. But doing that -and- asking for extra money if you found this post useful (presumably, finding it useful meant you bought equipment because of the post)? That changes the dynamic for me.
Addendum: I'd appreciate it if when you downvote me, you let me know what it is about my post that you didn't like or agree with.
I have a problem with affiliate links that are not marked as such, I certainly don't ever have a problem with asking for donations.
I can't speak for Dan's other shows but I co-host The Ruby Show which was on 5by5 until recently and we record separately and then edit them together. No particular time syncing beyond recording at the same time though.
I'm planning on doing either another post or perhaps a video about the setup (assuming there's interest).