In my home podcasting studio, I use a powered condenser microphone, Mackie mixer and DBX compressor. Great kit but not road usable. I recently added the Blue Microphones Snowflake to my travel kit.

It’s a USB microphone that plugs into your computer and does not require custom drivers. I have used it mostly with the MacBook Pro and the MacBook Air and have found it to be brilliant.

It uses a cardioid pattern so you don’t gather all manner of excess nodes, and provides a really innovative stand to help you isolate the microphone. The stand is in two parts so it can sit on your desktop or hang on your screen for recording. The ball portion rotates so you can pack it in your luggage or bag and it’s well protected.

I’ve used it in conjunction with Garageband and the digital compressor and noise gate that GB contains and it sounds really good, far superior to any of the built-in mics I’ve tried.

Highly recommended

More info at Blue Microphones Snowflake