Help me choose a microphone

[1N07]

So my headset's (Steel Series Siberia V2) microphone just died.
I would like to get a separate mic if possible. I don't want to have to get a new headset every time it's mic dies... I use it mainly for gaming.

I did take a look at the Sony ECM-CS10 and the Snowball iCE, but I'm not sure about those....

As I understand, the ECM-CS10 is an omnidirectional mic, so the fact that my PC is pretty close to me (maybe about 50-70cm at worst) and the fans can get pretty loud sometimes, COULD be a problem...

Where as with the Snowball, from what I've heard you need to speak pretty close to the mic for it to pick up speech and I would like to be able to lean back in my chair every now and then when gaming with a controller...
Not to mention that since it would stand on the desk it might pick up too much noise from the PC as well. It is/(has a mode that is?) unidirectional as far as I know, so I don't know if that would be a problem, but it's a concern nonetheless.

The budget isn't set in stone, but I would rather not go over something like... lets say 60$
Lower the better, as long as the quality is ok.

One more thing I should mention:
I'm in Finland so links to newegg and the like, are useless to me. Better just tell me a name of a mic, so I can search for it online from the local sites.
Of course, if there's international shipping, a non-local site might work too.
Only in my experience even if it's cheaper, there's a good change it's still more expensive after shipping...


TL;DR:
I need a good and cheap microphone mainly for gaming.
Background noises and pickup distance are of concern.

Any and all suggestions or information is appreciated
Thanks!

 

[Krimsin]

Zalman hands-down for the money. Now if you want to step it up a bunch... grab the Audio Technica 2020USB+. Definitely going to pickup mechanical keyboard clicking for sure though.

 

[ssddx]

it seems like you want a microphone that can follow your head around with you when you sit up or lean back. the modmic would be a good choice for this (you want the unidirectional not omnidirectional model) and its going to have much better clarity than the zalman. it runs around $50 generally and i believe ships worldwide. its also available on amazon.de which likely ships to finland

with the zalman zm1 you get what you pay for. it works and its cheap but sound quality also is average at best.

its above budget but if you wanted a desk microphone the atr2500 is worth looking at. better than the snowball and similar to its bigger brother the at2020usb but its significantly cheaper (and not quite as good of course). if you went with a standard microphone however it is best to invest in things like a microphone stand, shock mount and similar which i do not think you want to do.

TLDR: look at the modmic unidirectional.

 

[gondo]

Check out Yeti. The best mics for the computer as far as I'm concerned.

 

[1N07]

Zalman hands-down for the money. Now if you want to step it up a bunch... grab the Audio Technica 2020USB+. Definitely going to pickup mechanical keyboard clicking for sure though.

I got the Zalman for now. It seems great for the price.
I might get a better one at some point.

 

[ssddx]

with the zalman you get what you paid for. while certainly acceptable for most, its quality is not what i would consider good. it is however, dirt cheap.

 

[1N07]

with the zalman you get what you paid for. while certainly acceptable for most, its quality is not what i would consider good. it is however, dirt cheap.

I watched a review with recorded audio from it and it seems good enough for my use.

 

[gondo]

Samson makes a good mic for the price as well. Value packed. Cadu as well is value packed as is Audio Technia. Blue is the top quality one however and Yeti is their top model.

 

[gondo]

For price, I usually just tell people to use their webcam which they don't realize has a built in mic.