Gotcha, I will do some homework on a mic but I won't be streaming to a lot of people either I would imagine. In all honesty I probably won't need a dedicated mic so I might just play that one by ear. I will most likely be setting a schedule too just so I don't get lazy during my recovery which I can see happening with how immobile I am.
Late to the game to reply to this but I'll give my input on audio peripherals. For microphones a dedicated XLR microphone will give you much better voice quality than a USB mic like the Blue Yeti. Decent low end XLRs cost the same or less than the Blue Yeti which has an inflated price on it because streamers everywhere use it. XLR mics come as Dynamic or Condenser which you can read about here (
Difference between a dynamic and condenser microphone | Knowledge Base | Shure Americas). Microphones that come bundled as a headset are either on par with USB microphones, or even worse, and headsets in general are overpriced for what you get. I don't have any experience with the Antlion modmic which is a way you can turn headphones into a pseudo headset by pasting the microphone on there. They cost $40-$50 which I feel is too much for what you actually get compared to other low end microphones.
For headphones try to pay attention to Massdrop for when they do a sale on headphones in the $200 to $300 price range for a good starting set if you're willing to be patient. They like to do Massdrop editions of headphones from popular companies like Sennheiser and Audio-Technica. You can certainly go a lot higher in price than that but if you're just starting out it might be safer to be conservative with your dollars.
Brahma already mentioned DACs and headphone amps as another way to boost the sound quality to your ears. An alternative that you can look into if you also want to use an XLR microphone is to get a USB Audio Interface that has a headphone jack on it. A USB Audio Interface is another box that sits on your desk that you would need to be able to feed an XLR microphone (and any instruments if you were a musician) to your PC via a USB cable. A lot of them also have a headphone out jack on them that you can plug in to either direct monitor the sound from your voice/instrument (for recording), or just to hear the sound coming from your PC normally. They have a DAC built in to them and some form of headphone amp if they have a gain knob for changing the volume on the headphones. If your headphones don't require much power to drive them this can be a good way to save money if you're already having to purchase one of these for a dedicated microphone (this is how I did my setup). If you settle on headphones that require more power to drive them you would need to read the specs on the device, or read online reviews, to see if it has enough power to drive them or if you'd need to get a separate headphone amp with more power. Brahma or the internet would know more about power requirements for each set of headphones.
My current setup is:
Audio-Technica AT2020 Cardoid Condenser Studio Microphone - I went with Condenser over Dynamic for the better sound and because I don't have a ton of background noise.
Behringer UMC404HD USB Audio Interface - Went a bit more expensive here to get a device with a dedicated power plug rather than USB power only.
AmazonBasics XLR cable
On Stage Table Clamp + Telescoping Mini-Boom + Mini Boom Arm - I went with a more secure stationary setup for the mic over a spring driven boom arm because I didn't want my cats knocking it all over.
Massdrop AKG K7XX - Bought these on a whim over Sennheiser because there wasn't a drop going on for that brand in my $200ish price range when I put this all together.
I don't stream at all but talk in Mumble/Discord and game with friends all the time and I was tired of shitty headsets that break or sound like garbage. This setup can be carried on from PC to PC whenever I upgrade and each area could be upgraded further if I want to spend the extra money.
Edit:
Forgot to link the video that I pulled a lot of useful information from about microphones. Oddly it is about suggestions for being an online voice actor but the guy gives good starting recommendations for an audio setup for people just starting out or who are on a tight budget.
