Can someone tell me if they use a USB microphone. I want to know if they are any good. Some seem fairly expensive so I would imagine these are better. I just want something better than the cheap pc
mike I use at the moment for doing voice recordings for my flashes.
At 11/13/08 06:08 PM, Bjra wrote: they are more expensive because they have an audio to usb interface built into them.
usb versus normal audio jack of the same quality mic is around 30-50 more for the usb version
So are u saying that its worth spending less on a mike with an ordinary jack because it will work just the same?
At 11/13/08 06:13 PM, vdorod wrote:At 11/13/08 06:08 PM, Bjra wrote: they are more expensive because they have an audio to usb interface built into them.So are u saying that its worth spending less on a mike with an ordinary jack because it will work just the same?
usb versus normal audio jack of the same quality mic is around 30-50 more for the usb version
yep. usb mics do have benifits though. you can use them when your soundcard is locked up
You need to have a more expensive soundcard to hook up a regular mic to your computer. If you just want a microphone and nothing else, I'd say go for the USB version.
Now this is a question of how much money you have, and what do you need it for?
My first mic was a usb, a little logitech USB desktop microphone. It was nice, it was portable, and you clicked it in, and off you went, no driver nothing! =D I used this for about 4 years, voice acting bits and pieces and just general net usage, for £26 I wasn't complaining, even if it did have pops and SSS's.
However as time went on, I wanted more quality. I wanted voice acting to be crisp, fresh and clear. I wanted to get rid of all those POP's and SSS's which occured when the Microphone magnet vibrated too hard. Or when you did a bit of shouting voice acting and you needed the mic to hold out. But I never knew much, so i did a bit of research.
I came across two major things, one being there are two different types of mic I could purchase, one being a Dynamic Microphones, and the other being a Condenser Microphone. What's the difference? Quality. All the way. Dynamic mics are the ones you pick up for £20, theylook like kareoke mics, big, black and chunky. They also come cheap. But there's a reason for that and that's because they ARE cheap. They are cheap to make, cheap to maintain and cheap in sound. Expect pops and SS's still to be apparent, as well as your levels going sky high into red zone when shouting or singing loudly. But what's great about it, why would you buy it? Simple. It plugs straight into your mic socket in your motherboard or soundcard. And record away. No troubles.
So, the alternative? Whats the condenser? Well, im no pro, but the condenser microphone is a better mic overall. You rarely get POP's or SSS's and is better because it's a high product of microphone. Whats the catch? Well, the mic itself is expensive, and not only that, it needs something called Phantom Power. Without that, you wont hear sh*t-all from the mic. So you need something to give the mic phantom power. You can buy specific boxes to do so, or you can turn to buy a Mixer which supplies phantom power. The mixer would also allow to put multiple inputs in, so you could say...play guitar and sing and record them both through different feeds into your pc at once.
But this sounds like its getting a bit technical, well thats what I said to myself. "there must be a go between, a USB condenser mic. And there is. This one - The Samson C01U USB Studio Condenser Microphone. It needs software, a stand and about £55 to buy it. Me I read the reviews, the many many many bad and good reviews, some people loved it, some people hated it. So I thought, I'll give it a try. I went and bought one. At time time, set me back £65. I brought it home, put it in via USB, installed the software, and got it to respond no problemo. The thing is a huge beast too. So time for the test, i booted up goldwave for a quick test and recorded myself saying a few lines. The mic was meant to record in stereo, and thats what it did. All at one side. All at the left side. Like many many many others, it only picks up one channel. This was awful. And worse even , the quality wasnt anywhere near the USB logitech cheapo!!! I took it back to the shop, said to them what I thought of it, and they admitted it's a flaw with the mic. There is a reason why there is only one condenser mic out. And thats because condenser mics doesnt work with USB! it's not meant to!
Luckily enough they took it back as long as I was willing to get something else, I decided - fuck it. I bought A high quality Behringer mic (£60), mixer (£45) and mic stand (8), and cables for free, and for my trouble (yay). Now that I put it in my computer via Mic socket in the soundcard which connects to the mixer - to mics. The quality is insane. It's like recording in your own studio. The condenser mic cancels out everything around you, or if you want you can tell it to record the sorroundings, I can manually adjust trebles, mids and basses, or play guitar and record it. I may need a seperate socket to power the mixer to give phantom power. But the quality is what Ive always wanted. The POPs and SSS's are 99% never picked up, and I could scream bloody murder at full pelt, right in its face and it would never hit red zone, or give me shit quality.
I suppose what I'm saying is, depending on what you want it for, plain and simple webcam nights or voice acting in your own bedrooms you need to considder budget and what are you willing to do to obtain the best quality recording you can get. In a sentence though. Never buy that Samson, which is not btw made by Samsung. No matter the appeal it can give you with its chunky heavy smile and it's proffessional look. It's not, it's a paperweight in soundquality for the extra 40, you get what you deserve. Real sound.
Wow, that must be one of the longest,well written and most helpful replies Ive ever had or seen, I give you 10.
I too need to have a perfect sound quality, because I cannot accept less. If I work my arse off on a flash, then fuck it up with crap sound, whats the point. The sound can make or break a flash, we are after all using both our visual AND AUDIO senses. If a flash could smell then it would be important to make things smell right.
I can only conclude that I need to think about buying some sort of Audio interface and then plug in a
good mike into that?? I also play bass and sax and would like to record that as well at some as I get a bit fed up with synth work which is new to me and I am stuck in the world of 4/4 (buzz synth), because I have no other reasonable way of putting sounds into a computer.
Can someone understand what I might need?? Thanks to all the replies so far!!
i had the jack computer mic and everyone told me quality sucks. hearing the pops and crackles because i was too close. theres like a sorry range for the mics sweet spot but now i have a usb condenser mic. and i can also adjust the sensitivity for more pick up or less it cost me bout $130 cheapest ive seen where i am so far.
and if thats not enough check out my music the lates 2 tracks were with the usb mic and everything else was with the crappy mics i went thru before i got this 1. pic of it in my news section.....
By the looks of it there are actually more USB condenser mic's now on sale. So you may be able to get a decent one, I just dont really trust them after my experience. The way some people do it is that they just go straight for the USB mic. Which is cheaper overall. If you get one that works well then nice one!
If not you will have to go for the Condenser Microphone -> To a mixer (which has phantom power) -> that outputs to soundcard, which then would be recorded.
So those are the probably best two choices.
This is the mixer I use just to show you. For an idea.
Behringer Xenyx 802 Studio Mixing Desk
with this mic,
Becareful if you buy a mixer, they dont all support phantom power.
At 11/14/08 09:52 AM, Deathzone wrote:
but now i have a usb condenser mic. and i can also adjust the sensitivity for more pick up or less it cost me bout $130 cheapest ive seen where i am so far.
Can you tell me what make condenser usb mike you have that is successful?
I would recommend a Blue Snowball. Blue is a well known company for really expensive mics and this one is pretty good. Check out Liralei's Userpage and click on her website. There you can find some samples of what's recorded with this. She records vocals and they are of pretty sweet quality. Then again, quality is going to have a lot to do with the room your recording in, but in that sense, a more expensive mic will only begin to show the minor flaws in your recording setup (picks up sounds that other mics wouldn't). The Blue Snowball is only $85 and I recommend checking out theBlue Homepage to really see what kind of mics they make.
On Amazon, there's also a package with a ringer. Either way, the Snowball is a USB condenser mic and is priced pretty good for your budget needs. I'd suggest consulting with Lira on her experiences if you want a first hand recommendation. I plan on buying that mic to record my acoustic guitar; however, my list of things to buy is rather large.
Anyways, I hope this was helpful. Good luck!
~SinJim
Whoa. Thanks, SinJim-- I was definitely going to come in & recommend that. :]
Yeah, I use a USB condensor called the Blue Snowball (haaaa) and in spite of the quirky design & name, it's really very functional. You don't have to watch for pops and sibilance nearly as much, and I only record in mono in Audacity, so I'm not sure how it meets up to your stereo needs, but it's pretty marvelous sound quality for a $100 mic. One thing is that it can be a bit sensitive since it's omnidirectional as can be, so even faint background noises like air conditioners may be picked up if you're not careful-- but that's really easily solved with noise removal and minor editing. And finding a quiet place to record.
The day I got my mic back in July, I recorded this audio test: Beautiful Things exceprt -- and that has no editing or noise removal.
It was sung very, very close to the mic, maybe an inch or two away, while the recommended distance is 4 inches. I was careful to control my breath, but even so the mic didn't pick up any puffs at that distance.
You do still have to try not to blow into the mic, but that's a matter of control. :)
Hope that was helpful-- good luck!
(professional) singer. songwriter. smartass.
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Thanks to everyone who replied, I suppose it has left things open a bit as the suggestions seem to differ from each other so much. Its good to know when something works though. Its probably a topic that we all at Ng have an interest in so if anybody else wants to add something, please go ahead!
At 11/14/08 10:28 AM, vdorod wrote:At 11/14/08 09:52 AM, Deathzone wrote:but now i have a usb condenser mic. and i can also adjust the sensitivity for more pick up or less it cost me bout $130 cheapest ive seen where i am so far.
Can you tell me what make condenser usb mike you have that is successful?
twas samson g track
At 11/13/08 08:54 PM, PeterSatera wrote:
I came across two major things, one being there are two different types of mic I could purchase, one being a Dynamic Microphones, and the other being a Condenser Microphone. What's the difference? Quality. All the way. Dynamic mics are the ones you pick up for £20, theylook like kareoke mics, big, black and chunky. They also come cheap. But there's a reason for that and that's because they ARE cheap. They are cheap to make, cheap to maintain and cheap in sound. Expect pops and SS's still to be apparent, as well as your levels going sky high into red zone when shouting or singing loudly. But what's great about it, why would you buy it? Simple. It plugs straight into your mic socket in your motherboard or soundcard. And record away. No troubles.
You left out some information in this paragraph man. Not all dynamic mics are cheap sounding. Obviously anything you get for 20 bucks is going to sound like shit, but there are plenty of dynamic mics out there that are great, high quality microphones. They are just typically applied differently in studios than condenser mics.
Thank you! Yes, I was singing very quietly. :) The mic can also handle louder volumes (samples on my page, myspace.com/lirayin) but as you can hear in the third clip on my page, high notes make it overload a little bit if they're sung too closely. But that goes for almost any mic, short of professional studio mics.
(professional) singer. songwriter. smartass.
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Latest releases: Optic Echoes // Starclad
Well I know it was an old subject but I thought Id tell you what I eventually bought, bearing in mind I am on a bit of a tight budget!!
A Philips SBC MD 650 ordinary jack Microphone. It says on the box.. It is responsive 30mm diaphragm,
uni directional design, Dynamic shock absorption and comes with a 5m detachable cable.
Frequency range 50'15000hz, -72 db, 600 Ohm, 250g.
It cost 34 euros and I think it was well worth it. I tested it through Audacity and it recorded my voice really clearly without pops although I did have to be close to the mike.
The bluebell mike by the way doesnt ship outside USA.(for those who suggested that..
At 11/14/08 11:16 AM, Liralei wrote: Yeah, I use a USB condensor called the Blue Snowball (haaaa) and in spite of the quirky design & name, it's really very functional.
Blue actually came out with a smaller cheaper version of the Snowball called the Snowflake. You might want to check that one out too!
At 11/13/08 08:54 PM, PeterSatera wrote: whole bunch of stuff
there was tons and tons of details in that post that were really misleading and/or simply incorrect.
1. Dynamic microphones do not automatically = crap and condensers do not automatically = good. You've probably never heard of Heil or the Electrovoice RE20.
2. Condensers are more prone to "plosives" and "sibilants" than dynamics, not the other way around. The diaphragm is normally thinner on condensers which gives them better high-frequency response and hence more apt to overemphasize 'sss' sounds (which occur within the 5-9khz range in general). They also tend to overload much much much much much easier.
3. Um...you obviously have no idea what you are talking about when you speak of usb connections not being suitable to supply phantom power. That's ridiculous.
4. Mics do not "cancel out sound" around the immediate aimed direction. That would require an active noise-filtering circuit or an algorithm carried out in the digital realm to perform noise-reduction. Mics have pick-up patterns. That is a whole different ballgame.
5. Anything that functions off of usb requires a "driver". You didn't know it was installed but it's there, on your computer - allowing the processor to understand what type of data is being fed it by that particular port.
6. Lastly (and this is just a general rant) - they are not "mikes". Mike is a person. A mic is a thing you put sound into. You do not take people named Mike and hook xlr or ts cables into them. That doesn't work.
Please people. Be aware that there is literally tons and tons of misinformation out there waiting to be gobbled up by innocent entrants in the audio engineering game. If someone says that you should go buy a usb Logitech mic ('cause they're the best) and use that to do all your recording with...I would be very careful of the advice that follows.
Very well said.
At 12/13/08 01:20 PM, joshhunsaker wrote: 1. Dynamic microphones do not automatically = crap and condensers do not automatically = good. You've probably never heard of Heil or the Electrovoice RE20.
Professional karaoke microphones for one.
2. Condensers are more prone to "plosives" and "sibilants" than dynamics, not the other way around. The diaphragm is normally thinner on condensers which gives them better high-frequency response and hence more apt to overemphasize 'sss' sounds (which occur within the 5-9khz range in general). They also tend to overload much much much much much easier.
Hence you should get a pop filter for your condenser microphone if you have one and plan on doing vocal recordings.
3. Um...you obviously have no idea what you are talking about when you speak of usb connections not being suitable to supply phantom power. That's ridiculous.
I'm using a USB mic. Phantom power comes from my not-state-of-the-art laptop.
4. Mics do not "cancel out sound" around the immediate aimed direction. That would require an active noise-filtering circuit or an algorithm carried out in the digital realm to perform noise-reduction. Mics have pick-up patterns. That is a whole different ballgame.
Cardoid, Hypercardoid, and Omni.
5. Anything that functions off of usb requires a "driver". You didn't know it was installed but it's there, on your computer - allowing the processor to understand what type of data is being fed it by that particular port.
Most are Plug and Play.
6. Lastly (and this is just a general rant) - they are not "mikes". Mike is a person. A mic is a thing you put sound into. You do not take people named Mike and hook xlr or ts cables into them. That doesn't work.
Hahahahah.
At 12/13/08 11:25 AM, HalcyonicFalconX wrote:
Blue actually came out with a smaller cheaper version of the Snowball called the Snowflake. You might want to check that one out too!
Huh. The reviews I'm seeing are pretty mixed, and I'd like to read a side-by-side comparison review or two or three. But all in all, if it's similar quality, that's impressively tiny.
(professional) singer. songwriter. smartass.
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At 12/13/08 01:20 PM, joshhunsaker wrote:At 11/13/08 08:54 PM, PeterSatera wrote: whole bunch of stuffthere was tons and tons of details in that post that were really misleading and/or simply incorrect.
1. Dynamic microphones do not automatically = crap and condensers do not automatically = good. You've probably never heard of Heil or the Electrovoice RE20.
Ah right...so because I haven't heard of specific makes then of course. My experience is obviously false.
2. Condensers are more prone to "plosives" and "sibilants" than dynamics, not the other way around. The diaphragm is normally thinner on condensers which gives them better high-frequency response and hence more apt to overemphasize 'sss' sounds (which occur within the 5-9khz range in general). They also tend to overload much much much much much easier.
I wouldnt say so, Ive used dynamic mics worth alot of money and find condensers much more robust in the pops and hisses.
3. Um...you obviously have no idea what you are talking about when you speak of usb connections not being suitable to supply phantom power. That's ridiculous.
I never said they couldnt supply the power. I said that the USB mic I used basically couldnt compare with actual mics which dont go straight into USB.
4. Mics do not "cancel out sound" around the immediate aimed direction. That would require an active noise-filtering circuit or an algorithm carried out in the digital realm to perform noise-reduction. Mics have pick-up patterns. That is a whole different ballgame.
Ehh, have you never heard of noise reduction microphones? They dont come with the package saying, "Noise reduction once you stick it in something digital".
5. Anything that functions off of usb requires a "driver". You didn't know it was installed but it's there, on your computer - allowing the processor to understand what type of data is being fed it by that particular port.
Im not an idiot when it comes to PC's I build high spec ones. I know what a driver is LOL.
6. Lastly (and this is just a general rant) - they are not "mikes". Mike is a person. A mic is a thing you put sound into. You do not take people named Mike and hook xlr or ts cables into them. That doesn't work.
So because i shortened it to 'mike' by accident, you went on a crazy rant. How irrelevant.
Please people. Be aware that there is literally tons and tons of misinformation out there waiting to be gobbled up by innocent entrants in the audio engineering game. If someone says that you should go buy a usb Logitech mic ('cause they're the best) and use that to do all your recording with...I would be very careful of the advice that follows.
Ahh yes. The almight man speaks. Youre right about misleading information though. Like you. I never said he should buy a logitech mic, you obviously really read my post fast. I used it as a comparrison of quality, especially since he never spoke anywhere on budget, and being newgrounds it probably isnt a big one. You appear to be some who reads alot about sound and someone who can spurt out facts, but when my personal experience comes along, oh shit, I must be talking crap and of course, heck made the whole damn thing up. I must be working with Behringer to sell their products! go me! LOL.
Try not shitting on someones parade to make yourself look some-what superior. You just look self serving. You could of posted in an entirely different way. Saying something like, Peters experience was like this, but I have found yadda yadda yadda better because. But I guess that was too hard for you.
There's no need to get upset. I was stating that you were stepping a little beyond your bounds on that last post. And find me one respectable audio engineer who agrees with you about the whole sibilants and plosives detail. One. A reference to a respectable college level text would be preferable because I could give you about 70 references that speak against such an idea. Have you even read any engineering text or looked at technical explanation of this stuff? I'm not saying you're wrong (necessarily), I'm saying you likely haven't studied it. I've read a couple dozen books and worked with people who have owned their own million dollar studios yada yada yada so there are things I've learned over the years that I know to be simply "granted".
and
I googled "noise reduction microphone"
um... yeah.
doesn't really exist.
For example, if I were to talk about 2 and 3d animation - I would expect the next person who took it extremely seriously to jump in and correct me on anything I might have misrepresented. I don't really ever try to look self serving because, honestly, I couldn't give less of a damn about how most people view me, except that I feel it better that they at least have both sides of the story for their own sake. That's just what most people will do who understand a lot about a certain subject. I do it at work and I do it here. I always jump in where I know there is something I can add. You'll notice I stay out of pretty much every post that I don't feel I have something rather valuable to add. I've already stopped posting on a couple of other website forums because (and I'm not saying this is you or anyone else here, this is completely isolated) the pricks at those places couldn't handle someone jumping in and saying "no, that's not really it" or "here is what you'll find in a general engineering text about that issue".
In general - newgrounds is the only place I've found where people don't get completely irately butt-hurt by someone doing a little "raining on their parade" about a technical issue. If people really don't want to hear what I have to say, then - you know...I'm not going to continue putting my 2 cents in on this forum. That's fine by me, it seemed the majority of people appreciated my viewpoint at times - if that's not the case any more I can honestly just take my songs and go.
By Noise canceling it sometimes has a switch on it which takes away a low frequencey that ambience would sit at. Or so manuals and advertisements say. A bit misleading if it doesnt exist. The link you provided brought up alot of info for me. Like Sennheisers website "Sennheiser's fine audio products include headphones, noise cancelling and reduction microphones, aviation and broadcast"
No, I havent read extensively on any books but I have had to figure out what works and what doesnt, if not read alot on better buys for good price range. Dont go overboard. He could be wanting nothing but a small mic.
As for animation, people may suggest something wrong, in it. But I would never go through their post numbering them in every aspect why they are wrong in every way. It's not that I dont want to hear what people say, I always want to learn more, especially from the sound area, but there are always ways to say things. I mean cmon...a driver for USB...and Mikes...Cheap-humour shots all the way.
Fair enough. I apologize if the answer was rude. I wasn't directing the "mike" explanation at you at all...I just noticed it in the title it said usb "mikes" and it reminds me of all the times I've seen that word used for microphones even in recording books and labeled on guitars and other such nonsense (you didn't mention it all) so I just threw that in there for the heck of it. And the word "driver" can be a bit of a grey area. You know as well as anyone else that every port on the computer requires a set of instructions that are used to decode the information being sent to it, which typically can be then defined as a "program" and hence "driver". My usb flash drive is "plug-and-play" but it simply means that windows actually downloads the driver from the device itself. Most usb capable devices actually include the required decoding software through the firmware installed on them if not in readily accessible memory...
At 12/15/08 08:12 AM, PeterSatera wrote: By Noise canceling it sometimes has a switch on it which takes away a low frequencey that ambience would sit at.
You're thinking of a 'low-cut', 'low-shelf', 'high-pass', etc.
That's a circuit in the mic that performs a high-pass centered at (usually) 80Hz, which cuts out a lot of the extraneous noise or 'rumble' made when a mic is being used.
My $150 Audio-Technica AT2035 has it, and it is very useful; however, it isn't exactly 'noise-canceling'.
That was a poor choice of words on your part, that's all.
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