Microphones

Molitor said:
XLR will always directly be better because it is an analog signal meaning that it is not usable by a computer (Analog is a waveform, Digital is 1s & 0s). But depending on what you use to convert the Analog mic signal to a digital signal is where you might lose some quality where a USB might sound better. For example, I use an Apogee system to convert analog to digital and it is by far the clearest, most precise conversion for under $1k and will sound much better than a USB microphone. Some good quality cheap A/D conversion boxes come from M-Audio and Yamaha as well which will get a good quality signal from an XLR microphone.

All that being said, if you are just using it for speech/voiceover on Youtube videos then all that will probably not even make a difference in the long run as these are all things that to an untrained ear (like the average YouTube viewer) will go completely unnoticed and even if you compared them back and forth to them a difference would not be noticeable. So a USB microphone might work best in your case. I am not familiar with the AT2020 as a USB mic but I know that the AT4040 is one of the best budget mics on the market and if the 2020 is anything like that it will do everything that you're looking for and more.
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Thank you for the detailed answer :) I will go with USB version then :)
 
Honestly, if you want something cheap that gives you pretty good results, use the rockband/ guitar hero Logitech Microphone. I use it for my voice over work, have a listen to this video where its just me. You can tell whether or not you like it.

Be aware though, you can always get better quality sounding mics by messing with the equalization and compression: www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYggsL7Tl7I
 
Molitor said:
XLR will always directly be better because it is an analog signal meaning that it is not usable by a computer (Analog is a waveform, Digital is 1s & 0s). But depending on what you use to convert the Analog mic signal to a digital signal is where you might lose some quality where a USB might sound better. For example, I use an Apogee system to convert analog to digital and it is by far the clearest, most precise conversion for under $1k and will sound much better than a USB microphone. Some good quality cheap A/D conversion boxes come from M-Audio and Yamaha as well which will get a good quality signal from an XLR microphone.

All that being said, if you are just using it for speech/voiceover on Youtube videos then all that will probably not even make a difference in the long run as these are all things that to an untrained ear (like the average YouTube viewer) will go completely unnoticed and even if you compared them back and forth to them a difference would not be noticeable. So a USB microphone might work best in your case. I am not familiar with the AT2020 as a USB mic but I know that the AT4040 is one of the best budget mics on the market and if the 2020 is anything like that it will do everything that you're looking for and more.
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Hey Molitor,

I'm just scratching the surface in understanding audio equipment and decided on a Shure SM7B. I understand that it's a type of mic that needs a lot of gain so people say to use the cloud lifter and also buy an audio interface, which will probably cost me around $600.

BUT! I did see the apogee interface for 900 and I'm the type of person to just pay an extra ~ $300 premium for much better quality and "future proofing" I suppose (It's thunderbolt right?). The way I see it is that my options just don't seem that great there seems to be mixed reviews for the scarlett 18i20 with not so great technical specs.

What do you think?

Thanks for your patience :)
 
ProfKranc said:
Honestly, if you want something cheap that gives you pretty good results, use the rockband/ guitar hero Logitech Microphone. I use it for my voice over work, have a listen to this video where its just me. You can tell whether or not you like it.

Be aware though, you can always get better quality sounding mics by messing with the equalization and compression:
Click to expand...
Wow! That is a rockband mic. No background noise at all :) So what settings did you do to it? Also, nice dialogues :)
 
~ZERO said:
Wow! That is a rockband mic. No background noise at all :) So what settings did you do to it? Also, nice dialogues :)
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Simple process. 41000hz audacity recording in a .wav format. Make sure to record 10 secs of silence before speaking. I then use noise removal at -19db and then add equalization. Bottom tail at 8db and top end with 4db. The middle is at 0db. I can't remember specifics at what hz, but I'll share a photo when I get home.
Then add compression, I've saved it to a template and used that so much, I can't remember the compression setting XD
 
ProfKranc said:
Simple process. 41000hz audacity recording in a .wav format. Make sure to record 10 secs of silence before speaking. I then use noise removal at -19db and then add equalization. Bottom tail at 8db and top end with 4db. The middle is at 0db. I can't remember specifics at what hz, but I'll share a photo when I get home.
Then add compression, I've saved it to a template and used that so much, I can't remember the compression setting XD
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Your template has all these settings? Please share that then I can use my mic also! :)
 
~ZERO said:
Your template has all these settings? Please share that then I can use my mic also! :)
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When I say template, I mean its like on default when I start a new project on Audacity. But yeah, I'll share it when I get home :D
 
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