Microphones

I'm using the Samson C01U. It's a decent mic and it's like a million times better than the headset I had...lol. Not as accurate as the yeti, but maybe a little bit bass-ier?
 
I use the Audio-Technica ATR2100-USB works very well and pretty compact. I have heard wonderful things about the blue snowball though.
 
Haha, I use a "Trust Starzz" microphone, which is named very unprofessionally.
Surprisingly, for a £10 microphone, I can get some really decent audio quality out of it! As long as I speak loud and clear into the microphone I can remove a lot of the background noise, so I think I've done well for such a small price.
 
Having done some actual research into how microphones WORK, I'm really surprised to see that condenser microphones are so incredibly popular among the 'amateur home recorders' like we all basically are. If there's one thing I've learned from doing some research it's that a condenser microphones are massively overused by everyone for the simple reason that they don't know any better. Condenser microphones should only be used in a couple of situations:

1. In a professional studio or in a padded room.
2. If you're recording singing vocals where you need the high sensitivity of a condenser to pick up the wide range of vocal sound. But this should almost by default be done in a padded room.

The vast majority of us do recording behind a computer in an unpadded living room or bedroom. And when we do recording, 99% of the time we're only recording voice-over, not singing or instruments (again, those are the only proper applications for a condenser). Condenser microphones are so incredibly sensitive that recording a voice over behind a computer in an unpadded room is nearly impossible without capturing background noise. And when you're a gamer and are recording a game, that condenser is going to record every single click and keystroke you make, even with a shock mount and pop filter.

Instead I'd recommend getting a good dynamic microphone. They don't have as wide a frequency range as a condenser microphone, but you don't need that much range for simple voice overs anyway. What it will do is cut back on the background noise immensely, because dynamic microphones are much less sensitive to background noise and have more of a targeted approach. You can pretty much speak into them from a fair distance and still have solid audio (where as with a condenser, your voice would go all over the place, turn into an echo, etc). It will make recording easier because you have more freedom in microphone placement and it will make editing easier because you have basically eliminated all background noise while keeping a very crisp sounding voice over.

I'd recommend everyone do their research properly if you're in the market for a new microphone instead of blindly following the masses of people who recommend a microphone because it "sounds nice" (after lots of cleaning and filtering of the recorded audio, yes).
 
RedFox said:
An extensive list of microphones used by YouTubers.

If you're looking a microphone to purchase for your channel you've come to the right place, this list of microphones features an image of the respective microphone, a description in my own words of the microphone and a link to its main page and Amazon page.

This list is no particular order, XLR mics require interfaces, keep that in mind.

Blue Snowball

Most used mic among small YouTuber's, it's a sphere shaped that well, looks like a snowball, at least the textured white version does, it features 3 Patterns for variety of use, has great quality, and is reasonably priced, it also comes with a nice length USB Cable and a height adjustable tripod stand, it uses a 5/8" thread, it also comes in a variety of colors.

Amazon:

Main Page:

Blue Yeti

The Blue Yet is a mic from the same manufacturers of the Blue Snowball, the mic part itself is a cylinder with it curving at the top where the mic's grill is, the mic features quality a step up from the snowball, the mic has 4 Pattern Settings which you can find on the amazon and main page, it has a volume control for the Headphone monitoring and a gain control, this have been reported to be flimsy by function fine. The mic also features as you guessed Headphone monitoring and a mute button on the mic itself. The mic comes in 3 Colors which you can see on the Amazon page.

Amazon:

Main Page:

Audio-Technica AT-2020

This mic is slowly taking over the Snowball as a popular mic for YouTubers, the mic is very sleek in design and has a blue led indicator, you'll expect to find a USB Cable and a tripod stand as illustrated in the image above (I'm not sure if this comes with a pouch, that could be the XLR version), the mic is black all over and has great quality. There is also an XLR version.

Amazon:

Main Page:

Audio-Technica AT-2500
View attachment 15475

This mic is another awesome used by users on this forums and by some of my friends. It's an awesome mic, looking similar to the AT-2020, has build in HeadPhone monitoring with a volume control for the Monitoring.
Has nice quality for a very nice and affordable price!

Shure SM7B
shure-sm7b-769091.jpg

This mic is an absolute beast, used by people on here and popular YouTubers such as Markiplier, this mic however is quite expensive and interfaces for the XLR output will run you down some more, but the quality is amazing out this mic, this is the only Dynamic mic in this group, but it's a very decent mic. As Dynamics aren't as sensitive as Condensers, this is doesn't really pick up background noise from outside such as people around your house! :)

Rode NTG-2 Shotgun Mic
View attachment 15476
This mic sounds excellent and is perfect for use in filming and alike. It can be powered using batteries or Phantom Power from your camera. If you shop around, it can be found for a decent price. :)
Audio-Technica ATR2100
View attachment 15502
This mic is absolutely amazing for the price, it is a Dynamic mic that comes in both XLR and USB, so it can plugged into your PC or interface without any trouble. It sounds great and being a Dynamic, picks up very little, it also comes with a desk stand and respective USB and XLR Cables!

Samson C01u

View attachment 15554
This mic is a very nice mic costing around €70 new on Thomann it's quite affordable, it's a USB Condenser (most mic companies put a U after the name to define it as USB), can be set into different Patterns and has a nice stand to acompany it. It has been used by PewDiePie and is used by others such as FaZeOutcst.

Shure SM48/58
DV019_Jpg_Regular_270105.jpg

Both the SM48 and 58 are both virtually indestructible. offering amazing sound quality and build quality, these mics are also pretty much Industry Standard. They cost around €100 new but they are XLR so they will require a XLR interface. Wanna know how indestructible they are? I threw an old 48 at a wall full force and it worked fine. They've been in production since around 1960 afaik.

MXL 550/551R
550-551_large.jpg

This mic set is great for people doing music or vocals. one mic on instrument and other on vocals. They're a set so you do get both, they offer great quality for a good price of around $80. Both mics are XLR and iirc both require 48v Phantom Power, so make sure your interface has that (most do, you should see a switch on your mixer).

Samson Meteor Mic

View attachment 16791

This mic is surprisingly very popular, it's a great little piece of kit, it's great for people who travel allot and/or use Tablets or laptops to record and don't have allot of space, it has port for Headphone Monitoring
and mute/heaphone volume controls.

Samson Go Mic
View attachment 16792

Another awesome little portable mic from Samson, like the above it has headphone monitoring and can easily be clipped on top of the device screen you're using, it is easly folded for easy strage and has great quality. Great for people who travel and need a mic they can pull out at any time without worring about space.



This thread will be updated with more mics soon. Thanks for reading and hope this helps you decide on which mic you should choose.
See ya later. :)
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I feel like the blue snowball and or the blue yeti are one of the best options for the prices they are. Just my opinion though
 
TigerXtrm said:
Having done some actual research into how microphones WORK, I'm really surprised to see that condenser microphones are so incredibly popular among the 'amateur home recorders' like we all basically are. If there's one thing I've learned from doing some research it's that a condenser microphones are massively overused by everyone for the simple reason that they don't know any better. Condenser microphones should only be used in a couple of situations:

1. In a professional studio or in a padded room.
2. If you're recording singing vocals where you need the high sensitivity of a condenser to pick up the wide range of vocal sound. But this should almost by default be done in a padded room.

The vast majority of us do recording behind a computer in an unpadded living room or bedroom. And when we do recording, 99% of the time we're only recording voice-over, not singing or instruments (again, those are the only proper applications for a condenser). Condenser microphones are so incredibly sensitive that recording a voice over behind a computer in an unpadded room is nearly impossible without capturing background noise. And when you're a gamer and are recording a game, that condenser is going to record every single click and keystroke you make, even with a shock mount and pop filter.

Instead I'd recommend getting a good dynamic microphone. They don't have as wide a frequency range as a condenser microphone, but you don't need that much range for simple voice overs anyway. What it will do is cut back on the background noise immensely, because dynamic microphones are much less sensitive to background noise and have more of a targeted approach. You can pretty much speak into them from a fair distance and still have solid audio (where as with a condenser, your voice would go all over the place, turn into an echo, etc). It will make recording easier because you have more freedom in microphone placement and it will make editing easier because you have basically eliminated all background noise while keeping a very crisp sounding voice over.

I'd recommend everyone do their research properly if you're in the market for a new microphone instead of blindly following the masses of people who recommend a microphone because it "sounds nice" (after lots of cleaning and filtering of the recorded audio, yes).
Click to expand...
I went with Condensors because I had a Shure 55SH from when I was in High School, which did not perform well enough for the price tag.

Condensors are fine, as long as you know that you will have to do the background noise dance until you find the perfect settings.

There will be a lot of research that needs to be done before purchasing a microphone, no matter what type you get.


I have used quite a bit as far as microphones go, a lot of the background noise can be fixed with PC placement, and leaving stuff off (fan, AC etc...).

Of course if all of this is impossible for you, Dynamic mics are the way to go. I would rather have the full range.

I hate that the Yeti is the number 1 recommendation though, definitely not worth $120.
 
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