Microphones - Not just which one

STLYoungblood

STLYoungblood

Member
Alright guys, so I've decided to pick up a mic for my desk to try to help out with the quality of my audio. I'm currently just using the microphone on my G35, but if it can be better, I would love to do that. I saw that the snowball ice was on sale for $40, so I ran to the store and bought it.

Now, when I got it set up, the volume was extremely low. I cranked it up through sound on the win 7 machine, and it got better, but really, I had to sit very close to it for it to clearly pick up my sound, otherwise when I cranked it up in post to adjust, I got hums and loud backgrounds. It sounds fine when I sit stupid close to it and have the levels pretty high too. This is the snowball ice, so it doesn't have the 3 switches on the back.

My idea setup is to have an on desk mic about 2-2.5 feet away @ 30 degrees from my face (next to my monitor). Is there a mic that will do at that range, or should I be looking for something that works a bit closer? I'm starting to wonder if I need to get a mic that has a boom to get a bit closer, but I'm also not looking for too much hardware on an already crowded desk.

What are your thoughts and thanks in advance for the help.
Youngblood

EDIT: I didn't include a price because I don't really have one in mind. I probably will not go over $150, but ideally would prefer under $100. Hope that helps
 
The snowball with the three switches in the back is much more worthwhile than the ice.

Take a look at Samson USB microphones? I have heard that they are quite good.
 
I have been looking at a coupel of the Samson's as well. Any that stand out? The C01U looks pretty good, as does the meteor, but I'm concerned I'd have the same issues with that one as the snowball.

Are my issues fairly common with this device or is there something that could be set wrong?
 
Have to agree with UltimateKirbyBoi, Samson Mics are really good! I got the Samson Meteor USB Mic and I'm really content with it! Easy to set up (no driver needed, just plug and play), "intelligent LED" which turns red when you are speaking too loud, integrated pop shield (even though I use an external one too) and very good looking!

This is no advertisement for my videos but if you want to check out it's audio quality go check out Let's Play Alan Wake #20
 
The G35 was like a $150 headset no way a $40 mic would be better lol I actually started doing my commentaries and reviews with the G35, sometimes if I can't be bothered connecting my Yeti I still use the G35 because the quality of the mic is actually really good. You will need to fork out a bit more than $40 for a desk mic that will sound better than the G35 headset. Not sure where you're from but you could look at the Yeti, it has gain settings if you find it too low. But 1 other thing; have you tried using audacity to add a compressor to make the audio louder?
 
TheAustrianGuys said:
Have to agree with UltimateKirbyBoi, Samson Mics are really good! I got the Samson Meteor USB Mic and I'm really content with it! Easy to set up (no driver needed, just plug and play), "intelligent LED" which turns red when you are speaking too loud, integrated pop shield (even though I use an external one too) and very good looking!

This is no advertisement for my videos but if you want to check out it's audio quality go check out Let's Play Alan Wake #20
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Thanks, will do![DOUBLEPOST=1386856776,1386856664][/DOUBLEPOST]
AndrewReviewYou said:
The G35 was like a $150 headset no way a $40 mic would be better lol I actually started doing my commentaries and reviews with the G35, sometimes if I can't be bothered connecting my Yeti I still use the G35 because the quality of the mic is actually really good. You will need to fork out a bit more than $40 for a desk mic that will sound better than the G35 headset. Not sure where you're from but you could look at the Yeti, it has gain settings if you find it too low. But 1 other thing; have you tried using audacity to add a compressor to make the audio louder?
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Not trying to be difficult here. My G35's were $100, but the reason for the higher price on a gaming headset isn't because of the microphone, it's because of the speakers. Saying that a tiny mic that's part of a gaming headset should out perform the cheaper dedicated device is comparing apples and oranges. I agree with you though that the G35 is surprisingly strong at it's microphone duties, but hearing other content creators who use dedicated sound does immerse you in the content a bit.
 
I usually don't use my microphone, but it's a small microphone that came with my karaoke set. It's good, but I don't use it as much as I should
 
STLYoungblood said:
Thanks, will do![DOUBLEPOST=1386856776,1386856664][/DOUBLEPOST]

Not trying to be difficult here. My G35's were $100, but the reason for the higher price on a gaming headset isn't because of the microphone, it's because of the speakers. Saying that a tiny mic that's part of a gaming headset should out perform the cheaper dedicated device is comparing apples and oranges. I agree with you though that the G35 is surprisingly strong at it's microphone duties, but hearing other content creators who use dedicated sound does immerse you in the content a bit.
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The tiny mic in the G35 should out perform a lot of cheaper dedicated mics because those cheaper dedicated mics aren't designed for commentary/game chat like the G35s are :p So comparing the 2 isn't like comparing apples and oranges because a microphone is a microphone. In fact a lot of gaming headsets stand a higher chance of out performing dedicated mics, especially cheaper mics and sometimes = priced, because of what the gaming headsets are primarily designed for - communication because gamers don't like hearing crackly or broken audio from someone trying to communicate with them xD. I like to have my Yeti on a boom stand to position it further away from my mouth though. You could always try a mic out on it's natural stand first (if it has 1) and if it's still picking up vibrations you might have to move it or by a stand for it, I bought mine because the desk picks up vibrations from the PC and the keyboard. I made the mistake of putting my stand smack back next to my PC once and when I edited the audio in audacity there was this constant humming and when I put on a headset to listen closer it was the humming of the PCs vibrations, was able to remove most of it luckily. >.>. For dedicated mics though you got to spend a bit to get that crisp quality that someone like Markiplier has. He's actually stopped using the Yeti though, not sure what he's using now but I think it's better.[DOUBLEPOST=1386858582][/DOUBLEPOST]Oh also, the price of the G35 does increase because of the mic lol I wouldn't buy a gaming headset just for the speakers, if I'm going to by a headset just for speakers, I don't even buy a headset, I buy headphones, although ironically even decidated headphones don't always out perform gaming headsets.
 
The AT2020 or pretty much any of the AT mics around that price range are also very good.
 
STL, here's the thing about mics. Most of them are designed to be used at roughly a handwidth from your face. When you get into the 2-2.5 foot away range, you are going to introduce a significant amount of room echo even when using a Cardioid mic. The reason for this is that when a mic is close, the decibel level hitting the diaphragm is much higher which drowns out the volume of the echo from an untreated room. At 2-3 feet away, the decibel level of your voice hitting the mic is much lower which makes the room echo very much worse. So you want the mic as close as possible.

Now, that said there are microphones designed to do what you want to do, they just tend to be more expensive. You need a shotgun mic for any appreciable distance from target. A shotgun mic accepts sound from only a very narrow cone in front of it which kills room echo very effectively. Unfortunately shotgun mics are expensive.

You could go the Yeti route, I suppose, or other basic condensers but it's always best to get the mic up off your desk in order to avoid keyboard and desk bumping noise. The Yeti is not ideal for getting up off the desk because it requires proprietary mounts which are expensive.

My recommendation is to change your ideal setup. Pick up a proper articulating arm that will attach to your desk. This way you can move the mic around as needed. Bring it closer while recording, move it away when you don't need it. And go for an AT2020, Samson C01U, Shure SM58 or MXL990.
 
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