Recommend a good USB microphone? =D

Josh Warren said:
Isn't that just marketing? why are you so mad lol.
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If I was mad, I wouldn't be posting. I'm just a little tired of people misleading new members into buying the wrong products. Absolutely it's just marketing, but that doesn't increase the value of the product.
 
Tarmack said:
Feel free to search through my post history. You'll find at least 30 threads in which I provide numerous alternatives to Blue mics. Including a rather long one I wrote explaining in great detail the differences between types of mics, their purposes and examples. The Snowball is garbage, ice is worse, Yeti is worth it at 50% off retail, Yeti Pro needs to be even more of a discount to be worth it.

Superior are any number of mics. One of which was mentioned in this thread by a user. The Samson C01U. Additionally the MXL990, AT2020 and Shure SM58. Some may require the user to purchase an XLR interface, but XLR is better than USB for many reasons. In the vast majority of cases it's also cheaper to buy one of those mics, mount it on a proper stand and get an XLR interface than it is to just get the Yeti. That also assumes the user doesnt' want to mount the Blue mic since they all have incredibly expensive proprietary mounts (just like Bose and Dyson accessories, fancy that), but as you mentioned it tends to pick up desk noise rather well so getting the heavy beast onto a stand is important. Overpriced nonsense that they have managed to convince people online to market for them by the simple virture of their consumers having never used another mic.

Every time someone asks about microphones, there is an endless stream of people rushing in to advise them to buy a Snowball or a Yeti. And unfortunately for the end consumer those two mics are very rarely the best choice.
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I appreciate the information. Seriously I do.

My point is this: I'm fine with you knowing more than me about mics and audio equipment, and I'm fine with you telling me I should be using something that would be much better for the price, but for christ's sake man, calm down. We all want help, that's why we're here. But you have to show some humility, dude.
 
Tarmack said:
Feel free to search through my post history. You'll find at least 30 threads in which I provide numerous alternatives to Blue mics. Including a rather long one I wrote explaining in great detail the differences between types of mics, their purposes and examples. The Snowball is garbage, ice is worse, Yeti is worth it at 50% off retail, Yeti Pro needs to be even more of a discount to be worth it.

Superior are any number of mics. One of which was mentioned in this thread by a user. The Samson C01U. Additionally the MXL990, AT2020 and Shure SM58. Some may require the user to purchase an XLR interface, but XLR is better than USB for many reasons. In the vast majority of cases it's also cheaper to buy one of those mics, mount it on a proper stand and get an XLR interface than it is to just get the Yeti. That also assumes the user doesnt' want to mount the Blue mic since they all have incredibly expensive proprietary mounts (just like Bose and Dyson accessories, fancy that), but as you mentioned it tends to pick up desk noise rather well so getting the heavy beast onto a stand is important. Overpriced nonsense that they have managed to convince people online to market for them by the simple virture of their consumers having never used another mic.

Every time someone asks about microphones, there is an endless stream of people rushing in to advise them to buy a Snowball or a Yeti. And unfortunately for the end consumer those two mics are very rarely the best choice.
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I understand where you're coming from, but OP hasn't even listed a price range. All anyone got from him was 'something decent, but not too expensive.' I personally think the Samson CO1U/CO3U and the Blue Yeti/Yeti Pro are on the same level as far as quality goes. I imagine OP wants to use the mic for something like game commentary, which I think either of the mics I mentioned would work just fine for that. I don't think anyone should be upgrading to XLR unless they're making a living off of whatever they're doing, or it's necessary for the type of work they're doing. I use XLR because I get voice over gigs frequently, so it would be beneficial to me and my clients if I had more professional tools at hand.

The mics you listed are also decent ones (although I think the Shure SM58 is the best out of the list), but that's all you had to do: list them. I imagine people are recommending blue mics only because they've used them (and hopefully not because they want to get on the hype train). There's nothing wrong with that.

P.S. not all Blue mics are bad. The Bluebird is pretty great--but that's XLR.
 
StrawberryPop said:
I understand where you're coming from, but OP hasn't even listed a price range. All anyone got from him was 'something decent, but not too expensive.' I personally think the Samson CO1U/CO3U and the Blue Yeti/Yeti Pro are on the same level as far as quality goes. I imagine OP wants to use the mic for something like game commentary, which I think either of the mics I mentioned would work just fine for that. I don't think anyone should be upgrading to XLR unless they're making a living off of whatever they're doing, or it's necessary for the type of work they're doing. I use XLR because I get voice over gigs frequently, so it would be beneficial to me and my clients if I had more professional tools at hand.

The mics you listed are also decent ones (although I think the Shure SM58 is the best out of the list), but that's all you had to do: list them. I imagine people are recommending blue mics only because they've used them (and hopefully not because they want to get on the hype train). There's nothing wrong with that.

P.S. not all Blue mics are bad. The Bluebird is pretty great--but that's XLR.
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I can't agree with you on the XLR for professionals only. An XLR to USB basic interface can be had for sub-$50, some even sub-$30 though I've not used those and can't necessarily recommend them. Barring the sound quality issues that very few people will hear anyways, the primary reasons to go with XLR are mobility related, specifically being able to select numerous lengths of cable rather than introducing multiple usb cables end to end.

And yep, you're right, the SM58 would I think be considered the best on the list. That said it's dynamic and won't give that radio tone that you get from being nice and close to a condenser. You can also throw it across the room and it will still work, not something that can be said for the Yeti which can be toast from a single desk drop. Thus the recommendation away from the Yeti because proprietary mount solutions are silly and expensive.

The C01U is also nearly always cheaper than the Yeti which along with it's equivalent quality and standardized mounting makes it the better choice in almost every case at that price range.

Myself personally, I'm at the point where I use exclusively Shure mics.
 
Tarmack said:
I can't agree with you on the XLR for professionals only. An XLR to USB basic interface can be had for sub-$50, some even sub-$30 though I've not used those and can't necessarily recommend them. Barring the sound quality issues that very few people will hear anyways, the primary reasons to go with XLR are mobility related, specifically being able to select numerous lengths of cable rather than introducing multiple usb cables end to end.
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Eh, I don't agree with the mobility part. I guess it depends on how simple your setup is. Mine, however, I would not enjoy lugging an interface, preamp, mic stand, microphone,etc around. For USB mics, you just need the mic and the cable and you're good to go.

@OP: Anyway, I do think that you need to be really serious about whatever it is you're doing to upgrade to XLR, otherwise just go with any of the microphones suggested by the other posters.

I'm out! :)
 
StrawberryPop said:
Eh, I don't agree with the mobility part. I guess it depends on how simple your setup is. Mine, however, I would not enjoy lugging an interface, preamp, mic stand, microphone,etc around. For USB mics, you just need the mic and the cable and you're good to go.
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Simple XLR to Minijack converter and you now have easily 50 feet of cable (or longer) attached to a camcorder or DSLR. Same cable coiled up at the computer for close webcam work or further away to record couch talking. Now, that does speak more for the SM58 as it doesn't require phantom power, but I wouldn't use a condenser outside anyways. ;)
 
Adding to my previous post, the Skullcandy SLYRs also come with Xbox 360 and PS3 support as well. It has around 10 miles of cables, you'll never be too short :p
 
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