Trying to Decide a new Mic For Gaming

[Luke Carmichael]

Hey all,
I've recently made the decision to upgrade my Microphone from a Blue Snowball. I've been looking for a Mic that's great at picking up both mine and my friend's voice on a couch. So far I'm torn between the Audio Technica ATR-2500, the Audio Technica ATR-6550, and the Blue Yeti. If any of you have had experience with these Mics or have other recommendations (I have a budget of about $200 or less) please leave a reply, It'd help me out a TON. Thanks in advance!

-Luke

 

[Tarmack]

Generally speaking, you won't find a great mic for that purpose because your room won't be treated for sound. Any mic that you set in a bi-directional or Omni-directional mode and be far enough from the two of you so you're not cuddling is going to introduce a lot of room echo. I've still never really had a response on whether using a shotgun mic mounted on the TV pointed at the couch would work. Might be too far from the source audio. Could be put maybe on a coffee table pointed at the couch instead.

Alternatively, you could go the lavalier route which is a clip-on interview style mic.

 

[Luke Carmichael]

Well, I'm not looking for an omni-directional or even bi-Directional Mic, what I'm looking for is a cardioid condenser microphone with decent compression capabilities. Something that has a fairly rich sound frequency and minmal background noise. So far the Blue Snowball has been working very well with our current setup, but I need something that's got some more dynamics with it :/

 

[James Azurin]

Well, I'm not looking for an omni-directional or even bi-Directional Mic, what I'm looking for is a cardioid condenser microphone with decent compression capabilities. Something that has a fairly rich sound frequency and minmal background noise. So far the Blue Snowball has been working very well with our current setup, but I need something that's got some more dynamics with it :/

From your choices, I would recommend the Blue Yeti. In it's class of USB condenser microphones, it's definitely one of the best. I was in your same position a couple of weeks ago before deciding to grab the Blue Yeti and I haven't regretted my decision even once. The audio quality for the price is fantastic. I received recommendations from other YouTubers that had switched to it from Audio Technica microphones, prior to my purchase. It hasn't let me down so far, as it works well with both PCs and consoles. Short of getting a professional microphone in need of XLR inputs and a preamp, I would go for the Yeti.

Those're my two cents on the matter, though. Hope I could provide valuable insight!

 

[Tarmack]

Well, I'm not looking for an omni-directional or even bi-Directional Mic, what I'm looking for is a cardioid condenser microphone with decent compression capabilities. Something that has a fairly rich sound frequency and minmal background noise. So far the Blue Snowball has been working very well with our current setup, but I need something that's got some more dynamics with it :/

*chuckles*

A few things of note. Cardioid is intended for single source audio and permits a bit of off axis movement so the audio source doesn't have to be so rigidly positioned. It is not intended for two audio sources.

Second, decent compression capabilities? Compression isn't a function that the microphone is responsible for.

Third, rich sound frequency and minimal background noise. So you want a microphone that is sensitive but one that is not sensitive? Background noise is an issue because you're too far from the microphone and your voice is not hitting the mic with enough power which leads to the background noise that always exists in a room to be more noticeable. And recording two people with a single cardioid microphone is a great way to get room echo AND background noise regardless of what single mic you choose to use..

 

[Luke Carmichael]

I never said that Compression is the responsibility of a microphone, but depending on the frequency pickup range, it makes compression and EQ much easier. I'm not sure where you think I'm going to be recording, but it's not going to be in an abandoned warehouse. I'm recording in a 10'x10' room littered with baffles and sound dampening: there's not much echo to begin with.

Spoiler: Setup

Thirdly, a cardioid pickup pattern is more than capable of picking up two voices sitting closely together on a couch, many channels have done this and their audio sounds fantastic. It's all in the mic and your environment. All I'm asking is, what mic would be best for this situation based on other people's experience with these Mics. Eventually, I'd want two separate Azden SGM-1X mics, in order to isolate both our voices (for the most part), put into either a mixer or simply a USB interface.

 

[Tarmack]

You're right, what do I know.