Looking for a microphone

[taq8ojh]

I need a new desktop microphone. I don't like headsets, so something on a stand is what I aim for.
It must be able to capture voice from about 50cm range without volume decreasing too much.

I originally bought Trust Starzz, but it's hardly what people on the internets say - when I put it in such distance as needed, my voice is so quiet I can hardly make anything out of it. Alternatively, if I enable microphone boost, I start echoing like crazy and there's nothing I can do about it (no effecs help either).

Is there anything I can buy in let's say roughly $50 range?

 

[vbuggy]

I was about to start typing recommendations when I screeched to a halt at the last line.

It's more than your budget, but the Samson C01U starter kit might be a good bet. (or just get the mic itself for about $80 and fudge the rest)

It's a highly directional mic (you face flat-on to the mic like a normal broadcast mic, it will reject/be less sensitive to sounds from the rear and to the top of it) which makes it suitable for voice pickup from a fixed relative angle at a reasonable distance.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...phone_and.html
EDIT: saw your location http://www.thomann.de/cz/search_dir.html?sw=samson+c01u&x=0&y=0

Ideally I'd use an anglepoise 'radio station style' mount, but stable examples of those would exceed your budget already by themselves.

 

[taq8ojh]

Well, I could do that I guess, despite the price being way over ridiculous for my purpose - but it beats sounding like crap over Skype and not being able to use Teamspeak at all.

Directional mic is probably what I want indeed. I also tend to place a mic directly in front of me, which probably creates nice echo with voice reflecting on the screen.

Cheers for the tip.
I welcome any other too, though, so anyone who comes by is free to toss in his opinion.

Oh btw, I just noticed it's USB microphone. I was living under the impression such devices should connect through standard audio connectors directly into a soundcard. What's the deal here?

 

[vbuggy]

Well, I could do that I guess, despite the price being way over ridiculous for my purpose - but it beats sounding like crap over Skype and not being able to use Teamspeak at all.

Directional mic is probably what I want indeed. I also tend to place a mic directly in front of me, which probably creates nice echo with voice reflecting on the screen.

Cheers for the tip.
I welcome any other too, though, so anyone who comes by is free to toss in his opinion.

Oh btw, I just noticed it's USB microphone. I was living under the impression such devices should connect through standard audio connectors directly into a soundcard. What's the deal here?

It's better thru USB - the likelihood of the input stage of your mobo being crap is quite high. There's dedicated ADC on the mic, which results in much more consistent audio.

e.g. One of the mic types I use in a similar setup to what you want is the Blue Mouse which has an analog connection, but that's because it's designed to interface with pro audio components.

 

[taq8ojh]

Hm.. I usually have standalone sound card, currently happy owner of Asus Xonar Phoebus. On the other hand - I just remembered - it has some random Realtek circuit for the mic input on it. So I might really want to to USB way.

Jesus, 1200 bucks for a mic... And that's most probably cheap from a professional's point of view But for a human - incredible

 

[vbuggy]

I'm not a pro, not at least in terms of the use of these mics.

I just use them for Skype (main use), to do voiceovers for my progress reports for clients that we send out in podcast format (though this is a really niche use now, I hardly ever do it) and gaming.

I just wanted to the best voice pickup possible, tried a few, and the Blue won it. I use the Electro-Voice RE20's as well in the same role on some of my setups, which are kind of the industry standard for voice work - but I prefer the Blue.

Back on topic, the slightly more expensive Blue Yeti is a more popular choice than the Samson mainly on the basis of it's Apple-crowd-can-only-think-with-their-eyes-friendly looks (as well as for some the extra bells & whistles - the integral desk stand being one), but I think the Samson works just as well, if not better in terms of what's important - the pickup. The additional features it offers can be useful for some, but not really a necessity for the 'regular desktop mic' use IMO. The less expensive Snowball from Blue - another looker - is inferior to the Samson, though fairly decent for what it is (and somewhat more portable, if that's a factor).

 

[taq8ojh]

I'll give the Samson a thought, it's a lot of money for the purpose, but I kinda like it.

 

[vbuggy]

If pickup isn't important and making yourself intelligible isn't a particular priority then sure, you could go for a desk mic again (which will give similar results) or alternatively a clip-on type like the Zalman ZM-MIC1. They work, within their limits.

 

[taq8ojh]

Haha, yea. I've had enough experience with clipons and desk ones so far, so now I do value quality over price.

 

[Childs]

Also take a look at the Audio-Technica ATR2500USB.

 

[taq8ojh]

Oh btw, just for the record, I tried the Trust mic in my wife's PC and to my surprise it worked flawlessly: no echoing, very loud (I actually had to turn it down some), clear sound.
I am starting to believe it's a problem of shitty circuitry design on a particular board. I have VIA HD audio something while my wife has some older Realtek chip. I am currently without my soundcard, but the mic is equally useless on both: with the soundcard there's the insane echo, while with the onboard sound it's so quiet I can barely hear anything.

Thus, USB mic is probably the best solution, but maybe I don't need to spend as much! (I still wouldn't mind something half decent) Opinions?

 

[vbuggy]

You could spend half as much and end up with something three times crappier. Personally, my experience is the best I've used for low-end has been the Samson. Having said that I haven't tried the cheaper A-T linked above. I guess it can't suck.

 

[Childs]

When I was looking for a decent low cost USB mic I also looked at the following:

CAD U37
Blue Snowball
Samson Meteor

I went with the AT because I already had their headphones.

 

[taq8ojh]

You could spend half as much and end up with something three times crappier. Personally, my experience is the best I've used for low-end has been the Samson. Having said that I haven't tried the cheaper A-T linked above. I guess it can't suck.

You are right, however: when I plugged the Trust crappy mic in my wife's PC and tested with the basic sound recorder, the result was absolutely fine for my ears. That doesn't mean I couldn't use better quality, but just saying... The Samson is still in consideration

 

[vbuggy]

The Snowball and the Meteor are roughly comparable in that while they're notably better than a regular mic, I wouldn't call them mics that will truly convince you that the extra spend was worthwhile. Once again, not sure if their A-T falls into that category or the C01U's.

 

[taq8ojh]

The ironic funny fact is the Meteor is only like $5 cheaper than C01U. I do love its looks, though. Anyway, buying it in this country would probably be pretty dumb considering the prices.

 

[vbuggy]

You are right, however: when I plugged the Trust crappy mic in my wife's PC and tested with the basic sound recorder, the result was absolutely fine for my ears. That doesn't mean I couldn't use better quality, but just saying... The Samson is still in consideration

It means your wife's PC has mic gain enabled, or yours is missing. You could add a basic USB soundcard to give you that mic gain for $20. You could re-invest in a clip on for another $10. It'll still get you crappy sound in absolutes. If you're happy with that though, then you could end it there.

 

[taq8ojh]

The settings are identical on both computers: volume at 100, mic boost at +30dB. It's something hardware related there...

And I probably will end up buying that Samson anyway, but at the same time, I am baffled at the behaviour of my PC.

I could end it here either way I got other stuff in mind too - I have to have shelves for my new speakers made. Lots of audio fun going on here lately.

 

[taq8ojh]

I found an interesting article about USB microphones: http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/feb07/articles/usbmics.htm
What caught my eyes was C01U mentioned in not exactly positive way:

This unashamedly budget mic uses a back-electret cardioid capsule in a side-address housing and includes electronic preamp gain control that can be adjusted via a software control panel to optimise the gain prior to A-D conversion. In principle, this is an excellent idea, but we found the mic to be rather noisy unless used close up, so the technical benefits of the remote gain adjustment were, to some extent, negated by the quality of the analogue circuitry.

If I read it right, it's not exactly suitable to be placed any distance away...

 

[mmntech]

When I was looking for a decent low cost USB mic I also looked at the following:

CAD U37
Blue Snowball
Samson Meteor

I went with the AT because I already had their headphones.

I have the Snowball. Used it in college when I was taking broadcasting. It's a very good USB mic. It was $100 when I got it so that's a good deal. A lot of pros recommend it.

 

[taq8ojh]

So the Samson has just arrived.
First impression: it's really heavy, and I mean heavy - definitely not what I expected from a microphone, lol. It looks awesomely metallic and has that unbreakable feeling to it.
Second impression: works out of the box without fucking around like I did with anything that connected through a bloody jack, and the sound! the sound!!

 

[Childs]

Did you end up with the Meteor?

 

[taq8ojh]

no