USB microphones?

[Dafydd]

Has anyone ever used one? What are they like? Do you need pre-amps to use them, can the volume be boosted without lots of noise being added, is there latency to worry about, basically, is there anything wrong with a good one except for the fact that you can't plug it into anything else than a computer?

If I don't have a pre-amp, and there's a pretty good mic that comes in USB and regular editions for the same price, would I be better off buying the USB edition the regular one?

[Nutritious]

I personally use this USB mic (http://www.samsontech.com/products/productpage.cfm?prodID=1810) and have been very happy with it. Just plugs directly into computer's USB port (no pre-amp needed). No problems boosting gain here, which is done through the normal windows volume controls.

[Escariot]

I personally use this USB mic (http://www.samsontech.com/products/productpage.cfm?prodID=1810) and have been very happy with it. Just plugs directly into computer's USB port (no pre-amp needed). No problems boosting gain here, which is done through the normal windows volume controls.
I'll second this. And actually, it was zircon that recommended this mic to me, since it is the same on that pixietricks uses.

[Dafydd]

Cool. It's not even expensive. I might get one. Would either of you record something for me, anything at all, just an MP3 with a few seconds of speech, no post-processing, just so I can hear what it sounds like?

[Escariot]

A quick beatbox that I had: http://www.escariot.net/burp.mp3
Quick barbershop Multi-track: http://www.escariot.net/music/barbershop/Waiting.mp3

[Dafydd]

Haha :nicework:

Great beatburp (/boxburp?). Yeah, this is sounding nice, and it seems very handy to just plug it into the USB port... did you need isolation of any kind, I mean, does it pick up a lot of stuff from around you, do you need a very silent environment? Do you have a very silent computer when recording this? I'm just curious.

[Escariot]

It's fairly good at noise reduction, and also very good at picking things up. For example, if I almost kill the thing, and someone is quietly watching TV, and I record, and crank up the amp, I can clearly hear the TV... Takes a bit of level adjusting, but those are both recorded with my noisy desktop running in the background

[Dafydd]

Cool. What's the difference between this one and the C03U or the Q1U? My dad's going to Hong Kong tomorrow, I was hoping he could pick one up there (the C01U is roughly $140 where I live, the C03U a little more and the Q1U a bit less). Do you need a pop screen? I noticed after recording with my current mic that it stopped working, I opened it and it was wet inside. I'd only been using it for a few minutes. Are dynamic mics better at handling that?

[Escariot]

Well, the mic has it's own kinda built-in pop filter. I have trouble making it hiss without the pop filter, but a kit is usually the best way to go. This is what I ordered: http://cgi.ebay.com/Deluxe-Samson-CO1U-Podcast-PAK-KIT-USB-C01U-Microphone_W0QQitemZ320225343831QQihZ011QQcategory Z133012QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
It shipped quickly, got here in the number of pieces it was supposed to, and works like awesome.

RE: Noise. It is, of course, best to get a quiet room. (I will usually take my mic upstairs and plug it into my laptop to record)

[Dafydd]

Sheesh, $60 S&H... that's $190 for the whole thing. Really nice deal for the package if it wasn't for the shipping. I wonder if I could find the same thing for less anywhere in Europe. I could wait and see if the dollar drops even lower...

EDIT: Wow, just the mic and a shock mount alone is over $200 here. And that's without the pop filter, the cable, the boom stand and SONAR. If dad doesn't have any luck over in Chinaland I think I'll get one.

How long can the USB cable be? I mean, if you use an extension, so the cable's like 15 feet long, does the thing still work?

[Escariot]

RE: Cable length - I use the 10' extension with the 6' cable. Works fine.

Also of note: It DOES in fact work with USB 1.1
Another note: I didn't know you were in Sweden.

[Dafydd]

Well... that's what the location thingy is for ;) Doesn't matter though, I'll never find the same deal anywhere on this side of the planet (even including s&h), and unless dad finds something I'm getting the package you suggested, so thanks for telling me.

[Dafydd]

Well damn, the "item has ended". They don't have that package anymore. Crap.

[Escariot]

Well damn, the "item has ended". They don't have that package anymore. Crap.

Call them. Make a phone order. 1-800-688-6315

[Dafydd]

Ugh, international phone calls? Does the package still come at the same price? And how do I pay them if I order over the phone?

Sorry for being a noob, I just haven't done this type of thing before.

[Escariot]

Ugh, international phone calls? Does the package still come at the same price? And how do I pay them if I order over the phone?

Sorry for being a noob, I just haven't done this type of thing before.
Credit card over the phone.

And yes, same price

[Dafydd]

Credit card over the phone?

Man.

[Dafydd]

Talk about luck, they just put it up again. Got one. Let's hope it rocks. It's the most expensive thing I've bought in years.

[Dafydd]

So... it's almost here... maybe I'll be able to pick it up right after work, if I'm lucky. According to the postal tracking service, the package weighs a whopping 9 pounds! :shock:

EDIT: Well, what do you know, I come home, check my mailbox, and sure enough, there's a note there telling me to pick it up at the post office. But when I get there, they tell me the package hasn't arrived yet! Arrghh!

[Escariot]

Haha... Sorry for your stress... But it's worth it.

[Dafydd]

So, I got back to the post office on my bike, only to find the package to be almost as tall as myself. Lol. Also the clerk told me it'd arrived just when I'd left the previous time. *smacks forehead* Sooo... it works well. But holy shit it picks up noise. I need to replace my current computer setup with something more silent, this thing picks up every little thing in the house, it's like recording stuff with my own ears!! Dad's built a super silent computer for mom, I'm gonna ask him what it's made up of and replace some parts on my own computer. The power supply fan is the big bad guy here, I think the cpu and gpu fans are ok, but a more silent case might still be worth looking into.

Here's a sample: http://www.ngst.nu/itsworking.mp3

EDIT: Is there no way to get the computer to play back what I'm recording, live? Do I really have to record stuff not knowing what it sounds like and then wait to hear it until after I'm done recording? That's a huge backdraw if it's true.

EDIT 2: Ahem. I can get it to play back live in Sonar LE... I guess that's good enough. I thought the latency was fixed at first though, glad to see I could reduce it to 10 ms. Now all I need to do is replace that damned PSU...

[Nekofrog]

I'm going to buy one of these in the next few days. Would it be a good idea to buy a windscreen for it? http://www.theproaudioguys.com/Shop/Control/Product/fp/SFV/32273/vpid/3180429/vpcsid/0/rid/125314


Any stands other than this?
http://www.theproaudioguys.com/Shop/Control/Product/fp/SFV/32273/vpid/3180426/vpcsid/0/rid/125314

[Dafydd]

The mic came with an excellent little tripod that was not part of the deluxe package, it came in the same box with the mic. You should be fine with that. Since I got the deluxe package, I got a pop screen for it, but I can try getting up close to the mic and show you what it sounds like without the pop screen. Can't say whether a windscreen will actually help though, those are best used to keep wind out, and unless you're going to use the thing outdoors, it might not help you a lot.

EDIT: If I'm close enough to the mic to cause pops, I'm also close enough to make it overload and distort. You don't need to be that close to the mic, it picks up your voice just fine anyway. Unless you're going to use the mic outdoors, you don't need a windscreen as far as I can tell. I don't know how good that windscreen is at popstopping, but the one I've used doesn't help at all, it just stops wind. Your money is better spent on a pop screen (if you need to be close for whatever reason) or a shock mount (I noticed the vibrations from my computer caused a low buzz when I put the mic directly on my desk).

[The Pezman]

Tell me about the difference between this and a mic jack.

[Dafydd]

Uh... well. You don't need a pre-amp, because the thing gets its power through the USB port. You can use any sound card you want, it makes no difference whatsoever (hell, you don't even need a sound card, but it'd be nice to have one if you want to know what the recording you just made sounds like). The noise level stays the same with any computer, and from what I can tell, it's very low, the only noise I'm getting (which is loud, but that's not the mic's fault) seems to be coming from my own computer. I'm going to try this thing with a silent computer and make a recording of that and let you be the judge. To get something that sounds this good with a mic jack, you'd need to spend some more buck on other stuff that you don't need now that it's plugged into the USB. On the downside, you can't use the thing with anything but a computer, and it's not very useful for live performances.

[The Pezman]

Can you be a little more specific? Are we talking sound quality? Fullness of the tone? What would a recording sound like through the USB mic vs through a mic jack mic?

[Dafydd]

Fullness of the tone? Sound quality? Dude, it's a mic. Every mic sounds different. To compare this mic to a mic jack one you'd need to take this USB mic, record something, rebuild it into a mic jack mic and record something again, then compare the recordings. The sound quality and fullness of the tone is all up to the mic, not how you connect it. For me, since I don't have a pre-amp, using a USB mic is a lot better because I don't have to worry about what my soundcard does to the mic's signal.

[Torzelan]

Wow. I'm torn between getting one, and actually thinking it's far too good. If there's no way to make it register less, I don't even think it's possible to make an okay recording in my apartment just because of the ambient sounds of all the wind and water pipes that can't be done anything about...

Oh well I've got this (http://www.behringer.com/PODCASTUDIO-USB/?lang=ENG) and some nice double pop filter thingie so it's not horrible I guess, but probably not in the same league.

[Dafydd]

Hard to say unless I listen to it.

And yeah, don't get the Samson one if you're in a noisy room. Even a refridgerator seems to be too much for it. Samson has a cheaper, dynamic variant (http://www.samsontech.com/products/productpage.cfm?prodID=1879&brandID=2) that should fit you better, but there's no real reason to believe the sound will be any better than with your Behringer one (not needing a mixer table would be nice, but since you already have one...). I've had others tell me that Behringer stuff is crap, but I can't really tell what's good and what isn't. I can tell when there's noise, but all that talk about "fullness of tone" is lost on me. You can fix stuff like that with post production anyway. Noise is a bit more tricky. As far as I can tell, if I used the C01U in a studio, there wouldn't be any noise at all. Can't say that about my old AKG karaoke piece of shit.

Maybe I should have gotten one of these (http://www.samsontech.com/products/productpage.cfm?prodID=1878&brandID=2) intead... the C01U has a pattern that covers both the front and and the back (though less at the back), it might help being able to record from only one direction. My problem right now is my PSU though - it's running its fan at top speed constantly. Must have been built before auto fan speed was invented...

[The Pezman]

I was at Guitar Center today and asked about USB microphones. They directed me to this (http://www.bluemic.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=Products&file=index&prod_id=18). Since I've heard Blue is a phenomenal mike company, I may have to give this one a whirl.

EDIT: Look what I found (http://www.bluemic.com/products/Snowball/reviews/EM_USB_Reviews_4_07.pdf).

[Dafydd]

I'm sure that one will do the job. Might even keep the fan noise out better than mine does. This is one of the mics I considered, but for whatever reason I thought it was at least $1,000. Don't know where I thought I'd read that... I say go with it, if for no other reason, we'll all get a comparison.

[The Pezman]

Well, I just noticed that the sample rate and word length is fixed. 44.1 and 16 are pretty standard, but all pro applications have higher ones available. Is there a conceivable case where I might want numbers greater than those indicated?

[Dafydd]

... If you don't have a real studio, I doubt it matters much...

[Salluz]

Has anyone ever used one? What are they like? Do you need pre-amps to use them, can the volume be boosted without lots of noise being added, is there latency to worry about, basically, is there anything wrong with a good one except for the fact that you can't plug it into anything else than a computer?

If I don't have a pre-amp, and there's a pretty good mic that comes in USB and regular editions for the same price, would I be better off buying the USB edition the regular one?
What I use is a condenser mic with a long XLR cable, a preamp from MicMate (brand of a USB mic preamp) and the proper USB connection between preamp and PC (same as a USB cable for some printers like HP).

[The Pezman]

The problem is that many of us (at least me) are often on the move and won't always have consistent access to enough outlets or space to store equipment. Since USB microphones are self-powered and go right to the machine, that saves an enormous amount of hassle.

[zircon]

Well, I just noticed that the sample rate and word length is fixed. 44.1 and 16 are pretty standard, but all pro applications have higher ones available. Is there a conceivable case where I might want numbers greater than those indicated?

Whoops, sorry for the late response on this. For most purposes you don't need higher than 44.1/16, so I wouldn't worry about it.

[Salluz]

Remixer Ghetto Lee Lewis had once recommended the Samsom C0U1 (http://www.samsontech.com/products/productpage.cfm?prodID=1810) to me. It suffices, and the details avail on the site given.