Audacity Forum

Currently can't decide between these four mics, for commentary and VOIP uses. In no particular order:

Shure PG42-USB (shure.com/americas/products/microphones/pg/pg42-usb-vocal-microphone)
Blue Spark Digital (bluemic.com/spark_digital)
MXL USB.009 (mxlmics.com/microphones/usb/009)
Audio-Technica AT2020 USB+ (audio-technica.com/cms/wired_mics/5879a6ca22e5aa7e/index.html)

As I said, only for commentary and voice communication, no vocals or instruments. In rough order of what I care about, from greatest to least: sound quality, features, build quality, price, looks. I of course narrowed it down to these mics for various reasons. I found the Shure because of a recommended review that praised it for its audio quality. I found the Spark Digital because I have bought from Blue before, and I know they are great. Finally, I found the MXL and AT2020 because of YouTubers I watch, and I know the sound quality is good. Unfortunately, I can't afford to buy them all, try them, and sell the ones I didn't prefer, so I came here.

Unfortunately, you never get somebody trying out two microphones and liking one of them.
Audio quality has almost nothing to do with the microphone. What kind of room do you have and where is it? We had a recent posting from someone wanting us to fix other people talking next door to his performance. You can rarely fix that with either microphone or Audacity filters.

This performance clip will always sound like she was recording in her mum's kitchen.

http://kozco.com/tech/audacity/clips/EchoSample.mp3

In these cases, you can go a long way to solving problems with News Gathering Techniques which tend to involve an expensive microphone and low quality.

http://kozco.com/tech/audacity/pix/ShotGunInterview.jpg

The longest posting on the forum is someone in an apartment in Hollywood wanting to record his voice for Audiobooks. He ended up making a studio in his broom closet.

He was using a Snowball.

More later.

Koz

So far the MXL unit seems to come out on top. It has on-board zero latency monitoring and volume/balance controls similar to the G-Track that I have used and like.

http://www.kozco.com/tech/audacity/pix/ ... ctions.jpg

Get the full spider mount, pop and blast filter and a stand.

Note the mic on the left. Shock mount, blast filter and stand.
http://www.kozco.com/tech/audacity/pix/ ... dShoot.jpg
You have to look hard. I didn't have a lot of time to shoot that pix.

Note that if there's any chance anywhere, ever that you're going to want two or more microphones, you're going to start over. USB microphone are aggressively one-bangers. There are ways to force two USB microphones, but you lose production tools and adjustments and on some microphones, you could have sync issues. "Why is there an echo a half-hour into my show?"

There are other ways to force that to work. Each microphone gets a computer. You can still have sync issues, but you have full control of the session.

For that amount of money, you can have a very nice, expandable analog setup.

One last note. Don't buy something by looking at the reviews. Buy it by the complaints, and pay attention. One person who had troubles is notable, but if multiple people have the same troubles... "The microphone was noisy and never got loud enough. The support phone line was no help at all."


Oh wait. USB microphones can have one problem unique to them (although maybe not in expensive ones). They can pick up computer noise.

http://kozco.com/tech/audacity/clips/Fr ... itoes3.wav
Turn the volume up a little after I get done talking.

I don't know any reliable way to get rid of that, or even precisely where it's coming from. It can get a lot worse.

Koz

Thanks for the help! I've actually done a bit more research since I posted this, and have narrowed down my options to the Audio-Technica AT2035 and the Blue Spark (both with the Blue Icicle and respective shock mounts and pop filters).

Both of the microphones you pointed us to are native USB and do not need the Icicle.

Koz

Right. Totally not XLR at all.
http://imgur.com/96yd0WD
http://imgur.com/3nJjIOG

I can't tell where you're going with that. Those two postings have no picture.

The Audio-Technica AT2020 USB+ and the Blue Spark Digital have built-in digital interface. The icicle isn't required for connection to either one.

Koz

Okay, for one, I have no idea why those pictures didn't work for you. They're links to parts of the respective websites that show them having XLR outputs. Two, my second-to-last post states that I changed my choice to the AT2035 and the Blue Spark (XLR mics), not the AT2035+ USB and the Blue Spark Digital. I did this because I figured out the advantages of an external preamp and USB converter (the Icicle) over a built-in preamp etc. I should probably create a new thread for this, because it's 2 XLR mics now, not 4 USB mics.

Now I'm caught up.

I would have thought your forum moderation would have evaporated by now and your postings would be immediate.

I'm in complete agreement with the microphone type, but I do question the combination of preamp and icicle. Is there a specific reason for that combination? I can't memorize all the combinations of each piece. Which preamp?

The icicle is designed for connection to an actual microphone and will supply the required 48v phantom. One of the illustrations has it jacked into the back of a conventional microphone. I see no provision to turn phantom power off, though. My Shure X2U has the ability to turn the phantom power off, a good idea if you try to connect a non-condenser microphone. The Preamp output connection and the Icicle input connection are likely different. Most MicPres output high level and the Icicle XLR connection is low (microphone level). You may be able to force that to work, but the distortion and noise values may be worse than they should be.

A shortcoming with many USB/MicPres is that they're stereo and only present the microphone on either left or right. You can mix them down in post, but you should know that it's going to do that.

Koz

You should probably stay here. It's not unusual for a posting thread to wander and as long as it wanders in a logical manner, it should be OK. One of the longest threads on the forum wandered several times and it's good to follow it like reading a book.

Koz