The Flying Sloth

58 minutes ago, PixelGeek said:

I really need to just buy some Sonos speakers or literally any speaker from any manufacturer that allows mesh connectivity, these Google speakers were just on sale for a killer price given their sound quality.

Yep, you're right there,

TLDR is this, Bluetooth has massive latency for most audio codecs, while it's not often noticeable on its own, once you start mixing and matching speakers and controllers you're likely to end up with speakers slightly out of sync with one another which will really annoy you. Now, I suppose you could go down the route of trying to do lag compensation but that's a completely different rabbit hole to go down.

Change the Q2U to a different USB port, ideally a different circuit/controller

On 12/29/2022 at 1:56 PM, Redageddon said:

Thats only microphone reccomendations, i was looking for a whole setup. If a microphone itself costs 100$ that puts my budget at more than 100$, which my budge is only 100$. (Yes ik that they are in tge 50 range, but you didn't reccomend anything else to go with the set)

Arms are cheap, you don't need an interface with them, they come with the cables,
They are within budget well and truly.
 

Fair enough, in that case building your own may be a decent option, other than my studio monitors all the speakers I use on the daily are custom.

For $100 the easy choice is the Tbone MB88U, Samson Q2U, AT2005 but take a look at the guide in my signature, I wrote it to answer this question

Reduce your sample rate and increase your buffer size,
Make sure FL adn your PC are running the same sample rate tool.
This is fairly normal behaviour when your CPU does not process the audio fast enough, generally a sign to get a better CPU or tone it down a bit with your audio settings  .

Did you make sure you plugged in the front panel audio?

Simple problems have simple solutions, in your windows audio settings you can rebalance so that the right is louder

Take a look at the guide in my sig, I wrote it specifically to answer this question but it will also help you make an informed decision

Short answer, Behringer umc202HD interface with Behringer C2 is a good budget option, it's what I got both my younger brothers.

Longer answer, it really depends on the specifics of your situation, whether your space is treated and what you'll be using it for but as a general rule, mics from 3U, ADK, Advanced Audio, Aston and Groove Tubes can be found pretty cheap used and are usually stupid good value for money.

I'm with Psi, go for used studio monitors, usually you'll be able to find a decent set well under a hundred bucks and they will be miles better than anything branded by a consumer computing company.

Go for used studio monitors, you should be able to fairly easily find a set under a hundred and it's highly unlikely that any issues you experience will be the fault of the speakers.

7 hours ago, ShearMe said:

Since it comes with that XLR to 3.5mm cable, it should be designed to plug into a standard consumer input. If your computer says there is no input detected then you either have a case of user error or a faulty input port. Grab a cheap USB soundcard to test.

This microphone is identical to the Neweer or otherwise BM800 microphone, these are electret medium diaphragm condenser mics that while technically not requiring phantom power certainly benefits from it, having said that, they sound absolutely terrible with the provided cable and I would hesitate to say they approach acceptability even using a proper audio interface.

 

No, please no, don't ever, just no,

5 hours ago, Heats with Nvidia said:

Ok, mixers with USB Inputs may be good enough. I simply don`t know them at all. I can only write about the stuff that i have seen and worked on/with. And for example the small analog mixers tend to be pretty crappy and their natural state seems to be broken in some way.

Maybe the USB ones are better. Also the Behringer M32 seems to be overall better than the really cheap stuff from Behringer.

Except that OP isn't looking for Analogue mixers, they're looking for an audio interface..
So when you say

21 hours ago, Heats with Nvidia said:

to just buy a used mixer or whatever you need, for around the same price as the new Behringer product

It's not relevant to this topic unless we begin to talk about mixers, Behringer has the Wing, the X32 and the M32 in ongoing production and they are excellent, there are no similarly priced mixers with flying faders that could be used in a studio, sure we could go back and look at the MIDAS Legend or Heritage line but those mixers only have recall, not motorised faders. Nobody here is defending the quality of the Behringer Xenyx mixers, they suck, as does every other small format mixer in a similar price range and I'm happy to concede that the Xenyx line isn't great, but we are talking about audio interfaces not mixers. 

5 hours ago, Heats with Nvidia said:

Also the Klark Teknik and Midas stuff is from the same company but not 100% optimised for the lowest price and lowest quality that barely survives the warranty period.

The CT1 I mentioned is a solid-state inline mic preamplifier (and I happen to own one) that is built quite rugged if I'm honest and Is built of high enough quality parts that it is no immediately obvious how it could break without serious abuse, the soldering is decent, the case is ~quarter inch solid metal (likely aluminium), the connectors are relatively decent quality too. Sure their clones of high-end compressors aren't great but their EQs are pretty decent and beyond that my argument was only that they make some really nice products that still see use in studios, not that all their products do.

5 hours ago, Heats with Nvidia said:

And yes, i have also seen Behringer stuff in professional studios, but only in some rare occasions its more than a headphone amp and more rarely, this stuff is actually used for a long time. The other brands that are owned by Behringer tend to be more of a mixed bag. Some products are really good, some are not.

Then it seems we are in agreement, you concede "Some products are really good, some are not" which is my entire point.

12 hours ago, Heats with Nvidia said:

In short: Even most used $100 mixers are a better deal than a new Behringer. And also a lot better for the environment.

No, very much no, 
Mixers with USB connectivity usually are single channel recording unless we're talking significantly higher price and quality gear that a Behringer interface, beyond that, the mixer is unlikely to have ASIO drivers and further is likely to be made from the absolute cheapest components available in order to keep the price low while having many many faders / knobs / connectors etc etc.

Sure Behringer interfaces aren't exactly the highest quality gear and if I was to compare them like for like against hardware from Motu, UA or RME there is no competition BUT the price is so significantly below those that I often recommend Behringer gear as it is the absolute peak value for money in non-critical environments.

I've seen and used Behringer kit in commercial music studios, the ADA8200, BCF2000, Klark Teknik CT1 or Midas M32 (Upgraded Behringer X32) for instance and they do their job damn well, for sure  Behringer gets a bad rap for stealing designs and sure often their products often may not be the pinnacle of quality but much of their kit is damn good for the price and some of it is just damn good full stop.

Just to confirm you're looking for a mount, not an arm?

If you're just looking for a mount, what sort of arm and mic are you using?

I've found a service manual for the EMX5000 and the EMX512 but nothing for the EMX5,
I doubt you'll be able to find a repair manual for that but the user manual does have some good tips in it as well as a signal path diagram that could be helpful for troubleshooting.
I'm not sure that dust should be causing an issue like this but it is very easy to check, open it up, blow the dust out and see if it's fixed.
While you're in there keep an eye out for anything that looks broken or burnt and you may get a better idea of the issue. Best of luck !!

Jesus this devolved quickly,

OP, it is very difficult to get a USB mic that is also workable for singing and / or other recording applications, your best bet will be something like a Samson Q2U, AT2005 or Tbone MB88U all of which are combination XLR / USB microphones built by brands with recognition in the studio audio space. Because of this USB/XLR design they also come with the added benefit of not becoming paperweights when something in the USB / conversion circuit breaks. Take a look at the guide in my signature for a little more information on microphone options, the guide is designed to answer the question you have posed.

Now to lend my 2 cents to the dumpster fire
 

On 4/21/2022 at 10:05 AM, OfficialTechSpace said:

They exist because inexperienced users think they're easier to work with, and that they're a good deal. They're not either.

I would argue that they are a simplest option in that you just plug in the microphone and it works. I'm exaggerating the difficulty difference but think of it like this, most people know full well that it's possible to build a computer, buying parts and putting it together yourself yet people still buy prebuilts every day because they either have no interest in learning to build or they think it's too difficult for them. Don't get me wrong, I have an absolute hatred of USB microphones but they're like a prebuilt, you plug it in and it works, if it doesn't you RMA and get a replacement, it is much simpler but by the same token a prebuilt PC is almost never going to be the best value for money or have the perfect specs for streaming or your specific workload, it's a generic solution that does the basics good enough for people to buy it.
 

On 4/21/2022 at 3:04 PM, LogicalDrm said:

Yet you proceed to offer "budget solution and claim it would have automatically better quality parts just because its XLR.

I am not aware of any USB microphone with an amplification circuit or DAC / ADC anywhere close to even the most budget of audio interfaces, if we're talking microphones you have more of a point, there are the BM800 and other crap Ebay special microphones that are genuinely terrible but that doesn't mean all budget solutions are bad, take the Behringer C2 for instance, I've used them as daily driver microphones for years despite owning mics woth well over 50x as much. The argument isn't that the budget XLR solution is better by virtue of being XLR, the budget XLR solution is better because it gives you options for improvement, likely ASIO support, good DAC and ADC, 24 bit audio vs the 16 (at best) bit audio of a USB mic, a better amplification circuit and complete modularity in that if/when something breaks you can sub out that one component rather than buying a whole new USB mic.
 

On 4/21/2022 at 3:04 PM, LogicalDrm said:

2 more cables? Power and USB besides mic to interface. Also, example with comparison to some more popular USB mics would help your argument. Which atm is very one sided, and giving opinion over facts.

I know I'm just being pedantic here but most budget interfaces are bus powered so it really is only one more cable

On 4/21/2022 at 10:27 PM, OfficialTechSpace said:

Latency my friend. You can transfer data through a USB without drop-off from a reasonably large distance, but latency only increases. This is more of an issue with as a mic cable than it would be as a data transfer cable. Again with the unpleasantries... you can disagree, but that doesn't make you right. You don't have to berate or insult someones talking points just because they don't think the same as you.

The additional latency from a longer USB cable is negligible and likely could only be measured with lab equipment. There's a decent thread with some calculations here and one from Gearspace with people talking specifically about USB latency and cable length to interfaces here. This is even less of an issue with a mic cable sending an analogue signal, there are many more things to be worried about when lengthening a cable such as resistance, possible EMI, possibility of breakages all of which I would be more concerned about than the latency of the analogue microphone signal. Take a look at the wikipedia page about Velocity Factor (the speed at which a signal can pass through a wire to see why I'm not worried. 

On 4/21/2022 at 10:27 PM, OfficialTechSpace said:

On 4/21/2022 at 3:04 PM, LogicalDrm said:

"3) they're bundled with troublesome software/driver related issues"

This is false. Or the issues would be same as with any USB interface, more so with the cheap ones you bring up as option.

Using the same connector does not mean that they use the same software or drivers. They don't, and your statement is very clearly inept due to your own lack of experience on the matter.

There are certainly cheap USB Audio Interfaces with terrible drivers, like the Behringer UM2 and UMC22 or M Audio Fast Track series (there are others but those were the ones I knew off the top of my head). Most of the time these driver issues are due to the interfaces being budget devices at launch and being older designs considered legacy by their manufacturer and as such receive little in the way of support with newer operating systems. Now, these driver issues are usually noticed because people expect a USB interface to have native ASIO drivers and play nice with their DAW or other softwares they may utilise the interface with, most of the time even the most broken of interface drivers still allow it to be used with Native windows drivers as a simple external IO option though you will lose a large amount of functionality.

It goes similarly for USB microphones with one small adjustment, because they were never designed for low latency use in an audio production environment a USB microphone with dodgey drivers or something broken in the ADC circuit makes it unusable as opposed to a legacy interface where it just becomes a glorified USB audio adapter. Because of their low price and relative lack of expectation of performance USB mics (especially generic options) often can be running from the same standard inbuilt Windows USB audio drivers that a legacy interface would, using the inbuilt windows drivers should lessen the possibility of massive failure on the software side but still leaves the hardware side where I think it is fairly obvious a USB mic would die well before an interface would 

In closing I'll relay a quote from another of the Audio forum regulars, Derkoli
 

Quote

The biggest issue is the fact that the microphone is attempting to be a jack of all trades. And it really can't be. It's trying to be a microphone, pre-amp and AD converter all at once.

An XLR microphone just has to focus on being a damn good microphone. Nothing else.

An audio interface just has to focus on being a damn good pre-amp and AD/DA converter. Nothing else.

Really, audio interfaces/XLR microphones are vastly favoured in the audio world due to a few things:

If you spend 300 on a USB microphone, you're not spending 300 on a microphone. You're spending 300 on an interface AND a microphone. Hence the lesser quality.

They are not nearly as versatile. If I wanted to, I could plug every XLR microphone under the sun into any of my interfaces, and they would work if they are supplied with +48V phantom power as and when it is needed.

Wanna upgrade? Buy a full new USB microphone/interface system. With an XLR setup, you can upgrade the microphone, or the interface. With a USB microphone, you can only upgrade both at the same time.

You can't shove a USB microphone output into a mixing desk.

Most USB microphones only record at a bit depth of 16. The studio "standard" tends to be 24 bit, due to the increased achieveable Dynamic Range with a bit depth of 24. This gives you greater flexibility during the post-production process.

Trust me when I say that receiving a 16 bit audio file is probably the worst thing in the world for an audio engineer. It's so hard to work properly with such a low dynamic range file, you try and work with the levels of it and you clip the shit out of it more often than not.

USB Microphones tend to be cheap and noisy little buggers. Shoving all that analog circuitry close to a relatively sensitive transducer can fuck with it. Also if phantom power is needed, you can introduce noise from the transformer that is needed to take the voltage from the USB power lines and turn it into +48VDC Phantom power.

Regards,
Sloth

UMC404HD seems like the cheapest option if budget is an issue,
Personally I use a UMC1820
Focusrite Scarlett 4i4 would also work,
Really just go to thomann and sort interfaces by IO

6 hours ago, IAmNik said:

 

 

And yes, you can find fakes but buy from a recognize dealer (Thomann and or sweetwater) and you'll be fine, I'd check those sites first 

If you're buying from thomann pick up the MB75 instead, it is more or less a copy of the SM57 but it's significantly cheaper and a better microphone according to the internet. I have one and it's great.

Other options:

Rode podmic

Aston Stealth

Electrovoice have some good options too.

I'd suggest taking a look at the guide in my signature and having a scroll through the podcastage YouTube channel.

Take a look at the guide in my signature when you get the chance I talk in depth about the AT2020 and why I'm not a fan as well as tips on choosing a good mic.

The AT 2020 and 2035 are consistently recommended both here and everywhere else and certainly aren't bad microphones if you don't have much background noise (there's a reason they're the low budget go-to), if you do have background noise you may want to use a dynamic microphone.

Just remember that Condenser microphones are extremely sensitive (will pick up a tonne of background noise) and Dynamic microphones will often require an inline preamp to get any decent volume out of them (like the Klark Teknic CT1) and using a dynamic mic without one can make it sound very lifeless, just something to keep in mind.

There are a plethora of microphone options available with many microphones rivaling or outright beating the 2020/35 in a very similar price range (Brands like MXL, 3U, ADK, isk and CAD among others) so just take your time finding the microphone that will sound the best in your voice. If you can't try them yourself the Podcastage YouTube channel can be a very useful point of reference.

As for USB mics in general,
 

When comparing USB mics to XLR systems it's important to remember that it's not just price that controls quality, it's also the target market. You or I might be happy dealing with XLR cables, mic stands, low cut filters, pads and gain controls but the buyer of a USB mic just wants a plug and play solution so those extra features aren't available to them. They don't care about the bit depth so they only get 16 bits while we expect 24 and it's expected that they will mostly use it for gaming and voice calls so it's simply not built with the finesse required for exacting studio recording. It's a quick and dirty (and cheap) solution that might work great for gaming, light streaming and voice calls but severely disadvantages you if you're trying to do any serious recording.

The issue is not the fact it's USB. USB is great!

To Quote Derkoli,

Quote

USB Microphones tend to be cheap and noisy little buggers. Shoving all that analog circuitry close to a relatively sensitive transducer can fuck with it. Also if phantom power is needed, you can introduce noise from the transformer that is needed to take the voltage from the USB power lines and turn it into +48VDC Phantom power.

Obligatory "what's the wecommended amount of dedotated vwam I should have to server"

Jokes aside, none, servers don't need vram unless they're using the GPU for rendering or number crunching which Minecraft doesn't do.

I'm agreed with Derkoli, all of my power in my studio is controlled through 'smart outlets', I have a single command that turns everything on piece by piece until finally the monitors turn on.
Major reason this can be important is that you can't be sure what sort of signal your other gear is sending during its startup procedure, sure this may only create a snmall pop most of the time but if something were to go wrong you could have extremely loud buzzing, humming or other interference playing in your studio which
1 - hurts to hear,
2 - Isn't a good look in front of clients

3 - Is not what the crowd / audience paid good money to hear. And
4 - In niche cases could damage your speakers if the amplifier / sound source is clipping badly.

Don't be scared though, before my system upgrades I had a single switch that turned everything on all at once and I did that for yeeeaars and never managed to damage my speakers, the same switch would immediately cut power to everything (including the PC) when I turned it off so I learned that computers are far more resilient than we give them credit for most of the time but certainly would not recommend you copy this setup.

8 hours ago, StarTrek133 said:

Thanks @The Flying Sloth & @OfficialTechSpace for the information .. 

 

Was looking over @The Flying Sloth guide and from what I can gather it seems like there is no all in one unit for this and that you have to multi parts in order to get everything to work .. Maybe I am wrong , I dont know .. New to the game so not sure what I need or what to look for .. 

 

So I dont know ... I just want something that is good so people will stop saying they cant hear me when we are trying to play games on discord among other things .. but also dont want to spend $$$$$$$$$$ to do it .. 

The three dynamic mics I mentioned are all USB

Take a look through the guide in my signature, personally I'd instead buy an XLR mic like the Samson Q2U, AT 2005 or Tbone MB88u but the guide in my signature is designed to help you choose.