USB or XLR

[Daddy Dave]

Ok so I wanted to be basic and get the blue yeti but after little research, I realized that the blue yeti is a toy mic. So I am thinking about getting a Shure SM57-LC Cardioid Dynamic Microphone with Shure Microphone Mount (A2WS-BLK) and a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 and I am going to make that Scarlett thing black with the ORACAL 651 Permanent Vinyl, Matte Black. The reason I am not getting a blue yeti or the Audio Technica 2020 is that I have to game downstairs, and I don't have a door to my downstairs so you can hear my parents watching tv t full volume and my dogs barking

 

Please tell me if I should change anything. I am thinking about streaming and being a YouTuber 

[Kasai Dragon]

On 12/8/2018 at 7:37 AM, Daddy Dave said:

Ok so I wanted to be basic and get the blue yeti but after little research, I realized that the blue yeti is a toy mic. So I am thinking about getting a Shure SM57-LC Cardioid Dynamic Microphone with Shure Microphone Mount (A2WS-BLK) and a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 and I am going to make that Scarlett thing black with the ORACAL 651 Permanent Vinyl, Matte Black. The reason I am not getting a blue yeti or the Audio Technica 2020 is that I have to game downstairs, and I don't have a door to my downstairs so you can hear my parents watching tv t full volume and my dogs barking

 

Please tell me if I should change anything. I am thinking about streaming and being a YouTuber 

XLR sounds a lot better, but you'll likely need to get an audio interface with Phantom power.

[kasugatei]

20 hours ago, Kasai Dragon said:

XLR sounds a lot better, but you'll likely need to get an audio interface with Phantom power.

Not necessarily. XLR is a standard for connecting microphones to the mixer, soundboard etc. It has nothing to do with quality. Also XLR microphones are much more flexible than USB. Quality wise eg AT2020 is THE SAME regardless the connector. The only difference is that USB version has internal microphone preamp and ADC. Cheap microphones will not benefit that much from higher end preamps and there will be little to none improvement for just streaming purposes especially without having adequately acoustically treated room (read studio). 

 

Second thing, Scarlet 2i2 HAS phantom power and the author DOESN'T need it because he wants to use DYNAMIC microphone.

 

On 12/9/2018 at 12:37 AM, Daddy Dave said:

The reason I am not getting a blue yeti or the Audio Technica 2020 is that I have to game downstairs, and I don't have a door to my downstairs so you can hear my parents watching tv t full volume and my dogs barking

Finally person who did a homework regarding microphones 

I would only recommend to look at SM58 instead as well. It has the same capsule as SM57 and it is more optimized for vocals (and indestructible). SM57 is also a nice choice nonetheless, so I think that setup wise you are good to go with either of them. Some people may suggest windscreen, but it will mostly get in a way with SM57/58 without adding much benefit.

[Daddy Dave]

8 minutes ago, Niksa said:

Not necessarily. XLR is a standard for connecting microphones to the mixer, soundboard etc. It has nothing to do with quality. Also XLR microphones are much more flexible than USB. Quality wise eg AT2020 is THE SAME regardless the connector. The only difference is that USB version has internal microphone preamp and ADC. Cheap microphones will not benefit that much from higher end preamps and there will be little to none improvement for just streaming purposes especially without having adequately acoustically treated room (read studio). 

 

Second thing, Scarlet 2i2 HAS phantom power and the author DOESN'T need it because he wants to use DYNAMIC microphone.

 

Finally person who did a homework regarding microphones 

I would only recommend to look at SM58 instead as well. It has the same capsule as SM57 and it is more optimized for vocals (and indestructible). SM57 is also a nice choice nonetheless, so I think that setup wise you are good to go with either of them. Some people may suggest windscreen, but it will mostly get in a way with SM57/58 without adding much benefit.

Thank you for noticing my homework. Means a lot. I have been researching a lot in regards to mics and stuff. I need a mic with good sound isolation or whatever. Because there is a TV that is being played next to me. I chose the SM57 because of its looks to be completely honest with you. I am just adding a windscreen to that bad boy. The SM58 already has a built-in windscreen.

 

Do you think my audio set up that I am going to get is good?

 

 

Shure SM57-LC Cardioid Dynamic Microphone

 

Shure Microphone Mount (A2WS-BLK)

 

Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 (2nd Gen) USB Audio Interface with Pro Tools First, Red, 2i2 - 2 Mic Pres

 

ORACAL 651 Permanent Vinyl, Matte Black( just to make the 2i2 black.

 

If you know anything about headphones I am going to get this. ( I mainly chose these for VVS to hear foot steps and positional audio and stuff )

 

• Sennheiser HD 598 SR Open-Back
• 
  Rode PSA1 Swivel Mount Studio…
• FiiO E10K USB DAC and Headphone… 

 

 

Sorry for the messed up the copy and paste lol. Also if you know about builds can you please help me

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type	Item	Price
CPU	Intel - Core i7-8700K 3.7 GHz 6-Core Processor	$369.99 @ Amazon
CPU Cooler	Noctua - NH-D15S 82.52 CFM CPU Cooler	$79.90 @ Amazon
Thermal Compound	Thermal Grizzly - Kryonaut 1g 1 g Thermal Paste
Motherboard	ASRock - Z390 Taichi ATX LGA1151 Motherboard	$199.99 @ Newegg Business
Memory	G.Skill - Trident Z RGB 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory	$159.95 @ Amazon
Storage	Samsung - 860 Evo 500 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive	$72.00 @ Amazon
Storage	Western Digital - Caviar Blue 1 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive	$44.85 @ OutletPC
Video Card	Asus - GeForce RTX 2070 8 GB Video Card	$614.99 @ SuperBiiz
Case	NZXT - H500i (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case	$99.00 @ Amazon
Power Supply	Corsair - RMx 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply	$99.89 @ OutletPC
Operating System	Microsoft - Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit	$98.89 @ OutletPC
Monitor	Asus - ROG SWIFT PG278QR 27.0" 2560x1440 165 Hz Monitor	$545.89 @ SuperBiiz
Headphones	Sennheiser - HD 598 SE Headphones
Speakers	Logitech - Z623 200 W 2.1ch Speakers	$119.89 @ OutletPC
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total (before mail-in rebates)	$2535.23
	Mail-in rebates	-$30.00
	Total	$2505.23
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-12-11 20:58 EST-0500

 

[Exaco]

Switch to Ryzen 5 2600 / 7 2700 ( Intel is good for gaming, but Ryzen is "FuTuRe PrOoF" and gonna be alot better for workstation use e.g. streaming ).
Also avoid RTX cards, ppl claim they go dead very fast ( avoid it even more if you're not AI developer, 3D Artist etc ).


 

[Daddy Dave]

1 minute ago, Exaco said:

Switch to Ryzen 5 2600 / 7 2700 ( Intel is good for gaming, but Ryzen is "FuTuRe PrOoF" and gonna be alot better for workstation use e.g. streaming ).
Also avoid RTX cards, ppl claim they go dead very fast.


 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type	Item	Price
CPU	Intel - Core i7-8700K 3.7 GHz 6-Core Processor	$369.99 @ Amazon
CPU Cooler	Noctua - NH-D15S 82.52 CFM CPU Cooler	$79.90 @ Amazon
Thermal Compound	Thermal Grizzly - Kryonaut 1g 1 g Thermal Paste
Motherboard	Gigabyte - Z390 AORUS MASTER ATX LGA1151 Motherboard	$239.99 @ Newegg
Memory	G.Skill - Trident Z RGB 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory	$159.95 @ Amazon
Storage	Samsung - 860 Evo 500 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive	$72.00 @ Amazon
Storage	Western Digital - Caviar Blue 1 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive	$44.85 @ OutletPC
Video Card	Asus - GeForce RTX 2070 8 GB Video Card	$614.99 @ SuperBiiz
Case	NZXT - H500i (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case	$99.00 @ Amazon
Power Supply	Corsair - RMx 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply	$99.89 @ OutletPC
Operating System	Microsoft - Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit	$98.89 @ OutletPC
Monitor	Asus - ROG SWIFT PG278QR 27.0" 2560x1440 165 Hz Monitor	$545.89 @ SuperBiiz
Headphones	Sennheiser - HD 598 SE Headphones
Speakers	Logitech - Z623 200 W 2.1ch Speakers	$119.89 @ OutletPC
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total (before mail-in rebates)	$2595.23
	Mail-in rebates	-$50.00
	Total	$2545.23
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-12-11 22:32 EST-0500

 PArtpicker SayS ThErE iS a PRoblEm with my build. IDK what. Cna you help a man out plz.

 

[Exaco]

4 minutes ago, Daddy Dave said:

PArtpicker SayS ThErE iS a PRoblEm with my build. IDK what. Cna you help a man out plz.

 

Get better PSU.. Also if you're going to stay with Intel build, you don't really need the E10K, the 598 is easy af to drive.
"1 additional EPS power connector is needed."
 

[Daddy Dave]

Just now, Exaco said:

Get better PSU..
"1 additional EPS power connector is needed."
 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type	Item	Price
CPU	Intel - Core i7-8700K 3.7 GHz 6-Core Processor	$369.99 @ Amazon
CPU Cooler	Noctua - NH-D15S 82.52 CFM CPU Cooler	$79.90 @ Amazon
Thermal Compound	Thermal Grizzly - Kryonaut 1g 1 g Thermal Paste
Motherboard	Gigabyte - Z390 AORUS MASTER ATX LGA1151 Motherboard	$239.99 @ Newegg
Memory	G.Skill - Trident Z RGB 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory	$159.95 @ Amazon
Storage	Samsung - 860 Evo 500 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive	$72.00 @ Amazon
Storage	Western Digital - Caviar Blue 1 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive	$44.85 @ OutletPC
Video Card	Asus - GeForce RTX 2070 8 GB Video Card	$614.99 @ SuperBiiz
Case	NZXT - H500i (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case	$99.00 @ Amazon
Power Supply	Corsair - RMx 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply	$99.89 @ OutletPC
Operating System	Microsoft - Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit	$98.89 @ OutletPC
Monitor	Asus - ROG SWIFT PG278QR 27.0" 2560x1440 165 Hz Monitor	$545.89 @ SuperBiiz
Headphones	Sennheiser - HD 598 SE Headphones
Speakers	Logitech - Z623 200 W 2.1ch Speakers	$119.89 @ OutletPC
Other	Silverstone Tek Sleeved Extension Power Supply Cable with 1 x 8-Pin to EPS12V 8-Pin Connector (PP07-EPS8B)	$8.27 @ Amazon
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total (before mail-in rebates)	$2603.50
	Mail-in rebates	-$50.00
	Total	$2553.50
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-12-11 22:37 EST-0500

 DId I fix it 

[Exaco]

3 minutes ago, Daddy Dave said:

 

DId I fix it 

Is there even a difference? Btw if ure going for Amp/Dac get the FiiO K3 instead. It's basically 2018's E10K.

[Daddy Dave]

1 minute ago, Exaco said:

Is there even a difference? Btw if ure going for Amp/Dac get the FiiO K3 instead.

Why so? And also I want a dac/amp for positional audio. I added a EPS power connecter  

[Exaco]

3 minutes ago, Daddy Dave said:

Why so? And also I want a dac/amp for positional audio. I added a EPS power connecter  

dac/amp for positional audio ? Maybe there's some that can enhance it, but clearly not on this budget. 
K3 just launched recently, its 99$ or something like that, has superior DAC compared to E10K and about the same or better amp. 

Also u can join this even and get extra free stuff. 
https://www.facebook.com/FiiOAUDIO/posts/2085582778165911?__tn__=K-R

[Daddy Dave]

2 minutes ago, Exaco said:

dac/amp for positional audio ? Maybe there's some that can enhance it, but clearly not on this budget. 
K3 just launched recently, its 99$ or something like that, has superior DAC compared to E10K and about the same or better amp. 

Oh really? didn't know about this. will probably get it.

For my build. DId I fix it?

 

 

also what case fans do you recommend and are my 598 good for positional audio 

[Exaco]

5 minutes ago, Daddy Dave said:

Oh really? didn't know about this. will probably get it.

For my build. DId I fix it?

 

 

also what case fans do you recommend and are my 598 good for positional audio 

Im not fans or PSU expert, but just look for Tier 1 PSU's thats it or ask someone to help choose better one. For a fans i would buy it from eBay, they're quite overpriced imo from the popular brands ( 20-50$ per fan is crazy ). 
Yea the 598 is good ( will be better than any "Gaming Headset" thats for sure ) i got it too, but betrayed them with HE-4XX  

 

[Daddy Dave]

1 minute ago, Exaco said:

Im not fans or PSU expert, but just look for Tier 1 PSU's thats it or ask someone to help choose better one.
Yea the 598 is good ( will be better than any "Gaming Headset" thats for sure ) i got it too, but betrayed them with HE-4XX  

 

I ike the 598 I feel like they are in my budget and they honestly have the best audio VVS than any other headphone under 1000$ Is my mic set up good ??

[Exaco]

13 minutes ago, Daddy Dave said:

I ike the 598 I feel like they are in my budget and they honestly have the best audio VVS than any other headphone under 1000$ Is my mic set up good ??

Even it's a joke from you but you might be surprised that it's close to truth  About ur mic setup: Audio Interface - Check, Mic - Check.. so everything looks good, what else could be wrong? Also keep in mind that Audio Interface ( Scarlett ) already has DAC, so you will have to use the E10K / K3 separately to get full benefit and on another hand the power output of both of these ain't that big, so probs u will be fine w/o amp/dac or instead get something like Fiio K5, Schiit Magni 3 or JDS Labs Atom ( AMP alone ), they will be overkill for 598, but its also "FuTuRe PrOoF" since it has insane amount of power, probs would handle even bookshelf speakers.

[kasugatei]

33 minutes ago, Exaco said:

Even it's a joke from you but you might be surprised that it's close to truth  About ur mic setup: Audio Interface - Check, Mic - Check.. so everything looks good, what else could be wrong? Also keep in mind that Audio Interface ( Scarlett ) already has DAC, so you will have to use the E10K / K3 separately to get full benefit and on another hand the power output of both of these ain't that big, so probs u will be fine w/o amp/dac or instead get something like Fiio K5, Schiit Magni 3 or JDS Labs Atom ( AMP alone ), they will be overkill for 598, but its also "FuTuRe PrOoF" since it has insane amount of power, probs would handle even bookshelf speakers.

Agree with this. DACs in Scarlet are already much higher quality than onboard audio solutions. Having separate DAC along side Scarlet can just over complicate things especially in DAWs. It can also introduce unnecessary latency when using ASIO drivers.

 

[JackFromTheHill]

Absolutely and always XLR. USB sound horrible if you compare the same mic on XLR. Yes, you'll need an audio interface, but you can get a very simple one with phantom power for a little over a 100 bucks if you know what you are looking for. XLR + Audio Interface is so much better.

[Kasai Dragon]

On 12/11/2018 at 5:43 PM, Niksa said:

Not necessarily. XLR is a standard for connecting microphones to the mixer, soundboard etc. It has nothing to do with quality. Also XLR microphones are much more flexible than USB. Quality wise eg AT2020 is THE SAME regardless the connector. The only difference is that USB version has internal microphone preamp and ADC. Cheap microphones will not benefit that much from higher end preamps and there will be little to none improvement for just streaming purposes especially without having adequately acoustically treated room (read studio). 

 

Second thing, Scarlet 2i2 HAS phantom power and the author DOESN'T need it because he wants to use DYNAMIC microphone.

 

Finally person who did a homework regarding microphones 

I would only recommend to look at SM58 instead as well. It has the same capsule as SM57 and it is more optimized for vocals (and indestructible). SM57 is also a nice choice nonetheless, so I think that setup wise you are good to go with either of them. Some people may suggest windscreen, but it will mostly get in a way with SM57/58 without adding much benefit.

If you don't, you are stuck using your motherboards onboard audio or often built in audio cards inside of mics. I did this for a long time and noticed a big difference after switching as such. To get to the point, in a lot of cases, yes it can bottleneck quality.