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is my new new Microphone a good one or....?

Bayonett Priest

i knwo i read the recomedations but i didnt understand a lot so i ask here!

im planing to get the Rode ntusb but because its a usb microfone im sceptic about the quality cause i have a audio technica 2020usb+ and it has a lot of white noise!

 

my 2. option is the Rode NT1-a but i dont know which amp i can use for it im completly new in xlr-land! the Rode can be bought on amazon in a combo with a Behringer XENYX 302USB, Behringer Q802USB or the Steinberg UR22 MKII!

are one of these good amps? and do i realy need a dac for it as well? What is a dac anyway(please axplain for me that has no idea what that is!)?

and do you guys have recomendations for me about a good amp for maximum 100€?

i also have the Audio Technica AT2035 in my eyes!

and i have a loud pc(lots of fans) are in these amps noisecanceler or are there specific ones for it?

 

Thanks in advance

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4 hours ago, Bayonett Priest said:

Behringer XENYX 302USB, Behringer Q802USB or the Steinberg UR22 MKII!

are one of these good amps?

None of those devices are amps. They don't amplify anything. All of them are audio interfaces. You connect passive output devices to amps like headphones and speakers. 

Back to the topic, from 3 which you listed I would go with Steinberg (Yamaha). They are known to have decent hardware and they also produce industry standard DAW software.

4 hours ago, Bayonett Priest said:

and do i realy need a dac for it as well? What is a dac anyway(please axplain for me that has no idea what that is!)?

All of them have DACs inside. Basically DAC is electronic circuit which translates zeroes and ones which come from your PC in this case via USB to the analog signal which can be later amplified and sent to speakers or headphones. Basically, all PCs have DACs inside and the connector where you connect your speakers or headphones is a DAC output (analog signal).

 

4 hours ago, Bayonett Priest said:

i also have the Audio Technica AT2035 in my eyes!

and i have a loud pc(lots of fans) are in these amps noisecanceler or are there specific ones for it?

There is no audio interface in the world which will do noise canceling. There are some software solutions, but I can't guarantee for any of those. Also, for that application you are looking completely wrong type of microphone. You should stay away from large diaphragm condensers (Yeti, AT2020, AT2035, even super expensive Neumann U87 would be a bad choice in a noisy situation) and go with dynamic microphones. Shure SM58 is a standard and it is not that expensive, but for the best results I would go with Shure SM7B or Electro Voice RE20. Rode Procaster is also a nice choice. 

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17 minutes ago, Niksa said:

None of those devices are amps. They don't amplify anything. All of them are audio interfaces. You connect passive output devices to amps like headphones and speakers. 

Back to the topic, from 3 which you listed I would go with Steinberg (Yamaha). They are known to have decent hardware and they also produce industry standard DAW software.

All of them have DACs inside. Basically DAC is electronic circuit which translates zeroes and ones which come from your PC in this case via USB to the analog signal which can be later amplified and sent to speakers or headphones. Basically, all PCs have DACs inside and the connector where you connect your speakers or headphones is a DAC output (analog signal). 

 

There is no audio interface in the world which will do noise canceling. There are some software solutions, but I can't guarantee for any of those. Also, for that application you are looking completely wrong type of microphone. You should stay away from large diaphragm condensers (Yeti, AT2020, AT2035, even super expensive Neumann U87 would be a bad choice in a noisy situation) and go with dynamic microphones. Shure SM58 is a standard and it is not that expensive, but for the best results I would go with Shure SM7B or Electro Voice RE20. Rode Procaster is also a nice choice.  

Thanks for the info!

and what about the rode NT1a? is that a good one?

i wann use it for streams and podcasts and game recording!

my pricerange is at most 150 for the mic and 100 for the interface!

CPU: Intel I9-9900K Motherboard: Asus ROG Maximus XI CODE RAM: 32 GB Corsair Vengeance PRO 3200MHZ GPU: Asus ROG 2080ti OC Storage: Samsung 970pro 2x1TB, 2Tb HDD Case: Lian Li PC O11 dynamic, Cooling:custom loop incoming, for now 360 rog ryujin!

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4 minutes ago, Bayonett Priest said:

and what about the rode NT1a? is that a good one?

NT1 is a great microphone, HOWEVER it is large diaphragm condenser microphone and will pick up all of the surrounding noises like your PC fans.

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1 minute ago, Niksa said:

NT1 is a great microphone, HOWEVER it is large diaphragm condenser microphone and will pick up all of the surrounding noises like your PC fans.

my pc is 38 db loud! is that a lot of noise?

and is there a good alternative for me?

CPU: Intel I9-9900K Motherboard: Asus ROG Maximus XI CODE RAM: 32 GB Corsair Vengeance PRO 3200MHZ GPU: Asus ROG 2080ti OC Storage: Samsung 970pro 2x1TB, 2Tb HDD Case: Lian Li PC O11 dynamic, Cooling:custom loop incoming, for now 360 rog ryujin!

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7 hours ago, Niksa said:

NT1 is a great microphone, HOWEVER it is large diaphragm condenser microphone and will pick up all of the surrounding noises like your PC fans.

so the procaster ius in my pricerange! what diference are there between dynamic and large diaphram condenser? my pc is at 38 db and i lve beside a road and its not loud but sometimnes a truck passes by! and are there interfaces with integrated noisegate?

And What everything do i need now to connect to pc? The mic, a xlr cable(what kind) and a interface that connect via usb to the computer right?

Heard there ARE Fetheads that improves the mic right? is it worth it?

CPU: Intel I9-9900K Motherboard: Asus ROG Maximus XI CODE RAM: 32 GB Corsair Vengeance PRO 3200MHZ GPU: Asus ROG 2080ti OC Storage: Samsung 970pro 2x1TB, 2Tb HDD Case: Lian Li PC O11 dynamic, Cooling:custom loop incoming, for now 360 rog ryujin!

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On 12/22/2018 at 12:58 AM, Bayonett Priest said:

so the procaster ius in my pricerange! what diference are there between dynamic and large diaphram condenser? my pc is at 38 db and i lve beside a road and its not loud but sometimnes a truck passes by! and are there interfaces with integrated noisegate?

And What everything do i need now to connect to pc? The mic, a xlr cable(what kind) and a interface that connect via usb to the computer right?

Heard there ARE Fetheads that improves the mic right? is it worth it?

I will not get into technology and how stuff works because someone before made nice articles on wikipedia. In practice, dynamic microphones don't require phantom power while condensers require. It is not an issue because every decent interface has phantom power supply. Also condensers are much more sensitive in terms of picking sounds which is nice for studio when you want to pick up singer's voice as close as possible, but not so good for streaming/podcasting because unlike in the studio, you don't have neither sound isolated room nor acoustically treated room. In plain English it means it will pick up all surrounding sounds. I don't know how did you get 38dB mark of sound pressure from your PC, but I don't have a crystal ball to tell would it really affect anything or not. And lastly, condensers can be farther away from you unlike the dynamics which need to be relatively close to your mouth.

 

Regarding USB interfaces with noise gate, I am only aware of Roland Octa capture, but it is an overkill interface for your needs. There are some software solutions which you can use and you should not limit your options to interfaces with built in noise gate.

 

For microphone hardware you need just microphone, cable and USB interface. Cable is standard 3-pin XLR male-female. Just google for the microphone cable, they are all standardized.

 

And lastly about Fetheads. I have never seen those things before, but from the tech spec on their site, it is only a preamp with 27dB of clean boost. If you had Shure SM7B which is a quiet microphone, then you would benefit from having one. It will not make your microphone any better, but instead just louder. If you have really weak signal even after cranking the input gain all the way up, then you would need one of those thingies (or Cloudlifter). 

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8 hours ago, Niksa said:

I will not get into technology and how stuff works because someone before made nice articles on wikipedia. In practice, dynamic microphones don't require phantom power while condensers require. It is not an issue because every decent interface has phantom power supply. Also condensers are much more sensitive in terms of picking sounds which is nice for studio when you want to pick up singer's voice as close as possible, but not so good for streaming/podcasting because unlike in the studio, you don't have neither sound isolated room nor acoustically treated room. In plain English it means it will pick up all surrounding sounds. I don't know how did you get 38dB mark of sound pressure from your PC, but I don't have a crystal ball to tell would it really affect anything or not. And lastly, condensers can be farther away from you unlike the dynamics which need to be relatively close to your mouth.

 

Regarding USB interfaces with noise gate, I am only aware of Roland Octa capture, but it is an overkill interface for your needs. There are some software solutions which you can use and you should not limit your options to interfaces with built in noise gate.

 

For microphone hardware you need just microphone, cable and USB interface. Cable is standard 3-pin XLR male-female. Just google for the microphone cable, they are all standardized.

 

And lastly about Fetheads. I have never seen those things before, but from the tech spec on their site, it is only a preamp with 27dB of clean boost. If you had Shure SM7B which is a quiet microphone, then you would benefit from having one. It will not make your microphone any better, but instead just louder. If you have really weak signal even after cranking the input gain all the way up, then you would need one of those thingies (or Cloudlifter). 

im setting on a procaster and Yamaha ag03! for the shure i dont have enough money and i got the procaster for 90 bucks from a private seller! and the fethead is for that i dont have to put the gain asa high so there less backroundnoise cause i live next a street(well30m away but still!)! i read about the procaster and i think thats the perfect option for me! Thanks!

CPU: Intel I9-9900K Motherboard: Asus ROG Maximus XI CODE RAM: 32 GB Corsair Vengeance PRO 3200MHZ GPU: Asus ROG 2080ti OC Storage: Samsung 970pro 2x1TB, 2Tb HDD Case: Lian Li PC O11 dynamic, Cooling:custom loop incoming, for now 360 rog ryujin!

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45 minutes ago, Bayonett Priest said:

im setting on a procaster and Yamaha ag03! for the shure i dont have enough money and i got the procaster for 90 bucks from a private seller! and the fethead is for that i dont have to put the gain asa high so there less backroundnoise cause i live next a street(well30m away but still!)! i read about the procaster and i think thats the perfect option for me! Thanks!

You should gain only specific frequencies, depends on your vocals and not the master volume or the fans and street noise will just get louder.

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10 hours ago, Tarun10 said:

You should gain only specific frequencies, depends on your vocals and not the master volume or the fans and street noise will just get louder.

on my vocals well i have a very deep voice(does that have to do with anything cause thats what i understood by my vocals)i kno wbut if i have more db i can set the gain lower!

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3 hours ago, Bayonett Priest said:

on my vocals well i have a very deep voice(does that have to do with anything cause thats what i understood by my vocals)i kno wbut if i have more db i can set the gain lower!

Before you try higher dB check to see if current levels are okay if not you could always experiment. Yes a deep voice means the sound made by your voice consists of lower frequencies. Once you have the Interface and the microphone see if the stock loudness is loud enough for you. If not then boost gain volume. Only go for a Fethead if you can't achieve enough volume from the Interface and the mic

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I don't think you will need the fethead. It would do exactly the same as cranking up the gain on the yamaha mixer - assumed the yamaha preamp is not a "noise generator". 

Gaining certain frequencies of your voice is nothing you can do when setting up the initial gain, but of course equalizing the signal later on is highly recommended to get a decent sound.

 

If you want to, I can provide you more specific assistance in how to set up everything - but as you are from Germany and so am I, I would prefer to do it in german. Just write me a private message. I don't think switching languages within a thread would be a cool move...   

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