Need guidance for AUDIO MIXER/INTERFACE

[Renegad]

I wanna upgrade my streaming rig. I am running Blue Yeti usb mic. I wanna upgrade it to a PODMIC from RØDE. (Opinions?) Since its XLR i need a auido mixer/interface. Are mixers like GO XLR overkill for the mic? Can similar quality be achieved with cheaper solutions, like around 100-200$? Now I dont need 10 XLR inputs or anything crazy. Just quality and EQ. FX is nice, but not necessary. Just wanna provide good audio quality for my viewers. 

 

Reason for PODMIC: Ive seen many YouTube vids where people compare podmic with SM7B. I couldn't tell MUCH difference at that price gap, but im guessing is because of the mixers the are using in those vids (correct me if I am wrong). 

 

My questions are:

1) What mixers would u guys recommend for PODMIC with a purpose of streaming?
2) Do you guys consider any other dynamic mics/set-ups at that price and quality range?

3) Maybe any one of you here are masters of audio and could share a few tips when buying a mixer for dynamic mics? What to look out for? What to concern? 

 

Thanks a lot in advance!

  

[nox_]

@The Flying Sloth Should help you.

[Renegad]

4 minutes ago, nox_ said:

@The Flying Sloth Should help you.

Hopefully he will! Thanks

[The Flying Sloth]

5 hours ago, Renegad said:

My questions are:

1) What mixers would u guys recommend for PODMIC with a purpose of streaming?
2) Do you guys consider any other dynamic mics/set-ups at that price and quality range?

3) Maybe any one of you here are masters of audio and could share a few tips when buying a mixer for dynamic mics? What to look out for? What to concern? 

I won't pretend to be an expert on dynamic microphones, I know a fair bit about them but most of my time in studios and around microphones has been spent with condensers. I don't know exactly how the podmic stacks up against an SM7 but I've heard good things about it, perhaps not quite as many good things as the Aston Stealth and certainly not as many good things as the industry standard SM7 but hey, the price different is significant enough that shouldn't matter. The link in my signature has an old video comparison of dynamic mics that may be helpful to you but because of my lack of experience I won't pretend to know whether it is or isn't a viable option.

 

As for your questions, here are the best answers I can give:

 

1, You will want to purchase an inline preamp, dynamic microphones require more gain than condensers and an inline amp like the Klark Teknik CT1 helps to minimise this difference, now, you will also want to be using an Audio Interface and not a mixer. Mixers have comparatively low quality components when compared to interfaces and any EQ/FX a mixer can provide can also be applied through plugins in your streaming app of choice. If you just want an interface to get your mic into your PC the Behringer UM2 is just about the cheapest option but if strongly suggest the UMC202HD instead as it has a dedicated headphone amplifier and is just great value for money. As for the GOXLR, it's an interface with a bunch of built in gimmicks to make it look better for streaming, the gimmicks certainly appear to do their job but the price just isn't viable. You can set up shortcuts and hotkeys on anything, it doesn't have to be an overpriced interface for them to work....

 

2, As I said, I'm no expert on dynamic mics but I can say I've used SM57s rather extensively and they have a damn good vocal tone, especially when you consider that an exact clone is under $40 (t.bone MB75). Other dynamic mics with big names are the Electro Voice RE320 and RE20, the Aston Stealth and Shure SM7B though I do believe they're all significantly more expensive. Again, refer to the video linked in the gear recommendations section, Podcastage will be a much better source on this one than I.

 

3, The big thing when buying an interface for use with dynamic mics is just how much gain they need, there are specific products designed for use with dynamic microphones that have extra gain but they're not in the price range we're discussing. This is why inline preamps like the Cloudlifter and Fethead became so popular, they take the phantom power interfaces supply to condenser mics (that dynamic mics don't need) and they convert it into ~25DB of extra clean gain. The Klark Teknik CT1 is just the cheapest of these devices and it does the same job so I'm hesitant to recommend anything else.

[Renegad]

1 hour ago, The Flying Sloth said:

I don't know exactly how the podmic stacks up against an SM7 but I've heard good things about it, perhaps not quite as many good things as the Aston Stealth and certainly not as many good things as the industry standard SM7 but hey, the price different is significant enough that shouldn't matter. The link in my signature has an old video comparison of dynamic mics that may be helpful to you but because of my lack of experience I won't pretend to know whether it is or isn't a viable option.

First of all, thank you so much for you insightful answer! Best respond I ever got on any forum (guess bc this isnt ANY forum :3) !! Moving on.. I was referring to this video 

 

1 hour ago, The Flying Sloth said:

1, You will want to purchase an inline preamp, dynamic microphones require more gain than condensers and an inline amp like the Klark Teknik CT1 helps to minimise this difference, now, you will also want to be using an Audio Interface and not a mixer. Mixers have comparatively low quality components when compared to interfaces and any EQ/FX a mixer can provide can also be applied through plugins in your streaming app of choice. 

I was thinking about analog mixer, because I am often on the go, and it seems convenient to me. I agree about the GOXLR, many gimmicks as you said, that's why I was hoping you (or someone else) could recommend me a mixer that would provide me with similar audio quality, without all the gimmicks. I went to my local music shop and the guy recommended me this one Alesis MultiMix 4 Would this mixer be sufficient ?

 

Im gonna check out the video you mentioned, and I would like to thank you again for your time. Thank you very much! Cheers.

[The Flying Sloth]

19 minutes ago, Renegad said:

I was thinking about analog mixer, because I am often on the go, and it seems convenient to me. I agree about the GOXLR, many gimmicks as you said, that's why I was hoping you (or someone else) could recommend me a mixer that would provide me with similar audio quality, without all the gimmicks. I went to my local music shop and the guy recommended me this one Alesis MultiMix 4 Would this mixer be sufficient ?

That is an analogue mixer with USB for recording, honestly if you're going to be recording with a computer anyway I'd strongly suggest using an Audio Interface instead as they're much higher quality both physically and electrically and we have barely any reports here of dead interfaces as compared to the regular posts about dead mixers (latest one posted 23 hours ago).

If you're absolutely certain you want a mixer, I'll warn that I'm no expert on small analogue mixers, I know much more about the big studio-format (24 channel and upwards) ones but in the past I have used a Behringer Xenyx mixer and it did the job I wanted it to quite well for years. But there's a reason I stopped using it and that reason was that I got a decent audio interface.

Thankyou for your kind words, I hope my guide and the linked videos are helpful to you.

[Renegad]

3 minutes ago, The Flying Sloth said:

That is an analogue mixer with USB for recording, honestly if you're going to be recording with a computer anyway I'd strongly suggest using an Audio Interface instead as they're much higher quality both physically and electrically and we have barely any reports here of dead interfaces as compared to the regular posts about dead mixers (latest one posted 23 hours ago).

If you're absolutely certain you want a mixer, I'll warn that I'm no expert on small analogue mixers, I know much more about the big studio-format (24 channel and upwards) ones but in the past I have used a Behringer Xenyx mixer and it did the job I wanted it to quite well for years. But there's a reaosn I stopped using it and that reason was that I got a decent audio interface.

Thankyou for your kind words, I hope my guide and the linked videos are helpful to you.

Alright dude! I took notes! Thank you so much! Have a wonderful day/evening!