How to Amplify my mic for Zoom calls?

[13CA350]

I have a 2019 Blade 15 from University, and I just got an Audio Technica ATR-6550X Mic

 

Currently I am plugging it into my laptop with a USB adapter, and in zoom calls I am really, really quiet. I have everything in Zoom and Windows turned up, is there any way to further amplify it? I am also using RTX voice and that doesn't really help or hurt the issue

 

Thanks in advance

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B07ZPB685N/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N905VOY/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[Hackentosher]

Woah that's quite a mic for zoom. I guess you could get a preamp/mixer, maybe something from Focusrite?

[13CA350]

3 minutes ago, Hackentosher said:

Woah that's quite a mic for zoom. I guess you could get a preamp/mixer, maybe something from Focusrite?

I also have a Behringer 502 USB, I don't think it can really do much for amplification for me, though. I was also getting a horiffic buzzing when I used the mic through it

[Hackentosher]

13 minutes ago, 13CA350 said:

I also have a Behringer 502 USB, I don't think it can really do much for amplification for me, though. I was also getting a horiffic buzzing when I used the mic through it

I probably shouldn't give too much advice because we're approaching the limits of my audio knowledge, but it seems to me that your mic needs some more amplification before it goes into your computer. I would get an external mixer and pre-amp to try to get more control over the sound, or I would swap to a USB mic like a Blue Snowball.

[geo3]

Shouldn't you need 48V phantom power for a condenser mic? 

[The Flying Sloth]

5 hours ago, geo3 said:

Shouldn't you need 48V phantom power for a condenser mic? 

Most of the time, yes, but since it's a shotgun for mobile use it's AA battery powered.

[dalekphalm]

23 hours ago, 13CA350 said:

I have a 2019 Blade 15 from University, and I just got an Audio Technica ATR-6550X Mic

 

Currently I am plugging it into my laptop with a USB adapter, and in zoom calls I am really, really quiet. I have everything in Zoom and Windows turned up, is there any way to further amplify it? I am also using RTX voice and that doesn't really help or hurt the issue

 

Thanks in advance

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B07ZPB685N/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N905VOY/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

As others have noted, you need to boost the signal. This is normally what a pre-amp does. Pre-amps are built-in to many devices, such as Mixers and Audio Interfaces.

 

Now, I have no idea how a Pre-Amp will interact with a battery powered mic. @The Flying Sloth will the mic just work with a pre-amp or will that interfere with the power coming from the batteries? Any idea?

 

My personal suggestion would be unless you specifically need a battery powered Shotgun style mic, I'd return it, and get something more suitable: either a USB powered Mic - even if it's still shotgun style - or a proper analog mic w/ a proper pre-amp/audio interface. A USB Mic will definitely be cheaper than an XLR Mic + Audio Interface though.

 

23 hours ago, 13CA350 said:

I also have a Behringer 502 USB, I don't think it can really do much for amplification for me, though. I was also getting a horiffic buzzing when I used the mic through it

Considering you already own a USB Mixer, which has built-in pre-amps, I would just return the mic you got, and buy a proper XLR mic - there are a bunch of different options, even in the $100/sub $100 range.

[The Flying Sloth]

4 hours ago, dalekphalm said:

As others have noted, you need to boost the signal. This is normally what a pre-amp does. Pre-amps are built-in to many devices, such as Mixers and Audio Interfaces.

Now, I have no idea how a Pre-Amp will interact with a battery powered mic. @The Flying Sloth will the mic just work with a pre-amp or will that interfere with the power coming from the batteries? Any idea?

It's 3.5mm from what I can see so at least an adapter will be required but other than that, you just use a preamp like any other mic. No, you don't use phantom power because that's handled by the AA (so long as it's not depleted) so it may even be worth connecting the mic to an inline preamp and then to an interface using phantom power just to get the level of clean gain required to hear yourself well from a distance.

In reality the much simpler solution is to use a lav