Streaming mic ideas?

[porina]

Been gearing up to try streaming and I think all I'm missing hardware wise is a mic. Now, I already have a Rode NT-USB on my Youtube/gaming system, but the streaming system is separate and I don't want to be moving the mic between them. I'm a "set it up then don't touch it" kinda person, because something will go wrong. I don't want to be like WAN shows of the past when there were sound problems every week. That said, I don't necessarily want to go big spending on another mic.

 

Before anyone suggests a headset, I don't want to go there. I have some nice headphones already, so I just need a mic in the equation, and I don't feel like a modmic either.

 

First question might be, what budget do I have? No hard rules here. As indication, the Rode NT-USB is currently £135 on Amazon, plus separate mount, and I certainly don't want to pay that much again. I could just get a more expensive mic and not think about it again, but even then there are choices to be made. If I look at Amazon UK right now, I'd say there are roughly three price classes.

Around £30 - unknown brand, but cheap, can it be good enough?

Around £50 - starting to get recognisable brands now, like Blue Yeti/Snowball and Marantz

Much above that you can pay as much as you like.

 

If it helps in the consideration, I'm wondering where I can put the mic in the setup, and extra budget may need to go into a mount of some kind. There is some space on the table behind the keyboard/mouse, but that would risk picking up keyboard noise. I could put it higher up above monitor, but that would need some kind of mount. Also in either of those locations, it would be roughly 60cm/2ft away from me, so it would also need to work well at that distance. Mics that rely on operating in near field might not be suitable.

 

BTW I had to laugh at the below on an AKG product. It's good to know the mic will work at 4k  Unless there's a "4K" in audio I'm not aware of. 4 kHz audio bandwidth in narrowband telephony I don't think is applicable here.

Quote

Inside, advanced circuitry delivers acoustically transparent, 4K-compatible, Ultra HD-grade, 24-bit/192kHz audio resolution. 

 

[porina]

If it is worth thinking about, it is worth over-thinking about!

 

I've checked in with a more established streamer I know, and they use GoXLR for the effects and other uses. Implicitly that means if I want to move in that direction in future (not right away) I should consider going XLR to start with... saw @The Flying Sloth in another recent post so more things to consider in that direction.

[Ahoy Hoy]

2 hours ago, porina said:

If it is worth thinking about, it is worth over-thinking about!

 

I've checked in with a more established streamer I know, and they use GoXLR for the effects and other uses. Implicitly that means if I want to move in that direction in future (not right away) I should consider going XLR to start with... saw @The Flying Sloth in another recent post so more things to consider in that direction.

If you want the features of the GoXLR so the pads to play sound effects the voice effects and the system volume controls there isnt a other option which does that.

If you dont want those features the GoXLR is very over priced compared to a simple audio interface to connect a xlr microphone.

But youve just gone from saying I dont want to spend much money and 130 quid being bit too much to throwing over three hundred on a audio interface mixer sound pad thing and youve still got to go buy a microphone. If your getting a go xlr you should be looking at like 450 to 500 for a full set up as why spend 300 of the interface to spend a tenner on the mic.

If your thinking going XLR and want to save money get a behringer UMC22 interface of Ebay. about 30 to 40 quid what you should expect to pay. You cant ask for cheaper then that and that behringer will keep you going until you get the go XLR. If your looking to upgrade in the future buy it second hand off ebay that way you dont lose money from buying new and selling later.
Then spend the real money on the microphone. Id look around the 100 pound mark for a microphone if you want it to last for ever. Id pick something like the rode podmic. 


USB
My choice for USB microphones are around 90 pounds with the Shure MV5. I have that microphone set up exactly how you describe how your going to use just behind the keyboard about 2ft away from me. It works fine for me as I use it to talk to friends on voips etc. It probably picks up a lot of the keyboard but that doesnt matter for me. If it sat infront of the keyboard it wouldn't pick up anywhere near as much.

Youve got the Rode NT usb the little brother of the mic you currently have at around 90 pounds as well. But thats going to pick up a lot of keyboard as well and the stand isnt that good compared to what shure give you.

[porina]

32 minutes ago, Ahoy Hoy said:

But youve just gone from saying I dont want to spend much money and 130 quid being bit too much to throwing over three hundred on a audio interface mixer sound pad thing and youve still got to go buy a microphone.

To clarify, for now all I need is a mic system. The GoXLR is a possible distant future upgrade, not something I'm looking at getting right now, but it implies I might be better off going XLR than direct USB connection on the mic.

[Ahoy Hoy]

12 minutes ago, porina said:

To clarify, for now all I'm need is a mic system. The GoXLR is a possible distant future upgrade, not something I'm looking at getting right now, but it implies I might be better off going XLR than direct USB connection on the mic.

Simple answer is 135 quid which is more then you want to spend doesnt get you much of a XLR system. It gets you a cheap low end interface and a cheap low end microphone. Not saying they will sound terrible but it be a waste upgrading a interface with a 300 pound one and using a 50 quid low end mic. Its like running crappy tiers on a Ferrari.

Id try and get a decent microphone first time around as thats 99% of the quality the interface does bugger all to improve audio quality.
The rode pod mic at £99. Is just a great value to performance your getting great quality and you can use that for ever and never worry about upgrading that.
If you want a interface second hand 40 to 50 quid.
I recommend this arm and cable combo as its just great for the price
That would be all in at 180 ish. And if you do upgrade to the go xlr no other items need upgrading as well.



Im going to say this again as its important. IF you do not want every feature of the GOXLR it is over priced. All its features in one package its a good price if you only want one or two of its features its over priced.
If you just want the sound effect pads. Get a cheap USB midi pad for 30 pounds.
Just need it to plug the microphone in. get a interface they range from 60 to 130 pounds.
The only feature the GO XLR has which is hard to do without it is mix windows sound system. And theyve released a 150 mixer which can do that and the microphone.

If you have your eyes on the GoXLR go for it. it really does have some fun features. But if you have any doubt over it dont just get a usb mic at 80 quid and save your self a bag of money.
 

[porina]

21 minutes ago, Ahoy Hoy said:

If you have your eyes on the GoXLR go for it. it really does have some fun features. But if you have any doubt over it dont just get a usb mic at 80 quid and save your self a bag of money.

Thanks for the suggestions. I really don't know what I want, since I haven't even started streaming yet. I kinda have an idea, but that may change as I get more experience. Some kind of voice altering option would be a nice to have, but I see there are software options in that area anyway so I don't have to do it in hardware. Still, I've got more to think about now.

[Ahoy Hoy]

30 minutes ago, porina said:

Thanks for the suggestions. I really don't know what I want, since I haven't even started streaming yet. I kinda have an idea, but that may change as I get more experience. Some kind of voice altering option would be a nice to have, but I see there are software options in that area anyway so I don't have to do it in hardware. Still, I've got more to think about now.

Get a Shure MV5 or Rode NT usb. Both around 80 quid and incredibly good value for performance. If you sit them infront of your keyboard they will work really well for a decent but simple system.

[The Flying Sloth]

1 hour ago, porina said:

Thanks for the suggestions. I really don't know what I want, since I haven't even started streaming yet. I kinda have an idea, but that may change as I get more experience. Some kind of voice altering option would be a nice to have, but I see there are software options in that area anyway so I don't have to do it in hardware. Still, I've got more to think about now.

First of all, thank you for summoning me, second of all, the link in my signature probably won't be as useful for you as some other but it may give you some good background knowledge.

 

Now, I think the best option for not much money may end up being either the Samson Q2U or AT2005 for the exact same reasons as the threat you probably saw me recommend them on, they're both USB so you don't have to worry about an interface straight away but if the USB section were to break or you did choose to get an interface they are also XLR so you're not also on the hook for a new mic if/when you do get an interface.

 

We don't tend to recommend USB mics because they tend to die a lot but from recommending these for a while I'm not sure I've ever heard reports of anything bad from them. That and if the USB bit breaks, like I previously said it's still a fully functioning XLR mic.

[porina]

1 hour ago, Ahoy Hoy said:

If you just want the sound effect pads. Get a cheap USB midi pad for 30 pounds.

Can you give an example of such a product, or what else they may be known as? I did come across a Roland VT-4 in my search attempts which looks like it could be fun, but it isn't exactly cheap.

 

22 minutes ago, The Flying Sloth said:

Now, I think the best option for not much money may end up being either the Samson Q2U or AT2005 for the exact same reasons as the threat you probably saw me recommend them on

I've ordered the Samson Q2U since it is both available, cheap (quite a bit cheaper on Amazon right now than elsewhere), and has some future expansion capability. 

 

I think this is a case where chasing perfect is the wrong move for me. If I ever reach the point where my voice matters that much, I'm sure I can get something better then. For now, the difference between good enough and best is not going to be a major factor in how well I'll do.

[Ahoy Hoy]

1 hour ago, porina said:

Can you give an example of such a product, or what else they may be known as? I did come across a Roland VT-4 in my search attempts which looks like it could be fun, but it isn't exactly cheap.

If you search USB midi pad youll find things. Cheapest to mind is the AKAi LPD8 and then you just use software to set off sounds

[The Flying Sloth]

2 minutes ago, Ahoy Hoy said:

If you search USB midi pad youll find things. Cheapest to mind is the AKAi LPD8 and then you just use software to set off sounds

Depending on locality Korg nanopad or Midiplus X Pad or Launchpad MINI Mk2 may end up being cheaper.

[porina]

17 minutes ago, Ahoy Hoy said:

If you search USB midi pad youll find things. Cheapest to mind is the AKAi LPD8 and then you just use software to set off sounds

Ok, I think we had another misunderstanding along the line. I'm particularly interesting in things that process or change voice, not something to manually trigger sound effects. Hence me finding the Roland VT-4 earlier. I believe the GoXLR does something along that line too. I'm more of a hands on person so doing it in hardware is more intuitive for me than trying to find software for similar functionality.

[Ahoy Hoy]

17 hours ago, porina said:

Ok, I think we had another misunderstanding along the line. I'm particularly interesting in things that process or change voice, not something to manually trigger sound effects. Hence me finding the Roland VT-4 earlier. I believe the GoXLR does something along that line too. I'm more of a hands on person so doing it in hardware is more intuitive for me than trying to find software for similar functionality.

Loads of free software which does it. Just google voice effect software. The amount of free software which does this is mad.