Versatile USB microphone for amateur streamer(up to US$200)

[turbo365]

Hello everyone,

 

(english is not my native language, please excuse me any mistakes)

I've been using a headset for years, and since I can remember I've been told I'm sometimes difficult to understand.

I have a bit o cash saved up and I'd like to improve it. $US 200 max

 

For the last two weeks I've went through multiple Podcastage videos and I have my candidates.

 

Maybe you can sway me away from overspending, I don't know.

What I will be using it for? Talking with people over discord(I have admin rights, and I plan on jacking up the quality to 128Kb/s) and streaming mainly.

What it must have? Cardioid pattern, obviously, 

What I'd like it to have? 1. Live monitoring(hence first candidate)

2. Stereo mode, I want to be able to mess with people with it. Will it be on Cardioid mode 95% of the time? Probably.

 

My first candidate is Blue Yeti X. It has all of the features I need but is very expensive and has bad reputation of being amateur choice.

It has Blue Voice live monitoring which is a huge deal for me, i really want to be able to apply de-esser and compressor when talking. If there are XLR interfaces, that can deliver that and fit in my budget with a microphone, I'd be happy to consider, but couldn't find any. I tried VoiceMeeter Banana but using it was a real nightmare, so I'd stay as far away as possible from it, to be honest I doubt anyone that recommends it, ever used it.

 

Second is Samson G-Track Pro. Considered the best USB microphone you can buy right now, but lacks stereo mode, live monitoring built in, and on top of that is gigantic in size.

 

Third is AKG Lyra, lacks Live monitoring and is not built very good, dials are wobbly and body is made out of plastic. Voice Quality though is great. I also have mixed feelings about vintage design but looks are not very important for me, as long as it doesn't look like a gamer toy (ekhm HyperX Quadcast).

 

Why USB?

1. I'd like to avoid additional box on my desk. Unless it had Live Monitoring dials, then I wouldn't mind.

2. "But you can't upgrade from USB". That's why options above are top of the top USB microphones money can buy today and upgrading from them would require blowing hunderds of dollars on a whole audio setup, and I never will for imo barely hearable difference. 

3. I've read Mr. FlyingSloth guide, and all options above record in 24bit when needed for working with sound, that I'll never do, but that point was worth addresing here.

 

 

I'd really appreciate some advices on this

Have a wonderful day people

For easier communication, please call me by name- Peter

[Stygian Zenith]

@turbo365Have you considered the Audio Technica AT2020USB+ or the Rode Nt Usb?

[turbo365]

Hi @Stygian Zenith

 

Yes, but both of them offer Cardioid pattern only so they don't stand out very much for me.

[The Flying Sloth]

If you've read my guide you'll already know I'm not a fan of USB mics so these recommendations will be coming from a point of avoiding USB as much as possible (that's not to say USB mics wouldn't work for you, only that I won't be recommending any), if you're certain that you need live monitoring, the UMC202HD can do both that and use stereo microphone sets like the Behringer C2 though it does not have a dial for granular control over the mix, that comes with the 404HD which along with the C2 stereoset is interestingly enough still well within your price range. If you really want to use a compressor and Deesser (which you shouldn't need to since Discord already compresses and the C2 isn't overly sibilant) I'd skip Voicemeeter because it sucks ass and instead just use a VSThost. Personally I use a C2 as a daily driver mic with the UMC1820 which is essentially just a bigger version of the 202 or 404, this is despite owning expensive multipattern tube microphones so you're getting very decent sound quality for not much buck.

[turbo365]

Hi @The Flying Sloth

 

First of all, I'd like to say that your input to this forum is incredible and I was really counting on a reply from you.

 

Two microphones seem not super handy but I guess this is my only option when using XLR if I want stereo, right?

Can Behringer C2 be used for ASMR for example?

 

My konwledge on interfaces is very limited, so sorry if my questions are super basic.

1. My guess is that with C2s, you are using two XLR cables, both plugged into Input 1 and 2, how does an interface know, that it should treat it like Stereo microphone, not two mono microphones? Does it have to do with STEREO/MONO switch?

2. But UMC2020HD doesn't have one? Or I'm not seeing something? (UMC204HD does have it)

3. Can stereo mode be switched off without turning off one of the microphones?

 

Behringer C2 seems super cheap, I could jump up to Rode M5, do you know anything about it?

[The Flying Sloth]

48 minutes ago, turbo365 said:

Hi @The Flying Sloth

 

First of all, I'd like to say that your input to this forum is incredible and I was really counting on a reply from you.

 

Two microphones seem not super handy but I guess this is my only option when using XLR if I want stereo, right?

Can Behringer C2 be used for ASMR for example?

 

My konwledge on interfaces is very limited, so sorry if my questions are super basic.

1. My guess is that with C2s, you are using two XLR cables, both plugged into Input 1 and 2, how does an interface know, that it should treat it like Stereo microphone, not two mono microphones? Does it have to do with STEREO/MONO switch?

2. But UMC2020HD doesn't have one? Or I'm not seeing something? (UMC204HD does have it)

3. Can stereo mode be switched off without turning off one of the microphones?

 

Behringer C2 seems super cheap, I could jump up to Rode M5, do you know anything about it?

The C2 are super cheap, that's one of the reasons I bought a bunch of them, they really are great mics for the money. I don't have a lot of experience with the M5 but I'm sure they're decent mics for the money too. I'll see if I can go through your other questions one by one.

 

1, Yep, for stereo with the C2s you use two XLR cables plugged into 2 inputs on the interface. The interface automatically bundles inputs together in groups of two so they're automatically used together as a stereo input, doesn't quite work like that for discord (there is a workaround) but the system reads a single stereo input that comes from both mics.

 

2, That stereo/mono switch is for monitoring, that knob near the switch is the mix knob to choose how much PC vs Mic you're hearing and the switch just chooses whether you're hearing the mics in those stereo pairs I mentioned before or mono.

 

3, To stop the system reading a stereo input you would need to stop the signal from one of the mics, like I said, with Discord it's a little bit different but more or less the system will read it automatically as a mono input if there is only one mic producing a signal

 

Hope that was somewhat helpful for you, feel free to ask any other questions you may have and I'll get back to you on my next break.

[turbo365]

The time zone is messing with us a bit, because it's middle of the night in EU and morning in Australia, so this will be my last reply until your evening.

 

I've just noticed, that I've been naming Live processing, live monitoring... in fact, I don't need monitoring at all, but that's standard in most microphones and interfaces so I don't think it changes much.

 

This Dual Mic setup seems super fiddly, I'll have to think if I really want it.

Could you please reccomend me some XLR microphones, that might fit within my budget with UMC202HD? Personally, I don't like typical stage microphone design, for example Shure SM58

My finds are Audio-Technica AT 2035 and Blue Ember (they do fit in Polish currency, jumpy bois might differ wildly)
 

[The Flying Sloth]

1 hour ago, turbo365 said:

The time zone is messing with us a bit, because it's middle of the night in EU and morning in Australia, so this will be my last reply until your evening.

 

I've just noticed, that I've been naming Live processing, live monitoring... in fact, I don't need monitoring at all, but that's standard in most microphones and interfaces so I don't think it changes much.

 

This Dual Mic setup seems super fiddly, I'll have to think if I really want it.

Could you please reccomend me some XLR microphones, that might fit within my budget with UMC202HD? Personally, I don't like typical stage microphone design, for example Shure SM58

My finds are Audio-Technica AT 2035 and Blue Ember (they do fit in Polish currency, jumpy bois might differ wildly)
 

The C2 comes in packs of two with a bracket allowing you to mount them next to one another in a stereo configuration, for sure it sounds fiddly but this is exactly what they're designed and sold for.

 

If you're looking for other stereo mics in a reasonable price range that seem less 'fiddly' there are always a tonne of cheap vintage sony stereo electret mics on eBay, it's a gamble but if you get a good one you've got a great deal, other than that the only solutions in your price range all share the same issue as the C2 set.

 

If you're considering the 2035 I'm surprised it fit in your budget but I'd strongly consider taking a look at the CM1 from 3U audio, similar price but far higher quality microphone. 

[turbo365]

6 hours ago, The Flying Sloth said:

The C2 comes in packs of two with a bracket allowing you to mount them next to one another in a stereo configuration, for sure it sounds fiddly but this is exactly what they're designed and sold for.

 

If you're looking for other stereo mics in a reasonable price range that seem less 'fiddly' there are always a tonne of cheap vintage sony stereo electret mics on eBay, it's a gamble but if you get a good one you've got a great deal, other than that the only solutions in your price range all share the same issue as the C2 set.

 

If you're considering the 2035 I'm surprised it fit in your budget but I'd strongly consider taking a look at the CM1 from 3U audio, similar price but far higher quality microphone. 

Unfortunately, 3U Audio microphones are not available anywhere where I live (It's an Australian brand).

 

Going back to C2s "it sounds fiddly but this is exactly what they're designed and sold for." Except I couldn't find a single video on YouTube, where someone uses both of them at once

[The Flying Sloth]

42 minutes ago, turbo365 said:

Unfortunately, 3U Audio microphones are not available anywhere where I live (It's an Australian brand).

 

Going back to C2s "it sounds fiddly but this is exactly what they're designed and sold for." Except I couldn't find a single video on YouTube, where someone uses both of them at once

3U aren't available anywhere except eBay and by Emailing the owner directly. Not exactly easy to find. They're manufactured and warehoused in China and he mostly trades in USD but honestly GZ is a great guy to chat with.

 

As for the C2s in stereo, well, there's always this video but I mean the fact that they literally come with a mic bar for recording in stereo is a pretty good hint 
 

[turbo365]

59 minutes ago, The Flying Sloth said:

3U aren't available anywhere except eBay and by Emailing the owner directly. Not exactly easy to find. They're manufactured and warehoused in China and he mostly trades in USD but honestly GZ is a great guy to chat with.

 

As for the C2s in stereo, well, there's always this video but I mean the fact that they literally come with a mic bar for recording in stereo is a pretty good hint 
 

Thank you very much for your intel, I have a lot to think about for this week