Decent microphone setup to replace modmic

[Stahlmann]

I'm looking for a decent microphone setup. It's basically just for communication with my friends. Currently i'm using an AntLion ModMic, but i'm just not happy with how it sounds. When i listen to recordings of myself it just doesn't sound like in real life. Normally mics need to be pretty close to your mouth to get good quality audio. Is it possible to achieve good true-to-life audio with a microphone that can stand on my desk, but not directly in front of me? (More to the side of my monitor and out of the way.) I don't want to bother with a mic arm that get's in the way. I don't intend to do any content creation with this setup.

[sub68]

a shot gun mic

[Stahlmann]

3 minutes ago, sub68 said:

a shot gun mic

Now i know at least what i'm looking for. Thanks!

 

Any particular model in mind?

[sub68]

Just now, Stahlmann said:

Now i know at least what i'm looking for. Thanks!

its more a question but I think it might work......

umm

Rode NTG?
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1521595-REG/rode_vmntg_videomic_ntg_camera_mount_shotgun.html

(shoot B&H might not ship to germany)

[The Flying Sloth]

The further away from your mouth, the lower quality the audio will be, it's as simple as that. Personally, I use a cheap eBay scissor arm with a small mic on the end that just pivots out of the way when not in use but if you can't deal with that your choices for high quality audio are lav mics, headset mics or acoustically sealing and treating your room and then getting a mic with low noise and very narrow polar pattern like a shotgun mic.

[HenrySalayne]

8 hours ago, Stahlmann said:

I'm looking for a decent microphone setup. It's basically just for communication with my friends. Currently i'm using an AntLion ModMic, but i'm just not happy with how it sounds. When i listen to recordings of myself it just doesn't sound like in real life.

You are using a good setup. I'm not quite sure, why your voice doesn't sound like it supposed to, but I'm quite sure it's not the microphone. What is wrong exactly?

[Stahlmann]

16 hours ago, HenrySalayne said:

You are using a good setup. I'm not quite sure, why your voice doesn't sound like it supposed to, but I'm quite sure it's not the microphone. What is wrong exactly?

Can't really explain it that well. It just sounds dull, no detail whatsoever. Also i have a lot of microphone noise. I have to use noise cancelling to make it bearable, which also changes my voice to sound more unnatural.

 

It's not a problem with my particular modmic. I recently recommended one to my friend. He bought it and he has the same issues with noise.

 

I have had good experiences with RTX voice, which can easily cancel out any noise without distorting my voice at all. But when it's active my GPU can't go into a low-power state anymore. So that's not something i'd want ideally.

[Stahlmann]

8 hours ago, The Flying Sloth said:

The further away from your mouth, the lower quality the audio will be, it's as simple as that. Personally, I use a cheap eBay scissor arm with a small mic on the end that just pivots out of the way when not in use but if you can't deal with that your choices for high quality audio are lav mics, headset mics or acoustically sealing and treating your room and then getting a mic with low noise and very narrow polar pattern like a shotgun mic.

I have a feeling if i want to get anything better than the modmic i have to spend quite a substantial amount of money...

[rice guru]

7 hours ago, Stahlmann said:

I have a feeling if i want to get anything better than the modmic i have to spend quite a substantial amount of money...

Not really as long as your open to putting a physical mic closer to your face. A Samson q2u or a ath 2005 is cheap and sounds much better than a modmic. Shotgun mics are a great alternative if you don't want to put it up to your face . you just need to spend a bit more cash on an interface as well. 

[Ariolander]

12 hours ago, Stahlmann said:

Can't really explain it that well. It just sounds dull, no detail whatsoever. Also i have a lot of microphone noise. I have to use noise cancelling to make it bearable, which also changes my voice to sound more unnatural.

 

It's not a problem with my particular modmic. I recently recommended one to my friend. He bought it and he has the same issues with noise.

That level of noise is not normal for a ModMic. It might be a problem with interference with your onboard audio. Have you tried using a USB sound card or maybe your front panel ports on your case to see if this solved your issue.

That being said gonna agree with Rice Guru. The #1 problem with Mod Mic is simply the size of its capsule. It just can't capture detail at that small of a size. It sounds better than most headset mics but its still a really small capsule. If you want a more substantial full bodied you would need either a Samson Q2U or CAD Audio U37 on a little boom and put it right in front of your face.

 

If you want something that isn't right in front of you then the Rode NTG is probably the best option as it has its own audio interface built in and can be used with a PC with just a USB-C cable.