Recording equipment

[TalElmishali]

Hi,

I would like to start a podcast and was looking to get 2 nw800 microphones, I know I need phantom power supply for them, I was wondering what is better for recording:

2 nw800 microphones->neewer 2-channel phantom power-> with XLR to 3.5mm to the pc

or

2 nw800 microphones-> UMC202HD (or UMC204HD)-> with XLR to 3.5mm to the pc

 

Thanks!

[Fullmental]

Do yourself a favor and skip the XLR to 3.5mm. Use the USB output from the Behringer UMC and call it a day, as your PC should recognize it as an audio input device. The nw800's are ok as starter mics, but pretty much any mic will sound awful through your PC's integrated mic/line inputs. 

 

What are you planning on using to record/stream this podcast?

[jeffmeyer5295]

I've been through a few of the Neewer mics and just XLR in general and hate it. If you haven't dealt with it I'd strongly recommend going with a USB mic or something more simple(XLR CAN sound better but at a cost of setup and other variables)

 

If you really want XLR(I totally understand, I did it too at first), do not use the Neewer 2-channel power, its shotty and I was barely ever able to get it to work the same way consistently, go with the UMC202HD.

[Fullmental]

11 minutes ago, jeffmeyer5295 said:

I've been through a few of the Neewer mics and just XLR in general and hate it. If you haven't dealt with it I'd strongly recommend going with a USB mic or something more simple(XLR CAN sound better but at a cost of setup and other variables)

 

If you really want XLR(I totally understand, I did it too at first), do not use the Neewer 2-channel power, its shotty and I was barely ever able to get it to work the same way consistently, go with the UMC202HD.

You will get better quality out of XLR than you will a comparably priced USB mic almost every time, provided you have a decent audio interface to work with. That audio interface is an initial investment, but it's one that you only have to pay once. After that, you can buy a $50 XLR mic or a $500 XLR mic, and get some sort of quality gain. If you're doing a podcast, audio quality is the most important thing to worry about aside from content.

 

I get that USB is easier, but if you teach yourself early it'll pay off later in your project when you want to start upgrading things.That said, I wouldn't say you can't do USB if ease of use is more important to you than an upgrade path and audio quality potential.

[jeffmeyer5295]

5 minutes ago, Fullmental said:

You will get better quality out of XLR than you will a comparably priced USB mic almost every time, provided you have a decent audio interface to work with. If you're doing a podcast, audio quality is the most important thing to worry about aside from content. I get that USB is easier, but if you teach yourself early it'll pay off later in your project when you want to start upgrading things.

Yeah I totally agree XLR will sound better. But usually if someone is just getting into something like this, spending a tiny bit extra on a known good USB mic with little to no setup to get it running right will make the difference between them abandoning their project and doing well. But with good motivation and hardware XLR will sound good. You just run into issues when people buy crappy power supplies and try and run it with no interface. And again, it CAN be better, but too many people do it wrong or cut corners and blame the hardware.

[Fullmental]

7 minutes ago, jeffmeyer5295 said:

Yeah I totally agree XLR will sound better. But usually if someone is just getting into something like this, spending a tiny bit extra on a known good USB mic with little to no setup to get it running right will make the difference between them abandoning their project and doing well. But with good motivation and hardware XLR will sound good. You just run into issues when people buy crappy power supplies and try and run it with no interface. And again, it CAN be better, but too many people do it wrong or cut corners and blame the hardware.

Very true, though in this budget I'm not sure there's much in terms of workable USB mic pairs. The XLR mics are $20 each, but you wouldn't get anything good out of $20 USB mics at all. 

 

@TalElmishali, if you can afford it and prefer USB, I can vouch for the Samson Go Mics. They are about $40 each and are USB, but they sound OK. They are actually the first microphone I bought for my audio setup, before eventually upgrading to the Yeti and then later the Shure SM7b. Even after getting rid of my Yeti, I still keep the Go Mic around as an emergency portable mic for when I need it and my Zoom H1N + Rode SmartLav+ can't be used.

[TalElmishali]

Wow great comments! Thanks!

@Fullmental im going to record it with the pc on Adobe audition and upload it to my website.

 

I think I’ll go with the nw800 for now and with the umc202hd ..is there any other usb audio interface you guys will recommend better than that with same price rangw? And significant change feom the umc204hd?

 

I know it’s kind of cheap and podcast is all about audio quality, but for now I want to keep it within budget.

thanks again!

[Fullmental]

At that price range, I wouldn't recommend any other audio interfaces. Behringer is OK as a budget brand and the pres are clean enough for condenser mics in a podcast environment. Moving forward, I'd look to upgrade the mics first, probably at the $100-$200 range each, then look for a decent $150-$250 interface. Those should carry you through a good few years until you understand your needs better. The only exception to that might be if you're trying to switch to dynamic mics, the you'll have to either swap upgrades or do both at once.

[TalElmishali]

One more question, the direct monitoring is for both inputs right? I couldn’t find an answer in their website

 

[ninbura]

On 7/17/2018 at 7:49 AM, TalElmishali said:

One more question, the direct monitoring is for both inputs right? I couldn’t find an answer in their website

 

Yes, however be aware that input 1 is going to play in the left ear exclusively, and input 2 in the right ear exclusively.

Read more here:
https://forum.musictri.be/showthread.php?9385-UMC202HD-input-L-R-question

The scarlet 2i2 however, will play both inputs in both ears:

Focusrite Scarlett 2i2

Edit: According to community guidelines you aren't suppose to use the share button on Amazon / shortened links. I have updated the post to contain appropriate links, apologies for the inconvenience.

[TalElmishali]

23 hours ago, TheAgnda said:

Yes, however be aware that input 1 is going to play in the left ear exclusively, and input 2 in the right ear exclusively.

Read more here:
https://forum.musictri.be/showthread.php?9385-UMC202HD-input-L-R-question

The scarlet 2i2 however, will play both inputs in both ears:

<Link Redacted>

1

Thanks! I will review it.

 

Edited July 18, 2018 by W-L
Referral Link

[TalElmishali]

So after digging a bit for a USB audio interface, I'm looking at two options :

The Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 2nd gen or the Steinberg UR22MKII 2

 

Any ideas? Again I maybe went too far? I just want to be able to connect an XLR microphone to the computer to record it.

[ninbura]

1 hour ago, TalElmishali said:

So after digging a bit for a USB audio interface, I'm looking at two options :

The Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 2nd gen or the Steinberg UR22MKII 2

 

Any ideas? Again I maybe went too far? I just want to be able to connect an XLR microphone to the computer to record it.

You can definitely get something much cheaper for simply recording an XLR mic, gets a bit sticky when you want two inputs with direct monitoring.

You could get a USB mixer like the BEHRINGER XENYX Q802USB:
https://www.amazon.com/Behringer-Q802USB-BEHRINGER-XENYX/dp/B008O517IC/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

But I've had multiple of these break on me within months and have had nothing but bad experiences every time I encounter one. You could also get a non-USB mixer like the Mackie Mix Series Mix8:
https://www.amazon.com/Mackie-Mix-Mix8-8-Channel-Mixer/dp/B00ND1KGEI/ref=sr_1_4?s=musical-instruments&ie=UTF8&qid=1532121717&sr=1-4&keywords=mackie+mixer

And then send the mics to the AUX output and then into the stereo input on your computer (assuming you are using a desktop) instead of using USB. You'd also need to send the audio out of the computer to one of the stereo input channels, but then you can control your PC audio to go into the podcast via AUX or just to the main mix so you can here it but the podcast can't which could be nice.

You'd need these cables to do that:
UGREEN 6.35mm 1/4" Male to 3.5mm 1/8" Male TRS (for aux ouput to stereo input on PC)
UGREEN 3.5mm 1/8" TRS to Dual 6.35mm 1/4" TS (for PC output to mixer stereo in)
Onvian 6.35mm Male to Dual 3.5mm Female OR ICESPRING Male to Dual 1/4" 6.35mm Jack  (for running two pairs of headphones from one phone output)

[Fullmental]

On 7/20/2018 at 3:45 PM, TalElmishali said:

So after digging a bit for a USB audio interface, I'm looking at two options :

The Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 2nd gen or the Steinberg UR22MKII 2

 

Any ideas? Again I maybe went too far? I just want to be able to connect an XLR microphone to the computer to record it.

I'd avoid the Focusrite stuff. Everybody loves it but I found nothing but driver issues with them which they outright refused to fix. I'm not alone in this either, there's a lot of forum posts about focusrite drivers crashing or falling out of phase. Just do a search for "Focusrite robot voice" for an example of just one of the intermittent problems I was experiencing. When doing audio for a podcast or on a live on a stream, it can be devastating for that to crop up out of nowhere and just destroy your sound quality. It wouldn't reflect on the headphone monitors either, so it could trigger and you'd never know until someone else told you or you went back to listen yourself. Awful problem with no solution that I was able to find for two years of searching, which is what eventually forced me to give up and buy something else.

 

I own the UR22MKII and it is perfectly functional. Much better than the 2i2 I wound up throwing away. I use it in conjunction with my Soundcraft Signature 12MTK to capture and EQ'd, post-fade audio (which doesn't get recorded directly from the MTK via USB easily)

 

Keep in mind with these sort of interfaces, you'll only get mic output to one channel when recording. You'll need to set your recording to stereo for two mics and then split the track into two mono ones for editing/playback individually. You'll get monitoring in both ears though.

 

On 7/20/2018 at 5:34 PM, TheAgnda said:

You can definitely get something much cheaper for simply recording an XLR mic, gets a bit sticky when you want two inputs with direct monitoring.

You could get a USB mixer like the BEHRINGER XENYX Q802USB:
https://www.amazon.com/Behringer-Q802USB-BEHRINGER-XENYX/dp/B008O517IC/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

But I've had multiple of these break on me within months and have had nothing but bad experiences every time I encounter one. You could also get a non-USB mixer like the Mackie Mix Series Mix8:
https://www.amazon.com/Mackie-Mix-Mix8-8-Channel-Mixer/dp/B00ND1KGEI/ref=sr_1_4?s=musical-instruments&ie=UTF8&qid=1532121717&sr=1-4&keywords=mackie+mixer

And then send the mics to the AUX output and then into the stereo input on your computer (assuming you are using a desktop) instead of using USB. You'd also need to send the audio out of the computer to one of the stereo input channels, but then you can control your PC audio to go into the podcast via AUX or just to the main mix so you can here it but the podcast can't which could be nice.

You'd need these cables to do that:
UGREEN 6.35mm 1/4" Male to 3.5mm 1/8" Male TRS (for aux ouput to stereo input on PC)
UGREEN 3.5mm 1/8" TRS to Dual 6.35mm 1/4" TS (for PC output to mixer stereo in)
Onvian 6.35mm Male to Dual 3.5mm Female OR ICESPRING Male to Dual 1/4" 6.35mm Jack  (for running two pairs of headphones from one phone output)

The whole point of a USB mixer is to avoid the audio quality issues you get with onboard sound cards. They are not well shielded and often introduce hiss and noise. If you're going to settle for that kind of quality, then there's no point in using XLR mics in the first place...Also be very careful with the Behringer Xenyx mixer that offer "phantom power" as it's usually 15V and not the 48V that most XLR products use (not a problem on condenser mics, but inline accessories and dynamics can't run on 15V most of the time.). Not that you were giving a particularly glowing review either way lol, more as info to anyone else who might see this thread and consider them as a cheap alternative.

[ninbura]

1 hour ago, Fullmental said:

The whole point of a USB mixer is to avoid the audio quality issues you get with onboard sound cards. They are not well shielded and often introduce hiss and noise. If you're going to settle for that kind of quality, then there's no point in using XLR mics in the first place...Also be very careful with the Behringer Xenyx mixer that offer "phantom power" as it's usually 15V and not the 48V that most XLR products use (not a problem on condenser mics, but inline accessories and dynamics can't run on 15V most of the time.). Not that you were giving a particularly glowing review either way lol, more as info to anyone else who might see this thread and consider them as a cheap alternative.

Not everyone has onboard sound issues but you're right that's why many people switch to USB. This is why I first suggested USB but when asked for further alternatives, I presented them. I also mentioned avoiding Behringer budget mixers, I've been in all these situations.

 

After my setup got too complex my Scarlet 2i2 started having grounding issues that I couldn't fix no matter what I tried. I eventually took a huge step up to an RME Fireface UC, little to no audio issues since then. 

All that being said, a Scarlet 2i2 used for solely podcasting should be perfect, he isn't looking for state of the art latency or using it for 30+ track music production.

[KaminKevCrew]

On 7/16/2018 at 11:46 AM, jeffmeyer5295 said:

I've been through a few of the Neewer mics and just XLR in general and hate it. If you haven't dealt with it I'd strongly recommend going with a USB mic or something more simple(XLR CAN sound better but at a cost of setup and other variables)

 

If you really want XLR(I totally understand, I did it too at first), do not use the Neewer 2-channel power, its shotty and I was barely ever able to get it to work the same way consistently, go with the UMC202HD.

XLR is better, pretty much across the board. The only issue with XLR is the amount of time that it can take to setup if you don't know what you're doing. However, once you do get it set up well, you can pretty much just not touch it forever, and it'll keep working and sound better to boot!

[Fullmental]

2 hours ago, TheAgnda said:

Not everyone has onboard sound issues but you're right that's why many people switch to USB. This is why I first suggested USB but when asked for further alternatives, I presented them. I also mentioned avoiding Behringer budget mixers, I've been in all these situations.

 

After my setup got too complex my Scarlet 2i2 started having grounding issues that I couldn't fix no matter what I tried. I eventually took a huge step up to an RME Fireface UC, little to no audio issues since then. 

All that being said, a Scarlet 2i2 used for solely podcasting should be perfect, he isn't looking for state of the art latency or using it for 30+ track music production.

True not everyone has those issues, but a lot do especially when dealing with cheaper motherboards or even mid-grade "gaming" motherboards.

 

The Steinberg UR22 MKII is basically the same device as the Scarlett 2i2, except it has marginally cleaner D-PRE preamps from Yamaha which have less self-noise (though the Focusrite pres have a more transparent sound, so it's a tradeoff), and the two are bundled with different audio tools. The UR22 also has MIDI, though that's not really relevant to podcasing it may be of interest to someone that also does music composition.

 

I've also heard some people have audio dropout issue with the UR22 as well, so it seems you're kind of stuck playing the lottery with driver issues. Maybe buy one from a seller that offers no hassle returns, and swap it for the other if you run into issues?

[KaminKevCrew]

5 minutes ago, Fullmental said:

True not everyone has those issues, but a lot do especially when dealing with cheaper motherboards or even mid-grade "gaming" motherboards.

 

The Steinberg UR22 MKII is basically the same device as the Scarlett 2i2, except it has marginally cleaner D-PRE preamps from Yamaha which have less self-noise (though the Focusrite pres have a more transparent sound, so it's a tradeoff), and the two are bundled with different audio tools. The UR22 also has MIDI, though that's not really relevant to podcasing it may be of interest to someone that also does music composition.

 

I've also heard some people have audio dropout issue with the UR22 as well, so it seems you're kind of stuck playing the lottery with driver issues. Maybe buy one from a seller that offers no hassle returns, and swap it for the other if you run into issues?

BHPhotoVideo is a great vendor if anyone wants someone that has hassle free returns...

[TalElmishali]

I found that the Focusrite driver causing some problem with the recording, but when I record without it and only with the ASIO4ALL V2 the sound is ok.

 

I recorded the mic without talking and this is the background noise, I normalize it to -0.1db

Is it normal? 

*Can it be a poor XLR cable? (waiting for new one)

 

blank-record.wav

[Spuriae]

If you're on a budget and in the US, consider buying the Behringer stuff used from Adorama. UMC202HD is $29, UMC404HD is $48, and slightly defective (some LED's not working, etc.) units can be even cheaper.

 

On 7/17/2018 at 1:52 PM, TheAgnda said:

Yes, however be aware that input 1 is going to play in the left ear exclusively, and input 2 in the right ear exclusively.

Read more here:
https://forum.musictri.be/showthread.php?9385-UMC202HD-input-L-R-question

The scarlet 2i2 however, will play both inputs in both ears:

Focusrite Scarlett 2i2

The UMC204HD and above have more monitoring options. More expensive though.

[ninbura]

20 hours ago, TalElmishali said:

I found that the Focusrite driver causing some problem with the recording, but when I record without it and only with the ASIO4ALL V2 the sound is ok.

 

I recorded the mic without talking and this is the background noise, I normalize it to -0.1db

Is it normal? 

*Can it be a poor XLR cable? (waiting for new one)

 

blank-record.wav

Honestly that doesn't seem like outrageous background noise for a cheaper microphone... it doesn't sound like noise from the interface or anything.

Adobe Audition has a noise reduction effect that will greatly alleviate the issue, but you can only do so much with a cheaper mic.

 

[Fullmental]

1 hour ago, TheAgnda said:

Honestly that doesn't seem like outrageous background noise for a cheaper microphone... it doesn't sound like noise from the interface or anything.

Adobe Audition has a noise reduction effect that will greatly alleviate the issue, but you can only do so much with a cheaper mic.

 

I would agree with @TheAgnda here. It almost sounds like airflow noise, like a fan or computer running too close to the mic. How do you have the mic situated and how is it connected? If it's on your PC desk, see if you can put the PC on the floor or somewhere the sound and vibration can't reach it. If you have the cash and space, this suspension arm with a shock mount is a great option too. I would recommend holding off on getting those until you can be sure of where the noise is coming from though, otherwise you may just be throwing money away.

 

While Adobe Audition does have noise reduction, it's best to eliminate as much noise from the source recording through other means first, otherwise you get that digital garble sound in your audio that makes it sound like it's been compressed too many times.  The more the background noise, the worse that effect is and the less the frequencies from your voice will be allowed through unaltered.

[TalElmishali]

Today I started recording with a new XLR cable and it's work much better, after applying noise reduction it sounds good!

Thank you all!