Need a Microphone?

The blue yeti is a great mic and have used it for quite a while....I recently just purchased a different mic off of amazon which was really cheap (under $20) and I am surprised how good it actually sounds...But I would go for one that will give you good quality recordings...

For your purpose, any of those will do. Just pick one and go buy it, otherwise you will be complicating things, and the world will have to wait for your awesome audio products. (Don't do that to the world.)

Blue snowball owns.

It's what I use; looks oldfashioned (kinda like a 1950's radio host would have) and the sound quality rocks.

Also, any logitech product is gold if you want to go that route.

Yeti USB Microphone

Thanks for the feedback guys.

I pretty much thought any of the ones I mentioned would do.

I was more curious to know what the "info product pros" are using. As I think the majority
Of them sound great. And I have little clue with anything to do with audio or video.

Thanks

I think any of these would be great.

Remember; it's not the baseball bat that makes the player hit homeruns. (Well, unless the bat is corked.. But you know what I mean)

We went with and use the Blue Yeti for our podcast and it's been great. It's a great cheap option ($100ish on Amazon) to get quality recordings.

I use the Skytec-173 High quality Cardioid Microphone. You can get this off Amazon.

Amazing professional performance & a excellent price... I use it for my video presentations & it does the job.

JR

I agree, go for the blue yeti. The quality is amazing for its price !

Snowball's greatest asset is the sonic flexibility offered by its two microphone capsules.

If you want quality (and sound quality is important!), I'd recommend Shure SM58. It has been stage standard dynamic microphone for decades - and for good reason. It's durable and has good sound specifics. Not as good as expensive cardoid studio mics, but for that you'd need a soundbox anyway, because cardoids pick up a lot of background noise. Dynamic microphones, however, pick only one direction, and mostly from close proximity. And now they make this legendary SM58 for USB as well, so you don't need with it a special device between your mic and the computer (regular professional microphones have a totally different plug than consumer mics).

I use the Audio Technica:

Amazon.com: Audio-Technica AT2020 USB Condenser...
Love it.

Ive been using the Blue Yeti for 2 years now and highly recommend it.

Its a great microphone and its straight plug and play (no BS)

You will on the right track if your choice is about "USB Microphone"

It's cool

I use a Logitech one, which probably costs around $30 (can't remember to be honest) and works great. No need to spend $100 IMO, it's not like you would want studio quality sound

Just to be different.. I use a Plantronics Voyager Pro HD
bluetooth microphone. Because... I like to walk around
while I talk and I can also use the mic with my smartphones.

The quality is excellent and I love the flexibility of being
connected to two devices simultaneously.

Dare to be different!

John

I use the Zoom H1.

It's much handier than some of those mentioned and the sound quality is fantastic.

The only negative is the plastic build quality which might make the h4n worth the extra if that's important to you.

I have the meteor, like it's small size for travel/working on the go, plus it powers via the usb so no extra cables and power sockets needed.

We have been using the Audio Technica Pro 70 cardioid condenser lavalier mic for about 3 years with great success.

We record and publish audio meditations, so quality is important for us, which is why we went to a pro level mic that runs off XLR connections vs. a USB mic.

Get the best quality mic/recording setup you can that fits your specific needs... Its worth it in the end.

Having an XLR output doesn't inherently change the sound or quality of a mic, although most mics with onboard USB don't really have true pro-audio quality components or circuitry (or very much gain).

This is not a slam. It's just a fact.

It's why marketers pay $100 instead of $1,000 (or $10,000) for a "great" microphone like audio pros do.

Then pros spend thousands more on pro-level microphone preamps and other outboard gear.

Then thousands more on AD/DA converters and computer interfaces.

To put it in perspective, I have more money invested in audio cabling alone than most marketers will spend on every piece of audio gear they buy throughout their entire career - everything is relative.

Marketers don't NEED that because, as much as it pains me to say it... the marketplace doesn't give a shit about sample rate conversion artifacts or word clock or bit depth. They just want clean audio and small file downloads.

All USB mics are designed to meet a balance of quality and affordability within the context of usefulness - i.e.; a mic that plugs straight into your computer, sounds good, and just works.

And the truth is, most +/- $100 USB mics all sound pretty good... certainly good ENOUGH.

Blue Yeti Pro is the world's first USB microphone combining 24 bit/192 kHz digital recording resolution with analog XLR output. Featuring three custom condenser capsules and four different pattern settings, the Yeti Pro can capture digital audio with up to four times the clarity found on CDs.

I highly recommend it to you buddy!

I see in the thread you already bought the Blue Yetti and you'll like it - my sister has one for her music.

I'll post what I use anyway (even though you already bought) for other who may be interested.

Both Ryan Diess and I use "Audio Technica ATA2020 USB condenser mikes. I love mine and use it for all my stuff. It's north of a hundred... but south of 200 and the sound is supurb.....

Audio-Technica AT2020 USB Condenser USB Microphone:Amazon:Musical Instruments

Man, I bet you're more confused now than when you asked the question - you started with three and now you've got how many to choose from?

Interesting thread...

I'm looking at getting a new mic too.

I have a Samson that picks up in a "cardioid" pattern. I made the
mistake of looking that up on Wikipedia:

Cardioid - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Now I have a headache