My cheapest piece of equipment is a $60 amazon mic.... it’s worked well but I had to put 3 filters but we’re hustling it out.😂 that’s definitely gonna be the first upgrade and the most expensive is the elgato hd60s
@The Ancient One @m4llycat you can also find them on ebay for about $15, but they come from overseas. The eBay listing doesn't indicate that. There's also a "USB 3.0" version that's not actually USB 3.0. It says it will do 60fps, but people have looked into it and it does not. There are versions of these on Amazon that come with an 8" USB extender cable that helps with the stability of them (the slight bump on the desk seems to make them lose connection). I own two of the ones that Harris showed, one from Amazon and one from eBay, and one of the 3.0 ones I described. I used both on stream, though eventually switched to an HD60 S+ and then an actual Cam Link 4k. AMA.
@@KCWM there is actually a legit 1080p60 model out now that has the exact same body as the cheap card but in a coffee color rather than black. they're just now showing up on amazon for about $30 and are on ebay and aliexpress for about $10
@@WhatTheFrogDoing The USB 3.0 version I referenced claimed to do 1080p60 but the blue tab that normally indicates USB 3.0 is fake and when connected to a computer, the output options indicated a cap of 1080p30. I'd be interested in seeing if it truly does 60 frames.
I actually use the cheapo capture card for my console recording! It's an incredible budget alternative until you can save up for an Elgato, since it does 720p 60fps pretty nicely, which isn't terrible to start.
I'll say it, even if it's just me: The Elgato WAVE does NOT sound good -- it's way too thin, and seems to have no range. Sure the software is nice, but the mic itself is a total disappointment, especially at that price. No sale -- I can't hear why it gets such good reviews, except for the novelty and the brand-name. Ugh.
@@chrissyross Thanks for that insight, Chrissy! Honestly I am surprised by all the "likes" for my comment, considering no reviewer seemed to have a bad word about this mic. I "wanted" to like the WAVE too, but the sound seems to be truly lacking no matter which video I hear.
I can’t seriously recommend most Elgato products when there’s almost always something cheaper or the same price that’s better, especially in the lighting department. Elgato doesn’t make terrible products, they make overpriced products because they have a monopoly on streaming.
I have an hp i3 Laptop, but I don't stream I code (shitty PC for that too) And it's not even 9th or 10th gen processor, it´s a 7th gen, Im suffering here.
I just updated to a new PC, Ryzen 5 2600 and RX5500 XT, 16GB RAM. The difference it's monstrous, and it was like 500USD It's soooooo much better I wanted to cry the first days
Thats why the cheap mic came with a USB hub. I've had the mic fuzz issue with my Yeti in the past when the mic is plugged directly into your PC. If you used the USB hub you probably wouldn't of had all that noise.
@@nevoyu it's a known issue with USB mics in general, as some motherboards don't reliably supply clean signal. or, at least that's the theory. using a _separately powered_ USB hub does usually mitigate the issue
Having run into this exact issue with even higher quality components, like the Sound Blaster K3+, it can mitigate sound popping at the noise floor, but it still doesn't fix it. Generally I would recommend a proper USB cable with 2 ferrite cuffs built in to it over a powered hub. Still a terrible hissing noise, no matter how you slice it.
@@nevoyu grounds from the pc and the mic can still be connected which leaches noise from the PC into the analog circuity of the mic. Isolation of the electrical circuits may help this situation and if the Hub is doing that it can help.
I used to have a Razer headset and the microphone would hiss like hell if the usb was plugged directly into the motherboard. Had to plug it either to a usb hub or before that I plugged it to a phone charger brick (it had USB for power only, and had the audio/mic jacks separately). So yeah, it's actually a good solution to plug USB mics to USB hubs.
I feel like you were overreacting a bit on the microphone comparison. The Elgato wave 1 was, of course, going to sound better but I was just surprised how good the cheap microphone sounded, especially when you compare the price differences.
Bengani and correct me if I'm wrong the problem is a ground loop - hence the buzzing sound. Had the same problem with behringer usb mixer, not a cheap piece of equipment
@@iloveshw yes, it was a ground loop, the microphone didnt sound as bad as Harris made out. Also notice how everything else he went for was Elgato branded ;) smells like sponsored video.
"This is what it comes with in the box." Thanks for not using the usb hub that came with in the box that would've mitigated the hissing noise. This just makes you look like you don't know what you're doing.
@Elysian Accept that the mic is horrible, I think him saying that he wouldn’t suggest a mic under $50 was to much but the microphone in this video isn’t worth the price in my opinion
i've gotten a ton of value from that "generic" HDMI capture card - i will still upgrade to a 60fps capture card, eventually. but as I am just starting out, that cheapo card is a steal :)
Don't forget, that if you happen to be streaming at 720p anyway, you could drop the resolution of your cam or device to 720p, and capture it at 60fps also with these cheap cards. I've now got 3 of them in my setup.
adjective (of an item for sale) low in price; worth more than its cost. "they bought some cheap fruit" Similar: inexpensive low-priced low-price low-cost economical economic competitive affordable reasonable reasonably priced moderately priced keenly priced budget economy cheap and cheerful bargain cut-rate cut-price half-price sale-price sale reduced on special offer marked down discounted discount rock-bottom giveaway bargain-basement slashed going for a song dirt cheap bargainous Opposite: expensive adverb at or for a low price. "a house that was going cheap" there's no difference
@@jimmysyar889 "cheap" can also mean "low quality". Inexpensive doesn't mean that. Regardless, you missed the point of the comment. They meant that when you just buy whatever costs the least amount, you're probably going to get a low quality product. If you instead look for a balance between price and quality, you're making more effective use of your money.
That capture card was a game changer! My coworker wanted to multicam his art class so the students could see his face and his hands/art. He was able to use his camera and his Mac webcam in zoom because of this card. Thanks!
You are a true inspiration and help to all those starting to stream in any sense! I read the description and saw the music options you added in and now I am beyond hooked! Can guarantee these songs will be stuck on repeat for weeks to come.
I was so confused! When I first watched this I had my sound really low as I was just listening in the background so I couldn't hear the static of the cheap mic and had no idea what you were complaining so much about (like obviously it was worse but not enough to warrant that kind of reaction). Then I turned up my volume... I see... Elgato mic it is then!
GUYS PLEASE READ THIS: I have recently tried the nameless no-brand capture card after a friend told me it worked like a charm, the problem is that during the pandemic that has been a very required item, so the (NAMELESS) company started building it with some with cheaper components, I assume, because I bought two, and they both had the same issue: they started recording perfectly and then after some time (20 minutes) they both got REALLY hot and started lagging (meaning the video was 1 second delayed from the audio). I solved the problem with the elgato capture card. PLEASE UPVOTE THIS IF USEFUL
I have 3, plugged them into a powered USB hub at once and they all worked great. The only issue I've had was when I had my ATEM mini plugged in at the same time. Tried to capture the monitor out on the ATEM to feed that into OBS as well. The drivers conflict and capture stick fails, unplug the ATEM's USB from the computer and the stick worked again. That said, pay attention to the suppliers. Other manufacturers are cloning them but they aren't as good but look identical. The original manufacturer while not actually named anywhere, is making the good ones.
@@WolfsHaven I own two of them, one from Amazon and one from eBay, and the one from Amazon seemed more reliable, and it came with an 8" extension cable. Neither device felt good plugged straight into a USB slot. I should A/B them, though if I do that, it'd be with two different cameras. It still might make an interesting "side by side".
Can you please do a video on capture cards? I’m new to streaming and no one on the internet explains exactly what do they do or give a buyers guide, and it doesn’t seem you ever did on the channel. :)
Capture cards are to capture gameplay on a console or a second computer. You have to have a computer and some software that comes with it to use it. Basically gold standard for a capture card is a Elgar’s HD60
@@zSeiryu I was looking at buying a HD60S but i found a few people saying the passthrough functionality is so bad they used a hdmi splitter instead. It also apparently has 9ms more latency than this $20 nameless brand capture card.
@@sycophant8470 - I just had to go back a listen closely again to be sure, and in fact the ELGATO was picking up a lot of background noise, whining [if you will]. But for out of the box, the cheap mic sounded good! And with some filters [both physical and software], it could be worth it to someone just starting out! Just sayin'! 😎
The 10 cheap webcams video is something that would help a lot of people or a series of the 10 cheapest mics, webcams, capture cards, and other streaming equipment
11:56 That's not really how it works. My hypothesis is that the directional characteristics of these two microphones are slightly different. Not all cardioid condenser microphones are perfectly cardioid. There's a pattern called supercardioid with an additional lobe of sensitivity right at the rear. You should spin those two mics around and see for yourself where their null points are. The hum from your PC has a lot of medium frequency content while the keyboard is rich in high frequency content - supercardioids are usually quite sensitive to such sounds from the rear. 12:05 is straight up ignorance unless we're talking about measurement microphones or other microphones with a true omnidirectional capsule. There's also another pattern called subcardioid that you should check out. It's like a less directional cardioid pattern. Real life directional patterns can vary quite a bit due to implementation details - they can even be uneven on their sides (the t.bone EM9900 shotgun microphone comes to my mind here, and you can find full measurements on their website). Most manufacturers only post basic polar pattern charts with one or just a couple of frequencies plotted... which is a shame. They certainly have access to better data.
I'm running that hdmi capture, and tbh, it's great. I run my Sony a7iii through it for twitch, and it actually ran better than my old Elgato. Would be happy to get a cam link, but I'm more than happy with it for now. If you're interested in the quality, it's what I've used in every stream. twitch.tv/raggedydoc Edit: Your reaction was exactly the same as mine!
The cheapo capture card actually does 720p 60fps, I wish it was said since you're technically not missing out on that feature especially since if used for streaming the resolution isn't the biggest factor to consider, but a pretty good comparison nonetheless!
@@animephraseman7442 I have the capture card too, most applications allow you to change the settings of the recording, unless of course the input your recording can only do 1080p 30 which would be odd
@@JohannKarlT yeah but what I am saying is that the capture card can do 1080p, not just 720. Your original comment made is sound as if it used 720 and not 1080
@@animephraseman7442 but my comment was in reply to the video but i guess if you take it out of context then it wouldn't of made sense but i guess that happens on the internet so i'll make sure next time to be more specific
Harris, 100% make the cheap-o video. It would be wonderful to see someone who knows their shit review the 'cheapest shit' and see if it's any good. As a newly starting streamer (who does happen to be on a cheapish laptop, am I horrible?), I was happy to find your videos and have been watching and absorbing all your information the best I can.
I bought one of those capture cards after seeing another RUclips channel reviewing it but I was worried when I saw you'd got your hands on one. I'm SO GLAD you were impressed with it, I bough it to hook up my DSLR to my recording station for my RUclips channel, later this year (currently using my iPhone XS and it's NOT working as well as you'd think) so if you're impressed with it, I'm not upset about spending £20 on it!
Tonor pro condsor mic ya should check it out i have the xlr into a goxlr and it sounds amazing. And the whole.kit is slightly higher then the one you tested on here.
I'd love to see a video comparing tons of cheapo webcams. I lucked into a C920 a friend of a friend didn't want while I was shopping for mine, but a video like that would be super helpful for anyone less fortunate.
Hello (WARNING broken English). In South Africa you pay almost double ($) for everything. Thank you so much, you really helped me to get started as a content creator. Your videos gives a lot more information than just buy this and that. I'm still nerves but, I would never have started if I had not followed you on RUclips. Please don't stop this type of content.
Hey Harris, thanks for the great video, as always. With regards to the mic, as you could use it with the Elgato software. Does this also mean, I could use the Wave Link software without buying the Elgato Wave microphone? I bought an Auna 900 couple of weeks ago and would love to use the software to balance all the stuff for my stream.
Wow. People have different viewpoints. An AMAZING microphone would be a $10,000 Sony C800G. Or a a even more expensive Vintage Neumann U67 or U47. But you can get more than good enough mics for streaming with broadcast quality for less than half. Maybe even as low as $2000
I picked up a Tonor TC-777 for about 40 bucks and I do have to say compared to my webcam mic it's a HUGE upgrade. I am holding off on any upgrades at all until I can justify one with actual revenue. You've said so many times, and so has Devin that the equipment is only a small part of what helps you grow. I think I have decent audio, lighting, and video at this point and upgrading would probably be a waste of money since I need to focus on being a better content creator both on RUclips and Twitch(both have different types of content and reasons for using the platform)
The "nasty hum" in the cheap mic are electronic frequencies. These are most likely coming from the RGB around him, as it gives off a sound exactly like that that most microphones don't pick up unless you put it right next to the source. It is inaudible to bare human ear. These frequencies can be picked up without RGB on and simply come from the electronic device itself if the mic is bad enough, but most of the time even XLR mics can pic it up if it is right next to the source.
Bro.. you had me rolling laughing when you switched to the cheap Webcam 🤣 😂 "ohhhhh nooo..." You are the best! Thanks for all you do and for inspiration.
As someone who made the worst decision to start streaming during the Quarantine, and needed a cap-card for streaming Switch games, I bought that exact cap-card since I didn't have the spare dosh for an elgato. For what it's worth, It'll get the job done for the cost, and there is a short delay but for the price it's negligible, but the long term is a nightmare. Every time the console is turned off, and then turned back on, the video footage just stops coming in, and I have to re-plug in everything and roll dice for the footage to come in. Keep that in mind if you're on a super budget for this cap-card.
I was reluctant to buy an Elgato Cam Link again (due to cost), and was wondering about these cheaper capture cards. THANK YOU for easing my concerns! I'll be grabbing one of these "budget" options. Love the content you offer (stream stuff). I'm a new sub! Cheers!
I have one of the cheapo capture cards and the CamLink and want to share some more findings: In OBS the standard video-proc settings for the cheapo are not optimal. Set brightness to 0, contrast to 128, hue to 0 and saturation to 128 (CamLink has this as standard). It prevents black and white crush and gives better colors. You can then still tweak the settings to your preferences. The cheapo seems to NOT record in FHD, but only half the horizontal resolution. I captured a test painting with thin lines and checkerboards from my laptop screen, no scaling, no compression. There it is obvious that the horizontal resolution is not the full 1920 pixels. Vertically though it is fine. I think this is the reason for the washed out look you mentioned. You will notice it mostly in strong contrasts, e.g. drawings and text on paper. So the output will be FHD, but the actual image resolution is lower. On the other hand I had no problems at all using it in OBS or conference apps like Zoom. That's even better than the CamLink which sometimes freezes in OBS when changing the settings. Still, for a measly 25 $ (or 20 € for me) it is absolutely okay, especially with lower end cameras or a camcorder.
I got my mic off of Amazon for $38. It's a Neewer NW-8000_USB with pop filter, mic arm and desk mount. I haven't had any complaints about the sound from any of my viewers.
Just curious what your opinion (being a sound guy) the noise that the cheap mic was making. Do you think that was just cheap components? Cheap USB cable? IS that the PC processing feeding back? And did the noise stop or get better when you were holding it? (grounding out that frequency?) I use to have this noise in my old setup and I HATED it. curious what causes it.
I bought that same capture card from a store on eBay for £8 and I cannot believe how good it is for the price. Definitely would recommend it (and have been to everyone that will listen) for someone like myself who is just getting started with streaming.
if you havent yet, definitely do that cheap webcam comparison video. Most cheap webcam articles/videos only really go over webcams from microsoft and logitech. it would be interesting to see if there are any "diamonds" in the rough
I have a microphone recommendation. Samsung Q2U. It has a USB option and a XLR option. $50 sounds REALLY good in XLR if you ask me, I get compliments in games all the time for it
When I first started doing RUclips videos I had a $50 Fifine USB mic (which the USB cable was permanently attached too, no mute, no headphone jack) and it actually sounded pretty good, I use an ATR2020XLR now with a MOTU M2 interface and Adobe Audition as my DAW, now I sound like I'm on a Shure SM7B =D
On the cheap, I got that $23 capture card as well to hook up my camcorder and I'm damn surprised it works as well as it does. I do have it on 720p where I think it does support 60fps, you might want to check that out. Also on the cheap, I use a NEEWER USB mic and have been for the past year or so. It's not perfect but a HELL of a lot better then the cheapo mic you tried in this video, I suggest checking one out. On the expensive side is my camcorder (while that wasn't what I bought for my stream but happened to have so saved me buying a new camera) and the Elgato HD60S that I use for capturing gameplay/gamedev video, as that it is the main focus of my youtube channel I didn't want to skimp on that after struggling for months with screen recording on my computer itself.
Quick question I have a DSLR and so should I get that cheap capture card and use that as a webcam? currently, I use my one plus 6 with droid cam to make my phone as a webcam it's not the best quality but it gets the job done and I only get like 4-5 viewers so should I get a capture card and if yes then will the cheapo one work?
Is there some reason for streaming you need frame rates above 30 FPS? I mean for normal videos, movies and stuff you want to stay as close to 24-30 FPS as possible so I’m confused about why this is a problem. Maybe with streaming the extra frames means that even if your internet is bad then it’ll still look pretty good (less dropped frames)?
I recently got one of those cheepo HDMI capture devices with passthrough for a funeral that we had to stream from a laptop. I was really surprised at how well it worked, though there was one gotcha. It didn't work with any video source that provided timecode. This meant no HDMI or USB output when connected to my BlackMagick Pocket Cinema Camera 4K, or my Atomos Ninja while timecode was enabled, but by disabling timecode on the Ninja I was able to strip the timecode and get a second local recording before piping into the HDMI capture which did the job. The capture device works fine directly with a GoPro or Olympus OM-D EM-10iii though.
I bought a Tonor TC30 mic based on my wife's friend's recommendation, and I gotta say it sounds great (even naturally with no filtering, or VSTs) for the $24 price tag. For as good as it sounds naturally though, putting it through Reaper VSTs with Voicemeeter makes it sound even better. Definitely worth the money if you're on a budget.
hey have you checked out samson meteor mic? its a microphone built for recording acoustic instruments but I have found that it really works well for a budget starter streaming microphone and its only $60
I bought two of those cheap HDMI capture cards for streaming church services about a year ago; they work great. The only complaint I have is if the device feed from the source device (feed from display laptop or camera) gets power cycled OBS no longer sees the device even if it's back to fully on; you have to unplug capture card, plug it back in and reconfigure in OBS. Does that also happen with more expensive capture devices?
Got that exact usb capture card for about $11 on ebay, liked it so much I bought a few more just to have as backups. For streaming with a DSLR, it's invaluable.
I'm based in malaysia, got the cheapo capture card for less than 7 USD, bought a used hero3+ black for about 50 bucks, and spent about 20 $ more for for cables, clamp mounts etc, and about 30$ on lights and into obs, and its the best setup in my whole school, other than that one crazy lecturer who spent about $2k on a dslr, elgato capture card, and fancy rgb lights. thanks for all the pointers! also i've tested the 4k in and it seems to work on OBS, but i usually just run 1080 cos on Zoom and Lark (which we use for Uni), the max possible is 1080p. My total cost came out to about 120-130 USD including all the extra bits and pieces i bought along the way. still since the logitech c920 is selling for about 110 USD, its not that far off and way better image quality. I run a SSL 2 and a 1" cardioid condenser for my audio so it sounds excellent as well.
As a Microphone i can't say that enough BUY THE FIFINE K669B it's a USB mic and the quality for just 35$ here where i live is fking amazing! Seriously ! Never thought such a cheap mic would be that good im using it together with Voice meeter and a microphone holder. Would'nt recommend the thing that comes with the mic
I own a fifinne k669 and its only $40 it has a full metal body and a gain nob the quality is amazing especially if you add a pop filter. I think its the only good usb microphone tho. I recomend 👍
Hey thanks for making this video. It was really cool to see what extra $$ gets you in terms of quality. Of course if you chose cheap but not uber cheap you may have had much closer results. Example amazon basics Usb condenser microphone instead of the Piece of cra* you did purchase. Thanks for your content it’s always insightful.
I bought a webcam from Hong Kong in 2007 - $5 shipped (I was in college). My black shirts were gray, red was usually pink, and the rest fairly normal. Focus was achieved by screwing/unscrewing the lens. I was, however, successful in talking to my sister across the US. I see ebay still has 0.3 million pixel "HD" webcams for sale. I wouldn't advise getting that unless you want a laugh.
Hey Harry, I use roofing hookblades to unbox things, they are super cheap and the handles come in all kinds of designs. I also use them for work, like cutting rubber, asphalt, and cap sheet.
*Capture Card* I bought that cheap capture card to use my DSLR (5D2 or T3i) as a webcam and have to say I've been super happy with it. Works great. *Microphone* I use a BM-800 XLR, condensor mic on a cheap UM2 interface. For what I do (voice chat, video voice over) it's great. If I was singer? I'd probably would have gone for much more expensive.
What's your cheapest piece of equipment that has actually worked really well for you? What about the priciest?
Has to be my webcam aka my old phone 😂
well, I play on a PC Laptop - and a mouse used for my mums work - lol
My mic was $40 it sounds great and I’m very happy with it!! It is called tonor tc-777. It is slightly low but for a starter it is really good
My mic is 30,- but it works really good it is the bm800
My cheapest piece of equipment is a $60 amazon mic.... it’s worked well but I had to put 3 filters but we’re hustling it out.😂 that’s definitely gonna be the first upgrade and the most expensive is the elgato hd60s
The cheapo cam link can do 720p 60fps. If you don't plan on doing full screen facecam or very little and 60fps is a must it'll work.
Do you have a link for it? 👀
@The Ancient One @m4llycat you can also find them on ebay for about $15, but they come from overseas. The eBay listing doesn't indicate that. There's also a "USB 3.0" version that's not actually USB 3.0. It says it will do 60fps, but people have looked into it and it does not. There are versions of these on Amazon that come with an 8" USB extender cable that helps with the stability of them (the slight bump on the desk seems to make them lose connection). I own two of the ones that Harris showed, one from Amazon and one from eBay, and one of the 3.0 ones I described. I used both on stream, though eventually switched to an HD60 S+ and then an actual Cam Link 4k. AMA.
You can buy it from aliexpress for $6.
@@KCWM there is actually a legit 1080p60 model out now that has the exact same body as the cheap card but in a coffee color rather than black. they're just now showing up on amazon for about $30 and are on ebay and aliexpress for about $10
@@WhatTheFrogDoing The USB 3.0 version I referenced claimed to do 1080p60 but the blue tab that normally indicates USB 3.0 is fake and when connected to a computer, the output options indicated a cap of 1080p30. I'd be interested in seeing if it truly does 60 frames.
I actually use the cheapo capture card for my console recording! It's an incredible budget alternative until you can save up for an Elgato, since it does 720p 60fps pretty nicely, which isn't terrible to start.
I'll say it, even if it's just me: The Elgato WAVE does NOT sound good -- it's way too thin, and seems to have no range. Sure the software is nice, but the mic itself is a total disappointment, especially at that price. No sale -- I can't hear why it gets such good reviews, except for the novelty and the brand-name. Ugh.
Say it louder for the people in the back
Yeah it sounds the same as the other mic just with way less noise.
You pay for software, not hardware.
@@chrissyross Thanks for that insight, Chrissy! Honestly I am surprised by all the "likes" for my comment, considering no reviewer seemed to have a bad word about this mic. I "wanted" to like the WAVE too, but the sound seems to be truly lacking no matter which video I hear.
I can’t seriously recommend most Elgato products when there’s almost always something cheaper or the same price that’s better, especially in the lighting department. Elgato doesn’t make terrible products, they make overpriced products because they have a monopoly on streaming.
“Do they expect people who buy this to be streaming off of a laptop?”
*looks over at dell i7 laptop*
I have an hp i3 Laptop, but I don't stream I code (shitty PC for that too)
And it's not even 9th or 10th gen processor, it´s a 7th gen, Im suffering here.
@@amayagonzalezaaronyael2165 damn a Duel core cpu?
@@mistergameplay9766 Yeah, I think it's the i3 7020U
@@amayagonzalezaaronyael2165 same pc lol upagrded to 8 gig ram lol
I just updated to a new PC, Ryzen 5 2600 and RX5500 XT, 16GB RAM.
The difference it's monstrous, and it was like 500USD
It's soooooo much better I wanted to cry the first days
Thats why the cheap mic came with a USB hub. I've had the mic fuzz issue with my Yeti in the past when the mic is plugged directly into your PC. If you used the USB hub you probably wouldn't of had all that noise.
That doesnt make sense because USB mics output a digital signal which is not subject to interference.
@@nevoyu it's a known issue with USB mics in general, as some motherboards don't reliably supply clean signal. or, at least that's the theory. using a _separately powered_ USB hub does usually mitigate the issue
Having run into this exact issue with even higher quality components, like the Sound Blaster K3+, it can mitigate sound popping at the noise floor, but it still doesn't fix it. Generally I would recommend a proper USB cable with 2 ferrite cuffs built in to it over a powered hub. Still a terrible hissing noise, no matter how you slice it.
@@nevoyu grounds from the pc and the mic can still be connected which leaches noise from the PC into the analog circuity of the mic. Isolation of the electrical circuits may help this situation and if the Hub is doing that it can help.
I used to have a Razer headset and the microphone would hiss like hell if the usb was plugged directly into the motherboard.
Had to plug it either to a usb hub or before that I plugged it to a phone charger brick (it had USB for power only, and had the audio/mic jacks separately).
So yeah, it's actually a good solution to plug USB mics to USB hubs.
"Professional, does that word mean nothing"
Apple: iPhone 11 pro
I feel like you were overreacting a bit on the microphone comparison. The Elgato wave 1 was, of course, going to sound better but I was just surprised how good the cheap microphone sounded, especially when you compare the price differences.
Bengani and correct me if I'm wrong the problem is a ground loop - hence the buzzing sound. Had the same problem with behringer usb mixer, not a cheap piece of equipment
Yeah that what I thought you could use a base loop isolated to fix the buzzing noise they're like $6
If it wasn’t for the buzzing, I think it’d be just fine.
Yea. The only unbearable thing was that buzzing noise, but once he put it closer to his mouth it was muchhh better
@@iloveshw yes, it was a ground loop, the microphone didnt sound as bad as Harris made out. Also notice how everything else he went for was Elgato branded ;) smells like sponsored video.
"This is what it comes with in the box."
Thanks for not using the usb hub that came with in the box that would've mitigated the hissing noise. This just makes you look like you don't know what you're doing.
@Elysian Accept that the mic is horrible, I think him saying that he wouldn’t suggest a mic under $50 was to much but the microphone in this video isn’t worth the price in my opinion
i've gotten a ton of value from that "generic" HDMI capture card - i will still upgrade to a 60fps capture card, eventually. but as I am just starting out, that cheapo card is a steal :)
Can you use it capture other pc or console?
@@avinashkumar110 yes, I'm using it for my game feed via hdmi and pass through to USB into the PC.
Don't forget, that if you happen to be streaming at 720p anyway, you could drop the resolution of your cam or device to 720p, and capture it at 60fps also with these cheap cards. I've now got 3 of them in my setup.
Is there a capture delay with it? :) Glad to hear its serving you well so far
@@voraciousraven968 With cam capture, no. I haven't tried it with game capture, but have read/heard there is. I can't confirm.
That static buzz might be solved with a pass through, such as the USB hub it came with.
I was juts about to say this. I personally use a yeti mic but my buddy uses this with a his hub and it has zero static haha.
Please do that video comparing a lot of "looks interesting" cheap webcams
YES PLEASE. I'd love to see how bad some of these are lol
yes please upvote this comment
Pls
indeed
Yes
There's a big difference between "cheap" and "inexpensive."
adjective
(of an item for sale) low in price; worth more than its cost.
"they bought some cheap fruit"
Similar:
inexpensive
low-priced
low-price
low-cost
economical
economic
competitive
affordable
reasonable
reasonably priced
moderately priced
keenly priced
budget
economy
cheap and cheerful
bargain
cut-rate
cut-price
half-price
sale-price
sale
reduced
on special offer
marked down
discounted
discount
rock-bottom
giveaway
bargain-basement
slashed
going for a song
dirt cheap
bargainous
Opposite:
expensive
adverb
at or for a low price.
"a house that was going cheap"
there's no difference
@@jimmysyar889 he doesn't mean grammar wise he means tech wise
@gxrilla dude they’re synonymous for the same word
@@Bumblerage32 they’re synonyms for the same word
@@jimmysyar889 "cheap" can also mean "low quality". Inexpensive doesn't mean that.
Regardless, you missed the point of the comment. They meant that when you just buy whatever costs the least amount, you're probably going to get a low quality product. If you instead look for a balance between price and quality, you're making more effective use of your money.
I use two of those cheapo capture cards for streaming live gigs, and it looks fantastic! I couldn't be happier with that purchase!
Last time i was this early, Harris hit stream instead of record.
We all done it lol
@@NutterTTV lol just teasing. All love.
I know :) i can tell
That capture card was a game changer! My coworker wanted to multicam his art class so the students could see his face and his hands/art. He was able to use his camera and his Mac webcam in zoom because of this card. Thanks!
The cheap cam looks like the temperature scanners when you want to enter a mall
You are a true inspiration and help to all those starting to stream in any sense!
I read the description and saw the music options you added in and now I am beyond hooked! Can guarantee these songs will be stuck on repeat for weeks to come.
I was so confused! When I first watched this I had my sound really low as I was just listening in the background so I couldn't hear the static of the cheap mic and had no idea what you were complaining so much about (like obviously it was worse but not enough to warrant that kind of reaction). Then I turned up my volume... I see... Elgato mic it is then!
@Elysian Having high expectations doesn’t mean that someone is being paid lmao
When Harris says "I can tell the difference of 30fps, and 60fps" but it's all in 30 fps.
He doesn't see the same thing that you're seeing.
@@joshuajeffries9990 I wanna see what he's seeing if he's showing a comparison
@@TwinkleNZ go to his house then. He can't show you the difference between 30fps and 60 fps on a video, there's too much shit to factor in
@@ReelokLtd yes he can. RUclips support 60 FPS playback.
@@Mordekai.Glitches no there is 60 fps stuff
GUYS PLEASE READ THIS: I have recently tried the nameless no-brand capture card after a friend told me it worked like a charm, the problem is that during the pandemic that has been a very required item, so the (NAMELESS) company started building it with some with cheaper components, I assume, because I bought two, and they both had the same issue: they started recording perfectly and then after some time (20 minutes) they both got REALLY hot and started lagging (meaning the video was 1 second delayed from the audio). I solved the problem with the elgato capture card. PLEASE UPVOTE THIS IF USEFUL
the "Can't Link" is highly revered at this point. I own like 4 for various B cams, its really good for $30
Say it louder. I love my 10$ capture card hehehe
My died within 6 streams.
I have 3, plugged them into a powered USB hub at once and they all worked great. The only issue I've had was when I had my ATEM mini plugged in at the same time. Tried to capture the monitor out on the ATEM to feed that into OBS as well. The drivers conflict and capture stick fails, unplug the ATEM's USB from the computer and the stick worked again.
That said, pay attention to the suppliers. Other manufacturers are cloning them but they aren't as good but look identical. The original manufacturer while not actually named anywhere, is making the good ones.
@@WolfsHaven I own two of them, one from Amazon and one from eBay, and the one from Amazon seemed more reliable, and it came with an 8" extension cable. Neither device felt good plugged straight into a USB slot. I should A/B them, though if I do that, it'd be with two different cameras. It still might make an interesting "side by side".
Can you please do a video on capture cards? I’m new to streaming and no one on the internet explains exactly what do they do or give a buyers guide, and it doesn’t seem you ever did on the channel. :)
Capture cards are to capture gameplay on a console or a second computer. You have to have a computer and some software that comes with it to use it. Basically gold standard for a capture card is a Elgar’s HD60
@@zSeiryu I was looking at buying a HD60S but i found a few people saying the passthrough functionality is so bad they used a hdmi splitter instead. It also apparently has 9ms more latency than this $20 nameless brand capture card.
As much as I love the reviews, I feel like harris tends to s**t on anything not elgato, Asus, etc.
I was looking for this very comment! I felt that "cheap" mic sounded better than the expensive one...idk just my opinion... 🤷♂️
-Sentinel
@@GRGHQ are we talking about the same microphone that sounds like it is whining in the background the entire time
@@sycophant8470 - I just had to go back a listen closely again to be sure, and in fact the ELGATO was picking up a lot of background noise, whining [if you will]. But for out of the box, the cheap mic sounded good! And with some filters [both physical and software], it could be worth it to someone just starting out! Just sayin'! 😎
@@GRGHQ Please tell me you can hear the horrid buzzing frequency of the cheap Mic, the Elgato was by far the superior Mic in the testing
@@GRGHQ im not talking about background noise im talking about the loud screech
I‘d love to see you ordering 10-20 webcams!
Buy 10 $30 webcams and have them go against each other!
He already made a video of that
Cam link battle royale
16:37 when u come to the family reunion and everyone stares at you
The 10 cheap webcams video is something that would help a lot of people or a series of the 10 cheapest mics, webcams, capture cards, and other streaming equipment
11:56
That's not really how it works. My hypothesis is that the directional characteristics of these two microphones are slightly different. Not all cardioid condenser microphones are perfectly cardioid. There's a pattern called supercardioid with an additional lobe of sensitivity right at the rear. You should spin those two mics around and see for yourself where their null points are. The hum from your PC has a lot of medium frequency content while the keyboard is rich in high frequency content - supercardioids are usually quite sensitive to such sounds from the rear.
12:05 is straight up ignorance unless we're talking about measurement microphones or other microphones with a true omnidirectional capsule.
There's also another pattern called subcardioid that you should check out. It's like a less directional cardioid pattern.
Real life directional patterns can vary quite a bit due to implementation details - they can even be uneven on their sides (the t.bone EM9900 shotgun microphone comes to my mind here, and you can find full measurements on their website). Most manufacturers only post basic polar pattern charts with one or just a couple of frequencies plotted... which is a shame. They certainly have access to better data.
I’ve actually been using this for the past three weeks, works wonderfully for my recording gameplay on my switch!
They have a 60 fps version for $49. Can you please review it? its called FURUI Upgraded HDMI Capture Card, 1080P 60fps Game Capture Card, USB 3.0...
I bought a camlink right on Elgatos/Corsair website and in came with in 4 business days.
I'm running that hdmi capture, and tbh, it's great. I run my Sony a7iii through it for twitch, and it actually ran better than my old Elgato. Would be happy to get a cam link, but I'm more than happy with it for now. If you're interested in the quality, it's what I've used in every stream. twitch.tv/raggedydoc
Edit: Your reaction was exactly the same as mine!
The cheapo capture card actually does 720p 60fps, I wish it was said since you're technically not missing out on that feature especially since if used for streaming the resolution isn't the biggest factor to consider, but a pretty good comparison nonetheless!
To many knowledge that is incorrect, I think it can do 720 60 but when using it I find the standard setting it is 1080 30
@@animephraseman7442 I have the capture card too, most applications allow you to change the settings of the recording, unless of course the input your recording can only do 1080p 30 which would be odd
@@JohannKarlT yeah but what I am saying is that the capture card can do 1080p, not just 720. Your original comment made is sound as if it used 720 and not 1080
@@animephraseman7442 but my comment was in reply to the video but i guess if you take it out of context then it wouldn't of made sense but i guess that happens on the internet so i'll make sure next time to be more specific
@@JohannKarlT Yeah lel
Is there a link for the budget capture card?
Camlink 4Ks are in stock as of 16 Aug on Corsair/Elgato and BestBuy!
Harris, 100% make the cheap-o video. It would be wonderful to see someone who knows their shit review the 'cheapest shit' and see if it's any good. As a newly starting streamer (who does happen to be on a cheapish laptop, am I horrible?), I was happy to find your videos and have been watching and absorbing all your information the best I can.
I actually have a $60 USB Microphone, and using VoiceMeeter made it sound like $100 more in value 🤣
Ikr. Do you have a snowball?
@@gettriggered_ian3269 Nope. A MAONO. prob never heard of it 👉👈
Microphone I will always recommend the Fifine K669 or T669
Petition for a headset mic vs cheapo mic video:
I want to see this
Me too sumo!
For a budget mic, whats the issue with a Blue Snowball iCE?
Bruh that "cheap" tech is like gold to me
This dude just spoiled brat.
@@gutstallion Bruh you joking this dude has worked his ass off for this, get a life kid
@@amp1o214 calm down. You have distorted sense of reality. Just think before type something.
@@gutstallion cool
I bought one of those capture cards after seeing another RUclips channel reviewing it but I was worried when I saw you'd got your hands on one. I'm SO GLAD you were impressed with it, I bough it to hook up my DSLR to my recording station for my RUclips channel, later this year (currently using my iPhone XS and it's NOT working as well as you'd think) so if you're impressed with it, I'm not upset about spending £20 on it!
Your content is so professional, on behalf of all of us, Thank you! :)
Only if the cheapo mic was as professional
3:45 I know the perfect knife maker! Humble dude that is consistently upgrading his skills! Ill send him your way ;)
4:26 Something you never want to hear lol
Tonor pro condsor mic ya should check it out i have the xlr into a goxlr and it sounds amazing. And the whole.kit is slightly higher then the one you tested on here.
BM800 would be a more popular choice to put there in the "cheap mic" category, i believe it wouldn't sound that bad.
I had a BM800, it was hot garbage, I currently have Fifine K669B ($30) and it's great. Totally recommend.
7:54 The time has finally come! I've finally seen harris slightly out of focus, my life is complete now :D
if you're looking for a 50$ microphone, i would recommend the blue snowball
I'd get the Fifine K669
No, that was a long time ago. Now you can get the razed siren mini or hyper x quadcast
I mean solo cast. Those 2 are much better and they are the same price
@@HeelerHouse I have it and as I think it sounds great
I'd love to see a video comparing tons of cheapo webcams. I lucked into a C920 a friend of a friend didn't want while I was shopping for mine, but a video like that would be super helpful for anyone less fortunate.
Buy loads of cheap webcams and usb microphones and do a huge comparison. That would be epic.
I hate you for 1:43 lmaoo why you gotta make my heart stop like that 😭😭😭😂😂
me looking at sponsor after 3/1/20: lol imagine 2080 ti
Hello (WARNING broken English).
In South Africa you pay almost double ($) for everything.
Thank you so much, you really helped me to get started as a content creator.
Your videos gives a lot more information than just buy this and that.
I'm still nerves but, I would never have started if I had not followed you on RUclips.
Please don't stop this type of content.
Pls buy and test Fifine K670
17:38 ... it looks like a dang diopter camera😂 that means: the focus is on the subject and the objects in the back.
I use the small capture card for my streams, its just suprising how 'good' that tiny stick is for 15dollars :o
Same
Same
Hey Harris,
thanks for the great video, as always.
With regards to the mic, as you could use it with the Elgato software. Does this also mean, I could use the Wave Link software without buying the Elgato Wave microphone?
I bought an Auna 900 couple of weeks ago and would love to use the software to balance all the stuff for my stream.
Lets be fair, there are AMAZING mics under 50$ (Fifine,Neewer NW 7000) he just chose a really bad one.
NW-700 is so good I've bought three. Two were for friends
Wow. People have different viewpoints. An AMAZING microphone would be a $10,000 Sony C800G. Or a a even more expensive Vintage Neumann U67 or U47.
But you can get more than good enough mics for streaming with broadcast quality for less than half. Maybe even as low as $2000
Yeah, my mic was $14 and i think it is amazing. It wven came with all the acessories, not just the mic.
I picked up a Tonor TC-777 for about 40 bucks and I do have to say compared to my webcam mic it's a HUGE upgrade. I am holding off on any upgrades at all until I can justify one with actual revenue. You've said so many times, and so has Devin that the equipment is only a small part of what helps you grow. I think I have decent audio, lighting, and video at this point and upgrading would probably be a waste of money since I need to focus on being a better content creator both on RUclips and Twitch(both have different types of content and reasons for using the platform)
Whenever you mention ASUS my brain automatically hears "Jesus" in Spanish haha
he is pronouncing it wrong by the way :)
think the cheapo webcam might work if you adjust your lights, because the guitars in the background looks good.
i watched this
Same
The "nasty hum" in the cheap mic are electronic frequencies. These are most likely coming from the RGB around him, as it gives off a sound exactly like that that most microphones don't pick up unless you put it right next to the source. It is inaudible to bare human ear. These frequencies can be picked up without RGB on and simply come from the electronic device itself if the mic is bad enough, but most of the time even XLR mics can pic it up if it is right next to the source.
Just me or is overreacting to the differences in mics?
Which shotgun mic are you using? Thanks
Makes ~70k/month - "Can't justify buying a nice knife."
That mindset will allow him an awesome retired life in his 60s, 70s, and beyond.
Bro.. you had me rolling laughing when you switched to the cheap Webcam 🤣 😂 "ohhhhh nooo..."
You are the best! Thanks for all you do and for inspiration.
Wow! 1) The cheapo mic sounded fine to me. 2) The brandless, nameless capture device looked great to me. You're right about the weird capture card.
As someone who made the worst decision to start streaming during the Quarantine, and needed a cap-card for streaming Switch games, I bought that exact cap-card since I didn't have the spare dosh for an elgato.
For what it's worth, It'll get the job done for the cost, and there is a short delay but for the price it's negligible, but the long term is a nightmare.
Every time the console is turned off, and then turned back on, the video footage just stops coming in, and I have to re-plug in everything and roll dice for the footage to come in.
Keep that in mind if you're on a super budget for this cap-card.
I was reluctant to buy an Elgato Cam Link again (due to cost), and was wondering about these cheaper capture cards. THANK YOU for easing my concerns! I'll be grabbing one of these "budget" options. Love the content you offer (stream stuff). I'm a new sub! Cheers!
I have one of the cheapo capture cards and the CamLink and want to share some more findings:
In OBS the standard video-proc settings for the cheapo are not optimal. Set brightness to 0, contrast to 128, hue to 0 and saturation to 128 (CamLink has this as standard). It prevents black and white crush and gives better colors. You can then still tweak the settings to your preferences.
The cheapo seems to NOT record in FHD, but only half the horizontal resolution. I captured a test painting with thin lines and checkerboards from my laptop screen, no scaling, no compression. There it is obvious that the horizontal resolution is not the full 1920 pixels. Vertically though it is fine. I think this is the reason for the washed out look you mentioned. You will notice it mostly in strong contrasts, e.g. drawings and text on paper.
So the output will be FHD, but the actual image resolution is lower.
On the other hand I had no problems at all using it in OBS or conference apps like Zoom. That's even better than the CamLink which sometimes freezes in OBS when changing the settings.
Still, for a measly 25 $ (or 20 € for me) it is absolutely okay, especially with lower end cameras or a camcorder.
I got my mic off of Amazon for $38. It's a Neewer NW-8000_USB with pop filter, mic arm and desk mount. I haven't had any complaints about the sound from any of my viewers.
I just want to say that I came back to this video to watch 1:43 b/c I needed my spirits lifted a little bit. Thanks, Harris! :D
Just curious what your opinion (being a sound guy) the noise that the cheap mic was making. Do you think that was just cheap components? Cheap USB cable? IS that the PC processing feeding back? And did the noise stop or get better when you were holding it? (grounding out that frequency?) I use to have this noise in my old setup and I HATED it. curious what causes it.
I bought that same capture card from a store on eBay for £8 and I cannot believe how good it is for the price. Definitely would recommend it (and have been to everyone that will listen) for someone like myself who is just getting started with streaming.
if you havent yet, definitely do that cheap webcam comparison video. Most cheap webcam articles/videos only really go over webcams from microsoft and logitech. it would be interesting to see if there are any "diamonds" in the rough
Great vid Heller. Do enjoy the comparison vids of cheap, budget brands or perhaps the choices that people don't lean towards!
I have a microphone recommendation. Samsung Q2U. It has a USB option and a XLR option. $50 sounds REALLY good in XLR if you ask me, I get compliments in games all the time for it
When I first started doing RUclips videos I had a $50 Fifine USB mic (which the USB cable was permanently attached too, no mute, no headphone jack) and it actually sounded pretty good, I use an ATR2020XLR now with a MOTU M2 interface and Adobe Audition as my DAW, now I sound like I'm on a Shure SM7B =D
Just recently started watching your stuff. Is it safe to have your guitars next to the window? Doesn't the heat warp your necks?
On the cheap, I got that $23 capture card as well to hook up my camcorder and I'm damn surprised it works as well as it does. I do have it on 720p where I think it does support 60fps, you might want to check that out.
Also on the cheap, I use a NEEWER USB mic and have been for the past year or so. It's not perfect but a HELL of a lot better then the cheapo mic you tried in this video, I suggest checking one out.
On the expensive side is my camcorder (while that wasn't what I bought for my stream but happened to have so saved me buying a new camera) and the Elgato HD60S that I use for capturing gameplay/gamedev video, as that it is the main focus of my youtube channel I didn't want to skimp on that after struggling for months with screen recording on my computer itself.
Quick question
I have a DSLR and so should I get that cheap capture card and use that as a webcam? currently, I use my one plus 6 with droid cam to make my phone as a webcam it's not the best quality but it gets the job done and I only get like 4-5 viewers so should I get a capture card and if yes then will the cheapo one work?
Is there some reason for streaming you need frame rates above 30 FPS? I mean for normal videos, movies and stuff you want to stay as close to 24-30 FPS as possible so I’m confused about why this is a problem. Maybe with streaming the extra frames means that even if your internet is bad then it’ll still look pretty good (less dropped frames)?
If I’m gonna be honest with you the best under 50$ microphone is the FIFNE T732 or the T669
I recently got one of those cheepo HDMI capture devices with passthrough for a funeral that we had to stream from a laptop. I was really surprised at how well it worked, though there was one gotcha. It didn't work with any video source that provided timecode. This meant no HDMI or USB output when connected to my BlackMagick Pocket Cinema Camera 4K, or my Atomos Ninja while timecode was enabled, but by disabling timecode on the Ninja I was able to strip the timecode and get a second local recording before piping into the HDMI capture which did the job. The capture device works fine directly with a GoPro or Olympus OM-D EM-10iii though.
Great entertaining video. I have one question. You often talk about the Logitech C920. Have you ever tested a C922?
I bought a Tonor TC30 mic based on my wife's friend's recommendation, and I gotta say it sounds great (even naturally with no filtering, or VSTs) for the $24 price tag. For as good as it sounds naturally though, putting it through Reaper VSTs with Voicemeeter makes it sound even better. Definitely worth the money if you're on a budget.
hey have you checked out samson meteor mic? its a microphone built for recording acoustic instruments but I have found that it really works well for a budget starter streaming microphone and its only $60
I bought two of those cheap HDMI capture cards for streaming church services about a year ago; they work great. The only complaint I have is if the device feed from the source device (feed from display laptop or camera) gets power cycled OBS no longer sees the device even if it's back to fully on; you have to unplug capture card, plug it back in and reconfigure in OBS. Does that also happen with more expensive capture devices?
Got that exact usb capture card for about $11 on ebay, liked it so much I bought a few more just to have as backups. For streaming with a DSLR, it's invaluable.
I'm based in malaysia, got the cheapo capture card for less than 7 USD, bought a used hero3+ black for about 50 bucks, and spent about 20 $ more for for cables, clamp mounts etc, and about 30$ on lights and into obs, and its the best setup in my whole school, other than that one crazy lecturer who spent about $2k on a dslr, elgato capture card, and fancy rgb lights. thanks for all the pointers! also i've tested the 4k in and it seems to work on OBS, but i usually just run 1080 cos on Zoom and Lark (which we use for Uni), the max possible is 1080p. My total cost came out to about 120-130 USD including all the extra bits and pieces i bought along the way. still since the logitech c920 is selling for about 110 USD, its not that far off and way better image quality. I run a SSL 2 and a 1" cardioid condenser for my audio so it sounds excellent as well.
As a Microphone i can't say that enough BUY THE FIFINE K669B it's a USB mic and the quality for just 35$ here where i live is fking amazing! Seriously ! Never thought such a cheap mic would be that good im using it together with Voice meeter and a microphone holder. Would'nt recommend the thing that comes with the mic
I own a fifinne k669 and its only $40 it has a full metal body and a gain nob the quality is amazing especially if you add a pop filter. I think its the only good usb microphone tho. I recomend 👍
Hey thanks for making this video. It was really cool to see what extra $$ gets you in terms of quality. Of course if you chose cheap but not uber cheap you may have had much closer results. Example amazon basics Usb condenser microphone instead of the Piece of cra* you did purchase. Thanks for your content it’s always insightful.
I bought a webcam from Hong Kong in 2007 - $5 shipped (I was in college). My black shirts were gray, red was usually pink, and the rest fairly normal. Focus was achieved by screwing/unscrewing the lens. I was, however, successful in talking to my sister across the US.
I see ebay still has 0.3 million pixel "HD" webcams for sale. I wouldn't advise getting that unless you want a laugh.
Since you added the non-Elgato mic to the wave3 software, is that something you would suggest doing if you don’t have a wave3?
Hey Harry, I use roofing hookblades to unbox things, they are super cheap and the handles come in all kinds of designs. I also use them for work, like cutting rubber, asphalt, and cap sheet.
*Capture Card*
I bought that cheap capture card to use my DSLR (5D2 or T3i) as a webcam and have to say I've been super happy with it. Works great.
*Microphone*
I use a BM-800 XLR, condensor mic on a cheap UM2 interface. For what I do (voice chat, video voice over) it's great. If I was singer? I'd probably would have gone for much more expensive.