I admit that I was stuck in the “USB mics aren’t great” mindset for a long time, but over the past few years there are so many awesome options (like the Profile) where I sometimes prefer USB mics now just for the simplicity:quality ratio.
XLR > Interface is literally the same thing as a usb mic. Only difference is that you also have a good dac and speaker out, and maybe a midi i/o all in the same unit. USB mic is the interface + mic in one unit, although not as robust or high quality.
The decision to upgrade from a Blue Yeti to an SM7B microphone proved to be a less-than-optimal choice for me. It took nearly a year of tweaking and adjusting to achieve the desired sound quality. It is crucial to understand the intricacies of high-end audio equipment, as proper setup and calibration are essential to make the most of its capabilities. Without this knowledge, such an investment may not yield the desired results, and the expenditure may be considered a waste. It is worth noting that not everyone is an audio engineer, and therefore, it is vital to do thorough research before making any significant purchases in this field.
Sm7 is one of my least favourite microphones, i think it just sounds dreadful, and it's a diva as well with the gain that it needs, and FET inline preamps can be surprisingly unreliable. Yeti isn't an ideal sounding microphone either but it's more on the inoffensive side. The big flaw of it is that only one of the 4 modes is usable, the cardioid, and that one uses only one capsule, so the rest of the acoustic assembly is just... diffraction inducing junk, but then diffraction isn't really THAT big a deal really. Though really most cases of Yeti are "shoulda bought an AT2020"; but also "well if you've already got the Yeti and it's not dying, you can just keep using it, it's fine".
That's entirely because it was an SM7B. Were you to for example, go to an MLXV67G and a UMC interface you would have always had a strong and clear signal with enough budget left over for a quality mic arm and room treatment. People get stuck with lackluster sound as shure products are rather mid heavy, even in flat position the SM7B has a slight mid emphasis and a slight low/high roll off. And since people seem to absolutely love adding highs and lows, naturally you're going to see a lot of people fiddling with EQ, withouit getting to the bottom of why the shure mic sounds weird. DBX 286 tends to get paired with it a lot, and the LF detail filter raises at 80 hz and dips the 250hz area so it sort of hits what's wrong with the SM7B. While that sort of EQ can be accomplished with software I wager it also gained popularity due to older interfaces not supplying enough gain on their own. However modern interfaces supply more than enough gain and have a better EIN. You also will be fighting with plosives quite a bit despite its design and be stuck with a blimp in your face when you inevitably use the thicker optional windscreen.
@@davidpoo66 If you don't have a working knowledge of audio production, a decent interface with the ability to add a lot of gain (the SM7B is famously gain hungry) and a voice that suits it, the SM7B is not for you right now. Do a lot of homework on it. The Fduce sl40 gives a similar sound, is both usb and XLR and only costs around $50. Might be worth it to set you going.
When I first got into content creation my goal was to get an XLR mic because "everyone" said the sound quality was superior. However after getting into doing tech reviews I've learned a majority of decent quality USB mics sound just as good if not better than similarly priced XLR mics
The mic components are often similar, it's the ADC (Analog to digital) converter that's inside the USB mic body that can hamper the final output or longevity of the mic. Audio interfaces for XLR mics are in effect a circuit isolated from the microphone and has a bit more quality to the components.
I started with the $20 BM-700/800, since I was thinking I was getting a great price to performance ratio. Of course, with its limited response, noise and with the fact that I didn't have any acoustic treatment, I was naive and arrogant for a year. I ended up getting a low cost interface and dynamic mic. After many upgrades, I'm now using a Tascam 2x2 HR and a RE-20 (snagged a barely used one for under $300). All this to get the sound I want on my Zoom meetings. Of course I've suggested the Samson Q2U for years to people to start out with. I think in the last year, we have started to see (hear) really good sounding USB dynamic mics.
They sound the same because the technology is the same, they're just putting it all in one package. A/D conversation is so good at this point, and has been for a number of years, that as long as you're getting something quality from a good brand it's basically a negligible point on the signal path. This fact runs deeply counter to what the old fogeys in audio have been insisting since decades past, which is you need to spend $1000 per channel on A/D conversion alone, on top of the cost of a high quality microphone, in order to achieve a professional sound, which is why people have been so resistant to accept USB micophones as they've come along.
I have the EL Gato Wave 3 and I got it because I’m a wheelchair bound content creator and I needed something that was going to help me utilize VST‘s to sound better on a naturally weaker, sounding voice, that has been problematic in the past with dynamic microphones. Condensers sound better for my voice and something that I could physically do myself and it worked perfectly! I have never sounded better, in all the years that I’ve made RUclips and now Tik Tok videos. I had no idea that this was a stigma, but I really appreciate you doing this video to set the record straight and the new sinhizer sounds great!
I had a health issues that made my voice weaker when I talked into my dynamic mic I had to get surgery to fix it and i still had that problem while recovering so I bought a cheap mic booster and that did help me alot fortunately but recording was a pain
I would say that USB microphones are fine for people who intend to only use a single mic. Starting to do things like mixing sources from multiple microphones gets awkward with USB, where an XLR mic with a mixer with USB would make more sense.
Depends on the platform and recording software. Some DAWS are limited to a single source while others will happily accept 1-2-4-8, however many you may have. If you're on a Mac, Audio Hijack and Loopback from Rogue Amoeba will also let you channel audio from different sources
I believe it's not that hard with USB mics. It just needs right software. I have Elgato Wave :3 and Wave Link pretty much allows mixing from multiple mics. And as know Wave Link has a lot of alternatives on the market.
I bought a Wave:3 2 years ago and it has been my favorite mic I’ve ever owned and outclasses a lot of my friends XLR mics as they aren’t versed in how to properly set them up. With the addition of the Wave Link software, especially now with the addition of built in VST support, IMHO its the best usb microphone available and is one I will always recommend.
Due to your recommendations over a year plus a go, I went with the Samson Q2U. USB/XLR combo. I used the USB portion for months. Sounded great. Much better than the Astro A50 headset mic for streaming. I ended up moving to XLR when the Wave XLR interface went on sale and honestly, I got tired of Windows and VMB making things more painful than needed. I will say, having solid software makes these experiences much better, also being able to do research onto proper tuning, gating etc, makes a WORLD of difference that most people don't seem to be aware. For those instances, you really don't hurt going with a USB mic and honestly, in the past 5 years, they are some of the best mics at affordable price points. Great video, as always.
Q2U might even be the best mic on the market right now for someone who doesn't have any other audio equipment. One of the most balanced mics in terms of frequency response, and comes with almost everything, save for a boom arm. that you need to upgrade to an external audio interface.
I also use a q2u and made a recent discovery: I had a problem with the USB cable. As I strongly believe that quality cables matters, even with numeric signal, I searched for a better quality than the one provided by Samson, which is more or less the worst you can find ! In this category of USB cables, unfortunately the choice is very very limited. I choose one from the brand Vention. Believe it or not there is a big difference. Not only in the sound quality, it significantly reduces the delay with the headphones.
@@Calx9 I suppose it depends on the mics you listened to. For my voice, which favors a warmer mix, the Q2U for the price point and upgrade path was the right choice for me. I also didn't stay on USB very long. Realizing how touchy Windows is with USB settings, I moved to XLR input and I do not regret it. It's still the mic I use to this day and most people I speak to with it for work/gaming enjoy the sound that they note it. Not saying you're incorrect in your assessment, there absolutely may be one that is better or more preferable at this point and in general. Sounds be like that.
Thanks for talking about this. I've never owned an XLR mic only because I don't really want to spend extra on another piece of hardware apart from the mic, and mostly because whenever I do watch reviews, from you and other mic review channels, the quality of audio I get from the USB mic reviews I see on youtube are honestly incredible, and to none the wiser, would probably be near impossible to tell the difference. My girlfriend got me an Elgato Wave 3 and I have been blown away from how it sounds out of the box. The best part is that I still can give it more life by using equalizers as well to edit frequencies I want more of and less of. USB microphones are incredible and I can definitely say that because I've started with an ATR2500 back in 2014-2015ish for my first mic and I've used that mic until I got my Elgato Wave 3 around 1-2 years ago.
One of my main reasons for getting a MV7 was the versatility. It's an expensive microphone, but it gives me a good starting point through USB that I can also upgrade from meaningfully by getting an XLR interface that I can later carry on through a microphone upgrade
I have the Earthworks ICON USB and its amazing. Don't need an extra USB audio device for that extra cable and mess on the desk. Like with any other mic you need to do some processing to remove background noise etc. EQ APO with Re plugs is so good for that.
I appreciate this video and product description so much. Too often people who review and talk about audio equipment are audiophiles and recording engineers and their use cases are so incredibly different from the use cases of streamers, hobbyists, telepresence professionals... People for whom the max bit and sample rate can be a lot lower or for whom aesthetics, or versatility, or ease of use are of much greater concern. They don't need 32bit 96k audio for their weekly team meeting, they need a mute button so they don't annoy their coworkers when their partner is in the room.
Honestly, I just bought the Beacn to upgrade from a yeti and I'm stunned by how good it is. Beyond my wildest expectations for the audio of my channel. I'm still applying some of the same filters I used on my Yeti and it just really puts it into a fantastic spot. For $279, versus $600 or for for a Shure SM7B + gear, I couldn't be happier. And also, telling people they should spend $100s on XLR gear, versus $129 for a Yeti which is MORE than enough for most people who are just started out, seems nuts to me. For most new or even intermediate content creators, a Yeti or similar mic can go a long way. Heck, great example, Kyle Kulinski who just broke a million followers does his daily episodes with a Yeti
I have had a static sound issue in a dead quiet room that I thought may come from it being a usb mic, but this helped me rethink returning it and trying to make it work.
Agreed. Friend of mine needed a streaming setup to teach over zoom. I gave him a Lumix G70 + the old 1080 Camlink and a Rode Podcaster. He's been using that config for three years now and it just works.
Switching from an XLR mic to a USB mic was the best decision I'd ever made in terms of improving my audio because for me less complexity was such a welcome change to my workflow and the fact that the results were exactly the same (i.e. listeners NOT complaining about bad audio). Listeners don't care if you have the best audio or okay audio, as long as you don't have bad audio that's all that matters for the vast majority of people making content online.
I have a usb mic (MV7) which has an xlr port as well. Even though i have an audio interface, I still prefer the usb option. To use an xlr mic you need other things set up for it to work, people forget that...
I'm a radio dj, and when I'm on the road I use a Samson Q2U USB/XLR microphone. I process it exactly how I would in XLR mode. My GM says he can't tell a difference from being in the studio. So much easier than plugging in a mic into a separate interface that uses USB anyway. No content creator is recording straight analog, because at some point, it has to be digitized. By the way, I picked up the Presonus Revelator dynamic USB, based on your recommendation, & I love the ability to customize on the fly. Probably my new road mic. So, thanks!
Have to say, USB microphones have been sounding very good for the last several years, so the most surprising thing to me in this video was the lack of handling noise...
If you want to get the best possible sound without installing software in your WFH computer (that is, if your workplace does not allow software to be running in a work computer), then your best option is to go with an XLR microphone, an audio interface, an external preamp with an equalizer, and a compressor/limiter. Mine is a Behringer U-Phoria UMC1820 audio interface, Ultragain Pro MIC2200, and Composer Pro XL MDX2600. This setup is better than just having a dbx 286s because the dbx 286s has a fixed signal chain. The same goes for the MDX2600, but at least you can subtract just a single problematic frequency, apply an expander, compress the signal, and apply a limiter so that you do not clip your audio interface's converter. Of course, if you want to use a USB microphone for the sake of simplicity, more power to you. Yes, having an XLR mic with components is more complicated to setup, but once you have it setup, you are good to go!
Thanks man, this video was a relief. I've made these points for years now, glad to hear you're on board with usb microphones. The best of them really are very very good.
I work for a sort of telehealth company and I can confirm we want as few variables as possible for failure when setting up mics. There's no way in heck we'd be setting up something XLR. We use USB headsets.
I've been giving the same advice for a while now. I've been impressed even with the blue yeti clones the past few years. USB mics have come a LONG way the past 10 years. I still love being able to control headphone and mic volume with one soundboard though. Which is one niche case, I had to recommend using XLR and a mixing board - the entire computer was remoted with 25ft of cable to another room and too much USB was causing the keyboard to act weird. Plus they wanted physical controls.
I took part in such a thread on twitter once, a few creators/artists had posted "hurr durr USB mic bad" while at the same time specifically pointing out it is all meant as a joke. There was more than one housefire that day (this is a metaphor). I too said something along the lines of "but then you proceed to plug a Neumann U87 into a Blue Icicle" just to add to the joke. It was closely followed by "all mic cables color the sound, to get the cleanest sound, pålug you mic straight into the mixer/interface" followed by a picture doing exactly that. Hell I did it too and burned a phantom power capacitor, but it was all in good fun. All in all it did die down really fast after people realized it was a joke. But man, some people are too quick to get into the red when their gear is under critique. USB mics rule, I still use some USB devices that are looked upon as a joke in the pro-audio world. But why should that matter if it gives the result you are looking for? Use whatever works for you, if that is a USB mic, then rock on!
All the average person or streamer needs is a good old fashioned Samson Q2U and a bit of tweaking in OBS. Bam, done, no work needed and you can use the Q2U USB or XLR if you want to upgrade in the future. $60, OBS is free, $20 for a boom arm.
I use decent EIMs because wearing cans for hours with glasses is just too uncomfortable for hours, but otherwise I totally agree with the bit about using monitors/speakers.
Agree with you on everything you said.. Despite not caring for usb mics.... Not a single soul is gonna care what gear you are using as long as it sounds good. There are plenty of great sounding usb mics. Great video. Didn't love the sound of the mic... But also admit it's very solid.
I think one thing about an XLR set up that doesn't get talked about enough is surface real estate, the interface has to go somewhere, the XLR cable protrude very heavily from the mic and interface. Not to mention the additional cables for the USB needs routing and if connecting headphone and speakers, its a lot of cables that gotta go somewhere from a single point which makes in my opinion the interface when actually plugged in with stuff, twice the effective real estate size that will take up on a desk. I've for one have gone back to a USB microphone and its opened real estate back on my desk in a huge way and the number of cables pulled away from the PC is staggering as it turned out.
Can all be mounted under desk or on back of monitor etc w/some creativity and Velcro/brackets but yeah it’s a lot more to deal with and most people don’t want to
IMO, it really comes down to wether or not you need multiple microphones. If you need multiple microphones and want to mix/match, go with XLR. If you love the sound of a certain preamp, go xlr. Otherwise, USB really is the best solution for MOST people.
Thanks for this video. In doing research on mics, for my setup, specifically dynamics mics there's a price jump from an usb/xlr combo dynamic mics vs just a usb dynamic mics, and for a lot starting content creators the combo mics are out of the budget/just don't want to spend that much. I've even seen some usb condenser mics get up in price, this is probably the best condenser mic I've heard even unprocessed and at pretty good price. In addition likes others in the comments of said, an xlr only dynamic means adding an audio interface, not you got another piece of equipment to fiddle with on top of your streaming software, game your playing, camera, green screen. Most starting out content creators want something as plug and play as possible. I mean doing a little EQ and processing is fine, but sometimes I feel like other content creator videos recommend the higher end stuff that they've grown accustom to using and feel that they just can't recommend anything below that. Which is fine for their needs and other established creators, but it irks me when they do that and then say it's for beginners or just starting out - no it's not. It's similar to a well-established graphic designer telling someone just getting started in graphic design that the the beginner needs to spend $500 a year on Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator. They don't. I'll admit, I'm a self-taught graphic designer that started out on Gimp (It's free) and to this day I still don't use Adobe, mainly because I don't need it. I also use a different software that is a one-time purchase and I've had better experiences with and it does all I need.
Was using a zoom h4n (older gen) as a USB mic and it worked just fine. Some people need to learn to work with what they have. Especially if they're not making money from it.
I used to work in audio gear sales and at the time, the only "quality" USB mic was the Yeti, back before Logitech bought Blue. Since I was primarily selling recording/live audio gear, I never understood why anyone would buy the Yeti. Then it took off for streaming and I still didn't get it. There's no upgrade path with USB mics and condensers don't always seem to be the best choice for streamers (they tend to pick up more background noise). At the time, anything that wasn't the Yeti was also a real POS. But the thing is, most of the problems people had with the Yeti are because they weren't following your advice here: get the mic off the desk and close to your mouth. These days, the preamps and converters in USB mics are pretty decent and low (enough) noise that there's no real reason to go XLR for general content creation purposes. Plus you get the advantage of software processing, so you can set everything up and just never touch it again. Unless I get back into music and want to record an album, I don't think I'm going to bother hooking up any of my XLR gear again, the Wave works just fine. Though one area I would like to see improved is the headphone amp, it's quite noisy and it's the only way to monitor your voice in real time instead of with latency. One thing at a time, I guess.
You basically pay for an audio interface inside the mic and for the same money get less with USB. For the yeti it is really a POS and it definitely is not plug and play with no extra work, you get zero audio levels unless you eat the mic and no DSP. It's really a 50 dollar or less mic plus a cheap interface rolled into one. For the mv7 that is truly the case but it also costs a lot more. If I were starting off all over I would start with a cheap dynamic mic like 8500 and a cheap interface and a good boom arm. Would cost less than the yeti and be infinitely better. Then upgrade the interface if needed, and the mic only if it made sense.
Can it work far enough away so it’s not in the camera shot? AKA would this work for an office with some background noise, vs the Samson Q2U that works pretty well in that scenario.
You can get great sound out of some UsB mics. You have to do a bit more tinkering in post for sure. But most ppl don’t need to spend the month they spend on equipment
After buying an MV7+ and watching EposVox's videos on how to properly gain stage and incorporating that into Voicemeeter, I then realized how to use my then hated Blue Yeti to it's maximum capabilities. Yeah the Yeti has a worse noise floor in general and needs a pop filter but other than that I would've very content with the sound of the Yeti with proper gain staging. I also use a mixer because I'm deaf and have to pan audio more in one ear than the other, so I use ASIO output directly to my Behringer and there USB delay is so minimal I can use both the Yeti and MV7+ USB for direct monitoring.
I'm a small streamer and I went from a 50$ fifine, to a wave 3, to using a pod mic with the wave xlr. I would have been fine using the wave 3, but my main reason was because i really enjoy messing with my mic audio and stuff ( i can sit there in audacity for hours changing eq) and upgrading to a rode pod mic sounded fun to mess with lol.
I prefer a portable digital audio recorder to podcast with, then take the SD card out, place it into my computer and edit the files with Reaper, Ocenaudio, or even Audacity. But for recording both audio and video together a usb mic comes in handy.
I just like the simplicity, i hate having things on my desk that isn't necessary or can be avoided, having a huge setup on my desk just really bothers me, so USB mics are my go to since mics like the BEACN have that processing built in it, simplicity is king in my life and complexity might aswell be a money waster when I use it
Just recently I bought a USB mic to replace my older USB mic I've been using for RUclips stuffs, and it does exactly what I want it to do. In fact one of my friends noticed there was an improvement! And also your glasses are pretty awesome. 😊
I've been rocking a behringer c1-u for remote simultaneous interpreting for about 3 years and I am very happy with it. I was contemplating going with an XLR mic and a sound card but that'd have been a lot of cable clutter and pointless expenditure.
The best Microphone I own is my MacBook. It sounds better to everyone I asked in a blind test versus my $80 USB mic, the levels are right, the noise is lower. The sweet spot is wider. Love it.
I just got a blue yeti in late February after upgrading from my surf onn Walmart mic. Even though it’s an old school mic it is awsome and littered with cool features. I’ve seen usb mic hate on twitter yt and from friends. They say that people don’t get anywhere with a usb microphone and then I tell them about penguinz0 who got 12 mil subs with a at2020 usb lol
Truth is that you don’t need you mic to sound amazing if it is decent and understandable then that will do. After that it just falls on your content imo
To prove your opinion I use worse of the worst: very cheap USB audio card and very cheap lavalier mic. It does the job but also it tells how demanding I am :) I am looking for way to improve my voice audio so I am monitoring all your advises and recommendations but also other people covering same topics. I am in no doubt that USB is OK, however I have other problem. I use mic mostly for teleconferencing and video chatting. I hate having microphone visible in the video. Most of the microphone recommendations do not pay attention to that issue. It is almost as like having microphone as close as possible, meaning visible is a must for good audio. It would be great if you could share your experience covering that specific issue - having microphone about 40 cm away from face and still getting good audio.
i use the razer siren mini and have had no issues with it and its a usb mic i dont understand why people say this imo XLR mic suck and sound very distorted
I've got low mic volume with Sennheiser profile usb and two other mics I tested recently. I'm looking forward to upgrade my mic setup from the most basic level you'd imagine but I can't get any good quality when I need to both crank up the gain knob to the max and then also add 15-20db gain in my editing software.
Now that our office has us come back to work, my microphone situation is out of control. No one is use to hearing the person sitting next to me, or me in other people's microphones. Still trying to find a good dynamic USB that can be used in a loud office environment.
the presonus revelator dynamic is a really solid option imo. I went with it and really really like it, especially since you can save EQ profiles on the mic itself. So, in your case, you could make a profile with a high noise gate (i believe that's what its called) and save it on the mic itself.
Hey Adam! In the last few years I used the original Blue Yeti which was the common podcast mic back in the day when I started podcasting. Now the time has come for a change, but I really would like to stay on the simple plug and play usb path and leave the XLR path for another day somewhere down the road. After watching your reviews and some others I can't decide between the PreSonus Revelator Dynamic, the Sennheiser Profile USB and the Rode NT-USB (with or without the +). My main concern is how they handle background noise because due to thin walls my recording room is quite noisy. With a bit of work I was able to reduce the noise the Blue Yeti picks up during my recordings, but I still have to deal with a few noises here and there. That's why I would like to ask you which mic you would recommend in my case? Because paying 100 to 180 euros for a new mic should at least bring some improvement in that regard besides having a better sound, right? Greetings from Germany, all the best, thanks in advance, have a nice weekend and keep up the awesome work ;)
I record on my phone The NT-USB is great for EVERYTHING Podcast Voice over Music I make music and have a RUclips channel and the NT-USB Has been nothing short of great. I can’t wait to get the new one. But the easy set up with such great sound can’t complain. I still use XLR on my phone as well a lot of people didn’t know you could do that but you need the right audio interface and equipment
This mic looks sweet but it has no 32-bit float recording. RØDE NT1 5th gen isn't in the same price range, but at $250 it offers both USB (with 32-bit float) and XLR connectivity.
Great talk, very informative...been considering the Profile or the Deity VO-7U for voice overs for my videos (currently using my Deity D3 Pro shotgun).
I went from a A Wave:1 to a XLR through a Rodecaster pro 2. Big jump yes but I have a 2 PC setup and the USB mic without and external processing grew to show its downfalls and the latency was bad.
I think historically, USB mics were significantly noisier because of the acoustic components proximity to electrical circuitry. The physical proximity led to a tonne of cross-talk and noise. A good USB mic these days would be really hard to distinguish from a low-end audio interface and XLR pair.
Among all the people who use a microphone connected to a PC, a tiny fraction of them need or would benefit from an XLR mic OR a dedicated USB mic. For that matter, most of the people outside that tiny fraction can get by just fine with the mic built into their laptop or $30 webcam -- provided meeting participants exercise mute button discipline.
I went with the Presonus revelator dynamic after watching your video, and I feel like I'm getting really great sound quality after tweaking the fat channel settings pretty extensively. I feel pretty confident that I'm getting a great sound for a price that doesn't hurt to think about. EDIT: I also move my setup kinda frequently, so having the ease to not worry about moving an interface is also nice to have
I dont know who needs to hear this, but if you got a usb mic and are dissatisfied with results: TRY TO EQ YOUR MIC!!! it is a lot of fun, pretty easy depending on what program you use, and you can REALLY fine tune your microphone based on how you exactly want to sound!
If this is a condenser you’re using, it sounds like your room is pretty “dead”. Is it one of those soundproof-ish kinda rooms? Coz I live in Singapore in public housing, and if I use a condenser we’ll hear all kinds of sounds so I’ve been using a cheap dynamic one from arts college that was like 13 bucks, but it sounds pretty ok.
It seems most people got stuck with reviews or USB mic types that had subpar performance 8 years ago compared to these days. Sure XLR is "better" if you are someone that tinkers with his audio equipment, but most people will just be a "set-n-forget" type of use case in their config, and since QC and everything else has improved with USB mics, they clearly are something to consider much more seriously now. Even I bought a cheap Fifine mic for less than 30usd on a sale and wow, how I WISHED I had something like this when the PS3 was popular and Twitch was still Justin TV. The whole "XLR is better" is starting to become something I've seen far too often on the guitar world scene as well, like "Tube Amps are the ONLY good amps!" or "Tonewood is actually important on an electric guitar", both of these have been clearly proven wrong with modern stuff like Amp Sims for example, a lot of them work simply amazing, yet people still believe their old opinion its true so much, that its almost a dogma. What really matters is the final result and clearly, for what most people need, a USB mic will do JUST AS GOOD as an XLR mic.
There's no reason that USB mics cannot be as good as an XLR mic/audio interface setup, they just usually aren't. But they could be just as good. I'm old, and I've been in audio professionally since 1977, so I like the XLR/interface route. But that's just me. Note that there are super high-end studio mics by the likes of Neumann that have built-in A/D converters and even built-in DSP. So just because all the goodies are inside the mic does not mean it's substandard.
im getting really annoyed that these kinda threads keep popping up that push beginner streamers to buy extremely expensive equipment that they do not need and honestly that not even successful streamers need they will tell people to spend 1000 dollars on audio equipment before a single minute streamed meanwhile i watch a ton of streamers or youtubers who sound like a 2005 webcam, but just have personality or can talk well. production quality is never bad, but people have this weird idea that they need to spend tons of money to validate themselves as a content creator
Got my Amazon Basics USB condenser Mic with tiny screen for $27 down from over $120. Its my first Mic I've really used and I absolutely love how easy it is to work with
I've been debating upgrading from my older style Blue Yeti to the Sennheiser Profile mainly bc I just want a plug and play mic that sounds good/great for gaming/discord/zoom/etc. What I'm stuck on is whether or not the expense will be worth it. I have an arm, my room is semi treated but still has some echo (2 screens, large desk). Has anyone made a leap from a Yeti to Profile and have insight?
The harsh truth is that the VAST majority of people who talk or gatekeep about gear don't actually create content with them. I notice this spans across all industries, PC to video to photo to audio. When we are actually working with equipment, we want absolute reliability and as fuss-free workflow as possible while sacrificing minimal losses in quality. When you have to fiddle with your equipment or add additional post-processing steps you have lost out on precious time and effort.
Do you also recommend using USB microphones to record Podcasts on Iphones? Which brands would you go to, good price-quality ratio? Is this Sennheiser working with Iphones straight plug and play? thanks a lot!
There is a place for both, myself i prefer xlr because i have analog equipment with them. However you can get pretty dam good quality steam lined through usb, plug in and go.
I get that a SM7B or similar high-end microphone is the "cool thing" to have these days, since so many professional content creators use it. But I think you are completely right, for most people it is hugely oversized and therefore also overpriced. I guess even most streamers using it would not require it whatsoever and just hopped on the bandwagon of having it as the content creation staple. Personally, I will likely always stick to a good USB mic. There is simply no reason for me to put an additional device (interface) onto my desk and then have it be more complicated to max out the added potential. The Sennheiser one looks nice, I also like Rode's NT-USB+ and XDM series though.
Good point about, looking like a dofo with StReAmEr mic setups. Its just ridiculous to see and most of the time these mics + pop filter + shock mount get in the way when you talk like an actual person with hands. Now I am just waiting when they start making USB versions of boom/shotgun mics xD have been using Octava МК-012-01 for 2 years now.
"USB microphones are great because there's less to mess up" I use an XLR mic with a Scarlet Solo and I've never messed anything up. I use the mic for live streaming and I prefer XLR mics because it's easier to find dynamic XLR microphones which for me are superior for background noise rejection (compared to condenser mics, which many USB mics are), which is highly desirable for streaming.
There’s plenty of USB dynamics now. There’s also tons of really shitty dynamic XLR mics, and most of the cheap ones don’t even reject sound well. Quantity of options available doesn’t make them better options
If the only problem with USB microphones is that you can't change the DAC and the DAC is likely cheap to keep the price down, shouldn't this mean that there's a market of simple reusable external DACs for use with one XLR input -> one USB output that you can use with any XLR microphone that is cheaper than a comparable USB microphone due to not having to include its own DAC? I feel like I almost never see or hear about such things, everyone either uses USB mics or has complex audio mixing setups. Apparently 1 XLR to 1 USB cables exist, it's just strange that I've never heard mention of them before.
As a big fan of Sennheiser who recommend them to everybody, i am highly interested in this new mic. Though this is clearly a sponsored video, and even the channels name is epos, which is thier "gamer" brand, i cant help but think there is a bit of bias in this video. Idk i could be wrong, this is the 1st time ive even been on this channel so who knows, but it seems not many people have been talking about this new mic so at least its good to see something about it.
Well, I had my channel name a decade before the “Epos Audio” brand ever existed lmao This wasn’t a review, so I’m not sure how you’re complaining about bias, but you do you. I made it very clear the mic messaging was sponsored lol
@@EposVox im not totally discrediting you or anything dont get me wrong or take it the wrong way. I even mentioned that im not familiar with your content, and that i very well could be wrong. As a matter of fact this video actually led me to not only to a bunch of your other vids but i ended up subscribing 😂 i also mentioned that im already a fan of Sennheiser and pretty much swear by them. If i came across a certain way it wasnt really my intention, perhaps more along the lines of poor wording on my part.
I'm surprised that people had this opinion concerning USB mics and was tagging you as well. You have done several videos on USB mics and gave them high praise for how they sounded. Fairly, you have slammed some as well, but I can't ever recall seeing a video where you said that XLR was/is better or always better than USB.
I think everyone should use both because there are going to be situations where you will need to have both especially for beginners a usb mic will be the best way to get into audio. However they will need to know not only which mic would work the best for them in their space and that would be knowing the difference between condenser and dynamic mics. I made the mistake of buying a blue yeti because I didn't know the difference between condenser or dynamic otherwise I would have picked a different mic like the Audio technica At2005 usb mic
vst's will never take the place of a set it and forget it analog setup. even the goxlr with its obvious tone coloring is invaluable with its super easy dsp feature set. i can't stand playing with people and hearing their keyboards, or conversations in the background and when it's gated via software there's often weird robotic anomalies and artifacts that present themselves intermittently. usb might be an increasingly viable option as we go forward, but XLR will always win.
XLR plays literally zero role in you hearing someone’s keyboard or not. GoXLR isn’t an analog setup. VSTs absolutely take the place of an analog setup for the creators talked about in this video, as virtually zero RUclipsrs or streamers use actual analog gear.
@@EposVox maybe none of the streamers you watch, but i know quite a few that use a dbx preamp with their mics. and as i said vst doesn’t take the place when they bug out and introduce weird artifacts and undesirable changes randomly like one day the audio will be fine and another day it’ll be all robotic and hollow with a shimmer off and needs to be reset.
The 286s which is notoriously noisy as hell, an obnoxiously obvious gate, and decided instead of proper EQ they’d just give you high and low boosts? Yeah, I don’t wanna hear anyone complain about USB quality while using that thing
![BRASIL vs. URUGUAY [1-1] | RESUMEN | ELIMINATORIAS SUDAMERICANAS | FECHA 12](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/-hWBAuxF1eY/mqdefault.jpg)
I admit that I was stuck in the “USB mics aren’t great” mindset for a long time, but over the past few years there are so many awesome options (like the Profile) where I sometimes prefer USB mics now just for the simplicity:quality ratio.
simplicity is king
It was yourself that talked me into buying the Sennheiser Tom… awesome mic!
XLR > Interface is literally the same thing as a usb mic.
Only difference is that you also have a good dac and speaker out, and maybe a midi i/o all in the same unit.
USB mic is the interface + mic in one unit, although not as robust or high quality.
The decision to upgrade from a Blue Yeti to an SM7B microphone proved to be a less-than-optimal choice for me. It took nearly a year of tweaking and adjusting to achieve the desired sound quality. It is crucial to understand the intricacies of high-end audio equipment, as proper setup and calibration are essential to make the most of its capabilities. Without this knowledge, such an investment may not yield the desired results, and the expenditure may be considered a waste. It is worth noting that not everyone is an audio engineer, and therefore, it is vital to do thorough research before making any significant purchases in this field.
Sm7 is one of my least favourite microphones, i think it just sounds dreadful, and it's a diva as well with the gain that it needs, and FET inline preamps can be surprisingly unreliable. Yeti isn't an ideal sounding microphone either but it's more on the inoffensive side. The big flaw of it is that only one of the 4 modes is usable, the cardioid, and that one uses only one capsule, so the rest of the acoustic assembly is just... diffraction inducing junk, but then diffraction isn't really THAT big a deal really. Though really most cases of Yeti are "shoulda bought an AT2020"; but also "well if you've already got the Yeti and it's not dying, you can just keep using it, it's fine".
That's entirely because it was an SM7B.
Were you to for example, go to an MLXV67G and a UMC interface you would have always had a strong and clear signal with enough budget left over for a quality mic arm and room treatment. People get stuck with lackluster sound as shure products are rather mid heavy, even in flat position the SM7B has a slight mid emphasis and a slight low/high roll off. And since people seem to absolutely love adding highs and lows, naturally you're going to see a lot of people fiddling with EQ, withouit getting to the bottom of why the shure mic sounds weird.
DBX 286 tends to get paired with it a lot, and the LF detail filter raises at 80 hz and dips the 250hz area so it sort of hits what's wrong with the SM7B. While that sort of EQ can be accomplished with software I wager it also gained popularity due to older interfaces not supplying enough gain on their own. However modern interfaces supply more than enough gain and have a better EIN.
You also will be fighting with plosives quite a bit despite its design and be stuck with a blimp in your face when you inevitably use the thicker optional windscreen.
you got a fake one because they have the most issues unlike the real sm7b
Now I'm really confused as reading these negative comments 😮.
@@davidpoo66 If you don't have a working knowledge of audio production, a decent interface with the ability to add a lot of gain (the SM7B is famously gain hungry) and a voice that suits it, the SM7B is not for you right now. Do a lot of homework on it. The Fduce sl40 gives a similar sound, is both usb and XLR and only costs around $50. Might be worth it to set you going.
When I first got into content creation my goal was to get an XLR mic because "everyone" said the sound quality was superior. However after getting into doing tech reviews I've learned a majority of decent quality USB mics sound just as good if not better than similarly priced XLR mics
The mic components are often similar, it's the ADC (Analog to digital) converter that's inside the USB mic body that can hamper the final output or longevity of the mic.
Audio interfaces for XLR mics are in effect a circuit isolated from the microphone and has a bit more quality to the components.
I started with the $20 BM-700/800, since I was thinking I was getting a great price to performance ratio. Of course, with its limited response, noise and with the fact that I didn't have any acoustic treatment, I was naive and arrogant for a year. I ended up getting a low cost interface and dynamic mic. After many upgrades, I'm now using a Tascam 2x2 HR and a RE-20 (snagged a barely used one for under $300). All this to get the sound I want on my Zoom meetings.
Of course I've suggested the Samson Q2U for years to people to start out with. I think in the last year, we have started to see (hear) really good sounding USB dynamic mics.
They sound the same because the technology is the same, they're just putting it all in one package. A/D conversation is so good at this point, and has been for a number of years, that as long as you're getting something quality from a good brand it's basically a negligible point on the signal path. This fact runs deeply counter to what the old fogeys in audio have been insisting since decades past, which is you need to spend $1000 per channel on A/D conversion alone, on top of the cost of a high quality microphone, in order to achieve a professional sound, which is why people have been so resistant to accept USB micophones as they've come along.
As Booth Junkie would put it:
"Grab yourself a microphone, any microphone, and record something amazing!"
Mike is such a gem
lmao two stereos with cassettes for backing tracks
I have the EL Gato Wave 3 and I got it because I’m a wheelchair bound content creator and I needed something that was going to help me utilize VST‘s to sound better on a naturally weaker, sounding voice, that has been problematic in the past with dynamic microphones. Condensers sound better for my voice and something that I could physically do myself and it worked perfectly! I have never sounded better, in all the years that I’ve made RUclips and now Tik Tok videos. I had no idea that this was a stigma, but I really appreciate you doing this video to set the record straight and the new sinhizer sounds great!
I had a health issues that made my voice weaker when I talked into my dynamic mic I had to get surgery to fix it and i still had that problem while recovering so I bought a cheap mic booster and that did help me alot fortunately but recording was a pain
I would say that USB microphones are fine for people who intend to only use a single mic. Starting to do things like mixing sources from multiple microphones gets awkward with USB, where an XLR mic with a mixer with USB would make more sense.
Depends on the platform and recording software. Some DAWS are limited to a single source while others will happily accept 1-2-4-8, however many you may have. If you're on a Mac, Audio Hijack and Loopback from Rogue Amoeba will also let you channel audio from different sources
Any idea how to get rid of contsant hum in background from USB MICROPHONES? Driving me crazy. Thanks in advance.
I believe it's not that hard with USB mics. It just needs right software. I have Elgato Wave :3 and Wave Link pretty much allows mixing from multiple mics. And as know Wave Link has a lot of alternatives on the market.
@@777AndrewRnoise gate or noise suppression.
@@RanmaruRei Mixing USB mics is certainly possible in software, but it brings a lot of headaches. Doing it with analog is so, so much easier!
The anti-usb mic take is based on old knowledge when they were objectively bad, lots of good options now
I'm an XLR guy myself too, but we've certainly seen USB Condenser mics that have great quality.
What is your opinion on the Audio-Technica AT2020USB+ ?
I bought a Wave:3 2 years ago and it has been my favorite mic I’ve ever owned and outclasses a lot of my friends XLR mics as they aren’t versed in how to properly set them up. With the addition of the Wave Link software, especially now with the addition of built in VST support, IMHO its the best usb microphone available and is one I will always recommend.
Due to your recommendations over a year plus a go, I went with the Samson Q2U. USB/XLR combo. I used the USB portion for months. Sounded great. Much better than the Astro A50 headset mic for streaming. I ended up moving to XLR when the Wave XLR interface went on sale and honestly, I got tired of Windows and VMB making things more painful than needed.
I will say, having solid software makes these experiences much better, also being able to do research onto proper tuning, gating etc, makes a WORLD of difference that most people don't seem to be aware.
For those instances, you really don't hurt going with a USB mic and honestly, in the past 5 years, they are some of the best mics at affordable price points. Great video, as always.
Q2U might even be the best mic on the market right now for someone who doesn't have any other audio equipment. One of the most balanced mics in terms of frequency response, and comes with almost everything, save for a boom arm. that you need to upgrade to an external audio interface.
Huge fan of the Samson q2u as well. I've been using it for a few years and quality is more than adequate for twitch streaming.
I also use a q2u and made a recent discovery:
I had a problem with the USB cable.
As I strongly believe that quality cables matters, even with numeric signal, I searched for a better quality than the one provided by Samson, which is more or less the worst you can find !
In this category of USB cables, unfortunately the choice is very very limited.
I choose one from the brand Vention.
Believe it or not there is a big difference. Not only in the sound quality, it significantly reduces the delay with the headphones.
In every video comparison I've ever seen the Samson Q2U sounds worse than the other usb mics.
@@Calx9 I suppose it depends on the mics you listened to. For my voice, which favors a warmer mix, the Q2U for the price point and upgrade path was the right choice for me. I also didn't stay on USB very long. Realizing how touchy Windows is with USB settings, I moved to XLR input and I do not regret it. It's still the mic I use to this day and most people I speak to with it for work/gaming enjoy the sound that they note it.
Not saying you're incorrect in your assessment, there absolutely may be one that is better or more preferable at this point and in general. Sounds be like that.
Thanks for talking about this. I've never owned an XLR mic only because I don't really want to spend extra on another piece of hardware apart from the mic, and mostly because whenever I do watch reviews, from you and other mic review channels, the quality of audio I get from the USB mic reviews I see on youtube are honestly incredible, and to none the wiser, would probably be near impossible to tell the difference.
My girlfriend got me an Elgato Wave 3 and I have been blown away from how it sounds out of the box. The best part is that I still can give it more life by using equalizers as well to edit frequencies I want more of and less of.
USB microphones are incredible and I can definitely say that because I've started with an ATR2500 back in 2014-2015ish for my first mic and I've used that mic until I got my Elgato Wave 3 around 1-2 years ago.
One of my main reasons for getting a MV7 was the versatility. It's an expensive microphone, but it gives me a good starting point through USB that I can also upgrade from meaningfully by getting an XLR interface that I can later carry on through a microphone upgrade
I love the fact you can add any usb mic or a audio interface with the streamdeck plus and it can be a do it all or as simple as you want.
I have the Earthworks ICON USB and its amazing. Don't need an extra USB audio device for that extra cable and mess on the desk. Like with any other mic you need to do some processing to remove background noise etc. EQ APO with Re plugs is so good for that.
I love my icon usb there’s been times I’ve thought to switch to xlr but the usb version of the icon is just still so good and so convenient
that mic is S-tier, regardless of interface.
@@tparty2123 Theres really no need if you are just streaming, podcasting or using it for calls on the PC. Its already overkill tbf lol
@@tw1tch09 Yeah it is really good out of the box. I'd argue you could make lesser tier USB mics still sound really good with some VSTs.
I appreciate this video and product description so much. Too often people who review and talk about audio equipment are audiophiles and recording engineers and their use cases are so incredibly different from the use cases of streamers, hobbyists, telepresence professionals... People for whom the max bit and sample rate can be a lot lower or for whom aesthetics, or versatility, or ease of use are of much greater concern. They don't need 32bit 96k audio for their weekly team meeting, they need a mute button so they don't annoy their coworkers when their partner is in the room.
Honestly, I just bought the Beacn to upgrade from a yeti and I'm stunned by how good it is. Beyond my wildest expectations for the audio of my channel. I'm still applying some of the same filters I used on my Yeti and it just really puts it into a fantastic spot. For $279, versus $600 or for for a Shure SM7B + gear, I couldn't be happier.
And also, telling people they should spend $100s on XLR gear, versus $129 for a Yeti which is MORE than enough for most people who are just started out, seems nuts to me. For most new or even intermediate content creators, a Yeti or similar mic can go a long way. Heck, great example, Kyle Kulinski who just broke a million followers does his daily episodes with a Yeti
I watched a review a while back and everyone was praising the Beacn in spite of saying its software had bugs. Are those bugs ironed out now, for you?
I have had a static sound issue in a dead quiet room that I thought may come from it being a usb mic, but this helped me rethink returning it and trying to make it work.
Agreed. Friend of mine needed a streaming setup to teach over zoom. I gave him a Lumix G70 + the old 1080 Camlink and a Rode Podcaster. He's been using that config for three years now and it just works.
Switching from an XLR mic to a USB mic was the best decision I'd ever made in terms of improving my audio because for me less complexity was such a welcome change to my workflow and the fact that the results were exactly the same (i.e. listeners NOT complaining about bad audio). Listeners don't care if you have the best audio or okay audio, as long as you don't have bad audio that's all that matters for the vast majority of people making content online.
I have a usb mic (MV7) which has an xlr port as well. Even though i have an audio interface, I still prefer the usb option. To use an xlr mic you need other things set up for it to work, people forget that...
I'm a radio dj, and when I'm on the road I use a Samson Q2U USB/XLR microphone. I process it exactly how I would in XLR mode. My GM says he can't tell a difference from being in the studio. So much easier than plugging in a mic into a separate interface that uses USB anyway. No content creator is recording straight analog, because at some point, it has to be digitized.
By the way, I picked up the Presonus Revelator dynamic USB, based on your recommendation, & I love the ability to customize on the fly. Probably my new road mic. So, thanks!
Have to say, USB microphones have been sounding very good for the last several years, so the most surprising thing to me in this video was the lack of handling noise...
ITS JUST NOT THERE
If you want to get the best possible sound without installing software in your WFH computer (that is, if your workplace does not allow software to be running in a work computer), then your best option is to go with an XLR microphone, an audio interface, an external preamp with an equalizer, and a compressor/limiter. Mine is a Behringer U-Phoria UMC1820 audio interface, Ultragain Pro MIC2200, and Composer Pro XL MDX2600. This setup is better than just having a dbx 286s because the dbx 286s has a fixed signal chain. The same goes for the MDX2600, but at least you can subtract just a single problematic frequency, apply an expander, compress the signal, and apply a limiter so that you do not clip your audio interface's converter.
Of course, if you want to use a USB microphone for the sake of simplicity, more power to you. Yes, having an XLR mic with components is more complicated to setup, but once you have it setup, you are good to go!
I bought my usb microphone for $23 and it sounds perfectly fine compared to gaming headsets so I’m chillen
My rodeo-nt has been doing fine for yrs. It's not a cheap usb mic but the sound is fine on it
Thanks man, this video was a relief. I've made these points for years now, glad to hear you're on board with usb microphones. The best of them really are very very good.
I work for a sort of telehealth company and I can confirm we want as few variables as possible for failure when setting up mics. There's no way in heck we'd be setting up something XLR. We use USB headsets.
I still use my old school Hyper X microphone for interviews on the go. USB mics are still great for ease of use.
So you use a XLR Sennheiser MKH-416 when you are not getting sponsored? Very convincing.
This is a desk microphone, I don’t use the MKH-416 at the desk
I've been giving the same advice for a while now. I've been impressed even with the blue yeti clones the past few years. USB mics have come a LONG way the past 10 years. I still love being able to control headphone and mic volume with one soundboard though. Which is one niche case, I had to recommend using XLR and a mixing board - the entire computer was remoted with 25ft of cable to another room and too much USB was causing the keyboard to act weird. Plus they wanted physical controls.
I took part in such a thread on twitter once, a few creators/artists had posted "hurr durr USB mic bad" while at the same time specifically pointing out it is all meant as a joke. There was more than one housefire that day (this is a metaphor). I too said something along the lines of "but then you proceed to plug a Neumann U87 into a Blue Icicle" just to add to the joke.
It was closely followed by "all mic cables color the sound, to get the cleanest sound, pålug you mic straight into the mixer/interface" followed by a picture doing exactly that. Hell I did it too and burned a phantom power capacitor, but it was all in good fun.
All in all it did die down really fast after people realized it was a joke. But man, some people are too quick to get into the red when their gear is under critique.
USB mics rule, I still use some USB devices that are looked upon as a joke in the pro-audio world. But why should that matter if it gives the result you are looking for? Use whatever works for you, if that is a USB mic, then rock on!
All the average person or streamer needs is a good old fashioned Samson Q2U and a bit of tweaking in OBS.
Bam, done, no work needed and you can use the Q2U USB or XLR if you want to upgrade in the future.
$60, OBS is free, $20 for a boom arm.
I use decent EIMs because wearing cans for hours with glasses is just too uncomfortable for hours, but otherwise I totally agree with the bit about using monitors/speakers.
VERY good way of doing something educational while being sponsored as well. Didn't feel at all like this was a sponsored bit, good job man.
Agree with you on everything you said.. Despite not caring for usb mics.... Not a single soul is gonna care what gear you are using as long as it sounds good. There are plenty of great sounding usb mics. Great video. Didn't love the sound of the mic... But also admit it's very solid.
bark and buck commenting the same video?!?! *slow claps*
@@lx130 ❤️
Would you consider the blu yeti mic a decent microphone?
I think one thing about an XLR set up that doesn't get talked about enough is surface real estate, the interface has to go somewhere, the XLR cable protrude very heavily from the mic and interface.
Not to mention the additional cables for the USB needs routing and if connecting headphone and speakers, its a lot of cables that gotta go somewhere from a single point which makes in my opinion the interface when actually plugged in with stuff, twice the effective real estate size that will take up on a desk.
I've for one have gone back to a USB microphone and its opened real estate back on my desk in a huge way and the number of cables pulled away from the PC is staggering as it turned out.
Can all be mounted under desk or on back of monitor etc w/some creativity and Velcro/brackets but yeah it’s a lot more to deal with and most people don’t want to
I am very happy with my samson meteor mic usb since more then 10 years 😊
I use a Sudotack USB mic for my audio at work, and there is no reason to upgrade. USB is so easy and perfect for a good amount of applications.
IMO, it really comes down to wether or not you need multiple microphones. If you need multiple microphones and want to mix/match, go with XLR. If you love the sound of a certain preamp, go xlr. Otherwise, USB really is the best solution for MOST people.
Thanks for this video. In doing research on mics, for my setup, specifically dynamics mics there's a price jump from an usb/xlr combo dynamic mics vs just a usb dynamic mics, and for a lot starting content creators the combo mics are out of the budget/just don't want to spend that much. I've even seen some usb condenser mics get up in price, this is probably the best condenser mic I've heard even unprocessed and at pretty good price.
In addition likes others in the comments of said, an xlr only dynamic means adding an audio interface, not you got another piece of equipment to fiddle with on top of your streaming software, game your playing, camera, green screen.
Most starting out content creators want something as plug and play as possible. I mean doing a little EQ and processing is fine, but sometimes I feel like other content creator videos recommend the higher end stuff that they've grown accustom to using and feel that they just can't recommend anything below that. Which is fine for their needs and other established creators, but it irks me when they do that and then say it's for beginners or just starting out - no it's not.
It's similar to a well-established graphic designer telling someone just getting started in graphic design that the the beginner needs to spend $500 a year on Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator. They don't. I'll admit, I'm a self-taught graphic designer that started out on Gimp (It's free) and to this day I still don't use Adobe, mainly because I don't need it. I also use a different software that is a one-time purchase and I've had better experiences with and it does all I need.
Was using a zoom h4n (older gen) as a USB mic and it worked just fine. Some people need to learn to work with what they have. Especially if they're not making money from it.
I used to work in audio gear sales and at the time, the only "quality" USB mic was the Yeti, back before Logitech bought Blue. Since I was primarily selling recording/live audio gear, I never understood why anyone would buy the Yeti. Then it took off for streaming and I still didn't get it. There's no upgrade path with USB mics and condensers don't always seem to be the best choice for streamers (they tend to pick up more background noise). At the time, anything that wasn't the Yeti was also a real POS. But the thing is, most of the problems people had with the Yeti are because they weren't following your advice here: get the mic off the desk and close to your mouth. These days, the preamps and converters in USB mics are pretty decent and low (enough) noise that there's no real reason to go XLR for general content creation purposes. Plus you get the advantage of software processing, so you can set everything up and just never touch it again. Unless I get back into music and want to record an album, I don't think I'm going to bother hooking up any of my XLR gear again, the Wave works just fine. Though one area I would like to see improved is the headphone amp, it's quite noisy and it's the only way to monitor your voice in real time instead of with latency. One thing at a time, I guess.
You basically pay for an audio interface inside the mic and for the same money get less with USB. For the yeti it is really a POS and it definitely is not plug and play with no extra work, you get zero audio levels unless you eat the mic and no DSP. It's really a 50 dollar or less mic plus a cheap interface rolled into one. For the mv7 that is truly the case but it also costs a lot more. If I were starting off all over I would start with a cheap dynamic mic like 8500 and a cheap interface and a good boom arm. Would cost less than the yeti and be infinitely better. Then upgrade the interface if needed, and the mic only if it made sense.
Can it work far enough away so it’s not in the camera shot? AKA would this work for an office with some background noise, vs the Samson Q2U that works pretty well in that scenario.
You can get great sound out of some UsB mics. You have to do a bit more tinkering in post for sure. But most ppl don’t need to spend the month they spend on equipment
The Sennheizer Profile sounds great. Rode's new generation of USB mics are also great.
After buying an MV7+ and watching EposVox's videos on how to properly gain stage and incorporating that into Voicemeeter, I then realized how to use my then hated Blue Yeti to it's maximum capabilities. Yeah the Yeti has a worse noise floor in general and needs a pop filter but other than that I would've very content with the sound of the Yeti with proper gain staging.
I also use a mixer because I'm deaf and have to pan audio more in one ear than the other, so I use ASIO output directly to my Behringer and there USB delay is so minimal I can use both the Yeti and MV7+ USB for direct monitoring.
I'm a small streamer and I went from a 50$ fifine, to a wave 3, to using a pod mic with the wave xlr. I would have been fine using the wave 3, but my main reason was because i really enjoy messing with my mic audio and stuff ( i can sit there in audacity for hours changing eq) and upgrading to a rode pod mic sounded fun to mess with lol.
I prefer a portable digital audio recorder to podcast with, then take the SD card out, place it into my computer and edit the files with Reaper, Ocenaudio, or even Audacity. But for recording both audio and video together a usb mic comes in handy.
Thanks, Doc: as always, way useful information.
I just like the simplicity, i hate having things on my desk that isn't necessary or can be avoided, having a huge setup on my desk just really bothers me, so USB mics are my go to since mics like the BEACN have that processing built in it, simplicity is king in my life and complexity might aswell be a money waster when I use it
Just recently I bought a USB mic to replace my older USB mic I've been using for RUclips stuffs, and it does exactly what I want it to do. In fact one of my friends noticed there was an improvement! And also your glasses are pretty awesome. 😊
I've been rocking a behringer c1-u for remote simultaneous interpreting for about 3 years and I am very happy with it. I was contemplating going with an XLR mic and a sound card but that'd have been a lot of cable clutter and pointless expenditure.
The best Microphone I own is my MacBook. It sounds better to everyone I asked in a blind test versus my $80 USB mic, the levels are right, the noise is lower. The sweet spot is wider. Love it.
I feel the same. USB mics ($150 up) are good enough for most tasks.
Mainly use XLR Mic ran to My 18i8-3g with Air Mode enabled. It makes a big difference
I just got a blue yeti in late February after upgrading from my surf onn Walmart mic. Even though it’s an old school mic it is awsome and littered with cool features. I’ve seen usb mic hate on twitter yt and from friends. They say that people don’t get anywhere with a usb microphone and then I tell them about penguinz0 who got 12 mil subs with a at2020 usb lol
Truth is that you don’t need you mic to sound amazing if it is decent and understandable then that will do. After that it just falls on your content imo
I combined my Blue Yeti with the Blue Voice software that is a free download and things sound great to me. But I'm not a sound engineer.
My maono pd400 is usb/xlr and it sounds great and USB mode
To prove your opinion I use worse of the worst: very cheap USB audio card and very cheap lavalier mic. It does the job but also it tells how demanding I am :)
I am looking for way to improve my voice audio so I am monitoring all your advises and recommendations but also other people covering same topics. I am in no doubt that USB is OK, however I have other problem. I use mic mostly for teleconferencing and video chatting. I hate having microphone visible in the video.
Most of the microphone recommendations do not pay attention to that issue. It is almost as like having microphone as close as possible, meaning visible is a must for good audio.
It would be great if you could share your experience covering that specific issue - having microphone about 40 cm away from face and still getting good audio.
i use the razer siren mini and have had no issues with it and its a usb mic i dont understand why people say this imo XLR mic suck and sound very distorted
I've got low mic volume with Sennheiser profile usb and two other mics I tested recently. I'm looking forward to upgrade my mic setup from the most basic level you'd imagine but I can't get any good quality when I need to both crank up the gain knob to the max and then also add 15-20db gain in my editing software.
Now that our office has us come back to work, my microphone situation is out of control. No one is use to hearing the person sitting next to me, or me in other people's microphones. Still trying to find a good dynamic USB that can be used in a loud office environment.
the presonus revelator dynamic is a really solid option imo. I went with it and really really like it, especially since you can save EQ profiles on the mic itself. So, in your case, you could make a profile with a high noise gate (i believe that's what its called) and save it on the mic itself.
Hey Adam!
In the last few years I used the original Blue Yeti which was the common podcast mic back in the day when I started podcasting. Now the time has come for a change, but I really would like to stay on the simple plug and play usb path and leave the XLR path for another day somewhere down the road. After watching your reviews and some others I can't decide between the PreSonus Revelator Dynamic, the Sennheiser Profile USB and the Rode NT-USB (with or without the +). My main concern is how they handle background noise because due to thin walls my recording room is quite noisy. With a bit of work I was able to reduce the noise the Blue Yeti picks up during my recordings, but I still have to deal with a few noises here and there. That's why I would like to ask you which mic you would recommend in my case? Because paying 100 to 180 euros for a new mic should at least bring some improvement in that regard besides having a better sound, right?
Greetings from Germany, all the best, thanks in advance, have a nice weekend and keep up the awesome work ;)
I record on my phone
The NT-USB is great for EVERYTHING
Podcast
Voice over
Music
I make music and have a RUclips channel and the NT-USB Has been nothing short of great. I can’t wait to get the new one. But the easy set up with such great sound can’t complain. I still use XLR on my phone as well a lot of people didn’t know you could do that but you need the right audio interface and equipment
This mic looks sweet but it has no 32-bit float recording. RØDE NT1 5th gen isn't in the same price range, but at $250 it offers both USB (with 32-bit float) and XLR connectivity.
Great talk, very informative...been considering the Profile or the Deity VO-7U for voice overs for my videos (currently using my Deity D3 Pro shotgun).
I went from a A Wave:1 to a XLR through a Rodecaster pro 2. Big jump yes but I have a 2 PC setup and the USB mic without and external processing grew to show its downfalls and the latency was bad.
I think historically, USB mics were significantly noisier because of the acoustic components proximity to electrical circuitry. The physical proximity led to a tonne of cross-talk and noise. A good USB mic these days would be really hard to distinguish from a low-end audio interface and XLR pair.
Another amazing video! Many thanks!
Thank you.
A decent 100 dollar USB Mic, like an Audio Technica AT2020, is more then good enough.
Among all the people who use a microphone connected to a PC, a tiny fraction of them need or would benefit from an XLR mic OR a dedicated USB mic. For that matter, most of the people outside that tiny fraction can get by just fine with the mic built into their laptop or $30 webcam -- provided meeting participants exercise mute button discipline.
Loved the Podcastage reference.
I went with the Presonus revelator dynamic after watching your video, and I feel like I'm getting really great sound quality after tweaking the fat channel settings pretty extensively. I feel pretty confident that I'm getting a great sound for a price that doesn't hurt to think about.
EDIT: I also move my setup kinda frequently, so having the ease to not worry about moving an interface is also nice to have
I dont know who needs to hear this, but if you got a usb mic and are dissatisfied with results: TRY TO EQ YOUR MIC!!! it is a lot of fun, pretty easy depending on what program you use, and you can REALLY fine tune your microphone based on how you exactly want to sound!
If this is a condenser you’re using, it sounds like your room is pretty “dead”. Is it one of those soundproof-ish kinda rooms?
Coz I live in Singapore in public housing, and if I use a condenser we’ll hear all kinds of sounds so I’ve been using a cheap dynamic one from arts college that was like 13 bucks, but it sounds pretty ok.
It seems most people got stuck with reviews or USB mic types that had subpar performance 8 years ago compared to these days. Sure XLR is "better" if you are someone that tinkers with his audio equipment, but most people will just be a "set-n-forget" type of use case in their config, and since QC and everything else has improved with USB mics, they clearly are something to consider much more seriously now. Even I bought a cheap Fifine mic for less than 30usd on a sale and wow, how I WISHED I had something like this when the PS3 was popular and Twitch was still Justin TV.
The whole "XLR is better" is starting to become something I've seen far too often on the guitar world scene as well, like "Tube Amps are the ONLY good amps!" or "Tonewood is actually important on an electric guitar", both of these have been clearly proven wrong with modern stuff like Amp Sims for example, a lot of them work simply amazing, yet people still believe their old opinion its true so much, that its almost a dogma.
What really matters is the final result and clearly, for what most people need, a USB mic will do JUST AS GOOD as an XLR mic.
There's no reason that USB mics cannot be as good as an XLR mic/audio interface setup, they just usually aren't. But they could be just as good. I'm old, and I've been in audio professionally since 1977, so I like the XLR/interface route. But that's just me. Note that there are super high-end studio mics by the likes of Neumann that have built-in A/D converters and even built-in DSP. So just because all the goodies are inside the mic does not mean it's substandard.
Try the Zealsound K66 with noise cancellation.
Well said! Btw, what 4k webcam are you using here?
Razer Kiyo Pro Ultra
@@EposVox Much appreciated!
im getting really annoyed that these kinda threads keep popping up that push beginner streamers to buy extremely expensive equipment that they do not need and honestly that not even successful streamers need
they will tell people to spend 1000 dollars on audio equipment before a single minute streamed
meanwhile i watch a ton of streamers or youtubers who sound like a 2005 webcam, but just have personality or can talk well.
production quality is never bad, but people have this weird idea that they need to spend tons of money to validate themselves as a content creator
Got my Amazon Basics USB condenser Mic with tiny screen for $27 down from over $120. Its my first Mic I've really used and I absolutely love how easy it is to work with
I've been debating upgrading from my older style Blue Yeti to the Sennheiser Profile mainly bc I just want a plug and play mic that sounds good/great for gaming/discord/zoom/etc. What I'm stuck on is whether or not the expense will be worth it. I have an arm, my room is semi treated but still has some echo (2 screens, large desk). Has anyone made a leap from a Yeti to Profile and have insight?
The harsh truth is that the VAST majority of people who talk or gatekeep about gear don't actually create content with them. I notice this spans across all industries, PC to video to photo to audio. When we are actually working with equipment, we want absolute reliability and as fuss-free workflow as possible while sacrificing minimal losses in quality. When you have to fiddle with your equipment or add additional post-processing steps you have lost out on precious time and effort.
Do you also recommend using USB microphones to record Podcasts on Iphones? Which brands would you go to, good price-quality ratio? Is this Sennheiser working with Iphones straight plug and play? thanks a lot!
There is a place for both, myself i prefer xlr because i have analog equipment with them. However you can get pretty dam good quality steam lined through usb, plug in and go.
I get that a SM7B or similar high-end microphone is the "cool thing" to have these days, since so many professional content creators use it. But I think you are completely right, for most people it is hugely oversized and therefore also overpriced. I guess even most streamers using it would not require it whatsoever and just hopped on the bandwagon of having it as the content creation staple.
Personally, I will likely always stick to a good USB mic. There is simply no reason for me to put an additional device (interface) onto my desk and then have it be more complicated to max out the added potential. The Sennheiser one looks nice, I also like Rode's NT-USB+ and XDM series though.
Question is does this beat the BEACN Mic ?
You mentioned something about aI tools but couldn't find the link to any videos on it?
Good point about, looking like a dofo with StReAmEr mic setups. Its just ridiculous to see and most of the time these mics + pop filter + shock mount get in the way when you talk like an actual person with hands. Now I am just waiting when they start making USB versions of boom/shotgun mics xD have been using Octava МК-012-01 for 2 years now.
"USB microphones are great because there's less to mess up" I use an XLR mic with a Scarlet Solo and I've never messed anything up. I use the mic for live streaming and I prefer XLR mics because it's easier to find dynamic XLR microphones which for me are superior for background noise rejection (compared to condenser mics, which many USB mics are), which is highly desirable for streaming.
There’s plenty of USB dynamics now. There’s also tons of really shitty dynamic XLR mics, and most of the cheap ones don’t even reject sound well.
Quantity of options available doesn’t make them better options
If the only problem with USB microphones is that you can't change the DAC and the DAC is likely cheap to keep the price down, shouldn't this mean that there's a market of simple reusable external DACs for use with one XLR input -> one USB output that you can use with any XLR microphone that is cheaper than a comparable USB microphone due to not having to include its own DAC? I feel like I almost never see or hear about such things, everyone either uses USB mics or has complex audio mixing setups. Apparently 1 XLR to 1 USB cables exist, it's just strange that I've never heard mention of them before.
How does the sennheiser compare to the audio technica at2020xp ?
As a big fan of Sennheiser who recommend them to everybody, i am highly interested in this new mic. Though this is clearly a sponsored video, and even the channels name is epos, which is thier "gamer" brand, i cant help but think there is a bit of bias in this video.
Idk i could be wrong, this is the 1st time ive even been on this channel so who knows, but it seems not many people have been talking about this new mic so at least its good to see something about it.
Well, I had my channel name a decade before the “Epos Audio” brand ever existed lmao
This wasn’t a review, so I’m not sure how you’re complaining about bias, but you do you. I made it very clear the mic messaging was sponsored lol
@@EposVox im not totally discrediting you or anything dont get me wrong or take it the wrong way. I even mentioned that im not familiar with your content, and that i very well could be wrong. As a matter of fact this video actually led me to not only to a bunch of your other vids but i ended up subscribing 😂 i also mentioned that im already a fan of Sennheiser and pretty much swear by them.
If i came across a certain way it wasnt really my intention, perhaps more along the lines of poor wording on my part.
all good!
will it be good for normal rooms i have a fan and ac running atlow, but a little sound does come from ac. will it handle the noise well.
I'm surprised that people had this opinion concerning USB mics and was tagging you as well. You have done several videos on USB mics and gave them high praise for how they sounded. Fairly, you have slammed some as well, but I can't ever recall seeing a video where you said that XLR was/is better or always better than USB.
I think everyone should use both because there are going to be situations where you will need to have both especially for beginners a usb mic will be the best way to get into audio. However they will need to know not only which mic would work the best for them in their space and that would be knowing the difference between condenser and dynamic mics. I made the mistake of buying a blue yeti because I didn't know the difference between condenser or dynamic otherwise I would have picked a different mic like the Audio technica At2005 usb mic
vst's will never take the place of a set it and forget it analog setup. even the goxlr with its obvious tone coloring is invaluable with its super easy dsp feature set. i can't stand playing with people and hearing their keyboards, or conversations in the background and when it's gated via software there's often weird robotic anomalies and artifacts that present themselves intermittently. usb might be an increasingly viable option as we go forward, but XLR will always win.
XLR plays literally zero role in you hearing someone’s keyboard or not.
GoXLR isn’t an analog setup.
VSTs absolutely take the place of an analog setup for the creators talked about in this video, as virtually zero RUclipsrs or streamers use actual analog gear.
@@EposVox maybe none of the streamers you watch, but i know quite a few that use a dbx preamp with their mics. and as i said vst doesn’t take the place when they bug out and introduce weird artifacts and undesirable changes randomly like one day the audio will
be fine and another day it’ll be all robotic and hollow with a shimmer off and needs to be reset.
The 286s which is notoriously noisy as hell, an obnoxiously obvious gate, and decided instead of proper EQ they’d just give you high and low boosts? Yeah, I don’t wanna hear anyone complain about USB quality while using that thing
@@EposVox I admire your straight talking
What if you want to connect it to your camera?
I see you watching Moonmoon. (Mario Maker 2 Stream in the background)