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What Microphone Do You Guys Use?

by inxie
37 replies
My laptop mic absolutely sucks, I was thinking about buying a mic that clips onto my shirt or something similar.

What do you use?
How much should be spent on a mic?
#guys #microphone
  • Profile picture of the author FIP
    Inxie

    I've got an Audio-technica AT2020 USB. I bought mine on the recommendation of another affiliate marketer and a host of great reviews.

    Definitely worth researching.
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    • Profile picture of the author inxie
      Thanks for the reply, I really wouldn't spend $100 on a microphone, I imagine it's great but there has to be something that does the job on a low budget?
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  • Profile picture of the author Isaiah Coe
    I use a Microsoft LifeChat LX-3000 , it's really good for recording. I bought it about a year or two ago and it's working fine. It's around $25 on amazon. Great Deal

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  • Profile picture of the author Inspired, Inc.
    I'm using Plantronics Voyager PRO UC... it's a gift from one of my good IM friends... the quality is really nice... upon checking, its $199.... well, i didn't know that until now...
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  • Profile picture of the author SurrealPSD
    Im getting the Blue Yeti next week, highly rated by podcasters -

    Yeti Pro Review (no affiliate)
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  • Profile picture of the author Colin Palfrey
    I had many from my time recording bands. The best one of the many I had is actually a cheap Prosound one I got in Maplin. It records at 44.1k and with almost zero noise.

    Use Audacity to boost the bass, normalise the track and then clean it up with some noise reduction.

    You definitely want a USB condenser mic.
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  • Profile picture of the author seobro
    I bought a great big one. Like it was for pro announcers. Quality is so poor. Also, it was max expensive. What can we say. Basically, save your money.
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  • Profile picture of the author petemcal
    I know you said you were looking for a clipable mic, but I personally use the behringer C1 with an alesis usb mixer.

    It's a fantastic quality set up for under $100. I'm pretty sure it will do me for years and years to come!
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  • Profile picture of the author Mark Wightley
    I use the brand called "Plantronics" and they are excellent. The best thing is that they are affordable.

    Hope that helps
    Cheers Mark Wightley
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  • Profile picture of the author Michael Ten
    I use an external condenser that is meant for music. I'm quite happy with it.

    It goes through a small interface.
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  • Profile picture of the author Kevin_Hutto
    Rode Podcaster...
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    • Profile picture of the author rhinocl
      I think a mic on a headset is best.You can get it closer to your mouth than a lavalier (clip on) and you can move a little without generating background noise.
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      • Profile picture of the author yesacpow
        I would say that the lavalier mic is better than the headset. Sometimes the headset tend to pic up your breathing which can take away from the quality of the audio.

        I have both headset and lavalier mics and the lavalier always produce a better end result.

        Originally Posted by rhinocl View Post

        I think a mic on a headset is best.You can get it closer to your mouth than a lavalier (clip on) and you can move a little without generating background noise.
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        • Profile picture of the author rhinocl
          Originally Posted by yesacpow View Post

          I would say that the lavalier mic is better than the headset. Sometimes the headset tend to pic up your breathing which can take away from the quality of the audio.

          I have both headset and lavalier mics and the lavalier always produce a better end result.
          If you are picking up extraneous sound form breathing then you need a 'wind sock' over the tip of the mic. You can make one with black stryro-foam (as in packing material) and Scotch tape.
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      • Profile picture of the author inxie
        Originally Posted by rhinocl View Post

        I think a mic on a headset is best.You can get it closer to your mouth than a lavalier (clip on) and you can move a little without generating background noise.
        But you rarely see people doing videos wearing a headset, looks unprofessional imo
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        • Profile picture of the author Madam X
          Originally Posted by inxie View Post

          But you rarely see people doing videos wearing a headset, looks unprofessional imo
          James Renouf uses a headphone/mic & he makes tons of money. I think it makes him look cool. What do I know?
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  • Profile picture of the author Paul Gram
    I use the Heil PR40 which is what many of the pro radio guys use. I love it and can't recommend it enough. It's expensive but well worth it and a microphone for life.
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    • Profile picture of the author Agung Prabowo
      i use a cheap headset but the quality is good it's called sonix i bought it around $10

      but now never use it anymore because i change it to macbook pro it has an awesome mic integrate it
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  • Profile picture of the author JRVogt
    Working with the Blue Microphones USB Snowball for the time being. Treating me well so far! Not going to break your budget, but provides good quality recordings.
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  • Profile picture of the author thedanbrown
    I am just looking for a mic now too so I will have to do some research.

    Personally, I'm looking for one that clips on or is mobile somehow so I can move around and speak from time to time.

    Any ideas?
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  • Profile picture of the author rising_sun
    Banned
    Right now I am using "cosonic ct718",
    I get better performance ,only 5 dollars.
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  • Profile picture of the author Chris Cole
    I have the Blue Yeti Pro. This is it in action ...

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  • Profile picture of the author betterwtveter
    I am just using my $8 mic from walmart and still works pretty good
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  • Profile picture of the author mywebwork
    The combination of the Blue Yeti Pro and Audacity is awesome, it has given my videos that professional touch. The sound quality is great.

    The Yeti is quite sensitive, they give you a REALLY long USB cable with it so you can position your computer as far away from it as possible (to avoid fan or hard disk noise). But even with that I still have issues because its a tabletop microphone, picks up vibrations on the table. Fortunately the Yeti has a standard microphone thread, so I'm planning to get a stand with a boom for it.

    I also added a standard pop filter to it to cut down on the "p" sounds, it wasn't that easy to affix it to the odd-shaped Yeti base but once I have the boom it should fit quite nicely.

    Bill
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  • Profile picture of the author WillR
    I'm on the Audio Technia AT-2020.

    A nice piece of kit... and affordable.
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  • Profile picture of the author leegs
    Originally Posted by inxie View Post

    My laptop mic absolutely sucks, I was thinking about buying a mic that clips onto my shirt or something similar.

    What do you use?
    How much should be spent on a mic?
    Hi Inxie,

    I used logitech model and it works well.

    I have spent less than $50 to get it. Please try to do research on amazon or related sites for more information.

    Hope it helps...

    Talk soon,
    Ray
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  • Profile picture of the author troy23
    I use a thin Logitech one.
    It's pretty good quality. Picked it up in PC World, although Amazon also stock it.
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  • Profile picture of the author sunray
    Audio-Technica Pro41 which is fine, but could be better. The fact that recently its cable got half-broken (works if fixed in one position on a stand) makes me think if I should just get a new cable, or upgrade it all. And if its the latter, should it be the legendary Shure SM58, or a decent condenser. Condenser is better of course, but it picks up too much background noise.
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  • Profile picture of the author dsworks
    I have an AKG Perception 420 that I picked up at a pawn shop. It's not USB, so you have to run it through a mixer and into a mic/USB interface. The sound quality is very good, as it is a studio mic, but you have to get close to it and adjust the pattern to be able to screen out background noise. I need a boom for it.
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  • Profile picture of the author jessiem
    I'm using Audio-technica and Plantronics. Both are good.
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  • Profile picture of the author ReveryMarketing
    I'm using an Sterling Audio ST55 Condenser Mic. Love the quality. Plug that in with Adobe Audition to clean it up and your audio is among the top 5%!

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    • Profile picture of the author Madam X
      @ReveryMarketing:

      How much is this: Sterling Audio ST55 Condenser Mic??

      It looks outrageously expensive.

      MX
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      • Profile picture of the author ReveryMarketing
        Originally Posted by Madam X View Post

        @ReveryMarketing:

        How much is this: Sterling Audio ST55 Condenser Mic??

        It looks outrageously expensive.

        MX
        I purchased this as a bundle deal with a wireless lavalier mic for a little over $700 for the package. However you can find just the mic on eBay for a $100-$200.
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        • Profile picture of the author Madam X
          Originally Posted by ReveryMarketing View Post

          I purchased this as a bundle deal with a wireless lavalier mic for a little over $700 for the package. However you can find just the mic on eBay for a $100-$200.
          Cool - I'll check it. It sounds like more than "inxie" would like to pay though.

          MX
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  • Profile picture of the author Madam X
    Originally Posted by inxie View Post

    My laptop mic absolutely sucks, I was thinking about buying a mic that clips onto my shirt or something similar.

    What do you use?
    How much should be spent on a mic?

    Just watched a vid from Tyrone Shum & he recommends this:

    iPhone 1/8 inch microphone adapter - 3.5mm 4 conductor TRRS Male to 3.5mm Microphone Input Jack

    I am NOT an Affiliate for this product in any way! He uses it for his
    I-phone.

    ** iPhone 1/8 inch microphone adapter - 3.5mm 4 conductor TRRS Male to 3.5mm Microphone Input Jack

    It seems as though you could plug it in your computer too. But, I'm not sure. And - I'm certainly am not technically savvy. It only costs $24.50. Here's the description on the page:


    Product Code: KM-IPHONE-MIC

    Description:

    This adapter allows you to connect a standard microphone with 3.5mm (1/8 inch) connector to the iPhone/iPad/iPod or other compatible device for quality recording. This adapter incorporates passive components which provide DC blocking/isolation between the microphone input for device protection, as well as, impedance matching components for allowing a wide variety of microphones to be used with the device. This adapter works with microphones that have a mono or stereo 1/8" (3.5mm) connector.

    Types of microphones that work with this adapter:

    Dynamic Microphones
    Battery Powered Video/Condenser microphones
    Battery Powered Lavaliere Microphones
    Wireless Microphone systems

    Types of microphones that will NOT work with this adapter:

    (For the following microphones, use KM-IPHONE-MIC-ECM)
    ECM microphones (without batteries)
    Lavaliere microphones (without batteries)
    PC microphones (without Batteries)
    Headset Microphones

    Works With:

    iPhone 3G / 3Gs / 4G / 4S / 5
    iPad / iPad2 / iPad3
    iPod (all versions)
    Mac Computers with combined headset ports
    Blackberry, Android, Galaxy S3 and Other devices compatible with iPhone headsets. (see compatibility list below)

    How it Works:
    Plug the adapter into the iPhone (or other device) headset jack and then plug your microphone into the adapter. The iPhone will recognize that an external mic is connected and turn its internal mic off allowing you to record using the external microphone. This adapter works with all audio/video recording apps and other functions just as the internal mic would.

    Cheers,
    Madam X
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