VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

[Glenn Moore]

Anyone seen this article from Electronic Musician on USB mics or tried one? Curious to know how they sound on a laptop too. This may have been discussed before so sorry if it has. The site is emusician.com/toc/


glenn

[Edo]

Haven't read the article, but I did recently try the new Rode Podcaster and it sounds awesome. Just like the widely used Broadcaster mic (suitable for radio) only then a USB model. Recommended for voice-over work. Will try this when traveling in a few weeks.

[CWToo]

Yup, read the article in Electronic Musician. It was interesting that almost all of them got a good review even though most of them were noisy (or was it all of them but some were less noisy?). Anyway, my faulty memory aside, is the Podcaster noisy?

[Bill Campbell]

I have the Samson C03U USB mic. It sounds really good. A USB mic
bypasses your sound card and does not require a preamp, so it's less noisy. A really pristine sound.

However, you will need to process ITB (in the box). Light Compression and Expansion (start with the "Compander" setting in Adobe's dynamics processing section).

That $150 USB mic sounds as good or better than my $300+ mics run through
an outboard preamp and high quality sound cards!

For voice-over, a USB mic is an excellent, inexpensive way to go.

The Rode Podcaster is a DYNAMIC mic, not a condensor. Haven't heard one, yet.

[bobbinbeamo]

...speaking of USB mics, I just picked up a Blue Snowball... (as recommended by Rodney Saulsberry) I travel quite a bit, and I didn't want to tote my whole set up with me, so I just took it with me on a trip for quick auditions. Really not too bad of a sound....for $99.00.
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Bobbin Beam
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[Yoda117]

I was about to put a post regarding my experiences with USB mics, but I think it would take away from the useful discussion here. Long story short, I've had issues with some, but the R0de sounds very good to my ears, as did the Blue (which I have limited experience with).

My main comment is to tell people to do some research and find out what the USB cable's quality is. Maybe I'm being overly paranoid here, but I felt that some of the cables used on the older USB mics didn't offer enough insulation for recording. I don't know if that's still the case with the newer generations, but I don't think it would be.

Other than that, my comment for USB mics is the same for everything else... if it works for you, and you get a good sound out of it, then use it. Like my pappy always said, "opinions are like asses... everyone has one, and they all stink"
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Voiceovers by Gregory Houser
Philadelphia based Voice Actor

Blog - A man, a martini, and a lot of microphones

[Bill]

I picked up a little USB Griffin iMic to use in some situations. One thing I noticed when using it for music,(jut playing around to see how it functioned) is that I could hear the tracks I was playing along with, but could not hear my input signal (sax). I mean I could hear it thru bone conduction and acoustically, but not coming back at me thru the headphones.

is this indicative of USB input devices, or just that one in particular? I read that article recently and wasn't really clear on that point.

[Deirdre]

my iMic experience was less than stellar.

I bought a Mac G4 Quicksilver tower -- the one model that didn't have an analog audio input.
Meh!
I tried a zillion work-arounds and ended up keeping my G3 Beige desktop as my recording device until I got my Powerbook.
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