PC mic. 1/4" or XLR converted to 3.5mm (or usb if audio interface is used)?

M

mike4156

New member
edit: I had to remove links since I'm a noob.



Hi, if you help me you are a saint. I've needed a mic for about 2 weeks and I just haven't been able to find enough information to pull the trigger and risk wasting my money on something that doesn't meet my needs. I really have tried and only part of it is making sense to me... that is why this post is so long. I feel like if I left anything out that might be the important part and I wouldn't even know.

Trying to scour the internet for the unique combination of headphone attributes I need and it has been very hard. I would really appreciate your help. There is a very small selection of mics for use with PC's (3.5mm) that are headmounted and do not put speakers over your ears. Also, I have a very hot face and keep 2 fans on my desk blowing at it. I know this sounds stupid but honestly the fans are so helpful I do stuff at my desk more often than I normally just to get relief. to meet these requirements I had to start looking at mics intended for performing artists instead of pc mics. It looked like this mic would not only not cover my ears up with speakers but also would be less likely to pic up the fan noise:
Shure WH20 Dynamic Headset Microphones

The mic is direction and a lot of reviews said it sounded good but had to be positioned very close to their mouth or nothing was picked up. Great, maybe the fans wont be heard. It is available in 1/4" phone plug, XLR, and some miniature 4-pin format that seems to be proprietary to the Sure brand.


BIG QUESTION: Which would would sound best when converted to 3.5mm to work with my pc?


Concerns:
1. I read that a dynamic mic probably will not need a preamp or mixer to supply extra power. I've never used either of those devices but I googled them and saw some for $60-ish. I dont know if those are any good. I guess if I needed more power I could always add one later. Would either of those devices be helpful to reduce just the wind noise from the fans? Or would it modify all sounds input through the mic equally?
2. As much effort as this is taking when someone hears me in a PC game or on Skype I want to sound very very clear. If some annoying wind noise is there I guess I just have to live with it because of my annoying face/skin condition but I definitely want them to know what I am saying.
3. I feel like USB headset/mic combos always sound worse than 3.5mm headset/mic combos. I tried to figure out why and it seems its because my sound card does the audio processing for the 3.5mm type and the processing is built into the USB type. I went on to read that if I wanted to buy $700 USB headphone/mic they would sound just as good or better than 3.5mm headphones because the internal processing would be much better but if you are just browsing at BestBuy where all the PC headsets are under $100 there is no compitition, the USB headphones will always sound worse.
4. Also if we converted to USB instead wouldnt we need drivers? LOL that doesnt seem possible.

I really don't know how all of that relates to my choice of converting 1/4" phone plug or XLR to 3.5mm but I could convert it to USB instead. I just have a bad feeling about the result based on past experience.

I read that condenser mics are more sensitive so I didnt really consider them since I have the fans but in 1 thread it said they are more sensitive to loud sounds. I that 1 person was right and they are actually better for my purpose (because my fans arent loud, they ar ea consistent force though) Please let me know.

In this thread:
introduction-multitrack-computer-interface-recording-323561/
Despite my own opinion that 3.5mm is better than usb and that idea being supported by others the original poster in that thread prefers connecting the audio interface to USB instead of 3.5mm. I thought this might be his cable of choice specifically because there is an audio interface and that changes the requirements (because the support I saw for 3.5mm were not in siutations using an interface, just a conversion cable). I also thought the answer might be different because he is dealing with much better equipment than I am looking at buying.


In this thread:
xlr-into-pc-first-time-advice-346940
someone clearly Behringer Xenyx 502 Mixer is not an interface. Some mixers are interfaces though, correct? Just not this inexpensive one unfortunately?
 
Hi,
I'm going to be honest here. I can't work out what you're asking!
Sorry, I don't mean to be rude at all.
Are you looking for a head mounted microphone with no headphones?

Anyway, just to answer a few of your questions.

Condenser microphones need power to work. That usually comes from an audio interface or mixer where it will be applied through the XLR cable.
Sometimes their battery powered. The connector type will vary in this case (for cameras etc).

Condensers may or may not be more sensitive but in real world use you wouldn't be as close to a condenser as you would (could) to a dynamic.
For that reason, a dynamic is less likely to pick up room noises.
A common studio dynamic is sm57/58.


You talked about 3.5mm, usb, conversions, cables etc.
I think there might be some confusion here.

An audio path into a computer will contain the following.
1:Microphone - 2:microphone preamplifier - 3:analog to digital converter - 4:data converter.

A usb mic contains all of those things. Quality may be compromised when comparing to standalone interfaces.
An audio interface usually contains 2,3 and 4.
A usb mixer would also contain 2,3 and 4 perhaps with other features.
A headset mic is just a mic, and possibly headphones too.
A computer soundcard has 2,3 and 4.

mike4156 said:
4. Also if we converted to USB instead wouldnt we need drivers? LOL that doesnt seem possible.

I really don't know how all of that relates to my choice of converting 1/4" phone plug or XLR to 3.5mm but I could convert it to USB instead. I just have a bad feeling about the result based on past experience.
Click to expand...
Going between XLR, 1/4" or 3.5mm isn't a conversion, as such. It's just sending the same signal through different shaped bits of metal.
Unless phantom power is involved, it doesn't matter which connector you use.

There's no way to 'convert' an analog signal to USB. They're just too different things at two different stages of the process.
You can buy USB audio interfaces which are effectively the same as your built in sound card, but usually much better.
 
Thanks for your honesty. It was verbose to begin with since I didnt know which parts were most important and then I added 2 after thoughts and parts specific to your forum etc it looks crazy.

Yes my goal is to get a head mounted microphone with no headphones. I want to use it for things that are not as important as the recording you all usually do. I'll be talking on Skype or in a PC game. However, I want to keep my fans on and I want to be easily understood.

I'm glad to hear you think the dynamic is less likely to pick up the fan noise. Do you know anything about the specific one I picked out? I provided a link but when I posted it said new users cannot post links so I just put the model name in that location so you could google it. That model comes with 3 different options for connector type and I didnt know which to chose to best convert to use with my PC:

WH20QTR Includes right-angle 1/4" phone plug for unbalanced mic input
WH20TQG Includes miniature 4-pin female connector for Shure bodypack transmitters
WH20XLR (Wired) Includes 3-pin male XLR connector w/ detachable belt clip


On the conversion confusion - It looked like everyone agreed that 3.5mm would be better except 2 people. 1 person said very expensive USB headset/mics can be just as good. And someone at your forum said USB. That was the only example where someone said to use an audio interface though. Is that the reason he prefers USB? Everyone that said "get a dynamic mic with no phantom power and just buy a $12 XLR to 3.5mm conversion cable" prefered converting it to 3.5mm, not USB.

Were the people that said "get a dynamic mic with no phantom power and just buy a $12 XLR to 3.5mm conversion cable" trying to be too cheap? I understand the condenser mics require more power and that is impossible. But if the result with the dynamic is "possible but bad results" then I dont want to do it.


You have already cleared up a nice chunk of it for me. Thanks!
 
Ok, I understand a little better. Thanks.

First off, I can't recommend any headset or even lapel mics. I have no first hand experience of any.

The "WH20TQG..........bodypack transmitters" suggests to me a wireless setup. Something like a stage performer or preacher would use.
That's probably not what you want for a desk setup.

So, bottom line:
Either get the 1/4 version and one of these to plug straight into your pc
or get the XLR version and a nice usb audio interface. (tascam us122, presonus audiobox)

It's generally accepted that USB audio interfaces are higher quality than built in sound cards.
They are better equipped for dynamic microphones and good ones will have plenty of clean gain.

Since I don't know those shure mics first hand, I can't say for certain if they would benefit much from the step up to USB interface.

Sorry, I didn't really answer your question, but I hope I cleared things up a little.
 
Thanks again for the information. Are you saying to go with the 1/4" if I am going straight to the PC with an adapter because the Shure site says it is "unbalanced" or could I get the XLR version with an XLR adapter and it work just as good?
 
You could get either; It's not going to make a different going into onboard sound.

I suppose if you think you might buy an audio interface someday, go with the XLR version.
 
This has to be returned because it is too low and it is too hard to show you my other options with this 10 post limit. I am going to post junk 5 times in a row just to meet the limit. Thanks
 
I paid for 2 day shipping and just tested. It was too low. So now I'm returning it and buying this I suppose:

Amazon.com: Shure WH30XLR Cardioid condenser headset mic with XLR connector.: Musical Instruments

But this place had it with an inline preamp for only a few $$ more:
Shure WH30XLR Headworn Cardiod Dynamic Microphone with 10 ft Cable and In-Line Preamplifier

What wil the preamp do for me? do I still have to buy an audio interface?




This one appears to be the same model but the last 3 letters are left off so I dont know what type of connector it uses. I could email them and ask since it is much cheaper:
Amazon.com: Shure WH30 Condenser Headset Microphones: Musical Instruments
 
If the level was too low plugging straight into your PC it probably strengthens the argument for an audio interface.

I know I posted a lot of stuff back there, but in it there's a pretty good breakdown of interfaces/soundcards/preamps etc and their relationships.
Go back and take a look.
 
Sorry I should have included this but I wasn't sure you would be the one responding this time.

You said:
An audio path into a computer will contain the following.
1:Microphone - 2:microphone preamplifier - 3:analog to digital converter - 4:data converter.

An audio interface usually contains 2,3 and 4.

With that said, I don't know what effect having an inline audio preamp would have. I would love for you to say:
good because that is the most important part of the audio interface, now you can simply buy conversion cables
Of course I can easily see the answer being:
useless, you are just not going to turn that feature off on the audio interface if you have a pre-amp inline
and then I thought oh shit he might say:
2 pre-amps are bad and neither can be turned off. Definitely buy the one without in-line preamp
 
Steenamaroo said:
If the level was too low plugging straight into your PC it probably strengthens the argument for an audio interface.

I know I posted a lot of stuff back there, but in it there's a pretty good breakdown of interfaces/soundcards/preamps etc and their relationships.
Go back and take a look.
Click to expand...

We never discussed the possibility of an audio interface with a dynamic mic. So maybe I should not return this one? When I turned up the gain in windows 7 it sounded like absolute shit. Would the audio interface make it louder without the loud buzzing?
 
Personally I'd just pick up a straight forward dynamic mic and interface.
It's simple, clean, known to work....Done. :)

All the mics you listed at the start were dynamic. Looks like you've bought a condenser? (which needs a power supply!)
 
Last edited:
I wanted to come back and say thanks for all the help. The problem was solved better than I thought possible with so many crazy requirements I had and the trade-offs that come with them. I bought a dynamic shure mic with a XRL to 3.5mm converter, it was too low. I bought a Shure condensor mic and a audio interface that would work with both mics. The first mic (the dynamic one) with the audio interface sounds beautiful, it is delicate enough where I don't have to speak like an orator and it still picks me up and it doesnt pick up the fans. Perfect! Thanks again.
 
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