XLR into a PC first time advice

jimmys69 said:
Bobbsy is the one to answer questions like this. Read the sticky he authored
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It did seem like the moral of that post was go XLR + Interface over USB especially seeing as the "USB is cheaper" aspect is out of the window here. But the main reason I was asking dispite having read the 'Should I Buy a USB Microphone' topic was more in my specific example. I'll never want to use two mics at once, the Yeti does have monitoring, but I record without monitering anyway, the Lexicon Alpha does allow me to upgrade or change my mic with keeping half of my investment should I stop using the Shure, but I hope that won't happen anyway.. I could go on, I feel like I want to use bullet points, can I use bullet points on the forum? :D
 
Well, there is also the possibility that the Shure may not be a good mic for your particular voice. This is probably much less important for speaking than it would be for recording a singer, but none the less, you would still have the option to use something else in the future.
 
Good questions but I don't think we can take the decision for you.

For 90% of the posters on this forum (ones that do music) it's easy to say that an interface and XLR mic would be the way to go.

Alas, you're in the 10% for whom a USB mic could be a viable choice.

Frankly, a (properly working) Blue Yeti is probably a better sounding mic than the PG58/Lexicon combination--but, should you not like the sound the Yeti gives you, you can't just buy another mic and plug it into the Lexicon--you change the whole thing.

On the other hand, the PG58 will be more forgiving of a noisy room.

So, the only things I'll commit to are:

  • Either could work for you
  • I'm too much of a coward to tell you which to buy
  • And, yes, bullet points work!

Sorry to be so wishy washy!
 
You guys were great, really narrowed down alot of the decisions, I got some explainations of things I didn't understand (gave out some rep for that) And while I wasnt expecting two completely diffrent options to come down to the same price I was quite glad, what I really didn't expect was for two completely diffrent options at the same price point to not have a clear winner!
While the room isnt silent like a studio because of the PC in the background I don't think its very noisy either the PC is only about 1 meter away and at the same height as the microphone without any physical object between them. But it is directly behind the mic, which I would hope with a Cardoid pickup would mean that it wasn't a issue at all.

Edit: the little heatset mic i'm using has all these little holes on the opposite side of the bit you talk into, And I was told that it 'listens' to the background noise with these and then pre-filters that unwanted sound that isnt coming from the person speaking to give a nice almost 0 background noise recording, none of the other heatset mics i've ever owned has had these extra mic holes and none of them like I mentioned before ever gave me a good recording without background rubbish in recording software that takes directly from your mic without filtering, programs such as FRAPS, Adobe Audition and Audacity
Almost all of the same headsets sounded alright with programs that have software background sound removal such as Skype, TeamSpeak,Ventrillo and built in-game VOIP. So I suppose as gaming headsets are designed to be used with the Latter rather than the Former thats why you don't see any High Quality Mics with things like the holes on the mic.

Edit2: it occurs to me one I do decide on a Mic that means i'm free to actually get a completely diffrent pair of headphones without a mic on them, On the Yeti I remember that you can monitor by plugging a headset into them, but I can't remember if you can also use it as a regular output device to listen to everything on the PC as well. The reason i'm wondering is if it works as a full output for all PC sounds aswell I might be better plugging everything into that rather than the onboard soundcard, same question about the Lexicon Alpha too.
I could really get a very nice pair of Sennheiser earphones somewhere down the line, i've always wanted something like that

Edit3: Woah thats a big price disparity between the cheapest and most expensive Sennheiser, I really hope there are a few gems somewhere amongst the cheaper ones and that it isnt a straight parallel line of price to quality. HD 518 seems like a good choice after I do a little saving up
 
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Bobbsy said:
Bad, bad advice. The build in sound cards on every computer I know of is built from a few cents worth of components and designed for game/video playback and a $5 microphone to make Skype calls.

Your sound card may be better than the standard built in--but it's speciality is doing 7.1 playback, not sound recording. If the OP is going to spend money (and I'm not sure that he is) he'd be better off investing in an interface designed for recording, not surround sound playback.
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He asked if it would work, and the answer is yes, because it will. I also went on to say that it likely won't sound as good as it would with an audio interface (i.e. one purpose built for recording). That isn't bad advice, it is an honest opinion based on actual experience. Bad advice would have been telling him it'd sound as good or better than other options, which I did not do. Knowing all of one's options is not a bad thing.
 
SevereWX said:
He asked if it would work, and the answer is yes, because it will. I also went on to say that it likely won't sound as good as it would with an audio interface (i.e. one purpose built for recording). That isn't bad advice, it is an honest opinion based on actual experience. Bad advice would have been telling him it'd sound as good or better than other options, which I did not do. Knowing all of one's options is not a bad thing.
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Well, you could also use someone else's worn out dirty toothbrush, it would work, but not well. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone asking advice on cleaning their teeth...
 
jimmys69 said:
Well, you could also use someone else's worn out dirty toothbrush, it would work, but not well. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone asking advice on cleaning their teeth...
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So you're saying it's better to lie to him and say no it won't work at all, as opposed to being honest and telling him it will work, but not as well as other options? I fail to see how that makes sense. Here I thought a person who knew what all the options were would be in a better position to make an informed choice, how silly of me! I guess from now on, so as not to rub anyone the wrong way my advice should always be "don't try to think for yourself, just blindly follow the crowd without knowing why."

Peace out, I'm going back to the slutz where the answer to everything is SM7B!
 
Of course it'll work...but the initial question was how to improve the quality the OP is presently getting. Putting a slightly noisy Behringer mixer into a significantly noisy onboard sound card is not the way to achieve an improvement, hence my "bad advice" post. I didn't read the question as "will it work at all" but, rather, "will it achieve my goal of improving my quality". That's all I was saying. (And, if it's any consolation, I frequently make fun of the cult of the SM7B...)

For the OP,

The "holes" on the back of the headset mic do indeed help the rejection of sound from the rear but it doesn't work quite the way you were told. Basically, it actually lets the sound from behind into the mic but there will be some simple baffles that ensure the "rear" sound arrives at the back and front of the diaphragm at the same time resulting in it cancelling itself out (since the diaphragm can't move forward and backwards at the same time. Exactly the same technique is used in lots of mics to achieve a cardioid (or tighter) pattern. It's just that the holes aren't always so apparent--sometimes it a series of slots or just an extension of the grill.

On your second question, yes you can route any computer sounds to either the Yeti or the Lexicon for listening purposes, subject to setting up the routing in your computer software. I sometimes amuse myself during theatre set ups by routing Youtube videos or games through my interface and into the very expensive (and loud) sound system they have.

Finally, yes, there is SOME correlation between the cost and quality of Sennheiser headphones...but even their mid range stuff sounds very nice indeed. Once you've saved up some pennies I'd imagine a "recommend some headphones" topic could get very busy!
 
SevereWX said:
So you're saying it's better to lie to him and say no it won't work at all, as opposed to being honest and telling him it will work, but not as well as other options? I fail to see how that makes sense. Here I thought a person who knew what all the options were would be in a better position to make an informed choice, how silly of me! I guess from now on, so as not to rub anyone the wrong way my advice should always be "don't try to think for yourself, just blindly follow the crowd without knowing why."

Peace out, I'm going back to the slutz where the answer to everything is SM7B!
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Wow man, chill. Really, we are just having a conversation here. Nobody said you were wrong for giving advice.

Enjoy the slutz. By the way, I love my SM7b, but it is only the right mic for certain situations. I am recording this conversation with it as we speak. lol
 
I apologize guys, I really need to learn not type before I've started on my 3rd pot (not cup) of coffee. And I really could have worded my original response better too, since in all actuality I am in agreement with y'all for the most part.

What I should have said instead was "Yeah, it'll work, but it's not your best option, especially from a cost/performance ratio. While it has the probability to sound better than a cheap gaming headset, it probably won't sound as nice as a dedicated audio interface will." Which is really all I was trying to say.

Yes it will work from a technical perspective, no it isn't the best option as everyone has explained why. It is going to be hit and miss with consumer sound-cards, some might sound pretty darn good, others might make it sound like Bobcat Goldthwait singing into the southbound end of a northbound SM7B.

I like the SM7B too, I just don't think it's the answer to all of life's woes, nor will it cure world hunger or brew a better cup of coffee. In fact, I hope to own one of my own some day, along with a proper interface and a decent pre-amp like the ISA One or FMR RNP.
 
I am still around, just been a bit crazy the past day, I suppose my only followup questions are

  • Do I need a shock mount if the only thing that has a chance to be tapped is the bottom of the stand, and even then only incredibly rarely?
  • I remember the Blue Yeti being very big and very heavy, will a cheap stand cave in or drop the mic onto my desk
  • On the Rode Studio Arm it has a kind of 'nest' so that you can orientate the mic in all sorts of diffrent directions, can I attach something to a mic stand to do similar?

The reason I ask the last question is because the stand just kind of has to be to the left of my keyboard tray, and then the boom will be parralel in the air across my keyboard, my worry is then having the mic the right way up at the end of the boom rather than pointing away from me.

Can't think of anything else, still deciding between the two contenders
 
A shock mount is a good idea. It's not just bumping the stand you have to worry about. Small vibrations (things like computer fans, air conditioning, people walking about behind you, etc.) can all be transmitted up the mic stand and add to the noise..

You're right to worry. You don't have to spend top dollar on stands (I have some cheap but fairly heavy duty ones) but the very cheapest just won't clamp tight enough.

Generally, you can aim the mic using a combination of rotation the boom arm in the clamp, using the tilt function in the mount and rotating the mic in the adaptor. It's hard to describe in words but you should be okay with a bit of playing.

Are you going for a floor stand or a desk stand? I generally recommend a floor stand to help decouple the mic from any vibrations transmitted through the desk.
 
Actually before I started the topic I was kinda doing a terrible MS paint drawing of explaining my desk situation, but I thought it made it look like I was 12 (I'm no artist)

mic rotation question picture.jpg
 
That seems like the best arrangement. Defo decouple the mic stand from the desk.
And yes the price of a shockmount is worth it, again defo on the shockmount.
Beware the cheap chineses ones with crappy rubber bands. Get one with good elastic. Not that the elastics hard to replace its just that the mechanics of them dont work too well either ( the spreaders are too weak to open the mic holder)
Have you decided on a mic yet?
 
I'm still hesitating over it, the website with the really good price on Yeti's still has them in stock for £90 including VAT and free delivery, so price isnt going to be the decider, i'm still really worried about orientating the mic so that its vertically upward, because if I get it in any other position its going to block my veiw to the monitor :facepalm: with it orientated like this you wouldn't be able to see a thing (I realise that is the pro, couldnt fid a pic of the normal) I wish they did a 'studio arm' like the Rode one that was floor mounted and not incredibly expensive. I'm guessing I can do exactly what is in this picture, but just face it upwards

19-520x352.png
 
You'll be able to rotate the mic in the shock mount, change the angle between the mount and the boom arm and rotate the boom arm in it's holder. It can be a bit of a fiddle until you get used to how they all play together but, yes, you have full control.

Regarding your diagram, I might be tempted to put the stand base closer to the desk so the boom is angled so it comes towards you rather than over your shoulder--if you see what I mean. Keep it slightly high and angled downwards--that, with the mic upside down like in the photo can keep the mic mainly out of your eyeline and also force you to keep you head upright which will help you sound nicely resonant.
 
Bobbsy said:
Regarding your diagram, I might be tempted to put the stand base closer to the desk so the boom is angled so it comes towards you rather than over your shoulder--if you see what I mean. Keep it slightly high and angled downwards--that, with the mic upside down like in the photo can keep the mic mainly out of your eyeline and also force you to keep you head upright which will help you sound nicely resonant.
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Sounds good, actually found an old picture I had of my bootleg/broken Yeti where I tried to use it without a mic stand, this thing was just asking to be knocked off by accident, and it sounded terrible anyway so I made use of the 7-day return policy before it became a awkward post 7-day return

Edit: Before, when I was talking about getting a nice pair of headphones down the line I thought it probably wouldn't be a good idea to derail a Mic topic with Headphones talk but it could be relevant. I get the impression that buying a expensive pair of headphones and plugging them into the motherboard onboard sound would be a huge waste of money.
So with the information that I can route all of the sound to come out of the Yeti or Lexicon Alpha:

Bobbsy said:
On your second question, yes you can route any computer sounds to either the Yeti or the Lexicon for listening purposes, subject to setting up the routing in your computer software.
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I was wondering if either of them was better than the other, I notice on the Lexicon Alpha website it says things like:

"High-powered headphone amp offers ultra-clear fidelity while delivering ample power for any type of headphones"

Which sounds useful for that kind of setup, And the other thing I started reading about was latency, all that stuff got me worrying about desynced audio from the video, and if its a good idea to have a seperate External USB sound card or a PCI Soundcard, or If it's almost zero latency running the headphones through the Yeti or the Lexicon. So between the twin confusion of Quality and Latency i'm back to not knowing what to go with.

room1.jpg
room2.jpg
 
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Have you seen these as a pop filter (not affiated) just so you have got more eyeline to the monitors.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/WINDTECH-...nstruments_Microphones_MJ&hash=item51a0e4e5dd

Part of the reason most of us reccomend an interface rather thanusb mics is the negligable latancy and the monitoring (head phones in your case) problems associated with usb mics
You'll probably have enough change from the mic buy to get entry level head phones.
Good luck
 
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