Should I Buy a USB Microphone?

It depends on your needs...and I'm not just talking about sound quality.

Some USB mics can sound okay--similar to non-USB mics in the same price range. However, there are a number of drawbacks. First, you're stuck with that one mic and, as you get into recording, you'll quickly find you want a choice depending on what you're recording. A good vocal mic probably won't be so good on instruments and vice versa. Similarly, with most computers and DAWS you can only use one USB mic at a time, ruling out recording in stereo or having one mic on your voice and the other on your guitar.

Another issue can be monitoring. Very few USB mics let you monitor via the mic (and those that do often have limitations). Using the USB to record and you inbuilt sound card for monitoring will result in quite a long round trip and pretty serious latency.

So, the answer is: yes you can get away with a USB mic but going this route paints you into a corner in terms of any ability to expand or change. Although a mic and basic 2 channel interface may be slightly more expensive now, the saving will disappear as soon as you decide you want to expand or change.
 
USB mics shift the a to d conversion into the mic. That is it! Decent mics with USB outputs usually have decent quality converters. The issue is totally flexibility. As bob said, can you guarantee you will never want to record in stereo, or need to use extra gain, or use software that cannot deal with having different ins and outs. On a mac, you can select an in from one device and have the output sent somewhere else. Not all pcs can do this. If you have to use a better quality audio interface, then your USB mic is a bit pointless, if you select it in cubase, you cannot then send stuff to the interface and your speakers! Buy a USB mic if you only every will want one mic and less than full control. I think it's like buying an electric car. If you only ever go to the shops locally, and pick the kids up from school, they are fine, but if your job suddenly requires you to drive 100 miles a day, it was a poor choice.
 
I think the deciding factor is cost as well as M.O. I bought a 40quid USB mic from Maplins some months ago and for what it does, recording close vocal sources, it is fine if a little insensitive. There are much more sophisticated USB mics than the "ProSound" I have but a greater cost and at that point it becomes sensible to ask "would I be better off with a modest AI (M-Track?) and small capacitor mic" and the answer is almost certainly yes!

This tale has a twist. Son is home for his mum's 71ist and espied the ProSound, tried on the lappy with his Turner acoustic and said it would be ideal for general "notretaking" recordings back in his flat in France.
So you just never know!

Dave.
 
For needs like "note taking" or maybe doing a podcast where you'll never want more than one mic, a USB mic can be a reasonable choice.

However, as soon as you mention "music" (where you might want a variety of mics or stereo techniques) and headphone monitoring for multitracking, then it's really worth considering a basic two channel interface and standard XLR mic. It'll be cheaper in the long run. Heck, even podcasting probably wants the non-USB set up if there's any chance you may eventually want two or more presenters.
 
Appreciate the replies. For me it will be just my vocals and my keyboard, so it sounds like this should work well enough.

Any info or opinions or experiences as to USB mic that are or aren't a good buy?
 
Is your keyboard MIDI or do you need to take an audio feed from it? Will you ever want to play and sing at the same time? If not, have you checked how much latency you can accept when you sing along with a pre recorded track?

Look, you sound to have made up your mind on a USB mic and good luck to you. However, you DO need to think about questions like the above before assuming a USB mic is the best choice for a musician. A USB mic will not let you feed audio from a keyboard into your computer (and the internal sound chips you get are total rubbish for recording. USB mics can also be a nightmare for monitoring pre recorded tracks while singing along.

Go with what you decide but I'm just trying to make sure you consider all the options. Sweetwater have M Audio M Track Plus interfaces on sale for $79.99 and then you have a choice of hundreds...or thousands...of XLR mics and be able to plug you keyboard into one side and mic into the other and do direct hardware monitoring. Or. you can buy one of the 20 odd decent USB mics available and have...a mic.
 
A USB mic is a good choice for podcasting. Most are good for (and probably designed for) spoken voice, but the low end mics are marginal. And all are better than lower end headset mics.
 
Bobbsy said:
Is your keyboard MIDI or do you need to take an audio feed from it?
Click to expand...
Haven't bought the keyboard yet. :) Since it will be new, yes, it will have the MIDI.

Will you ever want to play and sing at the same time?
Click to expand...
That would be nice but not a must. I can play first and sing to it later.

If not, have you checked how much latency you can accept when you sing along with a pre recorded track?
Click to expand...
No idea how I would "check" that-? How/why is there any? I can't simply sing to the pre-recorded music and have it line up in this day and age??

Look, you sound to have made up your mind on a USB mic and good luck to you.
Click to expand...
Not sure where you got that but thx. I'm leaning to it for cost considerations but hardly sold on it yet.

However, you DO need to think about questions like the above before assuming a USB mic is the best choice for a musician. A USB mic will not let you feed audio from a keyboard into your computer (and the internal sound chips you get are total rubbish for recording. USB mics can also be a nightmare for monitoring pre recorded tracks while singing along.
Click to expand...
Afraid I'm not following. Does this mean I can't sing and play at the same time as you mentioned earlier?

Again thanks for the replies -
 
The Snowball iCE seems to have an okay reputation for audio quality (though I'm always slightly sceptical of user reviews since they're by people who have spent money and want to justify their purchase). However, as I said way back at the start, it's not necessarily just audio quality that's an issue. It's things like low latency monitoring (or the lack thereof) and the inability to use more than one mic or change mics for different voices and instruments.

If you only want to do Skype phone calls (notice how much emphasis on Skype is included in the manufacturer's page?) or a single person podcast, this might be the mic for you. However, if you want the basis for a fully featured home studio, think carefully.
 
I totally read all that...AND drew pictures...AND registered just so I could share an ode I wrote:

Ode to Bobbsy
Oh, kind, considerate Bobbsy, in all your infinite glory,
I thank you for sharing your vast knowledge;
You are the light at the end of a tunnel long and dreary,
Far more brilliant than the light shining through the hole in my wallet.

Couldn't get the Haiku for Bobbsy just right. =0) Cheers!
 
Just came across the attached.
Son recorded that with a "Pro Sound" USB mic , about 40quid, into an HP i3 laptop a few weeks ago.
He then buggered off with the mic.

Other than convert from .wav to MP3 (SO I CAN FEKKING ATTACH IT!) I have purposely not tweaked it in level or any other way, warts and all!

Should have said...Turner acoustic guitar, smallish and not very loud, mic sat about a foot away.

Dave.
 

Attachments

  • preacher usb mic.mp3
    2.8 MB · Views: 5
Hmmm...not too bad for tone and clarity but too bad the peaks are only about 25 dB above the noise floor. That hiss is really annoying.
 
Bobbsy said:
Hmmm...not too bad for tone and clarity but too bad the peaks are only about 25 dB above the noise floor. That hiss is really annoying.
Click to expand...

Oooo! ANY praise from you Bobbs is praise indeed! The son just sat on the sofa, plonked the mic on a footstool in the living room and went for it.

As I said, warts and all. I wanted peeps contemplating a USB mic to hear their limitations. Sure, there will be better ones at a higher price but by the time you have spent £100+ you have bought a UR22 and you might as well get a C1 or sommat similar and do a H of a lot better!

Might try AA1.5 noise reducer?

Dave.
 
Phantom Piggy said:
Have to say I would never have learnt this without this forum :)

Thanks
Click to expand...

Some of us have come from an analog background and need this as some background as to why it works when it does. The article may be long, it may be filled with a lot of technical information but it does an excellent job of explaining things to those who are digitally challenged. It takes patience to learn new things and it is a good read!
 
In a USB mic, the signal still has to go through these stages but they're all built into the body of the microphone.
Click to expand...
Yes, many USB mics are cheaper but they still need all the same electronic stages as a conventional mic--so the eventual quality is often compromised.
Click to expand...

Hi, thanks for the information. There's one thing which didn't seem to be mentioned, however. Can someone perhaps answer this question:
Why does the process of these electronic stages happening inside a mic instead of the computer mean loss of quality?!

This is the main concern for me. I don't understand why a USB mic will result in a lower quality recording. When asking someone else, they suggested that the fact that the signal in a USB mic will go directly into the computer, the quality should, if anything, be better. Please can someone answer this point on recording quality for me.
Thank you, Richard
 
It doesn't have to mean loss of quality...but USB mics (with one or two exceptions) are designed for the lower end of the market so don't put in the best quality electronics.

If you put top notch stuff in a USB mic, it would cost pretty much the same as a conventional XLR mic and separate interface!

However, I should stress that quality isn't always the main reason I advice against USB mics. More important are things like the lack of upgradeability (if that's a word), problems with monitoring and latency because most use your on board sound card for the output, and the inability to add more channels when you eventually want to record stereo. If your application is one where none of these apply (for example recording a one person podcast that will never change) then a USB mic could work for you. However, for any form of music recording or even more challenging voice stuff, you really need to think about the drawbacks.
 
Thanks for the response, Bobbsy! Mmmm, OK... I'll have to think of a reply with a little more info for the chance of help...

I'm looking for a budget vocal mic for a home studio environment (my apartment). Just to sing into. No podcasting, nor recording bands in studios. I'm an electronic keyboard player (piano, synths, VSTi's/plug-in sounds, etc.). The keyboard can plug directly into the computer via USB (for MIDI) & jack lead (for audio).

I'm now living in Taiwan as an English teacher, & my old set-up (inc. Korg M3 synth) remains in UK. I have Cubase (music production software), & want to compose using what I have.

After researching, it seems that the Audio Technica AT2020 is my best bet (which comes with the XLR, or USB options).

So, you see, in this set-up I'm making do without a mixer, but if I find that the Audio Technica AT2020's XLR option would produce better quality audio, then I'd need a mixer too.

Thank you very much for taking the time to reply to my last message mate.

PS - I don't understand what you mean about upgradability. Upgrade to what?
PPS - I'm just trying to work out if the latency or stereo recording you mentioned will be an issue for what I want to use it for.
 
Okay, first off, if you go the audio interface route you do NOT need a mixer (at least until you start recording whole bands or whatever :) ) but...

Upgradeability...when you decide you want a better mic to suit your voice better, with an interface you just plug in the new mic. With a USB mic you have to either buy another USB mic or go back to square one and decide to buy an interface after all. Or, you want to use the audio out (rather than MIDI out) from your keyboard without messing up the quality going into the onboard sound chip on your computer. Onboard audio (unless you have a very specialist card--and if you did we wouldn't be having this conversation) are for watching videos and making Skype calls, not quality music. Or you take up acoustic guitar and want to record in stereo...or want to record a duet with a friend or whatever.

Latency: Let's say you lay down a backing track in Cubase and want to listen to it while you sing. With a USB mic, to hear voice and backing at the same time you have to send your voice on a round trip via the computer and it will be delayed in your headphones...which can be seriously confusing. Any decent interface will allow you to monitor your mic INPUT (i.e. not through the computer) and the backing at the same time.

Cost wise I don't know what Taiwan price are but in the UK via Thomann:

AT2020USB £102
AT2020XLR £69
Alesis IO2 (Interface) £70

So for £37 extra you could have a system that would allow you to record 2 mics (or 1 mic plus your keyboard) at once and let you do it with latency free monitoring. You could also decide (when you win the lottery) that you want to buy a better mic and just plug it in and go. Also, the mic pre amps will be arguably slightly better than the AT USB mic...and the line input for the keyboard will be miles better quality.

(I'm not saying this is necessarily the combination you'll buy...but it's a good comparison since you were considering the AT2020USB and I know the interface well.)

Hope this helps.
 
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