Top 5 Best USB Microphones Under $100

[cyrano]

Oof I don't agree with the laptop mics and xlr to 3.5mm jack. The only ones I can agree on and recommend are USB mics and XLR mics with interface but again my main focus is on USB mics with the premise of it being under $100.

For laptop mics, people don't know where to speak on the laptop, the mic is built in near the cooling/fan system of laptops and is louder than any background noise any mics can have, even for non technical people they would know this. Distance is also a huge issue, the farther you are from the mic the more hollow you sound and if you tried going near your laptop for better proximity, well good luck to the person's face and eyes with the laptop screen so close to their head. Like seriously how can you do gaming with a camera, singing while looking at lyrics, podcasting while reading scripts? Unless again you want really bad quality audio due to proximity issues. I would never recommend laptop mics.

Some lappies are good, others are bad.

For xlr to 3.5mm jack, there just isn't enough to power up an xlr microphone with just a 3.5mm jack. I've personally tried it out and a really good quality xlr microphone sounded like a crappy headphones mic using the 3.5mm jack. It's an xlr for a reason and needs an interface for a reason.

There's less problems with pip power than with USB mics. Pip just has to provide far less than 1 mA @ 5VDC for the electret capsule. USB gives 2.5 W power for the mic and the AD/DA. Yes, there's usually a DA in it too, even if it isn't used. Part of that 5VDC power needs to be converted to around 60V DC for the capsule if it's a real condenser mic.

Most USB mics are just electrets to avoid the power conversion problem. Yet, they are sold as "true LDC's". Most aren't. You could even call that a scam, but since there's no clear rule for what an SDC and an LDC precisely are, the marketeers are free to lie to you.

The problem with laptops is you need the right cable. Most laptops have a TRRS connector, not only providing a mic input, but also a stereo headphone output and pip power. Inside the laptop, the chipset that contains the mic preamp might sense what's connected and switch accordingly between line and mic level. If the cable is wrong, you will get distorted sound, a whine, white noise, or no sound at all.

No mic will work with the wrong cable. And a phantom powered mic won't work with pip power, but the Neewer BM700 and BM800 will.

Even with phantom power some mics can have problems if the audio interface is USB bus powered. My AKG C451's fi, don't work with most USB powered interfaces. They're too power hungry for the mere 2.5 W supply from a USB port. Pip power is never a problem.

 

[radi0j0hn]

"Microphones just have 'character'? Is that a good description - I don't know." Sure they do and you were describing what some call "character"in the rest of you post. But your are also right about it all being subjective. I wonder how many folks truly understand that a "studio" mic generally needs to be used in a studio environment?

 

[gezeus]

"a "studio" mic generally needs to be used in a studio environment?" I certainly agree with this. In the competition that me and my team competed against other 100+ audiovisual groups with 6-15 people per group, we literally only had our own non treated rooms with just usb mics to sing except for one singer that actually had a studio mic(xlr) and a studio environment. We still won 1st place and based on my experience as a mixer for this group, most of their usb mics were surprisingly easier to mix than the sct800 which is a really good xlr mic in my honest opinion. The usb mics that I mixed tended to be ranked by their price and mxl tempo being the lowest while my mic would be the second to lowest but I'm not saying price determines the quality or the difficulty to mix in general.

All I can say is as a 1st placer mixer, I can vouch for the usb mics that I've recommended with the layman terms I can best describe them without going into details for nontech people.

I'm sorry this thread is so long and I bet people are lost about what we're talking about here but here's the link again in case people checks the latest post
bit.ly/2oG9C5Q

 

[rob aylestone]

I just don't get the notion that USB mics are easier to mix? Mic capsule - preamp - a to d conversion. This chain is the same for all recordings with a mic into a digital system. There are differences in quality of course, but where the chip lives is not part of the deal. They are exactly the same to mix. What is differ is just how they sound. For good or bad reasons.

 

[ecc83]

I just don't get the notion that used mics are easier to mix? Mic capsule - preamp - a to d conversion. This chain is the same for all recordings with a mic into a digital system. There are differences in quality of course, but where the chip lives is not part of the deal. They are exactly the same to mix. What is differ is just how they sound. For good or bad reasons.

Quite. "Control" is the watchword here. With a USB mic you have no control of the gain of the analogue path thus the only way to regulate level is by the proximity to the mic and (if practical) the level of the source of sound.

For the vast majority of USB mics there is no monitoring save that in the OB soundcard in the PC and they are usually pretty dire. Once again, NO analogue control of monitoring levels.

As has been said AD flipping N! USB mics HAVE their uses, my son has one and does passing decent recordings with it, but they should not figure in the kitlist of a hobby recordist making MUSIC as a general rule. Analogue mic>XLR>AI is vastly more convenient and gives far better quality.

Dave.