cyrano
Member
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.