Seeking advice on microphone purchase

D

dyyd

New member
Hi.

New to the forum, tried to look up existing threads with similar questions and didn't really get the information I was looking for.

I am looking for a cheap microphone, under 90€, for my wife who wants to record her singing to improve at it.
Currently she is using her laptops built in microphone which is pretty bad. So far I have found the following as possible options that would fit my budget:
  1. Samson Meteor (~83€)
  2. Blue Snowball (~81€)
  3. t.bone SC 440 (~72€)
  4. Superlux E205U (~60€)
*The prices are listed based on a store here in Estonia as shipping costs from elsewhere will probably end up costing same or more and is more hassle.

These are all USB microphones as I know my wife will use the microphone with her laptop.

I only looked at USB microphones as an interface + microphone would probably be out of my budget. However if you can recommend something that would fit the budget and would be of equal quality I am open to suggestions.

Can anyone recommend which of these microphones would suite the needs best?

By the way, she is using a Linux machine so if anyone has had really negative experiences with any of these microphones on a Linux please say so.

Any feedback is much appreciated.
 
The beauty of a mic purchase is that if you do it right, it should be the last time you have to invest in that mic. Mics are only as good as the system you are using. Many will invest in a very expensive mic only to put it through a system that will never do it justice. A pretty good mic for not much money is a Nady 900. Is it going to be the Holy Grail of microphones? No it is not but if a cheap condenser is what you want it will do. Mashall Electronics (MXL) has some great combination packages for condenser mics. Cheap dynamics like Sampson are going to sound like what they are: Cheap Dynamics.

Shipping is such a waste. It just limits you.
 
The Blue Snowball is a popular mic with podcasters on a budget, but isn't really much of a "singer's" microphone. If you can go just a bit higher, the Audio-Technica AT2020USB Is a good choice.
 
Sadly the AT2020USB is almost twice my budget so I doubt I will be looking further into that. (170€ with shipping from amazon or about the same from a local store)
 
Surely the real question is simply what it is for? The beauty of normal microphones is that they are a standard. You can pull one off the shelf and slap it into practically anything and use it. Maybe you suddenly need more mics, and gather a few together? Doesn't work with USB. Your one mic is severely limited. You can plug it into your computer and record your voice. Can it record a piano across the room? Probably not. Can you plug it into your friends zoom he brings to yours? No.

Depending on the mic, the sound quality is usually fine - even cheap converters don't sound that bad. Some might allow you to change the gain - which is good, most don't which is bad. You can't buy another and record in stereo. You can't put the mic in one room and record in the next. Some computers can't manage an audio device like the USB as the input, and use their onboard sound as output - their drivers might not allow it.

For what it's worth - the t.bone SC 440 actually sounds pretty good - it's little more like a hyper cardioid in my opinion - and has pretty decent build quality - and of course a 3 year guarantee and the option to send back with no quibbles. Why not try one and see.

I have one USB mic. A rather nice sample I got direct from the factory three years ago. Sounds great on my mac - but the output section with headphone has never worked, and the window driver never produced a sound from day one. I shall never buy another USB mic. I did buy a £10 inline USB adaptor, and it's functional for podcasting or speech use, but gain is fixed and quite low, which spoils the usefulness.

USBs are in my opinion, just too little use, and limit what you can do - but for somebody who needs minimal button tweaking, they're ok.
 
How about the AT2500? It has a headphone jack, which will allow her to hear herself in real time (the way she really sounds). I think it is in the same range as your budget.
 
dyyd said:
  1. Samson Meteor (~83€)
  2. Blue Snowball (~81€)
  3. t.bone SC 440 (~72€)
  4. Superlux E205U (~60€)
Click to expand...

I'd go for the Superlux. These mics are mostly identical, quality wise. The Superlux has a monitor output for headphones, which you'll need. It's USB audio class compliant, so should work with Linux. And Superlux makes better gear than a lot of other Chinese factories. T-Bone is a good second, since you can send it back if you don't like it.

The Blue and the Samson might look interesting, they are not. The look is just a gimmick and it makes them harder to use.

We don't know how your wife sounds and she can't tell what mic she needs. Nor can you.

You first mic will be an experiment anyway. So the costlier it is, the harder it will be to trade it for the next stage. And by that time, you'll know what to look out for in a mic. And you'll probably want a USB audio interface and a real mic...

The biggest risk with USB mics is that the one you choose might just not work with your computer...
 
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