USB Mic vs Mic & Interface

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bondle

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Yes, another one of these forums.
Firstly I apologise for my ignorance. I also apologise for posting another one of these topics.
I have researched vigorously, yet it seems every answer is so contradicting.

I make hip-hop music, so the mic will be solely used for rapping vocals.
A friend of mine has a Samson CO1U USB mic, which serves him well. However I don't know if I should follow his path.

Am I better off investing in a microphone and audio interface rather than the USB? Bare in mind I am an amateur and may decide to stop making music in the not to distant future. Although I really hope not.

My reasoning for the USB stems from
1. Cheaper
2. Simpler
3. User friendly
4. Start from the bottom

However many people are saying I 'might as well do it right the first time'
I've looked at the 'Rode Nt1A' package, which seems to have a good reputation. Would I only need an audio interface to record paired with this mic? If so, which one do you suggest and would it be a working match with my macbook?

I don't have a massive budget, but if it really is a waste of time getting a USB mic, i'd rather save my pennys and probably try and get a budget of around $500. (Im not certain if this is still too little a budget)

For informations sake, the USB mic I was looking at was the 'Audio Technica AT2020'

Thanks everyone!
 
HERE'S a FAQ some boring old git wrote about USB mics vs standard mic and interface.

Short form...unless your needs are very simple, a USB mic may NOT be simpler or more user friendly. For straight recording they're plug and play but assuming you want to hear your beats and you voice mixed in headphones, all of a sudden USB mics get complicated since they're not set up to provide your monitoring and often don't use ASIO drivers which mean latency can be an issue. (Hmmmm...better clarify. ASIO is a type of driver designed to control your sound interface--whether it's a real interface or the one built into a USB mic with the minimum of delay. Many/most cheap USB units just use the drivers built into Windows or Mac and, since they're not designed for serious recording, this results in delays in your headphone monitoring.

USB mics are also a waste of time/money if you decide you enjoy recording and want to add more/different mics.

So...the choice is yours but I'd suggest a basic XLR mic and an interface featuring "direct hardware monitoring".

Recommendations? The Rode NT1A is a good and popular mic. I'd also consider the sE Electronics sE X1 or sE 2000, both good mics for vocals.

For an interface, maybe the Focusrite Scarlett 2i2.
 
Thanks you very much Bobbsy! Very helpful information.
So with the 'focus rite scarlett 2i2' it would be a straight connection between a RODE NT1A and my macbook (which doesn't have firewire), and thats all I would require to record?
Thanks in advance
 
The USB might have the same interface as the 2x2 only 1x1 built in. How does this affect you. You cannot do stereo input micing , X Y, or large diameter condenser and small diameter in A+B . The types of placement where the level pushes the field right or left, and not the same as a mono pan. Having 2 sources to monitor comparisons isn't too important, but nice.

When you get stuck it is hard to even communicate the problem.

I started with a large and small condenser microphone and a 2x2 USB or 4 track .

Stay away from the shure sm58 clones , those are more for live sound. Unless you want that. I want a microphone that picks up the distance.

You want to find the limits of your dead space room, and explore that fringe. Or do you want to blast the mic to pieces like nothing else.

Start hanging moving blankets.
 
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Even so, since the OP wants simple and easy I'd probably avoid FireWire/thunderbolt unless a high track count (>16) is needed and I doubt that's the case. FireWire is on the way out and we've yet to see how much penetration Thunderbolt will get compared to USB3.
 
bondle said:
Thanks you very much Bobbsy! Very helpful information.
So with the 'focus rite scarlett 2i2' it would be a straight connection between a RODE NT1A and my macbook (which doesn't have firewire), and thats all I would require to record?
Thanks in advance
Click to expand...

Yes that would do it.

(Well ignoring mic stands, pop screens, headphones, DAW software etc. but you need all those whatever mic and/or interface you decide on.)
 
TOTALLY! Agree with Bobbsy except!

For close mic work like rap , SM57/58 and the Steinberg UR22 is a better interface IMHO. Why? Electronics are just as good if not better than the 2i2 and it comes with Cubase and has MIDI ports.

Dave.
 
Thank you very much people for explaining your choices, rather than just giving me microphone examples.
My computer is the macbook before the 'macbook air' came out. (its pretty average). Its a 2.4GHz intel core 2 duo with memory of 2GB 1067 MHz DDR3. Sorry I'm not sure how helpful it is, but its the best information I can get.

And the SM57 would be a compatible microphone with the interface Bobbsy is describing?
What would be your guys choice with a budget of aroun $400-$500?

Thanks once again everyone. I think ill choose to stay away from the USB after reading this.
 
bondle said:
My computer is the macbook before the 'macbook air' came out. (its pretty average). Its a 2.4GHz intel core 2 duo with memory of 2GB 1067 MHz DDR3. Sorry I'm not sure how helpful it is, but its the best information I can get.
Click to expand...

There are a lot of variations so I could be wrong, but the 2007 macbook range has firewire 400.
These lads are quick to dismiss it and maybe that's fair enough from a microsoft viewpoint, but firewire (now via thunderbolt) is very popular on Mac OS and it's not likely to go anywhere any time soon.
I've used it for audio for many years now, spanning digi 002/003/firepod/firestudio mobile/motu 828mk2 without issue.
I had an mbox 2 usb for a while but it was plagued with hum/buzz issues, as often happens with usb interfaces and laptops.

If you do stick USB you've had some good recommendations there.
Yes, the sm57 would be compatible with the interfaces listed.
 
Yes, the SM57 (or almost any microphone with an XLR output) will be compatible with the Focusrite interface or the Steinberg ecc83 mentioned.

Mic choice is a very personal matter and I'm not a big fan of the SM57 or SM58 for studio vocals. The SM57 is more of an instrument mic (and a very useful workhorse) while the SM58 is aimed more at live work on noisy, loud stages. Some like the sound, others (me included) find it muddy at the low frequencies an harsh at the upper end because of a presence peak there. I'd consider it for live but not studio recording--but that's just me.

As for the Steinberg, yup, it's also good. Up to you whether MIDI is something you need. I wouldn't personally want to work with Cubase though, especially the stripped down version that comes with interfaces. However, again, it's a personal choice and everybody has different things they look for in a DAW.
 
Unfortunately my model doesn't have the firewire port, due to it being the base version, rather than the 'pro' version.
Okay so currently I will most likely invest in the model interface Bobbsy has mentioned, as it is reasonably cheap and a USB connection to the computer I believe? The Mic however, I am less sure as to what I will go for. I still have at least a month to decide. The RODE NT1A is currently the strongest contender. Just to reiterate, it will be used for vocals only, in a studio (my bedroom with some treatment) environment. It won't be used at all for live performance. Any more suggestions for me to consider over than the NT1A?
 
bondle said:
Unfortunately my model doesn't have the firewire port, due to it being the base version, rather than the 'pro' version.
Okay so currently I will most likely invest in the model interface Bobbsy has mentioned, as it is reasonably cheap and a USB connection to the computer I believe? The Mic however, I am less sure as to what I will go for. I still have at least a month to decide. The RODE NT1A is currently the strongest contender. Just to reiterate, it will be used for vocals only, in a studio (my bedroom with some treatment) environment. It won't be used at all for live performance. Any more suggestions for me to consider over than the NT1A?
Click to expand...

Do not worry about the USB connection, it will be fine with either of the interfaces mentioned and several more.
In the last 3 years or so I have used 6 or 7 USB audio interfaces with a variety of computers and operating systems (never a mac but then surely any problems would be "mac's" fault???) never had any real problems (Win 7 has its foibles, not an issue here!) Then, you can also get hum problems with Fussywire! It is rare but if you do get such a ground loop problem it is a right bugger to sort!

Mic? Little point in handwringing, go for the NT1-A. Only time and experience will tell you if you like it but it is highly unlikely that you will HATE it!

Dave.
 
Thank you for your input Dave!
As it stands, I will be most likely investing in the 'Focusrite Scarlett 2i2' accompanied by the 'RODE NT1-A'.
Feel free to comment if anyone disagrees with this set up.
Thank you everyone for your help, much appreciated!
 
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