for several reasons Iād like to add a condenser mic to my equipment. Itās mainly for recording my acoustic guitars alone (especially those without a piezo), but maybe even sometimes to have a quick recording of me singing and playing the guitar without the need to have a ābigā set up.
But here is the tricky bit: Ideally, Iād like to buy one mic that has the capability to work on its own with USB directly into my laptop (for quick sessions), but also can be used with my AI via XLR in case I want to have multiple inputs at the same time. I could find loads of dynamic mics having both USB and XLR, but for condenser mics it doesnāt seem to be that common. Has anyone possibly heard of one or even owns one? Any recommendation?
I got one of those and had nothing but trouble with it in USB mode. Worked as it was supposed to on XLR with phantom power supplied, but the USB behaved as though it was not receiving enough juice. Spent a lot of time with Sweetwater support on it and reached the point where they were completely stumped, too, and wanted me to send it back so they could figure it out.
It was apparently a one-off problem because they hadnāt encountered it before, and even got in touch with Rodeās support team.
It was at that point that I got an AI and a regular XLR condenser mic.
Thank you for finding this one, James. I was also digging a little deeper after posting and came across this one. So far, it seems to be the only one. Rode is definitely a respectable brand and if nothing else pops up, I will probably end up with this, even though itās a little costly.
Thanks so much for your honest review, Nate! Thatās exactly what I had hoped for. Iām sorry you had so many issues with your mic. Whatās still giving me hope and not excluding it directly, is the fact it seems to have been kind of ābad luckā with the given mic you had instead of being a general issue with the NT1.
Keep on digging and watching this thread, in case something else pops up. Letās see what is to be found until Santa has to make his/her choice.
Donāt underestimate how good phone mics are these days! I do a lot of quick recording just using my phone - most of the footage I put up here just uses my iphone.
You can buy this and your XLR mic becomes usb mic if you wish. This is a high quality option, but there should be other options as well. Now you have full range of xlr condenser mics to choose from.
Having said this, that Rode NT1 is a great mic, I have one (NT USB+) - very happy with it.
oh, some interesting options here!
when seeing the title I was also thinking of the NT1 5fth.
It is probably the mic with the least self-noise around, so when you record something, you can change the EQing or add effects like crazy and wonāt notice any noise. Or if your source is a bit on the quiet side. Of course, if your environment is noisy, a part of the low noise advantage is lost. I saw it reduced up to 185ā¬ once and possibly it will dropin price on black friday?
Thanks for the two options, Adrian. The Flow looks great and seems to be exactly, what I need. But unfortunately, they donāt write whether itās a condenser or dynamic. Iāll dig a little deeper on this one before deciding. If itās dynamic, I probably wonāt take it. I recorded my guitar once with a dynamic mic and it had to be soooo close, I always bumped against it.
The Samson-G doesnāt have an XLR-option, though.
Thanks for your food for thought, Paul. Youāre right about the phone as quick option. However, I was a little disappointed about signal strength with my current phone (maybe it is due to the case Iām using) and this still wonāt help with quality recording of my acoustic-only instruments. So in the long run, I will need a condenser one day.
Thanks for this great suggestion, Boris! This thing looks great and opens up loads of options (which is not necessarily good for people with issues in decision making ). Only little downside it seems, it is not plug-and-play as you need an app. But hey, thatās the times weāre living in, I guess. Also thanks for your input on Rode Mics. Good to know they are as good as Iāve read and heard so far.
Thank you, Dominique. Interesting point about the self noise. Our environment is not super quiet, but also not super noisy and later, I hope to have an almost sound-proof āstudioā when our home is renovated. Black Friday is a good thing to keep in mindā¦
yes, there are probably quite a few options more than those we mentioned.
I overlooked this, yes, some amazing quality possible, I think it depends on the phone and the app used, often there is some ugly noise suppression going on (which is good for speech but not for music), which in some apps you can turn down /off, but I think that in some phones it isnāt even possible to turn it off?
I just use my iphone - Iāve been doing so for many years (at least two different models) and simply record video using the native camera on the phone. Personally I find it perfect for a single acoustic and vocal, and because itās so quick and easy I do it more often - I probably record myself most days. Only a handful of my uploads have used anything else. Iām sure the sound could be better, but then again, so could my playing
Maybe next time I use my phone for recording, I put the case off and see, if that helps. Because with the former, which had a different case, signal level was just fine.
Looked through this thread; looks like I would need an adapter to connect my usb male end mic to an xlr cable to use an audio interface like Scarlet when I looked at it online. The one adapter someone posted looks like it may work, but itās the cost of a decent mic, which I want to avoid having to get. Any usb to xlr cable adapters I see online, affordable ones, have a male usb and female xlr end. Does anyone know of an affordable, $50 or less, adapter/cable that would work well with Scarlet?
I would wager that, if you have a typical USB mic, at least half of what you paid for is the part that converts from audio to USB. Basically, itās a small audio interface. That leaves not that much left over to pay for the mic and pre-amp components.
So if you pay (say) $80 for a USB mic, you are probably buying a $40 mic with a $40 audio to USB interface.
This is one reason I tend to recommend against buying USB mics: they are much lower quality than the equivalently priced XLR mics.
If your choice is between buying a $50 adaptor for a cheap-ish USB mic, and buying a semi-decent XLR mic for the roughly the same price, you should buy the new mic every time.
Unless you have a very high-end USB mic ($200 or more) then the new XLR mic is going to be better quality.
Itās been good enough for my uses. Now that my wife is getting more into performing (looks like sheās making progress towards getting hired to perform at ukulele festivals), she got a dynamic mic which can also connect to the audio interface.
@Majik Thanks Keith. My mic cost under $50, but seems to have good sound for speaking. I can record myself talking and itās clear as a bell. I also use it, placed right up on the amp speaker and tried in various locations by that speaker, to record music. It does ok for electric, but I have to turn the amp volume up quite high, and turn the backing track down lower to even out for a decent recording. It barely picks up acoustic, or finger picking on electric, no matter where I place the mic. So, sounds like I need to invest in a decent xlr mic, and an audio interface? I wouldnāt buy the adapter for usb/xlr connection. Iād get the new mic. Thanks again for replying. This is what I was concerned about, but wanted an opinion from someone who knows.
Yes. An audio interface will give you a lot of flexibility, and a decent XLR mic doesnāt necessarily have to be expensive.
Note that thereās lots of types of mic and the best type for you will depend on the application.
For acoustic finger-picking, you might find a condenser mic is best. Dynamic mics tend to have a lower sensitivity and reduced frequency range and wonāt be so good for that.
When you are finger-picking on the electric guitar, I assume you are still going via the amp?
For recording electric guitar, you may find that your guitar amp has a recording output you can plug directly into the audio interface.
I would also not get too hung up on brands if budget is an issue. The Focusrite Scarlet interfaces are decent consumer-grade audio interfaces, but there are other brands around which are often cheaper for comparable capabilities and quality. In particular, I, and others here, have found the Behringer UMC series (such as the UMC204HD) to be excellent.
Yes, but the sound is very muted on a recording. I can hear myself playing, but the mic isnāt picking it up, although the sound is obviously stronger/louder when I use a plectrum.
Whatās still giving me hope and not excluding it directly, is the fact it seems to have been kind of ābad luckā with the given mic you had instead of being a general issue with the NT1.
