Comments on: You’ve chosen a winner! The best USB mic…

By: Tools for Screencasters | Justin Seeley's » Creative Ramblings

Tools for Screencasters | Justin Seeley's » Creative Ramblings — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 12:58:49 +0000

[...] and the USB condenser stays in my office full-time. Fore more information on USB mics check out Terry White’s Tech Blog. After I’ve done my recording, the video is immediately accessible in the finder and I can [...]

By: Mark Allen

Mark Allen — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 14:46:13 +0000

Thanks for this review! I was about to buy another USB mic and now decided to order the Blue Yeti.

By: arrakian

arrakian — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 23:32:21 +0000

I actually thought Sample 1 was the Blue mic- based on what I’ve heard before from these companies studio products. Not that Rode isn’t good, just Blue, more often than not, sounds better to me.

I do think a level match would have been better for the test, though. I don’t mean as far as matching the recording volume (setting each mic up optimally is best), but evening out each of the samples playback volume. The way is was, I thought Sample 1 was less efficient than the others, but more controlled; Sample 2 & 3 were louder ( more sensitive), but sounded noisier.

I really like it when blind audio test are posted, because it takes the bias’ out and lets the chips fall where they may.

By: Bob Updegrove

Bob Updegrove — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 20:52:21 +0000

I agree with Troy. Seems to me the best test would be to optimize each mic to its best potential. Would the results have been any different if you set the gain to optimize the MXL mic and then recorded the Rode mic with those settings? For the price difference, I wonder if the MXL mic, when optimized to its best ability, would have sounded pretty close to the Rode mic in your samples. The hum in Samples 2 and 3 was very noticeable and, I believe, skewed the results just based on that. Would love to see a new test/sample done with customized settings for each mic.

By: Troy Breidenbach

Troy Breidenbach — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 17:51:26 +0000

So it would seem that with USB microphones, you kind of get what you pay for.

While I understand your desire to make sure that the test was as fair as possible, I agree that it might have skewed the results a little. A more fair test might have been to set-up each mic exactly how you would use it for your podcasting and record some audio with it. It wouldn’t have to be the same thing said for each mic. That being said – I loved your review and test. Keep up the good work!!

Thanks for the review – it was fun to hear samples from all and give some feedback – its nice to know you care so much about your listeners opinions!