I’ve read about the Shure SM58 and what a great microphone that is for recording the whistle, but I’m not yet ready for performing and wonder if anyone can recommend any cheaper USB microphones for recording into GarageBand. Since I have that software on my Mac it’s about time I started to figure how to use it. Right now I’m using a £5 microphone from Argos but am sure I can do a little better.
Mike, you will probably get a lot of recommendations here. There are more USB mics available than there are stars in the sky.
For my part, I do not like most of the USB mics I have tried. They don’t allow a lot of control, especially of the initial trim level. It is my preference to run a mic into a proper preamp that offers both a trim and a volume stage. However two mics I have used and found useful are the M-Audio Producer USB and the Audio-Technica 2020 USB. They would both be a significant step up from what you are using now. I have tried many others and found them lacking in open-ness and presence.
You can always make any XLR mic a USB mic using a USB adapter. One advantage that the current crop of USB adapters has is the they have included trim circuits into them. Take a look at the Shure X2U and the MXL MicMate Pro (newest model). With these you can use any XLR mic although some makers have targeted adapter models for dynamic mics versus condensers. That would allow you to upgrade to a proper mixer or USB preamp at a later date without having to buy another mic.
I have found that buying a decent mic and an inexpensive mixer with USB I/O is the better way to go though. YMMV
Take a look at some threads on the Tech Forum as well. These things get discussed there on occasion.
Hope that helps.
Feadoggie
Wow! A whole other new field for me to discover and learn. Very helpful Feadoggie. I understood enough of it to hear what you’re saying but there’s a different technical language for me to come to grips with bit by bit. I’m on a tight budget so the USB route may prove to be cheaper and I’ll check into those microphones. I’m not sure there’ll ever be a day when I would step up to proper mixing.
Maybe you wouldn’t mind explaining a few of your terms like “trim,” and what the difference between a condenser and dynamic microphone is. I need to do recording 101!!
OK. Many cheaper mics do not put out a very strong signal. A trim/gain control compensates for that.
I’m running out at the moment so I’ll say more when I get back home.
Feadoggie
Back again.
So the preamplifiers in a mixer provide a few functions. On the input side of things they first of all match the impedance of the device plugged into it. You can think of this as plumbing matching the diameter of the pipes which you want to connect together. A mic will usually be a low impedance device. A guitar could be a high impedance device and a CD player or iPod/MP3 player could be a consumer line level impedance. All have signals with different electrical profiles and of different strengths. So for a decent mic you plug it into the low impedance inputs. Then with the volume on the channel set to unity gain - meaning zero - you check to see how strong the signal is. You raise the input trim to get it up to a usable level. Since you do not have a trim level on the USB port of your PC/Mac the signal level of the mic may not be hot enough to even make a decent recording.
On the output side of the mixer/preamplifier there is also generally an option for matching impedance to whatever the mixer is sending the signal to. It can be a balanced low impedance connection, a consumer line level like solid state audio recorder, a pro line level device like a hard disc recorder or amplifier, or a USB output sent to a computer. So the mixer/preamplifier makes sure it will send a clean, usable signal level to the USB port regardless of what the input was.
Between the input and output the mixer can set the relative levels of all the sound sources involved, allow for dynamics and EQ processing or adding effects (or not).
So many USB mics get plugged right into the PC’s USB port. Most mics don’t have a proper level setting amplifier in them but some newer ones do. The MXL USB.009 is one of those. There are others with similar circuitry. These will have the same controls as the USB mic adapters I mentioned above. So without the ability to set the mic’s output level what do you do? Some mic makers will provide a piece of software with the mic that allows you to lift the output level about 10db or so and still give you a clean signal. Otherwise you find yourself raising the channel volume in the recording software to the point where it turns the signal to noisy crap which renders it unusable. There are other software bits that can help but I’m not a MAC/Garageband user so I can’t advise you there. So just make sure you have a way to set the level of the mic’s output before it gets to the recording software.
I am sure there is a lot of jargon in the above that will make your head spin. Just concentrate on the fact that you need control of the mic’s output level.
Hope that helps.
Feadoggie
Hello! I’ve started t use the Tascam TM-ST1 and the Diamond Extreme Sound USB External Sound card. About $50 total. I’m sure that systems costing hundreds of dollars more would be better, but this set-up is a very nice step up from the computers mic and the little voice mic that I had. Plus, the Diamond can have two inputs and can output in surround sound. Best regards.
Mike
Thanks Feadoggie for all that “input.” I’ve a lot to learn but that was very helpful. I checked out some USB microphones, mainly condensers and they were way above my budget and so were the ones you first suggested. That’s a major problem. But I’ll check out the MXL and thank you msheald for your suggestions too. I need to learn to play the whistle well first - that’s the main priority - but along the way it would be good to start trying to put tunes together.
Thanks again.
Mike
I use a relatively inexpensive MXL 603 into a usb interface. Mine (tascam us-600) has six microphone inputs, but the kind with only two inputs are cheaper. The biggest advantages this has (imo) over usb for what you propose is that you can put the mic on a real stand and put it any distance from the computer, or even in a different room.
I keep mine on the stand, in the room, all the time. Whenever I’m practicing and feel a need to, I can record and play back.
You could probably do this for $200, including the stand and the cable.
But record with what you have. There’s a lot to learn and you can always upgrade your gear later.
For under $100 you can buy a Zoom H1 and make good recordings anywhere, any time, no PC necessary. I’d easily do this before buying a cheap USB mic.
The Zoom H1 sounds interesting but it is a lot more expensive over here in the UK at £79. Right now my budget won’t even run to that. I think I will have to make do with what little I have for now, and wait until my first novel becomes a huge success and I can afford a really good set-up. All I need to do now is write it!!
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