vagrant orbit
My USB Marantz microphone has unfortunately died after 4 years... Because of this I need to get a new one as I'm re starting a youtube channel and want to start voice acting again.
Luckily I have a increased budget of £80-£100 and planning on getting a XLR microphone. I have read the guide but was wondering if there was any updates on anything better or personal reccomendations? Other than taken up more storage, is there any other reason a XLR microphone should not be used for streaming?
fading pulsar
A while back I was recommending the Blue Ember a lot; it's on par or better than all the $100 mics and because Logitech acquired Blue and is discontinuing their XLR products, you could easily find it at a really good price. Looks like there's still deals if you look: https://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Condenser-Recording-Streaming-Cardioid/dp/B0FTBHJ2LL
But note that this one is "renewed" - I've had good luck with that as far as audio gear personally, but ymmv
That's a US link, so you may have to look for a UK-specific one to find it in your region.
Do you have an XLR interface already? TBH a budget of a hundred quid is about where they start to be worth getting. Otherwise, the quality of their electronics is matched at a much lower price by some USB mics on the market, such as the Razer Seiren Mini or the Neat Bumblebee II. I'm sure there are others as well, but those two tend to punch above their price weight class.
At a lower budget, your largest limiting factor to audio quality and equipment reliability is going to be your interface. It's just not worth it to get anything lower quality than an Arturia Minifuse 1 / Scarlett Solo (the most popular interface, though do note that Phebe highly un-recommends Scarletts from personal experience. My experience with them has been... okay I guess.) and it would be even better to pay a little more for something like an SSL2, which is high enough quality and (generally) reliable enough to never need another interface as a solo professional voice actor.
Other than taken up more storage, is there any other reason a XLR microphone should not be used for streaming?
Tons of creators use an XLR mic for streaming. It can potentially give you more control and can allow you to use multiple mics at the same time, depending on your interface. There's a whole world of different kinds of audio hardware and software for different needs. But it's worth mentioning that existing "turnkey" products like the Elgato Wave - a decent USB mic with a pretty good suite of audio software made to work with it - are going to be easier to learn.
Elgato has their Wave XLR interface with the same software, but at that point you're just paying more to be able to use a different mic.
ALSO
Acoustic treatment is the most important part of sounding good
It cannot be overstated that if your recording space is not well treated, you will sound bad basically no matter what. A better mic will not fix this.
If you don't have decent acoustic treatment in your room, it would be a much better use of your money to get one of those USB mics I mentioned above at the lowest price you can find, then spend all the rest on acoustic treatment.
DO NOT buy foam or a reflection filter. They're basically scams.
Here's some actual low budget ideas for acoustic treatment: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1_FwMUWjovZ_kfsmGHXmc5T5d5Cv1_w5QEPUv2-U7N2s
vagrant orbit
Do you have an XLR interface already? TBH a budget of a hundred quid is about wh...
Thank you so much for responding! But as of now I don't have a XLR interface but planning on getting the Scarlett Solo 3rd gen. I've just had a look at the SSL2 and I'll see if I can find something on the second hand market as it's slightly out of budget.
I should be fine with learning any audio hardware or software the mic needs.
vagrant orbit
ALSO
**Acoustic treatment is the most important part of sounding good**
It cann...
Acoustic treatment is err.... A mixed bag to be honest. It could be better but it's not the worse
This is my current setup (sorry for the mess)
If I were to get the XLR mic I'm guessing Im going to give the room more padding
However I do have a backup place.
In theory I could make this work and record in here like a closet recording space
But if that dosen't work
I could convert this space
and if THAT dosen't work
Into the dark cold attic I go (Although I doubt I need to go that far)
fading pulsar
Very thorough haha, I can tell you've put a lot of thought into the matter recently. What's your treatment look like behind your chair? That's the direction your mic would point assuming it's going to be at your desk, so that's the most important place to treat.
fading pulsar
Thank you so much for responding! But as of now I don't have a XLR interface but...
So when you mentioned your original budget, that was just for the mic and you had already accounted for the interface, am I getting that right?
vagrant orbit
So when you mentioned your original budget, that was just for the mic and you ha...
Yes I have!
vagrant orbit
Very thorough haha, I can tell you've put a lot of thought into the matter recen...
Hopefully the mic is going to be at my desk. Behind me is my bed and is a bit of an open area. I could see if I could find padded foldable screen to go behind me but that's probaly as far as I can go with making the room soundproof
Other than padding out the bookshelf area
fading pulsar
A privacy screen should be enough to hold up a few layers of blankets, which would go a long way for acoustics.