I'm looking to get a USB microphone for my wife's Christmas present and needed some recommendations. I've noticed the Hangout has a bunch of musicians and audio producers alike. The primary purpose is to record her singing. I guess "YouTube singer" would be a way to describe it. Looked up some condenser mics for that airy sound and saw the Apogee Mic 96K. Any suggestions? Budget would be around $150, but willing to go as high as $250 if the quality is that much better in that price range. Thanks all!
Don't go usb. Purchase an audio interface like the one mentioned above. $100-200 should do it, try and find one that comes with an entry level DAW. And get an AKG Perception mic in the price range that you mentioned.
Buy the audio interface and head to the pawn shop. I've struck gold at pawn shops when it comes to mics Bought an AKG c414 for $400 a few years ago
I'll let you know once she confirms what she's going to use this for. Thanks for the offer/proposal Did more research based on your recommendations and would definitely rather go this route depending on what she's really going to use this for. If she's just going to post videos on social media of her singing, the USB route will probably suffice. Thanks for the input!
I own a Samson C03U usb microphone and I not recommend it (if you were considering it). It does this weird thing where you hear interference static in the recording and you don't get that crisp studio sound that you'd want.
haven't tried one myself, but these snowball mics are popular http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006DIA77E...UTF8&colid=3BW850ZFNVK7B&coliid=IWZRSTEFCXUSU
I'm going to be honest...... I know you have done some research on this but I'm sure many will agree with me that USB is great for podcast, not singing. If she is seriously going to do some covers of songs or even original content than I think the best thing to do is invest in something that will capture he talents vs something that will not. Recording regular podcasts is easy. Recording singing vocals and having them sound right is hard. Now, I'm sure you are not trying to have her record an album or anything but if this is something she enjoys then I would recommend at least an interface and a condenser Mic......... You can get both for your price range and have a better overall product. I can show you some I recorded on my setup for a female vocalist just for kicks and giggles.
A great mic by itself will not get you studio quality or even close to it if you don't have a good pre-amp. If you're on a budget I'd get an average/good pre-amp, and get a cheaper condenser mic. My set up is M-Audio mobile-pre older version ($100 used) + MXL 990 condenser mic ($80 new). I haven't tested out the newer version of the mobile-pre, but it's a little over $100 on various sites. This is the best option for the best sound quality for under $200. If you would like to hear a sample, listen to the crisp verses on this song (chorus is off key b/c that's how we wanted it to sound). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEI3wblGt2M
By the way, ANY mic without a pre-amp already built in will sound bad. It just doesn't have enough power. As far as USB vs. non-USB: It really doesn't matter too much if she's a youtube singer. Just because a mic is USB doesn't mean that it will just sound a lot worse. If you have a USB condenser mic + a good pre-amp, you'll still get great sound (for youtube) and not many people can tell the difference between a USB and non-USB mic if they're the same mic. The MXL 990 USB version is $120 and non-USB is $80. Very similar sound.