Ask Engadget: Best headset / microphone for podcasting?
By Darren Murph 
posted December 3rd 2009 11:41PM
posted December 3rd 2009 11:41PM
To be completely honest, we're still trying to determine for ourselves which device is best for these kinds of activities. If you've found a diamond in the proverbial rough, spill it in comments below, won'tcha?"I've found myself using my PC for a lot of conversations lately, and I'm also considering recording a podcast to share with anyone who will listen. There are tons of USB headset / microphones out there, and I'm hoping someone has some solid recommendations based on experience. I'll consider both headsets and standalone mics, by the way, but I'd like to keep the bill under $100 if possible. Help!"
I podcast.And personally, I've been on the crazy cheap side of the spectrum and now I'm on the reasonably to unreasonably priced end. I started with a Rock Band mic taped to my water bottle while I had terrible headphones and used Audacity to record.
Now, I'm nicely running my Snowball from Blue Mic with my Bose headphones. Still on Audacity. Is spending the money worth it? Well, yes, because after a while, even if you have something good to say on your podcast--and there's gold in them there hills occasionally--it's nice when you don't pop your p's or make your listeners (all 7 of them) wince.
@AnandRam
Lol, Bose... /sigh
@AnandRam
Lol, Bose... /sigh
@mbones
lol double post, my bad... I haven't quite gotten the hang of the new Engadget yet it seems.
@mbones
lol The Bose are pretty comfy. And I'm Canadian--it's a blessing on my ears in the winter.
I personally talk in ventrilo all the time and I use Razer Carcharias, Great sound quality top notch mic. You can't go wrong with it.
Under 100$?any AKG k99 i GUESS. I have a pair ok K271 MK2 and k702. with a Nuforce Mobile amp. It works great.
you may want to check out the "blue snowflake."
It's not a neumann but it aint't too shabby
How do you guys not know the answers to these questions! This is one of the most popular and respected tech blogs in the United States! I have a feeling these posts are just to take up blog space. I don't know if anybody agrees with me, but I feel these articles are shit. If you can call them articles. If you have questions, Google or Wiki! Damn!
@joaqdelx
You said "under $100". Engadget is rolling in the dough, so they've got nice equipment!
>>I don't know if anybody agrees with me, but I feel these articles are shit
I'm not sure what happened, but it should say:
>>>>I don't know if anybody agrees with me, but I feel these articles are shit
@joaqdelx Are you shitting me! Why the fuck does it keep fucking with my posts; and I CAN'T EDIT them. LOSERS!
Mics are SO dependent on your typical usage.
Like AnandRam said, a Snowball is a good choice for a mic, especially if you ever plan on recording a second person at the same time.
For headset/headphone, if it's JUST for monitoring the audio, I personally wouldn't be too picky, as a well rated 'budget' pair will give you enough quality for monitoring. How it sounds on a typical 2 or 2.1 computer speaker setup is more important, and you'll hear that in the editing.
For a one person show, and I like the Plantronics Gamecon 777 which can either be used as 3.5mm jacks on both headset and mic, or the USB dongle to get rid of that pesky system sound.
Any USB based mic usually takes a bit more tweaking to get the audio level right on both the system sounds and individual programs, but it's worth it. The SteelSeries Siberia is pretty close in quality, but the mic is a clip on style instead of boom, and has an independent cable. This makes it more flexible, but a bit more unwieldly in some situations.
If you go with a Snowball or something like that, a pop filter is a cheap and worthwhile investment. Heck, you can stretch pantyhose around a coat hanger. How's that for cheap?
@Alan Strangis
Funny you mention it because I was tempted to think I needed to try the pantyhose! But in the end, it didn't sound like I was popping at all through the Snowball, so I guess I didn't need it.
WTF just happened to this threads' posts' responses? Mine got deleted and joaqdelx's got moved down 2 posts.
I use an Astro A40 and Skype.
For podcasting, inbound audio doesn't matter as much as outbound. Spend money on a quality mic (I'm looking at you, snoball) to give your listeners the best listening experience.
Better stay off from headsets,
if you pop it all the time.
Just the ThinkPad build in mic or some $7 Audio Technica
mic could work quite well, as long as you actually take care where
you place your mic and how to speak.
m-Audio Vocal Studio bundles a decent USB mic (with built-in headphone jack for monitoring) bundled with Pro Tools software!
USD 99.00 MSRP
Can't go wrong with a Samson CO1U
http://www.samsontech.com/products/productpage.cfm?prodID=1810
Can't go wrong with a Samson CO1U. It's at the top of your price range but can be found discounted in the usual places. Pair it with the spider mount and you're set for life.
http://www.samsontech.com/products/productpage.cfm?prodID=1810
Here's your diamond in the rough: The Rode Podcaster USB Mic.
I record music professionally, I'm even endorsed by a mic company, but won't get into that. A couple of days ago Im at home, I need to record a quick VO for a quick reference for a commercial. I have a MBox3 setup at home for production but no mic, I don't feel like driving all the way to the studio, so my neighbor brings by The above mentioned mic. It blew me out of the water. I didn't even have to run it through Pro TOols, Logic recognizes it right away and was clean as hell.... I bought one the next day.
Very useful. I currently produce the podcast for our team and use a crazy setup with a way, way more than we need for a single mic'd file. What I'd like to get is a decent little recorder and mic set so when I travel I can pull it out and do ad-hoc recordings.
Anyone got any recommendations?
@adgeman
The Zoom H2 might be what you're after. Brilliant quality both as a portable recorder and a USB mic.
http://www.zoom.co.jp/english/products/h2/
I use an MXL 990 condenser mic, probably the best bang for the buck mic at $69 (includes shock mount & case). I have AKG K240 headphones, but for podcasting I found that my $30 Creative Audio earbuds work just fine - so there's a great setup for < $100.
You will never get sound advice on audio equipment from people, all you can do is try and/or hope, even trusting on a brand you had good experiences with doesn't work.
Of course if you are very 'open' you can have yourself be convinced by people that something that isn't that good is great and if you are the type you can keep that up and live with it maybe.
These are my conclusions from my experiences.
I use the Guitar Hero World Tour mic.
I'm a musician, not a podcaster and I use it for recording my guitar and it records it perfectly, no background noise at all. Plus, they're only like 20-30 dollars.
Good luck
MXL 990...really good mic for the price. Bought it 5 years ago? Still works well.
SnowFLAKE from Blue is also not bad...no software means easy set up...plug and go...use own software to control settings. sits on screen.
if i was in the market for an entry level mic i'd go for the snowball. for stuff on the fly i was really impressed with the quality and flexibility from the mikey - but that's more for super quick or impromptu interviews etc (w/ipod/iphone).