Here's a few tips for all of you about microphones for all of you:
First:
-If you are starting, take a look at what you have around, maybe your gaming headset will be good enough to start.
-If you have a rockband mic laying around stored in some box, it may do the job too, stick a pantyhose on top of it to stop plosives, cut a hole on a ceral box to have it serve as a mic stand and voi-lá. This used to be the beginner youtuber special back in 2011~2013 and it worked very well.
-Check the noise reduction filters and equalization in OBS (or maybe use NVIDIA RTX Voice if your card is compatible) for some boost in quality.
The important is to start.
-Study mic technique, a lot of quality improvement can be done without spending a cent:
>>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ty8YLqOmbV4>>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAKnCEsZ_ogAfter you begin and you look into into buying a mic to improve your audio quality keep in mind a few things:
-"pro" audio requires a lot of investment in equipment, acoustic treatment, mixing, etc. A lot of your favorite vtubers and regular youtuber and streamers don't have it and do just fine.
-USB mics are generally not the top end of the microphones contrary to what Blue's marketing team may want you to believe, but a good quality one is more than serviceable. If you're not that tech inclined and want an all-in-one quick solution, consider one.
- A good XLR mic, a boom arm, a pop filer and good audio interface will be enough. Don't get lost chasing "the best", don't get lost into the audiophole rabbit hole, it'll cost you a lot of for increasingly diminishing returns that most of your
viewers and won't notice.
- If you are on a tight budget, look for dynamic microphones, a Shure SM-48 with a windscreen, an XLR-to-USB adapter or a cheap audio interface will be cheaper and beat in quality most USB mics at thrice the price.
-Take into consideration your needs - lot of streamers, for example just use condenser mics because it's "studio quality" but can't get the quality they may potentially output or do anything that will really benefit from having one (like raw music vocals to for mixing).
-Going off from the last point, if you are not recording music (I don't mean Karaoke streams with some reverb kicked in, I mean actually recording vocals for mixes or professional voice overs) consider dynamic mics instead of condensers like most big streamers do, it'll save you a lot of headaches.
About Mic types, there are basically two that matter for you.
Condenser mics:
- A lot of people who do livestreams use these; They are your Blue Yetis, AT2020s and similar.
-Usually are called studio mics, and there's a reason for that. While give you a nice voice recording with a fuller range of capture, to make the most out of them you need a controlled, studio environment.
-They are more expensive by themselves, often require more accessories (not only a boom arm, but shock mouths and the like), and are often overly sensitive (which is why you get a lot of mouse and keyboard noises when people are playing).
-To make them sound the best they can will require acoustic treatment of the room you record (because they are sensitive and capture the sound waves bouncing on hard surfaces and that messes with your quality) or home-made recording studio/booth (or a makeshift one, like getting inside of a closet full of clothes or recording inside a pillow for).
Dynamics mics:
-These are the stage mics, most of you will be familiar with handheld ones stick with the little ball on top of it (but many can have different shapes and look as "studio-like" as the Condensers).
-They're usually very good at not capturing the noise that's not immediately in front of them, which is why they're used for concerts, churches, TV, and even presidential speeches (US presidents have been speaking into SM-57s for a many decades now).
- That means you don't really need to have an acoustically treated room and the clicks and clacks of your keyboard and mouse won't be picked so easily, which makes them great for home studios.
- While dynamics can get expensive, due to their construction they'll be less expensive than Condensers. The legendary industry-standard Shure SM58, for example, costs 100 bucks, and even the top models like the RE20 are way cheaper than the high end condensers that cost thousands of dollars.
- Dynamic can also be used for studio recordings - a lot of Rock vocals are recorded on Shure SM-58s because it's gritty; a ton of podcatst and radio studios use the Shure SM-7B (with Joe Rogan being the most famous example), NPR uses the Electro Voice RE27.
- Dynamics however are not as sensitive a as Condensers, they're not ideal for most musicians doing studio recordings unless we're talking rock/metal vocals.
Hope it'll be of use for all of you.
And sorry for double spaces but it's a lot of information and I wanted it to look organized.
Godspeed, anons!
And good luck!
