2011-04-11 15:38:26

So I'm relatively satisfied with the thirteen-year-old microphone that I have's quality when it comes to simple voices and SFX, but it's definitely restrictive when it comes to loud sounds and certain pitches.
And some of what I've been able to do using my headphones has gotten me interested in trying to enhance the spacial element of what I can record.

... Though, "stereo boom microphone" is clearly not what I should be searching for, as that just comes up with headsets with microphone attachments with below average user reviews.

I did try to get a USB microphone a few months ago, for around $40 US. Plugging it in always killed the sound on my computer, making it completely useless, so I had it returned.

Any suggestions on how to go about getting something of better quality?

看過來!
"If you want utopia but reality gives you Lovecraft, you don't give up, you carve your utopia out of the corpses of dead gods."
MaxAngor wrote:
    George... Don't do that.

2011-04-11 15:54:57

Amusingly, I thought this was a spambot for a second sinse topics that start with "best affordable" usually are ;D.

Personally, I've had various mikes I've used for different things.I used a fairly cheap but reliable (about 30 pounds or 50 usd), basic usb mike purely for skype purposes, because I didn't fancy a headset mike at all, as I can get far better sound from my good headphones or speakers.

while the stand mike was reasonable, I wouldn't use it for recording.

I then have a rather expensive standard voice mike used for singing type affairs, though i've not used that in windows.

Myself I always do recordings on the rowland r09 which has in built sterrio mikes. the pickup range isn't huge, but the quality and even spacial difference betwene the mikes is pretty good. Also being quite small it's easy to stick in places.

The only downer is trying to record gameplay reviews sinse I obviously can't use headphones and a digital recorder at the same time.

for general recording though, whether voice or something else I'd recommend the roland or something similar.

It's quick and easy to use, plugs directly into a usb, and converts instantly to mp3 or wav of various bitrates, and also sinse it's literally a turn on and point affair, you don't even have to muck about with complicated software.

there are probably more advanced software options involving recording programs and mucking about with sterrio mikes of some kind, but personally i've never been dissatisfied with the r09.

It's what I've done all my game reviews on (just by correctly positioning my computer speakers and setting the pickup volume on the mike), and also what I did all the tdv recordings of Brutus' voice on.

With our dreaming and singing, Ceaseless and sorrowless we! The glory about us clinging Of the glorious futures we see,
Our souls with high music ringing; O men! It must ever be
That we dwell in our dreaming and singing, A little apart from ye. (Arthur O'Shaughnessy 1873.)

2011-04-11 16:58:03

I'd try the blue snowball, it can swivel quite a bit, and has pretty good sound, too.
Or you can try the lighter snowflake, it's just the portible version.
There both plug and play, and I like the snowball for skype, but it's good for recordings, as long as your running it with something like goldwave, or a program where you can set options for recordings thrue your mike.

2011-04-12 06:09:13

Hello.
When I plug my headphones to record as you did,nothing seems to happen. I have tryed windows recorder tryed changeing the settings and such,but alas. That really was cool .
Any suggestions on how I might be able to do this?Thanks.

Of all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these, ‘It might have been.
Follow me on twitter

2011-04-12 11:13:06

Well, there are a few things that made it easier for me.

I actually thought of it because I noticed that when I was trying to record off of the computer with a cable and a splitter (so I could hear what I was recording), sometimes I could hear what was going on in the distance on the recording. (Usually if I was recording a game and something went wrong and I yelled at it. ^^).
So the first big issue is that it's really quiet, so the volume has to be enhanced to hear most everything.

There are a couple things about my headphones that might affect how well they work for this. They have a volume slider just below where the wires intersect. I've found that it works best if the volume on the headphones is turned all the way up.
The other is that my headphones can flip rather freely, so I was able to wear them inside-out. (Oddly, noone that's seen this has made comments on this yet. smile )

So... I think a good test would be to yell at the headphones and then make the recording louder. ^^


Thanks Dark and Jondalar for the tips... I'll try to look into those. smile

看過來!
"If you want utopia but reality gives you Lovecraft, you don't give up, you carve your utopia out of the corpses of dead gods."
MaxAngor wrote:
    George... Don't do that.