USB Mic or External Soundcard + Mic?

obsydion

Hi all,

I'm an amateur singer looking to record a few vocals just on my laptop (Macbook). Googling around I see the best options would be to buy a USB Microphone or to buy an external sound card/mic combo.

The cheaper option would be the latter:
http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/imic
£30 Plus a cheap mic (or one borrowed off a mate!)

The better but more expensive option would be:
http://www.bluemic.com/snowball/
£75

Any thoughts? The snowball looks awesome with great reviews but pretty dear.

Thanks!:)

JG009

The first one there, if you are borrowing a mic why do you need it? Does your computer have no input on the sound card anyway?

You can get USB adapters that give phantom power too.

drumdrum

obsydion wrote: »

Hi all,

I'm an amateur singer looking to record a few vocals just on my laptop (Macbook). Googling around I see the best options would be to buy a USB Microphone or to buy an external sound card/mic combo.

The cheaper option would be the latter:
http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/imic
£30 Plus a cheap mic (or one borrowed off a mate!)

The better but more expensive option would be:
http://www.bluemic.com/snowball/
£75

Any thoughts? The snowball looks awesome with great reviews but pretty dear.

Thanks!:)

Hi Obsydion,
IMHO, the quality you want really depends on your expectations. With either of your options I wouldn't expect demo quality levels if I were you as you will probably be disappointed.
If all you want is to throw down an idea or two so you dont forget them musically, then does quality really matter? I use a recorder app on my phone to capture melody ideas. Sure the quality sucks, but the music is there.....and its free!

About your links, the problem with the USB adapter (1st link) is that your mic will need to be a 1/8th inch jack type mic which probably wont sound very good. Most of these are simple web chat mics and the like. The snowball would be better, but from its specs it only supports 16bit recordings, which might limit you in the future...


If I were you, I would save up the extra moolah and get a simple interface card with a fairly decent (relative to price since it seems to be a factor with you) separate condenser mic. The difference would be night and day and it would let you record to a level of getting a decent enough demo done by yourself in your own time. Of course, having the gear and knowing how to properly use it are two different things, but sure thats what experimentation and google are for!

Since price seems to be a factor for you, here are a few suggestions off the top of my head:
Interface cards:
M-Audio Fast Track USB**
Line6 POD UX1

There are many others, sure take a look at this general search and you can filter your requirements on the left.
USB Interfaces
Firewire Interfaces

If you must go the USB mic way, I suggest this...**

As for pure condenser mics, take a look through these over at Thomann. There are even some sound samples with some of them for you to preview.

Personally, I've used a fair few mics in my time and I keep coming back to this one (Se2200a) which I got in Xmusic a year ago and especially for its price, I prefer it to a number of mics that I've used worth well over twice (or even three times!) its price! Of course, this is just my opinion on the mic and YMMV!

The links I marked with a "**" seem to come bundled with a ProTools Lite program which would really help you put together demos in no time. Knowing how to use these things would also help your music enormously in the future. You can get Audacity for free which is a decent free starting point. You can try Reaper for free for 30 days after which you must buy a licence, though its fairly cheap considering the competition!

Hope this helps man....best of luck in your search!