The problem with a lot of straight USB mics is they are really dependent on what kinda power is going to them. What makes XLR microphones so good is that they all rely on phantom power which effectively isolates any potential power rail interference with the audio. Another hugely important factor is preamplification. What separates a lot of microphones apart in terms of quality is the preamp stage, and more expensive microphones generally have much higher quality and better tuned and matched preamps than lower quality ones. Another huge benefit of XLR is you can more reliably match impedence, vs USB powered mics where the line input may be completely different from computer to computer thanks to aforementioned dirty USB power.
TBH you can actually build a very good preamp and XLR mic yourself using cheap electronic components, with your own phantom power supply and everything plus a USB or 8th inch interface pretty easily if you know a bit about electronics. There's hundreds of schematics out there for preamp designs and all it takes to modify them for whatever you're working with is changing a few resistors for higher or lower values depending on how you need to match.
For what the Blue Yeti is I think it's a perfectly acceptable microphone. Would you want to use it as a professional piece of equipment? Probably not. But for a lot of people the low end of the professional spectrum is still too costly or its just too space inefficient. What's easier, putting a mic on your desk and plugging it in and going or dealing with tons of wires, stands, and a variety of other things just so you can capture your voice?
I've actually repaired a number of Blue Yeti microphones with damaged USB ports and they certainly did a good job with interior isolation. I didn't bother to look at the preamp but a quick glance at all the electronics looks pretty solid. They're not awful microphones.
[QUOTE=Sini;52393664]Your voice is lovely[/QUOTE]
what?
[QUOTE=Slim Charles;52394396]what?[/QUOTE]
His voice is lovely
[QUOTE=Slim Charles;52394396]what?[/QUOTE]
it's a lovely voice
I got my blue yeti for $40 through a price error. I'm pretty happy with it for that price. Plus, I did my research on it before I ever bought (audio samples, compared to others in its original price range and cheaper). I definitely doesn't sound as bad as the snowball (the snowball is way tinier). But it's of course not going to sound as good as an XLR mic using phantom power and a dedicated sound card for capture. I don't think anyone has been proclaiming at it is. But it definitely sounds better, at least through the comparisons I've heard, than the lower priced alternatives he mentioned. You could probably put together an okay XLR mic setup for the $120 price tag, but most people who are just getting into youtube don't want to go through all of that trouble. I know I didn't.
The video goes on to make some good points, but the dude fucked up by coming off with such a horrible elitist tone. The mic isn't garabage, it's just the minimum bar to making alright sounding audio content on youtube.
I'd argue nabbing one on sale makes for the perfect starter video. No one should start a youtube channel and invest in studio equipment from the get go. I'd also recommend Podcastage's comparison videos for a better idea of what cheaper mics actually sound like, if anyone happens onto this thread and has been thinking of buying a new mic for producing any sort of content. He has a video for just about every mic, and some top mic videos for certain price ranges.
What about a battery powered Zoom H1?
I can't stand this guys voice
He forgets why people might want to use a USB microphone over studio equipment and the reason without thinking too much is quite simple. Affordability, portability and convenience. Not every YouTuber uses a studio set-up like he does but if he told me that he was using a Blue Yeti for the whole video I probably wouldn't have noticed, and for good reason, they're common and it powers a lot of people's content. His set-up sounded clearer but initially I couldn't tell the difference.
[editline]23rd June 2017[/editline]
Also I don't think I even need to mention this but even if your content is high quality crystal clear, using the best tools, it doesn't mean shit if the video is not good.
[QUOTE]it's important to recognize you'll go nowhere as a creator or artist as long as you're using a USB microphone[/QUOTE]
Pure concentrated elitism. He even sticks a BM-800 XLR microphone among his photos of cheap USB mics and assumes the snowball to have the same internals as the yeti, which just speaks volumes of how he's never had to deal with low-end gear.
There's a whole community of support for the things, and one of the bigger draws of USB mics is the plug-and-play aspect. People don't want to spend hours researching and building a set of audio equipment that's far beyond their requirements (even if they might 'grow into it' later on) and any time not spent on that is more time spent creating. With how cut-throat the market for creators is, any time wasted is a huge disadvantage.
[QUOTE=ChronoBlade;52394705]There's one I disagree with this guy generally (besides a few other things he mentioned, but I think everyone brought it up). He forgets why people might want to use a USB microphone over studio equipment and the reason without thinking too much is quite simple. Affordability, portability and convenience. Not every YouTuber uses a studio set-up like he does but if he told me that he was using a Blue Yeti for the whole video I probably wouldn't have noticed, and for good reason, they're common and it powers a lot of people's content. His set-up sounded clearer but initially I couldn't tell the difference.
[editline]23rd June 2017[/editline]
Also I don't think I even need to mention this but even if your content is high quality crystal clear, using the best tools, it doesn't mean shit if the video is not good.[/QUOTE]
The portability is really quite useful.
I know a few voice actors who use a full setup for their main rig, but a few times a year they need to be out of town for weeks at a time, and they have a high-end USB microphone to bring along then. They obviously can't do end-quality recording with that, but they use it to record samples or demos for directors, so they can get feedback on line delivery. That way, by the time they get back home to their personal studio, they already know exactly what the director wants and exactly how to deliver, and they can just re-record those finished lines.
i don't really like the tone of the arguments either but the rest of the video was very informative to me, who has no idea how a professional setup works
I want to see EQ settings.
That's really is how you make audio shine.
[QUOTE=latin_geek;52394727]Pure concentrated elitism. He even sticks a BM-800 XLR microphone among his photos of cheap USB mics and assumes the snowball to have the same internals as the yeti, which just speaks volumes of how he's never had to deal with low-end gear.
There's a whole community of support for the things, and one of the bigger draws of USB mics is the plug-and-play aspect. People don't want to spend hours researching and building a set of audio equipment that's far beyond their requirements (even if they might 'grow into it' later on) and any time not spent on that is more time spent creating. With how cut-throat the market for creators is, any time wasted is a huge disadvantage.[/QUOTE]
I'd like to point out that for this "you'll never go anywhere" point (and other mistakes raised in this thread eg the motherboard soundcard decoding USB), the guy has already corrected a lot of them in the description. Read it!
[editline]23rd June 2017[/editline]
I'll even post them here! (emphasis mine)
[quote]
(2:35) Probably the biggest issue is that I claimed, "In the case of USB microphones, it's the embedded sound-card of the motherboard that handles the converting". This isn't correct; the analog to digital conversion takes place within the USB microphone itself. However,[B] the same principal still applies. The analog to digital conversion of the soundcard embedded in the microphone pales in comparison to the analog to digital conversion of a dedicated, standalone device[/B] (the interface.)
(4:26) I say that, "You'll go nowhere as a creator or artist as long as you're using one". In saying this, [B]I was referring to growth in quality as a creator as opposed to growth in channel size.[/B] You can absolutely produce good quality videos / streams without XLR equipment, however [B]I want to push fellow creators for "great" as opposed to "good enough".[/B] In hindsight, I should've phrased this differently to make it clearer.
(6:25) Not all interfaces are USB, the two other most common types are firewire and thunderbolt respectively. There are also some big boys that require their very own unique PCI slot in the motherboard. All the interfaces I show in this video are USB because they're by far the most common, however there are plenty of great firewire / thunderbolt interfaces out there as well. Just make sure you have the correct ports on your motherboard before springing to buy one.
(6:45) This one is honestly just a misspeak. I accidentally say "quieter mics like *condensers* and ribbons" instead of "quieter mics like *dynamics* and ribbons". I still strongly recommenced preamps for condensers, though.
(7:07) Not all interfaces with sufficient embedded preamps cost $7,000+ with $3,100 mics, that was more of an exaggeration for comedic effect than anything.
(7:26) I don't think anyone was seriously holding this against me, but I accidentally mixed up the images of the interface and preamp in this section. Just a silly editing error I felt I might as well point out.[/quote]
[QUOTE=DuCT;52395267]I want to see EQ settings.
That's really is how you make audio shine.[/QUOTE]
IDK if that's a joke but, that's really not how you make an audio shine completely, there's tons of factors to make an audio shine best, EQ is only a small part of it.
[QUOTE=Gray Altoid;52395593][quote]However, the same principal still applies. The analog to digital conversion of the soundcard embedded in the microphone pales in comparison to the analog to digital conversion of a dedicated, standalone device (the interface.)[/quote][/QUOTE]
Wow, this guy is actually fucking retarded, and has no fucking idea what he's talking about.
Audio capture is so amazingly solved when it comes to electronics, you have to be a moron to try to argue that the ADC in USB mics is the problem they're bad.
This problem is so solved, you can literally get a single-chip solution from Texas Instruments that was released in [I]2008[/I].
[url]http://www.ti.com/product/pcm2912a/description[/url]
[url]http://www.ti.com/lit/ds/symlink/pcm2912a.pdf[/url]
16-bit delta-sigma ADC, 48 kHz sample rate (absolutely sufficient, if you think otherwise go have a chat with Harry Nyquist), with USB 2.0, and built-in microphone biasing and programmable gain amplifier, with 90dB of dynamic range and 92dB SNR. And THD+noise of 0.01%.
And a stereo DAC. On one chip. Running off single supply (5V, single-ended, so regular USB, though you need a bit of filtering). And the part costs like a bit over 5USD: [url]https://www.digikey.fi/product-detail/en/texas-instruments/PCM2912APJTR/296-39145-2-ND/2047509[/url]
I cannot even begin to describe how far up his ass this guy is.
I definitely see where he's coming from. He comes off as a bit of a douche, but he has some very valid points.
I mostly just do streaming, so using a condenser mic (Especially a Yeti) wouldn't be a good idea for someone like me. I was aiming at the AT2100 or the AT2005 mics. The best part, is that they have a XLR input, so I can switch to an XLR setup once I have the money as well.
He's a joke stealer, btw:
[media]https://twitter.com/lylemcdouchebag/status/878334605023100928[/media]
[QUOTE=FlandersNed;52396001]He's a joke stealer, btw:
[media]https://twitter.com/lylemcdouchebag/status/878334605023100928[/media][/QUOTE]
Yeah I pointed that out earlier, down to the same exact words and music, like what the fuck lmao.
the idea that the mic is overpriced and there are better alternatives seems perfectly reasonable but it's impossible to listen to his misguided smugness about his audio superiority - "listen up plebs if you want to better yourselves"
the actual difference he demonstrates between the yeti and his mad studio setup is so laughably small too - you make youtube lets plays with clickbait thumbnails, no one gives a shit about the crispness of the voiceover bud
[QUOTE=Talvy;52394019]You estimate the rest of the audio setup at $60 despite the $200 minimum in the video.
I myself bought it because it was on sale with a game, and I need a microphone by the end of the month. As far as I know it's one of the better USB mics, and I don't have the need, time nor money for more right now.[/QUOTE]
that's because i got the rest of mine for like, £75 about 2 years ago
like the dude's setup in the video isn't close to a good alternative, and as said before, i think the guy in the video is an idiot, and it's a trash stolen video
but that doesn't mean the yeti is a good investment, it's overpriced, and you would have been better off getting a cheaper USB microphone if you needed one by the end of the month, and then saving up for an XLR mic if you wanted one down the line
because that way if you wanted to upgrade, you've already got the interface sorted
[QUOTE=darth-veger;52394559]His voice is lovely[/QUOTE]
man I'm a dumb fucking cunt for some reason I read it as "Your voice is lonely" haha.
[QUOTE=Cloak Raider;52396232]that's because i got the rest of mine for like, £75 about 2 years ago
like the dude's setup in the video isn't close to a good alternative, and as said before, i think the guy in the video is an idiot, and it's a trash stolen video
but that doesn't mean the yeti is a good investment, it's overpriced, and you would have been better off getting a cheaper USB microphone if you needed one by the end of the month, and then saving up for an XLR mic if you wanted one down the line
because that way if you wanted to upgrade, you've already got the interface sorted[/QUOTE]
But it's merely £90 with a £40 game included. I don't want to replace it too soon, and the Snowball is worse for only £30 less than that.
[QUOTE=Vodkavia;52396283]How does someone whose a plagarist nobody lets player go around telling people they wont go anywhere because of their equipment?
Primitive technology has 4 mil subs and he's just some guy with sticks and dirt. Samonella academy has the same amount of subs and his videos are just MS Paint. GradeAunderA does the same and has 3 million subs. There's plenty of channels that do things on the cheap. Almost as if spending top dollar on expensive equipment isn't a short cut to success and the real key is making content people love, instead of being an elistist nobody who spent thousands on audio equipment to make the most derivative type of generic boiled excrement YouTube has to offer.[/QUOTE]
Already covered this. He supposedly meant that while can certainly still be successful, you won't grow (as well?) as an actor, or something.
[QUOTE=Gray Altoid;52396356]Already covered this. He supposedly meant that while can certainly still be successful, you won't grow (as well?) as an actor, or something.[/QUOTE]
Which is sort of a stolen point as well. Soulbrotha's videos say that you won't be successful as an actor unless you are willing to get the gear needed in a professional environment. He is specifically talking voice acting where that sort of stuff is necessary.
if you wanna save a little money on a blue yeti you can read in to audio and devise a cheaper alternative with a basic condenser and a little compression in post
for consumers though, £99 for a quick n' dirty, high-quality solution is not bad whatsoever. bare in mind the industry standard shure sm58 costs £70 new - to make a metaphor, you're buying from the supermarket instead of the wholesaler. it's priced for its convenience and they pay for consumers to trust it as a brand of microphone. you can do better for cheaper, but most consumers probably wouldn't be too happy about rigging it up (even though by audio industry standards it aint hard)
if this post is a bit hard to understand i apologise i'm terrible with words
He's right, but at the same time, he's wrong.
The audio wasn't that much worse with the Yeti. Why spend a lot of cash to make your audio brilliant, when you could just go for something thats pretty good, with a slightly high price for what it is?
Unless you're all about the audio, you really shouldn't be spending on something like the Yeti, but for average streamers or people who don't need perfect audio? Why even talk about soundproof?
[QUOTE=FlandersNed;52396001]He's a joke stealer, btw:
[media]https://twitter.com/lylemcdouchebag/status/878334605023100928[/media][/QUOTE]
This is pretty ironic considering, that he one time had a problem with another YouTuber just for making a similar series to him.
He even got angry at a fan for simply being inspired by him and making something similar to his series, where he then said this:
[media]https://twitter.com/weegeethegod/status/769322919818252288[/media]
[QUOTE=Cloak Raider;52393651][media]https://soundcloud.com/cloakra/alright[/media]
i own a blue yeti
the dude isn't insulting you, this is very good advice
sure, his point is very aggressively made, but i can understand why this would anger audio people because it's such a ridiculous price[/QUOTE]
I have a few questions for you or anyone who would know.
I have dabbled here and there, and have a somewhat failing XLR mic that produces noise but could not afford a new one, so I've had to clean up audio before with Audition's reduction tool. Can't you basically take that bg hum out with minimal impact on the quality and just EQ it from there to get something much more acceptable? That's been my workflow for videos I've done.
Follow up questions: I got a Komplete Audio 6 for its ease of use. How does that sort of interface (takes XLR but can plug in via USB) affect the quality versus getting a more pro setup, and what sort of setup would be recommended instead if this was a bad choice?
lol
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