Mic on a budget

Hi all!!

So i am looking for a mic but it has to be lower than $60. I plan on using it for my 2014 Macbook Air so i'm 90% sure i can use a USB mic because i think it's able to store enough power.

 

And if there is anything else I need for a mic or recording audio then please tell me, I don't know much about equipment haha

 

If anyone has any links to any cheap pop filters or a video on how to make one yourself that would be appreciated too!

 

Also, I found a mic here and if anyone has tried this or knows if it's good or not, please share because if all hope is lost, i'll just get this one.

 

Thank you!!

If at all possible, before you buy a mic find a way to listen to it. Some microphones are designed for podcasts. So, they might or might not be what you want for other things.

 

However – the one you're looking at just might be "a good 'un," and in your price! Amazon generally has good return-policies ...

My very, very limited experience used a USB-connected audio interface (before I bought a keyboard that actually has one built-in). The microphone is audio, and the interface converts it to digital. Easy to find at pawnshops and on the out-of-the-way "used equipment" rack at your favorite music-gear store. Around here they seem to be about $60.

 

"Pop filters" are trivially easy to make: find something to stretch, say, pantyhose material over ... a stretched worn-out coat hanger, an embroidery hoop, even a cut-out coffee can lid. Literally anything to interrupt those pesky "plosive puffs" of air. Some people swear by T-shirt material or spandex.

am sure if you google, you can find simple instructions to make a pop filter.

 

the thing with a mic like that is... it includes a usb connection, but it's not an actual interface; no headphone jack, and so, no way to listen to what you record with whatever you're recording to (interfaces let you hear what you're doing in balance with what's already in logic).

 

there ARE usb mics that have that capability, but more expensive. check the details on amazon (or sweetwater, for example; you can call them for help, but again, more expensive).

 

if your needs are really simple (ie recording a vocal over a logic track, etc) you might get away with something like this; but if you need to do overdubs... more complicated. good luck!

...the thing with a mic like that is... it includes a usb connection, but it's not an actual interface; no headphone jack, and so, no way to listen to what you record with whatever you're recording to...

There's no need in LPX (or OSX) to have inputs and outputs on the same physical device, you can simply use the built-in output for monitoring when recording with a usb mic.

Yes. But the idea is that a USB interface (which can cost the same as a USB mic) gives you way more inputs, outputs, monitoring options than a USB mic.

Yes. But the idea is that a USB interface (which can cost the same as a USB mic) gives you way more inputs, outputs, monitoring options than a USB mic.

Yeah, but then he'll also need to buy a mic...

Yes. But the idea is that a USB interface (which can cost the same as a USB mic) gives you way more inputs, outputs, monitoring options than a USB mic.

Yeah, but then he'll also need to buy a mic...

 

you can get usb microphones with a basic interface built-in, ie:

 

https://smile.amazon.com/Samson-C01U-Studio-Condenser-Microphone/dp/B00HXE4BYW/ref=sr_1_44?crid=1KISFQJ2JT4UT&dchild=1&keywords=usb+microphone+for+music+recording&qid=1586724775&sprefix=usb+microphone+for+mu%2Caps%2C153&sr=8-44

Yeah, but then he'll also need to buy a mic...

Yes.

 

And if you haven't spent the dough on a USB mic which would only limit you in functionality from the get go, you may stretch a little and get bot a mic (like, a Shure SM58) and a cheap two channel USB interface and be set for the foreseeable future.

 

Spare that and you'll get frustrated in no time.

 

you can get usb microphones with a basic interface built-in

Yes, but these are generally awful both in sound and in performance.

that samson that i linked to will, at least, sound better than the OP's link (and cost more, of course), and you can monitor thru it. nothing will replace a good mic and a good interface, but this could be a place to start...

As I said, I think that if it were me, I'd want to get a simple USB interface, which has analog inputs, phantom power, and a headphone jack. Now, I can attach to it any analog mic I want, any analog piece of gear at all, any type of analog mic, and change it at any time. And if I one day want to, say, "sing a duet," I can.

 

I suspect that this USB unit is definitely geared toward podcasting, where voice quality really doesn't matter much and convenience does.

 

I think that the flexibility would be worth it, both in the short and in the longer term, and I also predict that the short-term money outlay would be comparable. (Always prowl the "resale equipment" area at any music-gear shop! People are getting rid of tons of great stuff all the time, and there's nothing wrong with it.)

This. Literally.

that samson that i linked to will, at least, sound better than the OP's link (and cost more, of course), and you can monitor thru it. nothing will replace a good mic and a good interface, but this could be a place to start...

 

budget. and this is only slightly over the OP's budget, but has monitoring, decent specs, good reviews... simple. anyway, we've given the OP a lot to consider.

You don't need monitoring on the mic.

am sure if you google, you can find simple instructions to make a pop filter.

 

the thing with a mic like that is... it includes a usb connection, but it's not an actual interface; no headphone jack, and so, no way to listen to what you record with whatever you're recording to (interfaces let you hear what you're doing in balance with what's already in logic).

 

there ARE usb mics that have that capability, but more expensive. check the details on amazon (or sweetwater, for example; you can call them for help, but again, more expensive).

 

if your needs are really simple (ie recording a vocal over a logic track, etc) you might get away with something like this; but if you need to do overdubs... more complicated. good luck!

oh you're right, i totally forgot about that. (that could mean the one im looking at is totally out the window, haha)

i definitely want to record over a track, thats the whole reason i want a microphone.

but why can't i just play the track through my computers speakers without headphones and still record? why do i need headphones?

and if i don't want the track loud via my computer's speakers, why can't i just connect headphones into the computer's headphone jack and not the mic?

why can't i just play the track through my computers speakers without headphones and still record?

You can. But the microphone hears and records them as well. Onto your vocal track.

 

why can't i just connect headphones into the computer's headphone jack ?

You can. But it might mean that every time you plug/unplug your headphones, it resets Logic's audio drivers which essentially reloads all software instruments you used and also disables the USB mic that you so carefully set up and switches to the mac's internal mic instead. That's the kind of stuff that I alluded to with "frustration"

am sure if you google, you can find simple instructions to make a pop filter.

 

the thing with a mic like that is... it includes a usb connection, but it's not an actual interface; no headphone jack, and so, no way to listen to what you record with whatever you're recording to (interfaces let you hear what you're doing in balance with what's already in logic).

 

there ARE usb mics that have that capability, but more expensive. check the details on amazon (or sweetwater, for example; you can call them for help, but again, more expensive).

 

if your needs are really simple (ie recording a vocal over a logic track, etc) you might get away with something like this; but if you need to do overdubs... more complicated. good luck!

oh you're right, i totally forgot about that. (that could mean the one im looking at is totally out the window, haha)

i definitely want to record over a track, thats the whole reason i want a microphone.

but why can't i just play the track through my computers speakers without headphones and still record? why do i need headphones?

and if i don't want the track loud via my computer's speakers, why can't i just connect headphones into the computer's headphone jack and not the mic?

 

for $20 over your original budget, you can record & overdub... without issue. you can use headphones, or earbuds. you don't want your track leaking into the vocal mic.

Yeah, but then he'll also need to buy a mic...

 

you can get usb microphones with a basic interface built-in, ie:

 

https://smile.amazon.com/Samson-C01U-Studio-Condenser-Microphone/dp/B00HXE4BYW/ref=sr_1_44?crid=1KISFQJ2JT4UT&dchild=1&keywords=usb+microphone+for+music+recording&qid=1586724775&sprefix=usb+microphone+for+mu%2Caps%2C153&sr=8-44

sorry to be a burden but are any cheaper than that?

sorry to be a burden but are any cheaper than that?

 

Sure, but you get what you paid for:

 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01D4HTIOY/ref=sspa_dk_detail_5?psc=1&pd_rd_i=B01D4HTIOY&pd_rd_w=nt3kr&pf_rd_p=48d372c1-f7e1-4b8b-9d02-4bd86f5158c5&pd_rd_wg=e01Vt&pf_rd_r=YAPP7FCBDK2QPRKAMSVD&pd_rd_r=453c19a4-825c-4318-b8ed-d10ff2e8688e&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEzN1dSRjlCRlpQRjM3JmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwNDUxMTc2MUxTUVdaWTNVVDNWOSZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwMDk4Njc2UTVLTFFGQU00TkpZJndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfZGV0YWlsJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==

sorry to be a burden but are any cheaper than that?

 

Sure, but you get what you paid for:

 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01D4HTIOY/ref=sspa_dk_detail_5?psc=1&pd_rd_i=B01D4HTIOY&pd_rd_w=nt3kr&pf_rd_p=48d372c1-f7e1-4b8b-9d02-4bd86f5158c5&pd_rd_wg=e01Vt&pf_rd_r=YAPP7FCBDK2QPRKAMSVD&pd_rd_r=453c19a4-825c-4318-b8ed-d10ff2e8688e&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEzN1dSRjlCRlpQRjM3JmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwNDUxMTc2MUxTUVdaWTNVVDNWOSZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwMDk4Njc2UTVLTFFGQU00TkpZJndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfZGV0YWlsJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==

 

that has no monitor capability. seriously, for $20 over your budget, you can get a decent-enough mic, and you can monitor what you record. if it were me, i'd work that out. you do get what you pay for...

You might just sing into the Mac's built-in mic then...

 

Sure, but you get what you paid for:

 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01D4HTIOY/ref=sspa_dk_detail_5?psc=1&pd_rd_i=B01D4HTIOY&pd_rd_w=nt3kr&pf_rd_p=48d372c1-f7e1-4b8b-9d02-4bd86f5158c5&pd_rd_wg=e01Vt&pf_rd_r=YAPP7FCBDK2QPRKAMSVD&pd_rd_r=453c19a4-825c-4318-b8ed-d10ff2e8688e&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEzN1dSRjlCRlpQRjM3JmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwNDUxMTc2MUxTUVdaWTNVVDNWOSZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwMDk4Njc2UTVLTFFGQU00TkpZJndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfZGV0YWlsJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==

 

that has no monitor capability. seriously, for $20 over your budget, you can get a decent-enough mic, and you can monitor what you record. if it were me, i'd work that out. you do get what you pay for...

haha youre right, ill probably just get the samson you linked.

You can. But it might mean that every time you plug/unplug your headphones, it resets Logic's audio drivers which essentially reloads all software instruments you used and also disables the USB mic that you so carefully set up and switches to the mac's internal mic instead. That's the kind of stuff that I alluded to with "frustration"

 

What an earth are you saying? Plugging or unplugging your headphones does not mess up anything. I have never used usb mics, but I would guess that they show like any audio IF anyway. You can choose them as input and use the built in output as suggested earlier.

 

What happens when you unplug the headphones is that audio is routed to the built in speakers and when you plug the headphones back in the audio is routed to your headphones. Easy as printing money. It has no effect on the input.

"Easy as printing money" turns out to be not quite so easy...

 

https://moneyfactory.gov

 

If you are ever in Fort Worth, Texas, don't miss this tour (when they resume). You'll watch them printing money, 24/7/365, in two huge factories (there is about to be another, "Texas sized"), literally by the ton. A self-guided walkway goes over the entire factory floor ... and it really is a huge manufacturing plant. Their very unique "product" takes more than six days to make, and every single specimen must be (and, is ...) perfect. (Literally every note is now computer-inspected.)

 

Look closely on any piece of currency. If you see "FW," then it was manufactured in Fort Worth. If you don't, it was manufactured in Washington, DC. Many employees spend their entire careers working – I'm quite sure they pay very well – at "the Plant."

 

It's also interesting to visit any Federal Reserve Bank, where you will watch the other end of the line: tons of worn-out money being shredded in equally-massive machines. (Some of it gets recycled into exceptionally-durable cotton/paper towels ...)

Plugging or unplugging your headphones does not mess up anything.

Check this as an example:

https://www.logicprohelp.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=144162&p=748511

There's also reports that plugging in a headphone on some MacBooks will make Logic think you switched hardware altogether and (correctly) sets the output driver as well as (incorrectly) the input driver to built in audio. Haven't got time right now to dig that up.

When i used to DJ using a mac, if i plugged into or out of the headphone port it would kill the whole rig. I used to use the macbook headphones as a cue via aggregrate device.

Plugging or unplugging your headphones does not mess up anything.

 

I can show you what it does to my system.

Before headphones being plugged in I have the Apollo as my input and output:

 

 

Then I plug the headphones in:

 

 

If I go to Youtube, the Apollo is not the output anymore, the headphones are.

And I didn't tell the computer to switch the outputs.