usb mic

Review Of The Maono AU-901 USB Microphone

September 27, 2017 by Ken 2 Comments

I just tested a USB mic called the Maono AU-901, which a USB microphone. The mic is intended primarily for podcasting, gaming, Skype, video voice-over, etc.
This mic costs $46.99 at Amazon.com.
As with all of my mic reviews, I recorded audio from the review mic and tested it against a comparable mic. In this case, I have audio from the Samson Q2U, which is in the same general price range – though a bit more expensive at $59. (See my review of the Samson Q2U here).

What Is This Mic?

It is a USB mic. So you don’t need a separate interface unit to connect it to your computer. The Maono is described in their manual as plug-and-play, “compatible with Win7, Win8, Win10 and Mac for voice recording.”
The Maono comes with the mic, a desk stand, a USB cable, a mic clip, and a set of headphones (earbud style) you can plug into the mic. See figure 1.
Most USB mics are plug-and-play these days. That means you don’t have to bother with loading a driver for it to work on your computer.

how the Maono mic shows up in Sound settings — Figure 2

So the very first thing I noted was how well the plug-and-play worked.
Answer: very well. I plugged the USB cable into a USB port and it was instantly visible as an available mic in Windows Sound.
One thing that confused me, though, was how it was labeled in Windows Sound settings. I expected to see “Maono USB Audio,” or something similar. It took awhile for me to figure out that the entry reading “Realtek USB 2.0 Audio” was the Maono. See Figure 2. Realtek is the audio built into my computer’s motherboard. On my Mac, the Maono showed up as just “Microphone.”

How Samson mic shows u in Sound settings — Figure 3

Usually, a USB mic shows up with its brand name. For example, the Samson Q1U shows up as “Samson Q1U.” See figure 3. It’s confusing, though it’s a fairly minor quibble.

OK, So What Were The Pros?

As I said above, the plug-and-play worked instantly, which is good. That eliminates the hassle of dealing with drivers.
I also liked that the gain control was right there on the mic. That means you don’t have to rely solely on the Windows Sound settings to control the input. Just set it at “100%,” and you can use the “Volume” knob on the mic to control the input level.
This is a condenser mic, which usually means hyper sensitivity to p-pops. This mic yielded very few p-pops, which is good, and pretty rare. That also means less editing of plosives if you’re using the mic for recording (as opposed to using it for Skype, game chat, etc.).
And the sound quality was pretty decent on my voice.
One other interesting feature of the Maono was the “Echo” control knob on the mic. Even though the stated primary use is for podcasting and other spoken vocal applications, their site mentions the use of the built-in echo/reverb as something you can use for music recording. There is a sample of the echo on my voice in the audios below.

What Were Cons?

Noise. The self-noise (audible noise that is present BEFORE you even start speaking into it) was VERY loud. In fact it’s the loudest noise I’ve even heard from a USB mic. This is my number one complaint about this mic. You can hear what I mean in the samples below.
I made several recordings using a couple of different mics. Use headphones to listen to them if at all possible.

Just listen to the noise.

I recorded “silence,” by which I mean I simply hit the Record button and didn’t say anything. I did this with 3 different mics – the Maono AU-901, my old Samson Q1U (same price as the Maono) and the newer Samson Q2U. All of these mics are USB mics in the same general price range.
First is just the noise from the Samson Q1u (average noise volume = -52 dB):

Now listen to the noise from the Samson Q2U (average noise volume = -58 dB, 6 dB quieter):

Finally, here is the noise from the Maono AU-901 (average noise volume of -40 dB, 12 dB noisier than the Q1U, which I always considered to be pretty loud!):

To make absolutely sure that this was a fair comparison, I “normalized” the input levels of the 3 mics so that they were all equal by making sure that my vocal recording was the same average level (RMS) in all 3 mics. The Maono AU-901 was just very noisy.
It isn’t all bad news though. As I said above in the “pros” section, the audio quality of the Maono was pretty decent. Once I ran noise reduction on the vocal recording I made with it, the tones sounded pretty good. I compared them to the noise-reduced quality of a standard PC mic and the Maono was definitely better.
For comparisons of the audio quality between the Maono and the Samson, listen to a bit of text I read for a voice over sample:
Maono AU-901

Samson Q2U

What About The Echo On The Maono?

I mentioned that the Maono had a unique Echo control. It’s a knob on the mic that you can use to add an echo effect to your recording. this could be useful for music recording, or for effects on certain types of “hard sell” voice overs (think “Sunday, Sunday, SUNDAYYYY!!!”). Take a listen below:

Final Assessment

The Maono AU-901 would be a much better mic if it weren’t for the excessive level of background noise inherent in the mic itself. It’s much louder than other USB mics in the same price range. But since it’s pretty easy to filter out noise like that using standard noise reduction tools present in even the cheapest (even free) audio software, it isn’t as much of a problem as it might be. And the left over sound is not half-bad. Unfortunately, the more noise you have to remove from a recording, the more likely it is that the leftover audio will have some artifacts – usually called “the swirlies” is pretty high. And if you listen to the Maono sample with noise reduced above, you’ll hear some of these artifacts.
As I said in the Pros section above, there are things to like about The Maono AU-901. And it would be a no-brainer for the price IF ONLY it weren’t for the excessively loud noise. As it is, you’ll still sound better with this mic than you will with a standard computer mic – the type with the 1/8th inch pin that you plug into your sound card or the “mic” jack in a laptop.
Click here to find out more or to buy one for $46.99.

Review Of The Samson Q2U Microphone – Hear The Test Audio For Yourself

July 14, 2017 by Ken 24 Comments

Here is my review of the Samson Q2U microphone. They call this, more specifically, the “Q2U Recording and Podcasting Pack.”
If you don’t want the gory details, I’ll tell you the results of the review right here. The Q2U is excellent! It’s better than the Q1U by a lot and it is almost as good as the Shure SM58 dynamic mic, which costs a lot more.
If you do want to know a bit more…

What is it?

The Q2U is a USB/XLR dynamic microphone. See our post Condenser vs Dynamic Microphones for more on what it means to be a dynamic mic. But what in the world is a “USB/XLR” mic?
Most folks are familiar with what USB microphones are. They are pretty amazing. You don’t need an external interface to plug it into your computer. You just plug the microphone’s USB cable straight into the computer. The sound quality is leaps and bounds better than the traditional direct-to-computer mics that came before. You know, the kind with the little 1/8th inch pin that you stick into your computer’s sound card?

But what about “XLR?”

Standard microphones are typically much higher quality than any direct-to-computer mics. But you need extra gear to get them to connect to your computer. At a minimum, you need:

A premplifier – microphones need amplification to be made audible
An analog-to-digital converter – microphones capture “regular audio” (sound waves in the air) and preamps make that louder louder. But that captured sound needs to be converted to “computer language” before you can do anything with it. That is what a converter does. See our post What is An AD Converter? for more on that.

focusrite_scarlett_solo — Focusrite Scarlett Solo

Fortunately, these days most “interface” units (such as the Focusrite Scarlett and at least a dozen similar products) contain both the preamp and converters in a single unit. They are amazingly affordable in 2017. For instance, the Focusrite Scarlett Solo is only about $100.
The XLR mic/interface box combo is basically the same setup used in high-end commercial recording studios. So if you can afford to jump on that train when starting out, I recommend that. The minimum investment there would be in the $175-$200 range.
If your budget isn’t quite there yet though, I usually recommend starting with a USB mic. You can get fantastic value for money that way. The mic I have been recommending as the lowest end still capable of professional sound has been the Samson Q1U mic for $49. But based on the tests I did for this review, I’m changing that to the newer Samson Q2U.

So Spill The Beans Already!

OK, to the results of the review. The short answer is – the Samson Q2U is better than the Q1U by a lot!
I suppose you want some details, right? Here they are.

The Q2U is only $59 ($54.99 on with Amazon Prime), which is only $10 more than the Q1U.
With the Q2U, Samson have somehow managed to all but eliminate the steady hiss that is so common in USB mics. This is huge! You can listen below to the difference in the “self-noise” (hiss) of both mics.
Overall the sound quality is much better
And it can be used as EITHER a USB mic or an XLR mic!

The Review

I compared the Q2U with both the Q1U AND the most common standard (XLR) dynamic mic in the world, the Shure SM58.

P-Pops

I did not use a pop filter or windscreen for the tests, because I wanted to find out how sensitive to p-pops these mics were without them.
Both the Q1U and the Q2U are extremely sensitive to p-pops. The Shure SM58 was MUCH less sensitive to those.

Noise

As I mentioned, the Q1U has quite a noticeable steady background hiss. You can filter this out with noise reduction, which I did. But that often affects the remaining audio somewhat, making it sound a bit muffled sometimes.
The Q2U (in USB mode) had much MUCH less background hiss than the Q1U. Clearly Samson made this a priority when designing this upgrade.
The Q2U (in XLR mode) had even less of the steady background hiss than when in USB mode.
The Shure SM58 had just about the same noise/hiss level as the Q2U in XLR mode. Did I mention yet that the SM58 is $99? That’s quite a bit more than the $59 for the Q2U, if you’re into math and stuff.

Sound Quality

This is always a bit subjective. But my assessment is that the sound quality of the Q2U was on a par with that of the SM58. The Q1U is not as good as either.
The Q2U also sounded better in XLR mode. But keep in mind, you would need to have an interface unit to use XLR mode – somewhere to plug in the 3-pin cable and provide pre-amplification and conversion. So that does add to the cost.
But even in USB mode, the improvement over the Q1U is significant.

The main difference between the Q2U and the SM58 was the sensitivity to p-pops, the bane of vocal recording. For the most part, you CAN edit p-pops out (see our post How to Fix a “P-Pop” in Your Audio With Sound Editing Software for how to do that). But that takes quite a long time, and it isn’t always 100% effective. So you will DEFINITELY want to record with either the included wind screen (the little foam “hat” that covers the screen) or a pop-filter such as the Auray Pop Filter (see pic on right).

The Audio Samples

Below are all the audio recordings I made for this review.

Samson Q1U – Noise and p-pop left in on purpose

Samson Q2U (USB Mode) – Noise and p-pop left in on purpose

Samson Q2U (XLR Mode) – Noise and p-pop left in on purpose

Shure SM58 – Noise and p-pop left in on purpose

Note how sensitive both Samson are to P-Pops.
Next are those same recordings with the noise and p-pops edited out. I found that it was difficult in both Samson mics to really get rid of the p-pops once they were recorded. So you will definitely want to prevent these via some sort of pop screen or filter.

Samson Q1U – Noise and p-pop edited

Samson Q2U (USB mode) – Noise and p-pop edited

Samson Q2U (XLR mode) – Noise and p-pop edited

Shure SM58 – Noise and p-pop edited

Just The Noise

I thought it would be very instructive to hear JUST the noise/hiss from the Q1U versus the Q2U. Be sure to listen in headphones to REALLY hear what’s going on. Here are those samples:

Samson Q1U – Noise only

Samson Q2U (USB mode) – Noise only

Conclusion?

Buy the Samson Q2U if your are looking for your first mic, your budget is limited, or you only really need a mic for the occasional audio recording application. I believe the Q2U has the biggest bang-for-the-buck of any microphone I’ve reviewed or used! It’s perfect for voice over applications, podcasts, video narration and singing.
I don’t think it’s as quite good as even the Shure SM58. But it’s pretty darned close. And you’d need extra gear (an interface) to make that work. So again – bang-for-the-buck! The Q2U is an excellent mic – much better than the Q1U.
To get yours, check it out here on Amazon.

The Best USB Mic

February 4, 2017 by Ken Leave a Comment

What is the best USB mic in 2017? According to a joint effort by Engadget and the Wirecutter, one USB mic triumphs as the best. There are tons of them on the market, and I’ve reviewed a few (see My Review Of The Blue Spark Digital USB And iOS Microphone, and Review of The Blue Snowball USB Microphone). But Engadget and Wirecutter selected…the envelope please…the Blue Yeti.
As with a lot of pieces of technical gear, there are several things you could rate to compare. In this little competition, they focused on the mic that made a voice sound the best with the least hassle. The Blue Yeti was the one that sounded the best when just plopping it down on a desk and recording. It was “the easiest way to sound good,” as they put it.
They tested 25 different USB microphones and for the third year in a row, they chose the Yeti as the winner.
Read all about the testing and how they made their choice here: https://www.engadget.com/2017/02/03/the-best-usb-microphone/

My Review Of The Blue Spark Digital USB And iOS Microphone

May 9, 2016 by Ken Leave a Comment

Spark-Digital-Pic-300 — Blue Spark Digital

I just had a chance to review the Blue Spark Digital USB microphone, which is not only a standard USB mic, but also works with your iPad or iPhone (as long as they are of a generation that uses the lightning cable connection).
The Blue Spark Digital is a large diaphragm condenser type mic. That makes it a good choice for such things as vocals and acoustic guitars, among other things. The mic has a multi-function knob on the front which allows you to control BOTH the headphone volume from the mic (yes, you can monitor the audio from the mic itself with the headphone jack that is a part of the mic cable), AND the input level of your audio*.
By default, the LED lights are blue, which indicate the knob controls headphone volume. But if you press down and hold the knob for 3 seconds, the lights turn red, meaning that the knob now controls input level. This knob has a third function as well. If you press down briefly on the knob, it acts as a mute button. Pressing it again un-mutes it.

USB Mic Gain Controls In General

* When using USB mics with gain control knobs on the front, it is REALLY easy (too easy) to have the gain up too loud and end up with distorted sound. It isn’t as bad when recording, since you have visual clues in the recording software (like the meter going into the red).
But I’ve heard way too many distorted voices come through on web conferences, Skype calls, and webinars where folks are not given immediate feedback on whether their audio is distorting or not. In those non-recording cases, it is vital that you check the audio testing tool usually available in Skype, Google Hangouts, GoToWebinar, etc. Okay, back to our regularly scheduled review:).

Overall Impressions

The Spark Digital is an attractive and interesting looking mic. Its unusual shape is consistent with other microphones in the Blue lineup, such as the Bottle tube, and Baby Bottle and Bluebird mics. The Spark Digital comes with a desk stand that includes a shock mount, which is great.
But unlike the standard Blue Spark mic (NOT a USB microphone), the Spark Digital does NOT come with a pop filter, which is odd because this mic simply cannot be used for vocals without pop filter, since it is extremely sensitive to plosives and generates impressive (in a bad way) p-pops without a filter/screen to help prevent them. So if you plan to use this mic for vocals you’ll need to buy a pop filter separately. You can use a standard filter attached to a separate mic stand, which is what I did for the review (a bit unwieldy), or you can get the pop filter designed for Blue mics – “Blue The Pop Universal Wire Mesh Windscreen.”

Hard to Use On A Desk

Something else that I don’t like about most USB mics is that they are designed to sit on a desk, which is fine for some folks. But this seriously limits flexibility when using the mic. Lots of people (that may or may not include me:-P) like to put their mics on a standard mic stand so they can stand up while recording or place the mic at any height and any angle, especially useful when recording instruments. There is an adapter for the Blue Spark though, that will work with the Spark Digital as well. But you also have to buy it separately. It’s the Blue S3 SHOCK, which costs about 98 bucks.
Without that mic stand mount, you’ll be stuck with the desk stand that comes with the Spark digital, which is unique in shape and function. But it’s really awkward to handle and I had a super hard time trying to get the mic screwed into the mount. That was really frustrating. If I were going to use this mic in my studio full time, I would absolutely purchase the extra mic stand mount and pop filter.

The Tests

I did several recordings with the Spark Digital, using USB and an iPhone 6S. The mic has two modes – Normal mode and Focus mode. Blue describes Focus mode as enhancing “clarity and detail.” There is a tiny black switch on the back of the mic for toggling between these two modes. Another of my quibbles with the mic was that the rubber cap to this switch popped off after only the 2nd time I switched it. But it was easy enough to pop back on. Anyway….

How Does It Sound?

Spark_Mic_in_Windows_Audio_Devices-web — Figure 2.

The real test of a mic is how it sounds. And this one sounds pretty darned good. The mic comes with two cables – one for a standard USB connection to a computer, and the other has a lightning connector for use with iPads or iPhones. To test the USB capability I plugged the mic into my windows 7 machine. Windows recognized it immediately, so the plug-and-play works well. See figure 2. Even with the gain knob on the mic turned all the way down, the mic was still too loud for recording into Reaper (my audio recording program). I needed to lower the level in the Windows Audio Device screen to about 50%.

P-Pop-A-Looza

After that was taken care of, I recorded the first pass of some spoken voice-over type stuff with NO pop filter. I expected the p-pops to be bad, but wow were they loud – so loud, in fact that even with recording levels super low, the p-pops were so loud that they clipped/distorted. Below is that audio. [note: P-pops were NOT edited in any way, which is why in some cases, the volume may seem low on the voice where no plosives appear (because the p-pop itself was so loud that it exceeded input limits)].
I recommend using headphones when listening to the below audio, in order to hear the subtle details.
Windows 7 USB Recording No Pop Filter (normal mode)

Windows 7 USB Recording No Pop Filter (Focus mode)

Things got considerably better in the p-pop department when I used a standard pop-filter on a separate mic stand (since there is no way to attach one to the included desk stand):
Windows 7 USB Recording With Pop Filter (normal mode)

Windows 7 USB Recording With Pop Filter (Focus mode)

Next, I wanted to compare the audio quality with another USB mic, one that costs a lot less at $45, the Samson Q1U. Here is what that sounded like. Can you tell the difference? Of course the Samson does not work with iOS:).
Samson Q1U – No Pop Filter

Samson Q1U – With Pop Filter

Next it was time to do the iOS tests. I used the iPhone 6S. The Spark Digital is recognized by most iOS recording apps (Garage Band, Cubasis, Auria, Rode Rec, etc.). I used the Rode Rec app, which immediately recognized the Spark Digital once plugged in via the lightning connector. See Figure 3.

The iOS Audio Results (everything will have a pop filter from now on)

Spark Digital Through iPhone 6S in Normal Mode

Spark Digital Through iPhone 6S in Focus Mode

Finally, I thought it would be a good comparison to hear what the same voice-over would sound like recorded directly into the iPhone, using its own internal microphone.
Just the iPhone

In my opinion, the “iPhone only” (using just the iPhone mic and not the Spark) recording was pretty bad when compared to the Spark Digital through the iPhone. This is great news for anyone wanting to record pro audio with just an iPhone or iPad. That allows you to record on-the-go without hefting power supplies, external audio interface boxes and a laptop computer with you.

In Summary

At the heart of it, this mic is definitely worth its nearly $170 cost, if for no other reason than it works so well with an iPad or iPhone in addition to being a good quality USB mic. Personally, I thought the sound quality was very good – in the realm of :pro quality” audio. I especially like that the noise level – the hiss usually apparent in USB mics seemed lower than most other USB mics.
I really didn’t notice much of a difference between the Normal and Focus modes. Your mileage may vary.
I did have a few quibbles, which were primarily logistical and had little-or-nothing to do with the audio quality. And you’re DEFINITELY going to want a pop filter for vocals. But otherwise I think you’ll be quite happy with the sound you can get with the Spark Digital.
I don’t think it will replace my Rode NT2-A or my new EV RE20, but then both of those mics require an investment of close to $500 each, whereas the Spark Digital is only $170 (which could go up to about $300 if you buy the mount and pop filter). So the comparison isn’t really fair.
Overall, this mic sounds really good, and would be perfect for anyone who needs to be on the go and record with their iPad or iPhone as well as a laptop.
CLICK HERE to find out more or to buy one of your own.
If you’re interested in more details, including the technical specs and some of the specific models of iOS products supported, etc. CLICK HERE to go to the Blue site.

The New Rode NT-USB Microphone

September 17, 2014 by Ken Leave a Comment

Rode_NT_USB_Mic picture — Rode NT-USB Mic

Rode recently released a studio quality USB mic – the Rode NT-USB. I am super excited about this because my primary studio microphone – for voiceovers and for music recording – has been a Rode NT2-A microphone for about 6 years now:). The quality is outstanding. But though it definitely fights way above its weight (odd metaphor meaning its quality is similar to that of much more expensive mics:)), at $399 it’s still a bit pricey for folks just getting started.
But now you can have Rode NT quality for a much more affordable price. The NT-USB is just $169 (with free shipping in the US from Amazon). Nice!
Along with the microphone itself, the box contains a pop filter/shield, a tripod desk stand, a USB cable (duh), and a ring mount. So you can remove (unscrew) the desk tripod and attach the mic to a regular mic stand using the mount.

So what are the features?

As with all USB mics, you do not need a separate audio interface unit/box between the mic and your computer (it works with both Windows and Mac machines, BTW). You simply plug the thing into a USB port and you’re on your way. The analog-to-digital (A/D) converter and preamp are built right into the microphone. So not only are USB microphones less expensive in general, but they allow you to get into professional quality recording at a fraction of the cost of standard (XLR) microphone set-ups because you don’t ALSO have to buy the interface!
Here is an example. For a setup similar mine, you’d have to buy the microphone (the Rode NT1-A is the single pattern (cardioid) XLR equivalent and costs $229) and an interface (like the Focusrite Scarlett Solo – $99.00), which would cost a total of $329.99. The new NT-USB mic allows you to get in the game for less than half that!
Anyway, here are the features. It records 16-bit/48 KHz resolution, has a single cardioid pickup pattern, has a headphone monitoring jack (1/8th-inch) right on the mic with a knob (also on the side of the mic) for headphone volume), and has “Direct Mix Control.” That last thing means you can control the mix (via a 2nd knob on the mic) between what’s going into the mic (your voice, for example), and what is playing back at the same time, maybe some music you’re singing along to). With the dial all the way to the left, you would hear only what is going into the mic. You’d probably use this if you didn’t need to listen to any reference tracks for syncing or overdubbing. If you ARE overdubbing (layering a 2nd, 3rd, etc. track along with previously recorded audio), you’d want to hear BOTH your voice (or guitar, etc.) as you record it, AND those previously recorded tracks. So you’d turn the dial somewhere in the middle. You can adjust which source is louder in your headphones. Then after you’re done recording, you can listen to the playback of ONLY what is already recorded (without any distracting sounds from the mic like breathing, purring or meowing cats, etc.) by turning the dial all the way to the right.

Did I mention you could use it on your iPad?

Oh yeah. You can use this mic on your iPad! There are lots of audio recording programs for iOS devices. Of course Rode recommends their excellent (I use it frequently) app, the RØDE Rec, RØDE’s dedicated audio app. But it also works great with the Garage Band app, Imageline’s FL Studio app, etc. HOWEVER, you will need the Apple iPad Camera Connection Kit (for iPad 1st to 3rd gen with the 30-pin connector) or the Apple Lightning to USB Camera Adapter Cable (for iPads with the lightning connector – 4th gen and later) to record on the iPad. This kit is simply an adapter cable that lets you connect media devices to an iPad.
It is pretty exciting stuff (for this geek, anyway) to see the big names in audio gear putting out great quality AND affordable recording equipment. CLICK HERE to get more details or to buy one of your very own.
Oh, and below is a promo video from RØDE.