USB Microphones featuring Apogee, Audio-Technica & Blue
By Lynn Fuston
"Sure, USB microphones are convenient; set up takes just a computer cable from the mic to a computer or iPad. But are these just convenient toys for those without the budget for real preamps and converters, or are they seriously useable tools? Before this evaluation, I simply wanted to know. So this evaluation was a test: not a true shootout, but more an exploratory-, or discovery-based, test. There were two reasons I decided to do this: one, I just got an iPad 4 and two, I don't know any professional recording engineers that have ever tried a USB mic. For several years now, people have asked me what I think of USB mics — musicians and singers mostly — and I had no answer. It was time for that to change. To be clear, this is not a mic ‘shootout.’ No level calibration was attempted during recording. I’ve been doing product shootouts for over 30 years and I know that the first rule is to make sure the levels are absolutely matched, to make sure the audible differences are not just level-related because volume differences as small as 0.1 dB can skew a sonic evaluation." More » |
