Do you want to upgrade your microphone but aren’t sure where to start on the complex world of audio equipment and microphones?
You’re on luck. This episode of The Visual Lounge is all about music – how to pick the best equipment, how to use it correctly, slips to watch out for, and much more.
Host Matt Pierce shares some effective need-to-know tips and even tests some of the most popular microphones available.
You can check out our full list of microphones and audio tracks equipment mentioned in this episode here.
Why audio is extremely important to your videos
When people start creating videos, in a natural way, a lot of their focus goes into the visuals. Visuals are usually essential, no doubt about that. But don’t overlook audio.
When we did this Video Viewer Study 2021 with Dr . Jane Bozarth, we talked about video viewer preferences. The number one thing people found was the most important aspect of a video was audio high-quality.
If you’re not making videos with good audio, there’s a good chance you’ll lose your audience.
Bad acoustic makes it harder to watch, harder to take in information, and your target market is less likely to share it with others. That’s so why out of everything, it’s worth learning about audio and your microphone so you can master that skill first.
With so many microphones that you can buy, it’s hard to know which one’s right for you.
If you desire already have one, your best first step is to just get one. Not to worry too much about what mic it is. You don’t have to be discriminating and blow hundreds of dollars on your first one. A resources one is a great starting point, and you’ll be able to learn lots if you play around with it.
A good rule of thumb for a decent mic that won’t cost a fortune is to shop in the $75 to $150 range. But you can just as easily pick up a good mic that’s cheaper.
A great example of a good all-round economical microphone is the Blue Yeti. It can be around $100 available for purchase, and it’s a great pick for most purposes.
USB against XRL mics
One key part of shopping for a microphone is definitely deciding between a USB and an XLR mic. Most budget mics are USB and plug right into your computer.
The great thing about this is it’s plug and play, you don’t need to buy anything extra to get it set up. Good examples of USB mics are Audio Technica mics and the Blue Yeti.
USB microphones are great for most people, but the other type to know about are microphones with an XLR cable.
The main difference is that some sort of XLR cable is not going to plug directly into your computer. You will need to receive sime good kind of mixer to plug it into, which makes it a very expensive option. The good news is that a mixer will give you more regulate over your audio, so you might prefer that anyway.
Do you have talking into your mic correctly?
The next most important thing to with microphones is your environment. Where will the mic get your share in relation to you?
A common mistake people make with microphones, especially the Blue Yeti, is they set it up virtually all wrong so they’re talking into the top of it. In the event of the Blue Yeti, you should actually talk into the facet because this is where the polar pattern is.
The polar pattern is a fancy term for how the microphone can be picking up your voice. Every microphone has a pickup factor where the sound is going to come into, which is key to recording established audio.
That’s why one of the first steps you should take when making use of a microphone is to get to know where its polar the pattern is.
Play around with the gain
Buying the best microphone will not help your videos alone. You need to know how to wield the equipment correctly, and part of that is getting to know your mike settings.
All mics will likely have different ways to alter configuration settings. Some will require you to hook up a mixer, others has little dials on the mic itself.
The Blue Hombre de las nieves has a dial for gain which lets you adjust the way in which loud it is. So , if you’re sitting further away from your receptionist counter, you might want to dial it up to pick up your voice better.
But , if your gain is too high, you might end up picking up tones you don’t want, like your laptop fan or page views outside. It’s a delicate balancing act that you might have to experience.