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I'm looking into getting a usb microphone to record my practice sessions and listen back. Does anyone have any suggestions for the price range of $150-200?

DWEldred92 wrote:I'm looking into getting a usb microphone to record my practice sessions and listen back. Does anyone have any suggestions for the price range of $150-200?

Zoom H2, not only a mic but a complete handheld recording device, you can bring with you wherever you go, that could also double as an usb mic and usb sound card.

I have just in the past couple of days -- after months of planning to do it -- set up on my laptop to record my practice sessions. I used what I had on hand in terms of a mic that I used to teach an online course a couple of years ago. In my case this was a AudioTechnica AT2020 USB mic. It has about a 6' cable on it, and with a USB cable extension I can put it across the room on my wife's piano and have the laptop on the table beside me as I play. At the moment I'm using Free Sound Recorder to do the recording and playback. It's real simple, and of course free. Not many features, but good enough.

It's great. The first thing I noticed is that I liked the quality of sound I'm producing from the horn -- and it didn't sound quite like it does from the mouthpiece end of things. The second thing I noticed was all the articulation problems -- which definitely need working on. Well worth the effort to do this.

Blue Snowball : http://www.bluemic.com/snowball/#/desc/" target="_blank. In the $100.00 range

or


Samson C-1U : http://homerecording.about.com/od/micro ... b_mics.htm" target="_blank . Also in the $100.00 range and you can buy it at Walmart.

Both are very good and are certainly good enough to use to record yourself with. Look on YOUTUBE and you will find many videos of others play testing these two. The Blue Snowball mic has 3 settings for what ever situation you are recording. HIgh,medium and low. Low being for things like speaking on internet sites, medium would be for recording yourself and high would be for recording a group playing in a concert hall.
Here's a recording I did of me using the Blue Snowball on the medium setting in a room in my house : http://www.acidplanet.com/artist.asp?PID=1164690&t=7258" target="_blank

I have Audio Technica 3035's and love them. I need to look and see if there is a way to hook those up to my computer with minimal effort now that I've upgraded to a better laptop. Hmmm . . .

To those of you who've made suggestions, where do you place the mic when recording? Do you just have it on a little stand on your table top or do you have/need a boom stand or other way to mount it nearer to/above the bell?

I usually set the mic on a boom stand a few feet in front of me about 5 feet high but have also put it on a boom about a foot above the bell, though I usually used that for live performance.

I'm not trying to do a genuine "recording session" or produce something that will be worth listening to for artistic value. So with those caveats ...

I'd like the mic to pic up what I think an ear would pick up at a "reasonable distance" -- limited by the size of the room I'm in. The AT2020 comes with it's own little tabletop tripod stand. I just plunk it on top of the baby grand piano about eight feet away and go at it. Seems to work well. As I recall (from looking at the technical brochure some time ago) the AT2020 basically works for a "cone" area in front of the mike. Not really "omnidirectional".

My Blue Snowball comes with it's own tripod. When I play I am sitting front of the computer desk that has a shelves on the wall above it. The highest one up is about 7' . I set the mic up there and am sitting just below it . Sometimes I just put the mic on the desk right in front of me. Either way it works well .

ghmerrill wrote:...In my case this was a AudioTechnica AT2020 USB mic...

Is it also possible to use it as a 'normal' mic or only with usb? Does it have some sort of monitoring possibilities, a head phone jack or something?

Lingon wrote:

ghmerrill wrote:...In my case this was a AudioTechnica AT2020 USB mic...

Is it also possible to use it as a 'normal' mic or only with usb? Does it have some sort of monitoring possibilities, a head phone jack or something?

I guess I'm not knowledgeable enough to understand this question. I is USB only as far as I can see. That is, the cable on it terminates in a USB plug. There may be a version fo the AT2020 that terminates in a standard phono plug, but I don't know. It may be just a digital mic. But Audio Technica has LOTS of mics.

I have to echo Lingon - the Zoom H2 is a great little machine. I bought one last year to record band rehearsals and now use it for all sorts of things, including taping tuba lessons. You can transfer easily via USB to your computer for editing (using any number of good, free online applications) but you can also listen back on it with headphones. Also, it mounts on a standard mic stand or on its own little feet. Best part: it fits in your tuba bag as it is about the same size as a tuner.

Plus, you don't need your laptop set up when you record, and there is something important here: if you do use a laptop in the recording process, make sure your microphone is set far enough away so it doesn't pick up the sound of the laptop's fan, which can be loud, pervasive, and annoying.

ghmerrill wrote:

Lingon wrote:

ghmerrill wrote:...In my case this was a AudioTechnica AT2020 USB mic...

Is it also possible to use it as a 'normal' mic or only with usb? Does it have some sort of monitoring possibilities, a head phone jack or something?

I guess I'm not knowledgeable enough to understand this question. I is USB only as far as I can see. That is, the cable on it terminates in a USB plug. There may be a version fo the AT2020 that terminates in a standard phono plug, but I don't know. It may be just a digital mic. But Audio Technica has LOTS of mics.

Some USB mics seems to have the possibility to use it as a 'normal' mic with an XLR connector or as a digital, i.e. analog mic with an integrated AD converter, connetced via USB.

Shure does have a little gizmo that seems to be very useful for those that have a favorite analog mic but will need to use it via USB. Phantom power, monitor possibility etc. It is small and cost about USD 99.

Just to clarify about the Zoom H2, you can connect it via USB to your computer and use it as a digital mic directly to your software, plus all the other possibilities. With a dedicated digital or analog mic you have only the mic and nothing else.