Separate Microphone Mostly for Gaming

[Wislan]

Hi,

I have, and am very pleased with, a set of Sony MDR-7506 headphones. The only issue is that there is no built-in microphone. This did not bother me at the time I bought them however now I would like a microphone, mostly for use in gaming but also for video chat, various programs using speech recognition etc. I have been searching around and these were mentioned quite a lot but I am having a hard time believing they are of good quality at seven pounds. I also came across this and this. My budget is around the same price of the later two (i.e. about £50 ($80)). Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Regards,
Will

 

[ssddx]

the zalman clip on is about what you would expect out of a cheapo mic. it works, but its not great. no idea about the CAD but the blue snowball ice is a decent cheap mic.

you have 3 choices.

-a boom style mic that attaches directly to the headphones. the modmic. normally about $40-50 from their website, though i did spot one for 50 pounds on amazon uk.

-a lavalier clip on mic similar to the zalman mic in style. you can find better quality ones and use a cable adapter to change it over to 3.5mm. convenient and small.

-desktop microphone. the blue snowball is a good low end choice. i've heard that some people use the samson c01u and liking it. i'd consider the atr2500 from audiotechnica above the previous two but the prices are hiked up in uk amazon as its normally only $70 here so competes with the slightly cheaper snowball. if you can get it for reasonable price its stellar.

 

[YumGumi]

Both those you are looking at are good choices. I'd go for the Snowball. I own that mic myself and you can get some fantastic audio recording from it as long as you are in a nice quiet environment. Make sure to get a pop filter too if you can afford it, it's really worth it.

References for more info:
http://www.wirerealm.com/guides/best-microphone-for-gaming
http://gamingmicrophones.com

 

[ssddx]

or a few $ pop filter can be made using pantyhose and a piece of wire. inelegant but it works just as well.

 

[YumGumi]

^ Yeah, I use a thick sock haha

 

[Wislan]

Thanks for all the replies. I think I will go for the ATR2500 (as well as a pop filter!), since I can get it from Amazon.com for a total of £60 including U.S. to U.K. shipping and customs charges, V.A.T. etc; that still works out cheaper than anywhere I found within the U.K.!

Additional question, my PC desk is quite cluttered and not too big so I will need to have the microphone positioned to one side (at about a 50 degree angle from the line between my mouth and the monitor) rather than directly in front of me. It will probably end up around 18" away. is that an OK setup?

 

[sora]

The Blue Snowball Yeti microphone is solid for the price and offers very good voice quality!

 

[ssddx]

if you have a cluttered desk, perhaps a microphone stand or clamp on microphone arm mount might be helpful. this would certainly allow you some leeway if you need to adjust it for better vocal clarity.

the most important thing is to make sure that YOU and your voice are closer to it than any other noise sources as this will better allow it to keep you clear and allow you to block some of that out. yes, cardioid designs naturally ignore sound behind them to a degree but proper placement does help.

generally having the mic close - but not in your mouth (6-12inches) will produce the best audio for most although you can have the mic a bit further away and still manage. if you get too far away the recording might start sounding too thin but you really need to play around with placement.