An associate of mine is looking for a new mic for recording his VO for some guidance videos he makes. It's not serious stuff, not for profit, but for a long time he's been using a headset mic which is pretty lousy quality and seriously prone to plosives.

He's looking to get something that he can plug straight into his mac, either via minijack or USB, for under £100 (minus cost of pop shield!). I've looked into some options for him, but haven't used any of them myself so if anyone has any experience of the following, or would like to suggest any other options, let me know!

1. The ol' AKG C1000 - is the battery just for phantom power, or does it amplify the signal as well? Would you be able to plug one with a battery in it straight into a mac mic in and get a decent (if C1000-ey) signal? Yes yes I know everyone hates the C1000 but you can pick them up cheap as chips these days and I reckon they'd sound pretty good for his purposes - they are so bright he won't need to EQ to be legible!

2. Something a little like this: http://www.dv247.com/microphones/rode-videomic-shotgun-microphone--26256
But not THAT.
A battery powered shotgun mic will mean he can get up close without being uncomfortable, and they are designed to go into minijack sockets.

3. USB Desktop Mic like http://www.dv247.com/microphones/blue-snowflake--66647
Certainly be easy to use, but I'm concerned that having something so much further away will result in room noise and acoustics issues that would have been hitherto unknown coming from a headset mic.

4. http://www.dv247.com/microphones/samson-c03u-multi-pattern-usb-studio-cond enser-microphone--34214
A bit cumbersome - he'll need a small stand and shockmount too, presumably - and maybe these cheap Samson USB mics sound horrible?

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http://www.jeremycorbett.co.uk

I have a couple of MXL USB mic's (mono and stereo) that are cheap enough and do a decent job when time, budget and space is tight. You could do a lot worse.

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An Eagle for an Emperor, A Kestrel for a Knave.

If you are looking at the C1000 then also take a look at the Rode M3 which is supposed to be a big improvement. A slight change of mic position with his existing mic might also do the trick.

James.

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JRP Music - Audio Mastering and Restoration.
http://www.jrpmusic.net

Check out the AT2020 as well if you go an listen to mics. (I think it might be USB only)

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Mastering online mastering

Adding to this after chatting to him a bit more.

He'd rather get something as discrete as possible, and as he's been using a headset mic the acoustics of his room are going to become an issue if he moves to something more sensitive positioned further away from him.

Again, the main issue is simply plosives. Are there headset mics that are acceptable at handling plosives that fit within budget?

I was also looking at a gooseneck usb mic so he can more easily position it closer to him, however the MXL one mentioned above doesn't appear to be available in the UK

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http://www.jeremycorbett.co.uk

Quote Jez (mahoobley):

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however the MXL one mentioned above doesn't appear to be available in the UK

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Yes, they are difficult to get hold of here these days. I've bought a couple of MXL mic's over eBay and paid the import duty; that's worked out for me, but it's not ideal.

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An Eagle for an Emperor, A Kestrel for a Knave.

Quote Jez (mahoobley):

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Again, the main issue is simply plosives. Are there headset mics that are acceptable at handling plosives that fit within budget?

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Has he tried moving the mic off to one side?

James.

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JRP Music - Audio Mastering and Restoration.
http://www.jrpmusic.net

This sounds really daft but if it for use for vo can he not fashion a clip on pop shield? Or even get some material and make the microphone windshield thicker to stop them. For a pop shield I am thinking Pringle lid, tights, rubber band and a paper clip!

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There is nothing Grim about this Reaper
We Fell From The Sky