A Steady Evolution for USB Microphones
We all know that USB connectivity effectively eliminates your vocal microphone setup time and just kind of makes sense. Plug and play appeals to just about everyone, and I am sure that for most, it wouldnt hurt to cut down on that spaghetti pile of XLR cables that always seem to be tangled around the chair legs. To be honest, for most recordings I really wouldn’t choose a USB microphone. Im just as attached to my microphone preamps and old-ish school way of doing thing as most of us are. I would say that for pod-casts, stuff like that, USB microphones are fine… However, some long-awaited game-changers are making waves in the home studio biz.
Before I go any further, we should all acknowledge that the USB microphone class is getting better and better all the time, as the market demands better products. Its always been true that for recording dialogue for pod-casts, yakking online with your war game buddies via gaming headset, or cheaping out on long distance with SKYPE, USB has always been the default and sensible choice. But for recording vocal tracks, the stakes are much higher and its important to feel confident with your vocal microphone before you start wailing and immortalizing yourself on hard disk. The truth is, Its that feeling of confidence that has taken years to take seed through the home recording studio industry, but gradually that seed is beginning to grow.
USB microphones as a sub-category of vocal microphones, are still basically thought of as consumer products, and not as good as pro-sumer and professional level wired microphones. Fair enough, that same is probably still true, but the time has come to take notice of what companies like Audio Technica, Shure, AKG, CAD, and NADY are developing for the home studio. Audio Technicas AT2020 is a competitively priced large diaphragm USB microphone that sounds good enough to fool most home recording gurus.
Shures new X2u XLR-to-USB adapter is probably the most exciting development that has come along in the last couple years. Now, Shure has made possible what weve all been waiting for since the first USB microphones came out. Now, home recording enthusiasts have the option of being able to hook up their higher end vocal microphones with the USB adapter and plug right into the computer. The jury is unanimous! This is simply an awesome development and people seem to be getting pretty good results. This is a great little adapter for anyone who likes to simplify in the home studio, but still wants to use the collection of wired Sennheisers that they have sacrificed for over the years. The X2u adapter is perfect for multi-track audio recording and performs perfectly in headphones with zero latency.
Whatever your goals in the studio are, consider picking up a USB condenser microphone and see what kind of results you get on your next vocal track. I bet you will be surprised at just how good these companies are getting it.
