Hey Harris, quick note into the future to remind you. You should first try and use, make a video about a cheaper shotgun mics, because that´s the majority of people going to buy, or if they are going to buy the 416, hell they are going to waste a ton of money, listen it´s a great mic but like the SM7B not like everybody needs this one, also it´s nice to tell people that these mics, except the 416 are not great for indoors, even with some treatment, do you know why the mic has grills on the body? It picks up the sound that is bouncing from hard surface and the mic listen to its and then it muffles it out like it´s noise canceling it, but in reality it also muffles out your voice.
The link in your description for the shotgun mic is for an Audio-Technica, but in the video, you're using a Sennheiser. Are you using the MKH 416-P48U3? I can see MKH 416 in the video but not the rest of it. Thanks in advance.
For the sponsor ads to not be created like crazy Japanese ads while you are in Japan is a missed opportunity imo. Kinda wanna hear Harris yell "grandooo sponsuro" though
I actually think that for most TH-camrs a Pencil-microphone is better than a Shotgun. It does most of the things a Shotgun does but it’s more optimized for picking up a sound source that doesn’t move that much (which is the case with 90% of the typical TH-camrs). It also normally picked up less room-reflection. Plus it’s cheaper.
@@scottwangkl8882 2 weeks late but from my research, (up to 100$) Behringer C-2 (you get two of these when you order) and Behringer B-5 sound quite good
3:08 If you use auto makeup gain in your compressor, it can still pick up almost all noises in any room. What it always rejects though is echo. I switched from a budget condenser microphone (Blue Snowball) to a budget dynamic microphone (Fifine AM8) because of this, and the difference is kinda night and day; now I can stream without noise cancellation (which was degrading my audio quality) and there's hardly any echo in the streams anymore!
This was great considering I am a person always deciding between different types for my Upgrade. I love the shotgun mic's quality the best (oddly I thought I would be more in favour of the SM7B). However I would love if you had the time for a follow up even a short, on how this would work in a setting with say keyboard typing and mouse clicking. White noise, did alot to show the pure mic pickup - but a little hard to fully relate. As always great showcase, very in depth and helps us ever more make our choice between these for purchases. Many thanks.
I'd love a video on what settings you use to take your shotgun mic from the default sound it made in the test to the absurdly clean sound it produces in the rest of the video and in the rest of your videos. Hope you're having fun in Japan.
@@CaerEsthar also he does his mic tests for promoting products. that is so lame, He's got four commercials in this video. I pay for TH-cam premium to avoid these! I'm done with this guy
Can you do a video on mics for more fem vocals as well? Your videos help a ton, but your mic videos are catered only towards a more bassy masc sounding voice.
All the mic reviewers I know of have deep voices, so I agree there's a big market for a high voice mic reviewer! Note: Curtis Judd sometimes has his wife and/or daughter read sample lines in his mic reviews, so that could be helpful for you.
MKH50 Cardiod MIcrophone could be even better! Similar rejection as the 416 shotgun, but much better reverb correction, since it's design for indoor recording.
I can say with confidence that the dynamic mic definitely had some static noise that was audible even when you were speaking. Did you use any kind of post recording noise reduction or cancellation features when editing?
I am surprised the condesor does not pic up more room. Seems most delicate. The shotgun sounded most normal and most „dynamic“ in your room. Sure, the Sennheiser is a 1000Bucks. 😮 The dynamic is too dull. But hey in an untreated room with a thin noise, a problemsolver out of the box.
Thanks for sharing. As I need my mic to be off-frame, It was hard to make a comparison in these tests. What mic would you recommend for this? Pardon my nativity, but would it fix the issue if we just covered the sides of the shotgun mic when recording in an untreated room?
which type of mic are usually used for “unboxing” content that captures the crispy sound of opening box/slicing plastic/ and does tocky sounds when unboxing. and what mic is good for those kind of content?
I love the video, but I like listing to condensor microphones more. I am a musician and I have a decently trained ear lol. I would like to say dynamic microphones are great but you have to keep them really close to your face, and I dislike shotgun mics because they have a lot of buzzing/distorted sound.
I like the loudness of a shotgun mic, but I did see potential need of louder volume for lack of compression. Condenser mic sounds so clear... Does the Blu Snowball say what kind of mic it is?
It´s not that great as you think of. these mics, except the 416 are not great for indoors, even with some treatment, do you know why the mic has grills on the body? It picks up the sound that is bouncing from hard surface and the mic listen to its and then it muffles it out like it´s noise canceling it, but in reality it also muffles out your voice.
@@luk7n The question is how many would noticed this? Harris made a point, that shotgunmic is less in your face. This looks to me to become meanstream among certain creatora. More clean aperance on camera.
@@sashomedia you will notice that, trust me^^ For YT videos i would give it a try cause of post production posibilities. But for live content mehh. I wonder why Harris didnt recommend pencil Mics. They are much more affordable, have no grills and Pic up the sound in a more directional way. ++ There are also High End Pencil Mics like the AKG C451 B Small-Diaphragm Condenser Microphone.
@@sashomedia It depends if you want to have clear image on your camera and muffled out sound, or clean sound and mic in your face, it mostly depends on your needs, if you are doing some gear review its better not to have mic in your face but its not s problem
I think shotgun is probably best for a raw gamer, it can be the farthest distance from the person live streaming giving them the most space to game. Variety or just chatting streamers are probably going to use the dynamic mic or condenser mic. More parasocial farming streams are going to opt for the condenser mic since they can occasionally whisper into it imo before they likely move on to a full on 3dio asmr mic. I'm on decent headphones ( Steel series Artctis 7+) and I think people are fretting too much over the acoustics things. Most viewers watching anything at a desktop are watching multiple things at one time, occasionally playing music, playing a game etc. The only people really going to be focused in on a single video source are going to be ipad babies and complete weirdos. So That's where I think this overblown hype of needing to min max acoustics comes from for live streaming. Its some really niche complaining viewers and audiophiles padded by some silent ipad babies to look like that is something a lot care about. The average viewer that you want being an active part of your community/chat isn't going to really notice or care about those things, they are going to be more interested in visual fidelity of the game or video source and visual ambiance. I think the right microphones take care of the noise pollution themselves. The only content creators i really see caring about background noise are those that have either a child they don't want on record, or they are trying to hide a spouse because it would make them less money.
Hey @SenpaiGaming! I hope you can see my comment :) I have a question and would like to hear your opinion (gladly also in a video, if you find the topic interesting - because there is no video on the subject yet). I have a SM7B and the GoXlr. Now I'm thinking of replacing the GoXlr with the StreamDeck+ & Wave Xlr while keeping the micro the same. What are your thoughts on this? Which is better?
I mean you are going to replace MIDAS preamps in GOXLR, loose motorized faders, for an Elgato knockoff? I dunno what people are doing that they need like million knobs and buttons to your livestream, but the sound quality and the versatility that GOXLR does, like I can adjust my 4 main audio levels on the go with the fader, I can choose to what to mute and where, I can just mute myself to my friends by one click and talk to stream, I can mute my voice chat and still hear them, I can still run music in the stream and shut it to my headphones and more and more. There is no competitor on the market to the full GOXLR if you really think of it. Wave XLR has no onboard processing, no onboard DSP, you can use plug ins in it, but that´s it. The only one that is going to replace GOXLR soon, will be the Rodecaster 2 Duo. Just save some money on the streamdeck and be simple, the more you try to do more than what you need, the more you fail ( I´ve learned that the hard way )
Why would you buy both Stream Deck + and Wave XLR when the whole point of Stream Deck + is that it allows you to use any audio interface (and a lot of them are much better than Wave XLR, sound quality wise) and still to get access to that awesome Wave Link software? I wouldn't expect any significant sound quality differences between those 2 setups you've mentioned. The only difference would be functionality and user experience of those. For a new buyer I'd clearly recommend Stream Deck + and some real audio company interface but for someone who already has GoXLR I don't think buying a new setup would be worth it. Unless you've got some real issues with your current setup. Or your use case is much more demanding than just streaming on twitch.
I completely disagree. It sounds the worst and least appealing out of those three. Its only advantage is that people are used to this kind of voices because so many people use it. I'd compare it to those silly people who say to themselves that "games without raytracing look better than with it" (talking about properly implemented RT, like Cyberpunk, Dying Light 2, Metro Exodus etc.). Those games don't look better without RT, exactly the opposite. However those games without RT look like all the other games they got used to so they think just because it is similar to what they are used to it means "it's better". Especially when they're like "puddles on streets are not mirrors like in this RT game". Yeah, they aren't like mirrors in other non-RT games, but they are in real life. Bit of messy explanation but I hope you could get my point.
I think the Shure sounded the worst out of the 3, way more muddy than the other two. The shotgun mic sounded the best for me, and the condenser mic had a little too much treble/ highs for me liking.
@@RJ-vy4yd The SM7B is still the king, the warm, pleasing sound it has, the background noise rejection, no handling noise with build in shockmount, you can tune this mic many ways. But most people dont know what to do with it and they have bad sound
I think an re20 sounds better, I hate the flat high end and tubby low end from the sm7b unless its that 'radio' voice sound, especially on higher voices it just sounds small.
Every video is just a fucking commercial with this guy. Used to be fairly informative. Now I just watch Podcastage if I want info instead of just being advertised Harris Hellers latest venture.
Look I loved the vertical plugin when I had it, and it worked. But after a week of usage, it would crash my whole OBS, and ultimately cause blue screens every time I opened OBS. I un-installed the plugin, and never had an issue opening OBS again. This was about 2 months ago, mind you. I hope they've fixed that issue since, but I'm not keen on re-downloading it to spend hours and hours troubleshooting every day again.
It's a common misconception that dynamic mics inherently have a more directional response / pickup / polar pattern. Polar patterns vary wildly by frequency for all mics more because of their engineering, not their base technology. Both dynamic and condenser mics are avaible with wide and narrow pickup, so what you get is a matter of personal taste. For example, Sennheiser e865 is a supercardioid condenser, and Sennheiser e835 is a dynamic cardioid. Dynamic mics are famously cheaper and more durable than condenser, so they're commonly known as stage mics, because bands need a lot of them, and they need to work after being dropped. Condenser mics are famously more accurate than dynamic, with a flat frequency response that makes them commonly used in studios for actors and singers. Some mic choices even come down to fashion: how the mic looks on camera, or what its historical heritage is. The main thing the average consumer needs to know about dynamic and condenser mics is the other hardware requirements to use them: dynamics send a weak signal and therefore need a strong amplifier at the interface and no EMI getting into the cable, whereas condensers are less demanding on the amp and cable because the phantom power provided by the amp runs a little amplifier inside the mic which sends higher voltage than a dynamic back along the cable. This voltage level on the wire is actually what audio people are referring to when they talk about mic "sensitivity". These days all new interfaces are coming with strong amps and phantom power, so even these differences don't matter much to people anymore. Just pick a mic you like the sound of, and get it as close to your mouth as possible, pointed at your mouth, with your mouth not pointed at the mic. You can read more about this in Chapter 4 of "Modern Recording Techniques" by Huber and Runstein, and Chapter 6 of "Audio Engineering 101" by Dittmar. The interference tube of a shotgun mic probably hurts more than it helps indoors, and is actually a totally separate topic from the polar pattern. You can read more about that in "Does my shotgun mic have any uses in the studio?" and "How do shotgun mics work?" at Sound On Sound by Robjohns.
1. Blue Kiwi (crispy, sharp & clear) 2. Shotgun (balanced & clear - your voice is heaven with this) 3. Dynamic Mic (like any other podcast but white noise is much apparent). I wish I could afford at least a shotgun mic but for now I'll stick with my cheap behringer dynamic mic. Thank you, Mr. Harris for another mic video. 🙏
Berlinger makes the B-5 which is a small diaphragm condenser (shotgun style) and it’s best for closed quarters (small studio). I love it and it is very affordable.
The shotgun mic definitely picked up your voice a lot more nicely than the condense and dynamic mics. Though for me, I’d prefer a condenser or dynamic mic. Either one of those two I’d prefer, simply because I’d like to have the mic with the stand and all, just so I can move it whenever I’d like. As for the shotgun mic, not sure what I’d wanna use it for, but it is cool hearing how good it is for the quality. I’ve been watching your videos lately since I’ve been getting back into videos about microphones and all that cool tech. So far, your videos have been pretty fun to watch. So yeah, just wanted to say keep at it with this, because I’ve loved seeing your reviews on the products you’ve showcased so far
these mics, except the 416 are not great for indoors, even with some treatment, those grills on the body? It picks up the sound that is bouncing from hard surface and the mic listen to its and then it muffles it out like it´s noise canceling it, but in reality it also muffles up your voice. It depends on what are your needs for a microphone, I would personally never use a condenser microphone on the level like Neumann and above, as game streamer, because this mic is super sensitive and unless you are in completely noise free enviroment, you will have to gate out all that background noise and it messes ups your voice and the overall quality. That´s why always to recommend a dynamic microphone, even like Rode Podmic can hold you up for years of great content if you can set it up perfectly. I personally have SM7B ( cause I´m audio hog, second the podmic came out after I bought it )
Haha so clever reading and segments during the mic tests. This video was fascinating since you moved from a fully treated studio vs a more typical room with minor sound dampening. As much as we love the look (or rather not look with a shotgun, being out of frame), we're dealing with a lot of reverb where we record. Just purchased the SM7dB-still have a friend's shotgun mic, so we will record our next video with both and see how each sound. This video was so incredibly insightful to understand the strengths and weaknesses of each mic. It's also so interesting in a way how you record in an asthetically treated room with a Shotgun mic, as it almost makes it feel more personable versus the studio (both sound and look great). Have given us a LOT to think about. Fantastic video, well done.
I'm so happy that they're now making dynamic usb mics I live in New york and condenser mics pick up a ridiculous amount of noise so I had to upgrade to an xlr but record my gameplay with my blue yeti for louder gameplay audio in my videos
It´s not fault of the xlr input, so it´s not the usb mic that will help you, it´s the dynamic mic that is less sensitive than condenser, if you already have xlr interface don´t get rid of it
@@luk7n I'm not blaming the mic I was blaming my lack of knowledge despite the ridiculous amount of research I did too choose a first mic. I said a dynamic usb will be helping me out because I record gameplay with a condenser that picks up alot of noise. A dynamic that doesn't pick up any background noise would be amazing so I won't hear my loud ass ps4 fan in my videos but I use my xlr for podcasting and the voiceovers I love my xlr set up but I'm a person that needs both set up
@@theoutsiderjess1869 Yeah bit that has nothing to do with usb or xlr, technically an xlr only mic is a downgrade from a usb mic (its the same just missing an ad/da) take the shure mv7 and the mv7x, the latter just doesn't have the usb. Can't you use your xlr dynamic setup for your gameplay, not sure what gameplay has to do with anything.
@@JimijaymesProductions no I cannot as I record directly from the ps4 and there are few audio interfaces that works with that console and the ps5. I'm not planning to buy a brand new audio interface as i love my minifuse 1. A usb dynamic mic is my second option plus I regularly switch between usb and xlr. I also don't have a gaming pc setup. I use my ps4, my tv and then edit with my laptop
Shotguns are designed to pick up some ambient alongside the main source. SDC (pencil mic) are designed for picking up voice indoors (some are instrument mics). SDC mics work great for YT, talking head, indoor setups.
The Seinnheiser mkh 50 is probably the best at about $1000. SE Electronics has a few good ones in the Se V7 & Se V8. There's a Russian one I forget the name of right now. Behringer has a combo deal for super low cost that works good enough for YT talking head. Most of the shotgun style SDC mics will perform great indoors for voice work.
Not to take up too much more of your time, but I’m not familiar with microphones that don’t take usb or phantom power. Trying to google this doesn’t reveal much, most articles assume prior knowledge of the field. Are these sdc mics meant to be used with an amp or dac of some sort, how would I make use of them in a pc setup? At what distance should a cardiod patter sdc be from the talking head?
sdc (or pencil condenser) mics work like the mics featured in this video. You'll need an interface & XLR cables. If you've used phantom powered mics, the same setup will work. Distance from speaker is a trial & error thing, unfortunately. Your location, environment, sound treatment, voice, all will effect the sound. Personally, for my setup, the Se V7 works well about 6 inches above my head & pointed at my chest.
What a strange mic test. I don't want any of the three types of mic you tested in two different room. I want the mic you were using just before you started the test. The record quality of your voice sounded great then. But as soon as you started the test it sucked on all three. In each case, you had a shotgun mic pointing at your face while you introed the segment but as soon as you flipped to the shotgun test, your voice changed dramatically and got more sucky, same with the other two. Confusing.
This is very helpful. I switched from a condenser mic (Blue Yeti) to a cardioid dynamic mic (SM58) and got rid of all the echo and background noise. The filters in obs cuts off my mic every time I spoke.
Yeah I had no idea why I bought the Blue Yeti (probably just what was hyped at the time) but realizing it’s horrible for gaming and discord with friends, all they hear is me button mashing lol
I have a cheap condenser mic from fifine and I got rid of all the background noise by connecting adobe audition to voicemeeter and using the noise reduction effect. Sounds way better now
I have to watch his videos in spurts cause every time I watch a video of him showing off a new thing, or explaining something previously unknown to me, I just like, I want it. Now I want a shotgun mic 😂😂😂💀 Someone help
I been a die hard pusher of the rode podmic for years......and after this video. I think imma pull the trigger on a shotgun mic. especially because as a vtuber im sick of losing mouth tracking if my camera cant see my mouth cause that big boi rode is in the way.
this video just made the urge to get a shotgun mic even bigger, i currently have a rode podmic but i kinda want that shotgun mic and mount it on top of my monitor, pretty much like you have harris
After listening to all three mics, I feel like the shotgun mic really is the best of both worlds. The dynamic one feels too "muted" and narrow, and the condenser mic feels too strong and sensitive to me. (( I'm not a mic expert by any means, though. ))
Definitely shotgun mic. I currently have a Dynamic Elgato Wave DX Mic, which I enjoy using. WAY better than a USB Blue Yeti Mic. So yeah, I think in the future I'll definitely upgrade my mic to be a shotgun mic. Because I usually put my Wave DX mic close to me which can be a bit of a hassle plus moving the mic arm all the time whenever you're starting and ending stream.
I think the shure mic sounds great though the difference from front to side with the shotgun mic is incredible. I'm about to download Aitrum also, the convenience. Great video, how's Japan? 🤷, have a great weekend.
Here I am last night searching this up on TH-cam and ending having a mic I thought I like in my cart to buy and Harris comes out with this and now I’m wealthier for the knowledge…man never misses
i have a really deep gravely raspy voice and im loud bc of all the bass but i dont understand what mic would be the most accurate for me and what would work best in game on youtube and in discord
You can clearly hear the Shure dynamic mic have a continuous pushhh noise every time you use it, its same as the Logitech blue sona, terrible mics sold for a crazy high price
From the perspective of someone who works with Microphones for a living... you do an excellent job of educating people, Harris. This explanation is succinct, insightful, and accurate. I guess the general public doesn't really use ribbon microphones but that may have been the only thing missing here. Also would have loved to see more than one example of each kind of mic, not for testing, but just for listing as examples to help with people's general knowledge and reference. Keep up the great work, looking foward to the next video.
I see so many people instantly jumping on the condenser mic train the I manage to quickly steer them away from them to dynamic when I can hear someone else in the room and they ask me why I sound so crisp yet I can hear the mouse in there room scratching at the door 😂
Supercardioid condensers beat out dynamics any day. Condensers in general have better sound quality and with a supercardioid pattern will pick up almost no background
wow.. the Sm7B sounds REALLY muddy. The worst of the three. Just shows that for the price, how much more work you have to do to it to make it sound "good". (definitely overkill for streaming)
As an audio engineer I always know I prefer LDCs over everything tone wise, still in my basically untreated apartment I am always wondering if I should go SDC, dynamic or shotgun instead. The noise trade off is worth it for me to have the detail in the high end especially because I mumble a bit. Often when an LDC is picking up too much room its because I have to be away from the mic and am moving around (when demoing music equipment with no mic visible on camera) and the other mics would probably be worse where their off axis rejection would mean I have a highly inconsistent take.
I never thougt about shotgun mics, till now. i'm pretty impressed. Otherwise my Rode Podmic does a good job for me, so i don't think about to change it in my streamsetup, but may be it could be a nice option for videocontent. Thanks!
See I have a shotgun mic and I’d love to use it for streaming but in feel like I don’t know how to properly set it up to not sound like crap and pick EVERYTHING up
Man I have been watching your videos for a very long time but you have kind of fallen off man the views are struggling to get over 10k views so what's happened?
I noticed that in some videos you have a blanket??? Hanging around what is that and do you have links for them to check out? I’m assuming is for audio?
Surprised the most reverb from your shotgun. Although it's your favorite, I think it sounded worse than the dynamic or condenser. I like the condenser the best, and btw, you held it closer to your mouth than the other microphones, I believe.
the voice on your youtube video have a great quality but nothing compared to the 3 test you did, if its really a shotgun mic you use. why it drop quality when you tested the shotgun? or perhaps you have added some effects to later when editing the video? can you please give some details.
Anyone had much experience with shotgun mics and mechanical keyboards? I'm worried it will pickup the reverb from the keyboard strokes and mouse clicks. Cheers to anyone in advance!
don't know if you are having this problem but when i unplug one of my display ports to my computer and plug it back in my screen starts to flicker them stops and detect only two of my displays. could be Nvidia drivers. dont know
I'm in the process of building my office and want to upgrade from my blue snoball. What would you suggest for someone with a bunch of possible background noise (kids, tv, etc?)
I love and always watch your content, but what's the standard for the thumbnail on this video...? I didn't even notice it was a new upload from Senpai Gaming.
In a visual medium maybe show a rough diagram of the shape of the area the shotgun mic picks up compared to the others? Time to break out Illustrator Sam?
![[TH] FS vs BME - VCT Ascension Pacific - Lower Bracket Final](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/wnygqsR2Fig/mqdefault.jpg)
You guys sign up for the giveaway and get some free highlights and compilations yet? If not, here you go - bit.ly/SenpaiSizzlegg
Hey Harris, quick note into the future to remind you. You should first try and use, make a video about a cheaper shotgun mics, because that´s the majority of people going to buy, or if they are going to buy the 416, hell they are going to waste a ton of money, listen it´s a great mic but like the SM7B not like everybody needs this one, also it´s nice to tell people that these mics, except the 416 are not great for indoors, even with some treatment, do you know why the mic has grills on the body? It picks up the sound that is bouncing from hard surface and the mic listen to its and then it muffles it out like it´s noise canceling it, but in reality it also muffles out your voice.
The link in your description for the shotgun mic is for an Audio-Technica, but in the video, you're using a Sennheiser. Are you using the MKH 416-P48U3? I can see MKH 416 in the video but not the rest of it. Thanks in advance.
For the sponsor ads to not be created like crazy Japanese ads while you are in Japan is a missed opportunity imo. Kinda wanna hear Harris yell "grandooo sponsuro" though
I actually think that for most TH-camrs a Pencil-microphone is better than a Shotgun.
It does most of the things a Shotgun does but it’s more optimized for picking up a sound source that doesn’t move that much (which is the case with 90% of the typical TH-camrs). It also normally picked up less room-reflection.
Plus it’s cheaper.
Are there any that you'd recommend?
@@scottwangkl8882 2 weeks late but from my research, (up to 100$) Behringer C-2 (you get two of these when you order) and Behringer B-5 sound quite good
Pencil microphone?
What do you recommend?
Sir you can't say that and not give recommendations lol
3:08 If you use auto makeup gain in your compressor, it can still pick up almost all noises in any room. What it always rejects though is echo. I switched from a budget condenser microphone (Blue Snowball) to a budget dynamic microphone (Fifine AM8) because of this, and the difference is kinda night and day; now I can stream without noise cancellation (which was degrading my audio quality) and there's hardly any echo in the streams anymore!
This was great considering I am a person always deciding between different types for my Upgrade. I love the shotgun mic's quality the best (oddly I thought I would be more in favour of the SM7B). However I would love if you had the time for a follow up even a short, on how this would work in a setting with say keyboard typing and mouse clicking. White noise, did alot to show the pure mic pickup - but a little hard to fully relate. As always great showcase, very in depth and helps us ever more make our choice between these for purchases. Many thanks.
I'd love a video on what settings you use to take your shotgun mic from the default sound it made in the test to the absurdly clean sound it produces in the rest of the video and in the rest of your videos. Hope you're having fun in Japan.
Wow you donate and he doesn't even answer your question.
@@jasonmelo9379 lmao. Was worth a try
@@CaerEsthar also he does his mic tests for promoting products. that is so lame, He's got four commercials in this video. I pay for TH-cam premium to avoid these! I'm done with this guy
Can you do a video on mics for more fem vocals as well? Your videos help a ton, but your mic videos are catered only towards a more bassy masc sounding voice.
All the mic reviewers I know of have deep voices, so I agree there's a big market for a high voice mic reviewer! Note: Curtis Judd sometimes has his wife and/or daughter read sample lines in his mic reviews, so that could be helpful for you.
I'll have to look him up thank you!
Honestly surprised how much I like the shotgun mic over the others. Also not surprised that the Kiwi was my least favorite
MKH50 Cardiod MIcrophone could be even better! Similar rejection as the 416 shotgun, but much better reverb correction, since it's design for indoor recording.
I can say with confidence that the dynamic mic definitely had some static noise that was audible even when you were speaking. Did you use any kind of post recording noise reduction or cancellation features when editing?
The amount of "ad-reads" in this video is just bananas.
The information covneyed was fantastic though.
I am surprised the condesor does not pic up more room. Seems most delicate.
The shotgun sounded most normal and most „dynamic“ in your room. Sure, the Sennheiser is a 1000Bucks. 😮
The dynamic is too dull. But hey in an untreated room with a thin noise, a problemsolver out of the box.
Thanks for sharing. As I need my mic to be off-frame, It was hard to make a comparison in these tests. What mic would you recommend for this? Pardon my nativity, but would it fix the issue if we just covered the sides of the shotgun mic when recording in an untreated room?
which type of mic are usually used for “unboxing” content that captures the crispy sound of opening box/slicing plastic/ and does tocky sounds when unboxing. and what mic is good for those kind of content?
I love the video, but I like listing to condensor microphones more. I am a musician and I have a decently trained ear lol. I would like to say dynamic microphones are great but you have to keep them really close to your face, and I dislike shotgun mics because they have a lot of buzzing/distorted sound.
I like the loudness of a shotgun mic, but I did see potential need of louder volume for lack of compression. Condenser mic sounds so clear...
Does the Blu Snowball say what kind of mic it is?
you were filming with the sony mic while wakling yeah? I like the osund of that mic but you can hear the noise from the stand >>
Parabolic microphone for camera?
ngl I was paying so much attention to the streambeats ad I didn't realize he was switching mics. 🤣🤣🤣
After this video, expect every streamer to go shotgunmic. Thanks for the review!
It´s not that great as you think of. these mics, except the 416 are not great for indoors, even with some treatment, do you know why the mic has grills on the body? It picks up the sound that is bouncing from hard surface and the mic listen to its and then it muffles it out like it´s noise canceling it, but in reality it also muffles out your voice.
@@luk7n The question is how many would noticed this? Harris made a point, that shotgunmic is less in your face. This looks to me to become meanstream among certain creatora. More clean aperance on camera.
@@sashomedia you will notice that, trust me^^ For YT videos i would give it a try cause of post production posibilities. But for live content mehh. I wonder why Harris didnt recommend pencil Mics. They are much more affordable, have no grills and Pic up the sound in a more directional way. ++ There are also High End Pencil Mics like the AKG C451 B Small-Diaphragm Condenser Microphone.
@@sashomedia It depends if you want to have clear image on your camera and muffled out sound, or clean sound and mic in your face, it mostly depends on your needs, if you are doing some gear review its better not to have mic in your face but its not s problem
I think shotgun is probably best for a raw gamer, it can be the farthest distance from the person live streaming giving them the most space to game. Variety or just chatting streamers are probably going to use the dynamic mic or condenser mic. More parasocial farming streams are going to opt for the condenser mic since they can occasionally whisper into it imo before they likely move on to a full on 3dio asmr mic.
I'm on decent headphones ( Steel series Artctis 7+) and I think people are fretting too much over the acoustics things. Most viewers watching anything at a desktop are watching multiple things at one time, occasionally playing music, playing a game etc. The only people really going to be focused in on a single video source are going to be ipad babies and complete weirdos. So That's where I think this overblown hype of needing to min max acoustics comes from for live streaming. Its some really niche complaining viewers and audiophiles padded by some silent ipad babies to look like that is something a lot care about.
The average viewer that you want being an active part of your community/chat isn't going to really notice or care about those things, they are going to be more interested in visual fidelity of the game or video source and visual ambiance. I think the right microphones take care of the noise pollution themselves. The only content creators i really see caring about background noise are those that have either a child they don't want on record, or they are trying to hide a spouse because it would make them less money.
Was it just me who heard some ambient static white noise from the sm-7b? is that a normal problem with that mic?
Where did you get that hoodie?
review more condenser mics like rods nt1a
The best comparison for me would be in a noisy room with some other person talking in the background
Hey @SenpaiGaming!
I hope you can see my comment :)
I have a question and would like to hear your opinion (gladly also in a video, if you find the topic interesting - because there is no video on the subject yet).
I have a SM7B and the GoXlr.
Now I'm thinking of replacing the GoXlr with the StreamDeck+ & Wave Xlr while keeping the micro the same.
What are your thoughts on this?
Which is better?
I mean you are going to replace MIDAS preamps in GOXLR, loose motorized faders, for an Elgato knockoff? I dunno what people are doing that they need like million knobs and buttons to your livestream, but the sound quality and the versatility that GOXLR does, like I can adjust my 4 main audio levels on the go with the fader, I can choose to what to mute and where, I can just mute myself to my friends by one click and talk to stream, I can mute my voice chat and still hear them, I can still run music in the stream and shut it to my headphones and more and more. There is no competitor on the market to the full GOXLR if you really think of it. Wave XLR has no onboard processing, no onboard DSP, you can use plug ins in it, but that´s it. The only one that is going to replace GOXLR soon, will be the Rodecaster 2 Duo. Just save some money on the streamdeck and be simple, the more you try to do more than what you need, the more you fail ( I´ve learned that the hard way )
Why would you buy both Stream Deck + and Wave XLR when the whole point of Stream Deck + is that it allows you to use any audio interface (and a lot of them are much better than Wave XLR, sound quality wise) and still to get access to that awesome Wave Link software?
I wouldn't expect any significant sound quality differences between those 2 setups you've mentioned. The only difference would be functionality and user experience of those.
For a new buyer I'd clearly recommend Stream Deck + and some real audio company interface but for someone who already has GoXLR I don't think buying a new setup would be worth it. Unless you've got some real issues with your current setup. Or your use case is much more demanding than just streaming on twitch.
My opinion with very high quality sound playback reproduction, the Shure SM7B is still king. Thanks for the video!
I completely disagree. It sounds the worst and least appealing out of those three. Its only advantage is that people are used to this kind of voices because so many people use it.
I'd compare it to those silly people who say to themselves that "games without raytracing look better than with it" (talking about properly implemented RT, like Cyberpunk, Dying Light 2, Metro Exodus etc.). Those games don't look better without RT, exactly the opposite. However those games without RT look like all the other games they got used to so they think just because it is similar to what they are used to it means "it's better".
Especially when they're like "puddles on streets are not mirrors like in this RT game". Yeah, they aren't like mirrors in other non-RT games, but they are in real life.
Bit of messy explanation but I hope you could get my point.
I think the Shure sounded the worst out of the 3, way more muddy than the other two. The shotgun mic sounded the best for me, and the condenser mic had a little too much treble/ highs for me liking.
@@RJ-vy4yd The SM7B is still the king, the warm, pleasing sound it has, the background noise rejection, no handling noise with build in shockmount, you can tune this mic many ways. But most people dont know what to do with it and they have bad sound
@@ZedoBlack it needs tweaking, those other 2 are not worth considering the price, 1000$ and the Kiwi is like 2000$ or more
I think an re20 sounds better, I hate the flat high end and tubby low end from the sm7b unless its that 'radio' voice sound, especially on higher voices it just sounds small.
I think I need a dynamic one
This is triggering my tinnitus 😂
Every video is just a fucking commercial with this guy. Used to be fairly informative. Now I just watch Podcastage if I want info instead of just being advertised Harris Hellers latest venture.
Dang... I got the wrong mic. I should have had the dynamic mic.
Nobody talks about small diaphragm condensers (pencil mics) 🫠
🎉
Oh god not the American heavy accent Japanese my ears
worst adds placement ive seen in a long time, i honestly thought it was a joke
and for that we get a tiny noise test lmao
this is shameless
second
Look I loved the vertical plugin when I had it, and it worked. But after a week of usage, it would crash my whole OBS, and ultimately cause blue screens every time I opened OBS. I un-installed the plugin, and never had an issue opening OBS again. This was about 2 months ago, mind you. I hope they've fixed that issue since, but I'm not keen on re-downloading it to spend hours and hours troubleshooting every day again.
It's a common misconception that dynamic mics inherently have a more directional response / pickup / polar pattern. Polar patterns vary wildly by frequency for all mics more because of their engineering, not their base technology. Both dynamic and condenser mics are avaible with wide and narrow pickup, so what you get is a matter of personal taste. For example, Sennheiser e865 is a supercardioid condenser, and Sennheiser e835 is a dynamic cardioid. Dynamic mics are famously cheaper and more durable than condenser, so they're commonly known as stage mics, because bands need a lot of them, and they need to work after being dropped. Condenser mics are famously more accurate than dynamic, with a flat frequency response that makes them commonly used in studios for actors and singers. Some mic choices even come down to fashion: how the mic looks on camera, or what its historical heritage is. The main thing the average consumer needs to know about dynamic and condenser mics is the other hardware requirements to use them: dynamics send a weak signal and therefore need a strong amplifier at the interface and no EMI getting into the cable, whereas condensers are less demanding on the amp and cable because the phantom power provided by the amp runs a little amplifier inside the mic which sends higher voltage than a dynamic back along the cable. This voltage level on the wire is actually what audio people are referring to when they talk about mic "sensitivity". These days all new interfaces are coming with strong amps and phantom power, so even these differences don't matter much to people anymore. Just pick a mic you like the sound of, and get it as close to your mouth as possible, pointed at your mouth, with your mouth not pointed at the mic. You can read more about this in Chapter 4 of "Modern Recording Techniques" by Huber and Runstein, and Chapter 6 of "Audio Engineering 101" by Dittmar. The interference tube of a shotgun mic probably hurts more than it helps indoors, and is actually a totally separate topic from the polar pattern. You can read more about that in "Does my shotgun mic have any uses in the studio?" and "How do shotgun mics work?" at Sound On Sound by Robjohns.
personally i just went with tried and true SM58
1. Blue Kiwi (crispy, sharp & clear) 2. Shotgun (balanced & clear - your voice is heaven with this) 3. Dynamic Mic (like any other podcast but white noise is much apparent). I wish I could afford at least a shotgun mic but for now I'll stick with my cheap behringer dynamic mic. Thank you, Mr. Harris for another mic video. 🙏
Berlinger makes the B-5 which is a small diaphragm condenser (shotgun style) and it’s best for closed quarters (small studio). I love it and it is very affordable.
The shotgun mic definitely picked up your voice a lot more nicely than the condense and dynamic mics. Though for me, I’d prefer a condenser or dynamic mic. Either one of those two I’d prefer, simply because I’d like to have the mic with the stand and all, just so I can move it whenever I’d like. As for the shotgun mic, not sure what I’d wanna use it for, but it is cool hearing how good it is for the quality. I’ve been watching your videos lately since I’ve been getting back into videos about microphones and all that cool tech. So far, your videos have been pretty fun to watch. So yeah, just wanted to say keep at it with this, because I’ve loved seeing your reviews on the products you’ve showcased so far
these mics, except the 416 are not great for indoors, even with some treatment, those grills on the body? It picks up the sound that is bouncing from hard surface and the mic listen to its and then it muffles it out like it´s noise canceling it, but in reality it also muffles up your voice. It depends on what are your needs for a microphone, I would personally never use a condenser microphone on the level like Neumann and above, as game streamer, because this mic is super sensitive and unless you are in completely noise free enviroment, you will have to gate out all that background noise and it messes ups your voice and the overall quality. That´s why always to recommend a dynamic microphone, even like Rode Podmic can hold you up for years of great content if you can set it up perfectly. I personally have SM7B ( cause I´m audio hog, second the podmic came out after I bought it )
Haha so clever reading and segments during the mic tests. This video was fascinating since you moved from a fully treated studio vs a more typical room with minor sound dampening.
As much as we love the look (or rather not look with a shotgun, being out of frame), we're dealing with a lot of reverb where we record.
Just purchased the SM7dB-still have a friend's shotgun mic, so we will record our next video with both and see how each sound.
This video was so incredibly insightful to understand the strengths and weaknesses of each mic.
It's also so interesting in a way how you record in an asthetically treated room with a Shotgun mic, as it almost makes it feel more personable versus the studio (both sound and look great). Have given us a LOT to think about.
Fantastic video, well done.
I'm so happy that they're now making dynamic usb mics I live in New york and condenser mics pick up a ridiculous amount of noise so I had to upgrade to an xlr but record my gameplay with my blue yeti for louder gameplay audio in my videos
It´s not fault of the xlr input, so it´s not the usb mic that will help you, it´s the dynamic mic that is less sensitive than condenser, if you already have xlr interface don´t get rid of it
@@luk7n I'm not blaming the mic I was blaming my lack of knowledge despite the ridiculous amount of research I did too choose a first mic. I said a dynamic usb will be helping me out because I record gameplay with a condenser that picks up alot of noise. A dynamic that doesn't pick up any background noise would be amazing so I won't hear my loud ass ps4 fan in my videos but I use my xlr for podcasting and the voiceovers I love my xlr set up but I'm a person that needs both set up
@@theoutsiderjess1869 Yeah bit that has nothing to do with usb or xlr, technically an xlr only mic is a downgrade from a usb mic (its the same just missing an ad/da) take the shure mv7 and the mv7x, the latter just doesn't have the usb. Can't you use your xlr dynamic setup for your gameplay, not sure what gameplay has to do with anything.
@@JimijaymesProductions no I cannot as I record directly from the ps4 and there are few audio interfaces that works with that console and the ps5. I'm not planning to buy a brand new audio interface as i love my minifuse 1. A usb dynamic mic is my second option plus I regularly switch between usb and xlr. I also don't have a gaming pc setup. I use my ps4, my tv and then edit with my laptop
@@theoutsiderjess1869 ah you have a single channel interface. How do you capture ps4 video? Does that not capture audio?
Shotguns are designed to pick up some ambient alongside the main source. SDC (pencil mic) are designed for picking up voice indoors (some are instrument mics). SDC mics work great for YT, talking head, indoor setups.
Never heard of these before so I googled it and most seem geared towards instruments, which ones are good for voice?
The Seinnheiser mkh 50 is probably the best at about $1000. SE Electronics has a few good ones in the Se V7 & Se V8. There's a Russian one I forget the name of right now. Behringer has a combo deal for super low cost that works good enough for YT talking head. Most of the shotgun style SDC mics will perform great indoors for voice work.
Awesome, cheers for the info!
Not to take up too much more of your time, but I’m not familiar with microphones that don’t take usb or phantom power. Trying to google this doesn’t reveal much, most articles assume prior knowledge of the field. Are these sdc mics meant to be used with an amp or dac of some sort, how would I make use of them in a pc setup? At what distance should a cardiod patter sdc be from the talking head?
sdc (or pencil condenser) mics work like the mics featured in this video. You'll need an interface & XLR cables. If you've used phantom powered mics, the same setup will work. Distance from speaker is a trial & error thing, unfortunately. Your location, environment, sound treatment, voice, all will effect the sound. Personally, for my setup, the Se V7 works well about 6 inches above my head & pointed at my chest.
What a strange mic test.
I don't want any of the three types of mic you tested in two different room.
I want the mic you were using just before you started the test.
The record quality of your voice sounded great then. But as soon as you started the test it sucked on all three.
In each case, you had a shotgun mic pointing at your face while you introed the segment but as soon as you flipped to the shotgun test, your voice changed dramatically and got more sucky, same with the other two.
Confusing.
my guess no audio editing
Big fan of my Rode shotgun mic ever since you originally suggested it
Can you do a review of the FIFINE AM8 or K688??
I strongly dislike anything in my face or obstructions when I’m gaming or working. Sounds like a shotgun mic is a slam dunk one for me
This is very helpful. I switched from a condenser mic (Blue Yeti) to a cardioid dynamic mic (SM58) and got rid of all the echo and background noise. The filters in obs cuts off my mic every time I spoke.
Yeah I had no idea why I bought the Blue Yeti (probably just what was hyped at the time) but realizing it’s horrible for gaming and discord with friends, all they hear is me button mashing lol
I have a cheap condenser mic from fifine and I got rid of all the background noise by connecting adobe audition to voicemeeter and using the noise reduction effect. Sounds way better now
How do you do that ?
The studio test shows why the MKH416 is an S-tier voice over microphone and why I use it for my work.
I have to watch his videos in spurts cause every time I watch a video of him showing off a new thing, or explaining something previously unknown to me, I just like, I want it. Now I want a shotgun mic 😂😂😂💀
Someone help
You talk to much about other thing, just focus in the mics, i wasted my time, this was more a advertising videooo, stopp thisss
I been a die hard pusher of the rode podmic for years......and after this video. I think imma pull the trigger on a shotgun mic. especially because as a vtuber im sick of losing mouth tracking if my camera cant see my mouth cause that big boi rode is in the way.
this video just made the urge to get a shotgun mic even bigger, i currently have a rode podmic but i kinda want that shotgun mic and mount it on top of my monitor, pretty much like you have harris
That's not how it works.
You can't generalize the sound of a single microphone to all microphones in that category....
After listening to all three mics, I feel like the shotgun mic really is the best of both worlds. The dynamic one feels too "muted" and narrow, and the condenser mic feels too strong and sensitive to me. (( I'm not a mic expert by any means, though. ))
Definitely shotgun mic.
I currently have a Dynamic Elgato Wave DX Mic, which I enjoy using. WAY better than a USB Blue Yeti Mic.
So yeah, I think in the future I'll definitely upgrade my mic to be a shotgun mic. Because I usually put my Wave DX mic close to me which can be a bit of a hassle plus moving the mic arm all the time whenever you're starting and ending stream.
Wow the shotgun mic sounds better in my opinion.
these mic videos dont really help to a certain degree its.
I think the shure mic sounds great though the difference from front to side with the shotgun mic is incredible. I'm about to download Aitrum also, the convenience. Great video, how's Japan? 🤷, have a great weekend.
Here I am last night searching this up on TH-cam and ending having a mic I thought I like in my cart to buy and Harris comes out with this and now I’m wealthier for the knowledge…man never misses
i have a really deep gravely raspy voice and im loud bc of all the bass but i dont understand what mic would be the most accurate for me and what would work best in game on youtube and in discord
Thanks Harris. Confirms I was looking at the right mic for my stream set-up. I think I will be getting the Rode shotgun that i looked at recently.
You can clearly hear the Shure dynamic mic have a continuous pushhh noise every time you use it, its same as the Logitech blue sona, terrible mics sold for a crazy high price
Sizzles seems like something that's being used to train AI. Then everyone will grift with a surprised pikachu face.
Dude you always look so tired. Do you ever sleep?
The sm7b just isn't my favorite ive heard it and used it and I just don't like the way it sounds
Shotgun mic easily sounds the best for me. I heaerd you mentioned tho that it was 1k? can you recomend some cheaper alternative?
I'm definitely blocking this channel. Reads ads to demonstrate the mics. Later dude.
Is it ok the shotgun for gaming ?
From the perspective of someone who works with Microphones for a living... you do an excellent job of educating people, Harris. This explanation is succinct, insightful, and accurate. I guess the general public doesn't really use ribbon microphones but that may have been the only thing missing here. Also would have loved to see more than one example of each kind of mic, not for testing, but just for listing as examples to help with people's general knowledge and reference. Keep up the great work, looking foward to the next video.
wtf 4 ads in one video
Would have looooved a talking while typing test on these.
mkh416?
Could you do a video on compressions for different mics
Following. Your baby won me over.
idk all of them sounded kinda shit
I see so many people instantly jumping on the condenser mic train the I manage to quickly steer them away from them to dynamic when I can hear someone else in the room and they ask me why I sound so crisp yet I can hear the mouse in there room scratching at the door 😂
Supercardioid condensers beat out dynamics any day.
Condensers in general have better sound quality and with a supercardioid pattern will pick up almost no background
As Always 👍
do love my sm7b but it does get in the way alot of the time
Harris, could you don one covering USB mics of these types? Not sure if possible but at this time I know I don't have what is need for an XLR mic.
wow.. the Sm7B sounds REALLY muddy. The worst of the three. Just shows that for the price, how much more work you have to do to it to make it sound "good". (definitely overkill for streaming)
Well...The shotgun mic used in this comparison is $999.00 (Sennheiser MKH 416) and that's cheap compared to the Blue Kiwi.
As an audio engineer I always know I prefer LDCs over everything tone wise, still in my basically untreated apartment I am always wondering if I should go SDC, dynamic or shotgun instead. The noise trade off is worth it for me to have the detail in the high end especially because I mumble a bit. Often when an LDC is picking up too much room its because I have to be away from the mic and am moving around (when demoing music equipment with no mic visible on camera) and the other mics would probably be worse where their off axis rejection would mean I have a highly inconsistent take.
I never thougt about shotgun mics, till now. i'm pretty impressed. Otherwise my Rode Podmic does a good job for me, so i don't think about to change it in my streamsetup, but may be it could be a nice option for videocontent. Thanks!
See I have a shotgun mic and I’d love to use it for streaming but in feel like I don’t know how to properly set it up to not sound like crap and pick EVERYTHING up
Man I have been watching your videos for a very long time but you have kind of fallen off man the views are struggling to get over 10k views so what's happened?
I noticed that in some videos you have a blanket??? Hanging around what is that and do you have links for them to check out? I’m assuming is for audio?
I wished you tested all of them from a distance that’s how you will be able to tell the difference between them
U should lookin into the fifine xlr mixer
It’s only $50 but i think it’s cool u should do a review on it
Thanks so much for this!
Honestly- the condenser mic was actually far better in the noise isolated test.
How does Atium update? Would I need to redownload the app?
Surprised the most reverb from your shotgun. Although it's your favorite, I think it sounded worse than the dynamic or condenser. I like the condenser the best, and btw, you held it closer to your mouth than the other microphones, I believe.
the voice on your youtube video have a great quality but nothing compared to the 3 test you did, if its really a shotgun mic you use. why it drop quality when you tested the shotgun? or perhaps you have added some effects to later when editing the video? can you please give some details.
Anyone had much experience with shotgun mics and mechanical keyboards? I'm worried it will pickup the reverb from the keyboard strokes and mouse clicks. Cheers to anyone in advance!
don't know if you are having this problem but when i unplug one of my display ports to my computer and plug it back in my screen starts to flicker them stops and detect only two of my displays. could be Nvidia drivers. dont know
I'm in the process of building my office and want to upgrade from my blue snoball. What would you suggest for someone with a bunch of possible background noise (kids, tv, etc?)
I love and always watch your content, but what's the standard for the thumbnail on this video...? I didn't even notice it was a new upload from Senpai Gaming.
In a visual medium maybe show a rough diagram of the shape of the area the shotgun mic picks up compared to the others? Time to break out Illustrator Sam?
Really surprised how well the shotgun performed. Maybe I need to dig deeper into that. Thank you!