No One Cares About Your Audio Gear - Diminishing Returns on Microphones

red alert red alert news flash news flash news  flash nobody cares about the audio equipment   that you use and you don't have to spend  an arm and a leg to get good sounding audio   and that's what i want to discuss today greetings  earthlings and welcome back to podcastage if that   intro did not capture your attention i don't think  anything ever will but today i want to explore the   idea of diminishing returns with microphones and  give you a couple of price points where i think   this law becomes very apparent and hopefully this  will help you avoid spending unnecessary money   category 1 dynamic microphones first up we are on  one of the most affordable microphones out there   the behringer xm 8500 this goes for 20 dollars  and frankly it performs way better than it has any   right to and this is an anomaly i don't think this  is standard for 20 microphones this is a standout   in this price point mike one now we are on the  shure sv 100 this goes for about 30 dollars and   in my opinion this is much more in line with what  you should be expecting at this price point it's   harsh it's not necessarily good sounding really  bad handling noise kind of resonant just not a   great sounding microphone and now to break up the  sure show now we are on the sc electronics sev7   this is a 100 microphone so we have doubled in  price from the sv 200 and the sound quality in   my opinion is more than two times better than  the sv 200 so you're paying twice as much   but you're getting a bit better sound okay that's  the first 100 microphone let's get back to the   sure show say that five times fast it's really  hard it's really hard to say that and now for   the vocal version of that microphone we are on  the shure sm58 which also costs around 100 and   everybody has heard this microphone if you've  listened to a podcast if you've gone to a show   this is one of the most common dynamic microphones  if not the most common dynamic microphone or   maybe most common microphone i don't know  but there you go 100 microphone probably   probably the most popular microphone of all time  now we have increased in price by 20 we are on the   sennheiser e835 a much brighter much more  detailed much more articulate sounding microphone   some might classify it as condenser-like because  it does have so much more detail that is thanks   to a very big treble boost oh by the way if you  don't know what a 20 increase would have been   we are at 120 dollars there you go 120  dollar microphone and this is how it sounds   now we are jumping way up now we have jumped up  to 300 dollars this is the buyer dynamic m201tg   which is another instrument microphone but as you  can hear i think it works outstanding on vocals   the thing that i really like about this one is  it has a much more balanced sound and it does   have some nice extension into the treble and air  without sounding over boosted and without sounding   harsh or unnatural there you go that's what a  300 dynamic microphone sounds like let's move   on everyone knew that i was going to include this  microphone now we are on the shure sm7b this costs   around 400. i have it in neutral mode and yeah  this is quite a bit more expensive than the 20   xm 8500 the reason i like this microphone is  it's very smooth and it's very easy to listen to   however i do know that a lot of people dislike  this microphone because they think it's just a   little bit too dark a little bit too dull and  it comes across a little bit too low detail but   there you go 400 dynamic microphone now we are on  the electro voice re20 which goes for around 450   so 50 bucks more than the sm7b and the thing  that i like about this microphone is it does   have a bit more extension into the treble and  air if you don't like how dark the sm7b sounds   you're probably going to lean more towards the  re20 because it does have that airiness to it it   does have that openness to it that is lacking from  the sm7b but there you go 450 bucks for a dynamic   this is what it's getting yeah all right where  in the spectrum from 20 all the way up to 1 000   do i think the law of diminishing returns really  kicks in for dynamics i'm sure you can guess based   on the microphone that i'm using i think that  around one hundred dollars is where the law really   comes into effect when we listen to the majority  of sub 100 microphones to me it was very apparent   that we were listening to affordable sub 100  dynamic microphones because they all had pretty   big flaws whether it be too much noise due to a  high impedance whether it be extremely unpleasant   tones making it unlistenable or too much handling  noise all of them had their drawbacks and it made   it apparent that they were affordable mics but  once we get to around 100 that really opens us   up to the professional handheld dynamic microphone  market and there are so many options here that no   matter what you're going to find a microphone that  fits the tonal preferences for you fits the sound   profile that you're looking for that's what i was  trying to say now a lot of these microphones do   still have their drawbacks some of them do sound  kind of artificial some of them are pretty bad   with plosives and some suffer from handling noise  as well but as long as you use them properly i   think you're able to get some really great sounds  out of microphones that cost around 100 and then   when we get to the more expensive dynamics like  the m201tg and up i think the biggest difference   is the tonal characteristics i think what you're  getting here is a more nuanced and more balanced   sound profile so if you're in a studio you're  going to benefit from that but i don't think the   majority of listeners will notice that difference  and the other really big difference from the sm7b   and up is the fact that you do have built-in eq  switches on all the microphones whether it be   adding a presence boost or just on the re20 you  only have a high pass filter but on all three of   those higher end mics you do have some form of eq  built into it and the last thing that i'll say is   when you're looking at microphones like the sm7b  you're also getting the added benefit of improved   plosive protection which you aren't getting  on a lot of the 100 handheld dynamics because   that's pretty brutal brutal not brutal but yeah  improved plosive protection there you go that's   all i've got for dynamics let's jump to the  next section category b condenser microphones   first up we are on the neewer nw 700 this goes  for between 20 and 30 dollars it's an extremely   popular budget microphone but it doesn't  sound amazing and one of the big drawbacks   rings like a bell very resonant and not well built  20 to 30 bucks this is what you're getting and   reasonable for the price but not going to be  amazing for anyone next we are on the audio   technica at2020 this goes for around 100 and it is  another extremely popular home studio microphone   as you can tell it does sound quite a bit better  than the nw700 but to my ears it's just not the   most balanced it's not the smoothest sound but for  a hundred dollars i really can't complain but this   is what 100 is gonna get you in the condenser side  of things now we're jumping up in price quite a   bit to 270 dollars this is the rode nt1 and to my  ears this just gives us a much more balanced and   detailed sound without sounding over-boosted  or artificial another really big pro over the   prior microphones is the noise performance the  self-noise performance in particular when you   get to this level the noise of the microphone is  really negligible and just for a good measure here   is another 500 data point this is the shure ksm  32 and here's how this sounds i love this because   of how smooth it is just one of the sweetest  top bends of any condenser microphones i've used   there you go 500 price point here's how it sounds  550 price jump anyone now we are at one thousand   two hundred and fifty dollars this is the austrian  audio oc 81.8 to piss everybody off and this is a   multi-pattern microphone the thing that i love  about this is all the features but it gives you   all that detail while maintaining a very smooth  top end which is pretty rare you're just getting a   more refined sound and a bit of new technology it  does allow for dual capsule output which you can   control with a plug-in in your daw in post or you  can plug in a bluetooth receiver and control the   microphone from your phone so you are getting  additional technology for that price jump and   why not essentially triple the price of the prior  microphone now we are on the neumann hello neumann   u87ai this goes for about three thousand seven  hundred dollars and this is what it sounds like   it is undeniably a great sounding microphone  that does your voice absolutely zero favors   but i also think that it's undeniable that part  of that price tag comes from the badge that sits   right there on the front that name but as far as  sound profile goes it is outstanding and there you   go those are all the samples for the condenser  microphones now let me give you my summary or   conclusion whatever it is now this was a lot more  difficult for condensers because of the variance   and price condensers range from twenty dollars all  the way up to an excess of ten thousand dollars   you can find twenty thousand dollar condenser  microphones so finding just one price point was   extremely difficult so i had to compromise and  come up with a price band where i think the law   of diminishing returns really comes into  play and that price band is 250 to 500   you could make an argument that 170 with the king  b or 100 with the at2020 but i think the king b2   is a bit of an outlier with the at2020 i do think  it has its drawbacks with the excessive self noise   of i think 20 dba and don't even get me started on  the knee were so 250 to 500. i already pointed out   the issues that i have with the knee were and the  at2020 and that will tell you what kind of benefit   you're getting from upgrading to a 250 to 500  microphone but what are you getting if you buy a   microphone that exceeds that 500 price point with  something like the oc 818 i think you are getting   that more refined sound quality that smoother top  end as well as some really cool technology which   does take r d and you as the consumer are going  to be paying for that research and development   then when we look at stuff like the neumann  u87ai the telefunken elam 251 the sony c800g   you are going to be paying for that brand name  but you are also paying for that unique and   identifiable sound profile and you're paying for  the bragging rights because if you run a studio   people are going to want to see oh they use a  u87 oh they use a c800 they have an elam 251   they have 11 000 microphone wow you're paying  for that as well but it is undeniable they   sound great but you're paying a lot for that  to summarize this video into about 30 seconds   i think that the law of diminishing returns  really comes into play for dynamics around 100   where you have the sm58 the sev7 the e835 and a  whole plethora of other handheld dynamics and for   condenser microphones i think the law really comes  into effect between 250 dollars where the rode nt1   lct 440 sit and 500 where you have stuff like the  shure ksm 32 you have the se-4400a in between that   you have dozens of microphones to pick from  to really get the exact sound that you want   and you might be limited with features but the  sound quality will be more than sufficient for   99 of applications i also want to add a couple  more notes the first one being i do not think   that you need to spend 100 to 500 on a microphone  in order to make content online i do not think   that's the case at all i think that people are  more than capable of making content with a 20   microphone whether it be the xm 8500 or the newer  nw700 you might just need to get a little bit   more creative with how you record it and how you  process it to make sure that it's as listenable as   possible but i think you are more than capable  of making content with affordable microphones   i'm not saying you need one what a great way  to end the video just stab myself in the chin   i don't think you need 100 to 500 microphones  i also don't think you need to stab yourself   with microphone quick releases idiot and  secondly if you do want to spend one thousand   thirty seven hundred or twelve thousand dollars  on a microphone i'm not telling you not to do that   i'm just reminding you that the vast majority of  listeners will not be able to tell the difference   between a five hundred dollar microphone and  a thousand dollar microphone or a one hundred   dollar microphone and a thirty seven hundred  dollar microphone so just keep that in mind   when you're considering buying a really expensive  microphone you should be buying it because you   enjoy it and because you want it not because you  think it's gonna make your content 10 times better   and every single audience member is automatically  going to love it because remember a huge amount of   your audience is likely listening to your audio  through crappy cell phone speakers or through   crappy apple earbuds so they are not going to  have the tools to decipher the subtle differences   between a neumann u87 and an austrian audio oc-818  or an se electronics v7 and that is it for this   video but i do have two things to point out first  i did record a lot more microphone comparisons   but it made the video too long so i'm going to  put all the mic comparisons on podcastage 2.   go check that out youtube.com podcastage2 or i  will have the video linked in one of the corners   and secondly if you do want higher quality audio  of this video i will upload that to podcastage.com   i will throw a link to the blog post in the  description down below that is it i was off my   game today this was a rough one to get through  it was a rough one hopefully it wasn't rough   to watch but i struggled through it anyway if  you found this video fun interesting or helpful   go ahead and give me a thumbs up hit it big ol  thumbs down want more videos blah blah blah blah   blah and if you want to be one of these amazing  people over here you can do so by clicking that   join button or going to patreon.com podcastage  and joining at the five dollar tier or higher   it really truly does help me continue to bring  you these videos so until next time thank you so   much for watching thank you so much for listening  i will talk to you next week bye bye i hated that

Channel: Podcastage

Views: 240,688

Keywords: podcastage, podcast, bandrew, scott, microphone, review, audio, sound, test, demo

Id: Z7-tnf0j0vs

Length: 16min 17sec (977 seconds)

Published: Tue May 31 2022