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Desktop Microphone Recommendations?

post #1 of 7
Thread Starter 
Hey guys,

I just wanted to get some feedback from you guys as to what microphone I should buy, there are so many different kinds out there, and I'm not an expert or very experienced with a many of them. The reason why I'm looking to buy a new microphone is because I was using a headset, it served me well for a long time, but has finally broke down.

Seeing that headsets for PC are quite expensive for what little you get from them, I wanted to just get a good pair of headphones (bought the JVC HARX700) and a standalone microphone.

What would seem best for me is a microphone that is good a recording vocals and has a desk stand, or can be put on a desk stand. I want to get decent microphone and not something like Logitech desk mics, an actual microphone. I've seen a lot of them looking through amazon around the 30$ price range (many of them with 20~50% off) that people are in love with in the reviews, but I'm still a little hesitant.

So if you guys have any microphone recommendations for me, I would really appreciate it. I think the most I want to spend is 40, give or take a few bucks, thanks a lot!
post #2 of 7
What exactly will you be doing with this microphone?

Just skype and in-game VoIP kind of things?If so, there is absolutly no reason to be spending 40 bucks, or something that is going to take up any room on your desk for that matter.

Pick up a Zalman Mic-1, or spend a little more on an Olympus ME-52W if you want it to be directional (don't want "outside" noises getting in the way)


If you're actually going to be doing recordings for some form of polished media, be it youtube or flash videos, music, whatever (however armature it may be), I'd suggest perhaps a Blue Snowflake. It's probably the best you're going to get within your budget.
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post #3 of 7
Thread Starter 
Done, and done, thanks a lot!
post #4 of 7
NP! which did you settle on btw?
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Polk PSW-10 Etymotic ER-6i Zalman Mic-1 (Clip-on Mic) Auzentech X-Fi Forte 7.1 
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Logitech G13 Wacom Intuos 3 Scythe "3-Foot Switch" Modded PS3, Xbox 360, and Logitech PC Controllers 
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WD Caviar 160GB Vista Home Premium 64bit Ubuntu Samsung 226BW 
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Saitek Cyborg Zalman 1000 watt Apevia X-Discovery Razer Deathadder 
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WD Caviar Green EARS 2TB Vertex Turbo 60GB (SSD) Samsung Blu-ray, Samsung DVD Burner H50 (With push/pull nocturas) 
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Windows 7 Professional 64 LG 47in LED LCD Saitek Eclipse Lite-touch Wireless Seasonic X750 Gold 
CaseAudioOtherOther
CM690 II Passive bookshelfspeakers + amp. Dual TV-Tuner card Comcast decoder card. 
Other
Fios decoder card. 
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Arcane
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OCZ Vertex Turbo (SSD) WD Velociraptor WD Caviar Black FALS Sony DVD Burner w/ Lightscribe 
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LG Bluray + HDDVD Black Ice GTX 360 Black Ice GTX 240 Panaflo High Speed - Push-Pull w/ shrouds 
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Windows 7 Pro (64) Windows XP Pro (32) Ubuntu (64) ASUS VK266H Black 25.5" 2ms LCD 
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X-Armor U9BL (Mech) Corsair 1000HX Cooler Master HAF 932 Razer Deathadder (3G V3 internals inside of she... 
Mouse PadAudioAudioAudio
Razer Goliathus Alpha - Speed ATH-A900X ATH-A700 Maudio AV-40 
AudioAudioAudioAudio
Polk PSW-10 Etymotic ER-6i Zalman Mic-1 (Clip-on Mic) Auzentech X-Fi Forte 7.1 
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Logitech G13 Wacom Intuos 3 Scythe "3-Foot Switch" Modded PS3, Xbox 360, and Logitech PC Controllers 
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Core 2 Duo 2.4GHz Conroe Core GTX 280 (Temporarily Removed) 4GB Corsair XMS2 150GB Raptor X 
Hard DriveOSOSMonitor
WD Caviar 160GB Vista Home Premium 64bit Ubuntu Samsung 226BW 
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Saitek Cyborg Zalman 1000 watt Apevia X-Discovery Razer Deathadder 
Mouse PadAudio
Razer Mantis Control Creative X-Fi Xtreme Music 
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Core i5-661 GA-H55-USB3 12GB DDR3 1333 WD Caviar Black AALS 640GB 
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WD Caviar Green EARS 2TB Vertex Turbo 60GB (SSD) Samsung Blu-ray, Samsung DVD Burner H50 (With push/pull nocturas) 
OSMonitorKeyboardPower
Windows 7 Professional 64 LG 47in LED LCD Saitek Eclipse Lite-touch Wireless Seasonic X750 Gold 
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CM690 II Passive bookshelfspeakers + amp. Dual TV-Tuner card Comcast decoder card. 
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Fios decoder card. 
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post #5 of 7
Thread Starter 
I went with the Zalman Mic-1 for now, but if I'm not happy with it, I'll go with the other recommendation.
post #6 of 7
Quote:
Originally Posted by naso View Post

I went with the Zalman Mic-1 for now, but if I'm not happy with it, I'll go with the other recommendation.

sounds good. Enjoy!

(oh... and please do remember to spiral the cable around your main headphone cable, don't just clip it on straight in line like a lot of people try to and then complain that it snags on things all the time. lol)
Arcane
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Tempest
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Fukurou
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CPUMotherboardGraphicsGraphics
Core i7 980x GIGABYTE GA-EX58-UD5 MSI GeForce GTX 680 Lightning ASUS Geforce GTX 560ti DCII 
GraphicsRAMHard DriveHard Drive
BFG GeForce GTX 295 Kingston HyperX T1 Intel X25-M (SSD) WD Caviar Black FASS 
Hard DriveHard DriveHard DriveOptical Drive
OCZ Vertex Turbo (SSD) WD Velociraptor WD Caviar Black FALS Sony DVD Burner w/ Lightscribe 
Optical DriveCoolingCoolingCooling
LG Bluray + HDDVD Black Ice GTX 360 Black Ice GTX 240 Panaflo High Speed - Push-Pull w/ shrouds 
OSOSOSMonitor
Windows 7 Pro (64) Windows XP Pro (32) Ubuntu (64) ASUS VK266H Black 25.5" 2ms LCD 
KeyboardPowerCaseMouse
X-Armor U9BL (Mech) Corsair 1000HX Cooler Master HAF 932 Razer Deathadder (3G V3 internals inside of she... 
Mouse PadAudioAudioAudio
Razer Goliathus Alpha - Speed ATH-A900X ATH-A700 Maudio AV-40 
AudioAudioAudioAudio
Polk PSW-10 Etymotic ER-6i Zalman Mic-1 (Clip-on Mic) Auzentech X-Fi Forte 7.1 
OtherOtherOtherOther
Logitech G13 Wacom Intuos 3 Scythe "3-Foot Switch" Modded PS3, Xbox 360, and Logitech PC Controllers 
CPUGraphicsRAMHard Drive
Core 2 Duo 2.4GHz Conroe Core GTX 280 (Temporarily Removed) 4GB Corsair XMS2 150GB Raptor X 
Hard DriveOSOSMonitor
WD Caviar 160GB Vista Home Premium 64bit Ubuntu Samsung 226BW 
KeyboardPowerCaseMouse
Saitek Cyborg Zalman 1000 watt Apevia X-Discovery Razer Deathadder 
Mouse PadAudio
Razer Mantis Control Creative X-Fi Xtreme Music 
CPUMotherboardRAMHard Drive
Core i5-661 GA-H55-USB3 12GB DDR3 1333 WD Caviar Black AALS 640GB 
Hard DriveHard DriveOptical DriveCooling
WD Caviar Green EARS 2TB Vertex Turbo 60GB (SSD) Samsung Blu-ray, Samsung DVD Burner H50 (With push/pull nocturas) 
OSMonitorKeyboardPower
Windows 7 Professional 64 LG 47in LED LCD Saitek Eclipse Lite-touch Wireless Seasonic X750 Gold 
CaseAudioOtherOther
CM690 II Passive bookshelfspeakers + amp. Dual TV-Tuner card Comcast decoder card. 
Other
Fios decoder card. 
  hide details  
Reply
Arcane
(36 items)
 
Tempest
(14 items)
 
Fukurou
(18 items)
 
CPUMotherboardGraphicsGraphics
Core i7 980x GIGABYTE GA-EX58-UD5 MSI GeForce GTX 680 Lightning ASUS Geforce GTX 560ti DCII 
GraphicsRAMHard DriveHard Drive
BFG GeForce GTX 295 Kingston HyperX T1 Intel X25-M (SSD) WD Caviar Black FASS 
Hard DriveHard DriveHard DriveOptical Drive
OCZ Vertex Turbo (SSD) WD Velociraptor WD Caviar Black FALS Sony DVD Burner w/ Lightscribe 
Optical DriveCoolingCoolingCooling
LG Bluray + HDDVD Black Ice GTX 360 Black Ice GTX 240 Panaflo High Speed - Push-Pull w/ shrouds 
OSOSOSMonitor
Windows 7 Pro (64) Windows XP Pro (32) Ubuntu (64) ASUS VK266H Black 25.5" 2ms LCD 
KeyboardPowerCaseMouse
X-Armor U9BL (Mech) Corsair 1000HX Cooler Master HAF 932 Razer Deathadder (3G V3 internals inside of she... 
Mouse PadAudioAudioAudio
Razer Goliathus Alpha - Speed ATH-A900X ATH-A700 Maudio AV-40 
AudioAudioAudioAudio
Polk PSW-10 Etymotic ER-6i Zalman Mic-1 (Clip-on Mic) Auzentech X-Fi Forte 7.1 
OtherOtherOtherOther
Logitech G13 Wacom Intuos 3 Scythe "3-Foot Switch" Modded PS3, Xbox 360, and Logitech PC Controllers 
CPUGraphicsRAMHard Drive
Core 2 Duo 2.4GHz Conroe Core GTX 280 (Temporarily Removed) 4GB Corsair XMS2 150GB Raptor X 
Hard DriveOSOSMonitor
WD Caviar 160GB Vista Home Premium 64bit Ubuntu Samsung 226BW 
KeyboardPowerCaseMouse
Saitek Cyborg Zalman 1000 watt Apevia X-Discovery Razer Deathadder 
Mouse PadAudio
Razer Mantis Control Creative X-Fi Xtreme Music 
CPUMotherboardRAMHard Drive
Core i5-661 GA-H55-USB3 12GB DDR3 1333 WD Caviar Black AALS 640GB 
Hard DriveHard DriveOptical DriveCooling
WD Caviar Green EARS 2TB Vertex Turbo 60GB (SSD) Samsung Blu-ray, Samsung DVD Burner H50 (With push/pull nocturas) 
OSMonitorKeyboardPower
Windows 7 Professional 64 LG 47in LED LCD Saitek Eclipse Lite-touch Wireless Seasonic X750 Gold 
CaseAudioOtherOther
CM690 II Passive bookshelfspeakers + amp. Dual TV-Tuner card Comcast decoder card. 
Other
Fios decoder card. 
  hide details  
Reply
post #7 of 7
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zero4549 View Post

sounds good. Enjoy!

(oh... and please do remember to spiral the cable around your main headphone cable, don't just clip it on straight in line like a lot of people try to and then complain that it snags on things all the time. lol)

That is good advice. Thanks! biggrin.gif
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