Picked up a Samson Meteor USB Mic today

[RainMotorsports]

Pics:


Audio Sample:
<object height="81" width="100%"> <param name="movie" value="https://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F60228994"></param> <param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param> <embed allowscriptaccess="always" height="81" src="https://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F60228994" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="100%"></embed> </object> <span><a href="http://soundcloud.com/rainmotorsports/samson-meteor-versus-gamecom">Samson Meteor versus Gamecom 380</a> by <a href="http://soundcloud.com/rainmotorsports">RainMotorsports</a></span>

Keep in mind the horrible acoustics of my room. I do not have a pop filter or a mic stand and due to the vibrations in my desk i propped it up on a tripod which opens up some minor issues affecting/causing sound.

Once i get the mic stand sorted and a pop filter I think this will improve the audio on my stuff from now on.

 

[Tharic-Nar]

Ahhh, another audio junkie. I splashed out on a Blue Yeti a while ago, definitely worth it for clarity compared to the awful integrated mics.

A trick I remembered a while ago about reducing desk noise without a shock-mount is to use an old speaker cone. You put the mic on a stand of some kind (or your tripod in this case), then put that on top of the cone. When you bang the desk, a lot of the vibration will be absorbed.

When you get a boom arm to mount the mic, that will absorb some of the desk vibration too, but if you move it around, those vibrations will be picked up. You can reduce this rumble effect by using a highpass filter, 40-120Hz range at 6dB per octave or so.

You can get by without a pop shield if you don't speak directly into the mic, but instead, just above or across it. Cardioid patterns should still pick you up just fine without too much gain adjust.

If you plan to do voice-over stuff instead of live, you can cheat a bit by covering your head and mic with some bedding, that'll cancel out a lot of background noise and reverb- but this can leave you with what's called a 'dead' sound. If you plan to do live stuff, then there are really only two things to do. Stick some bedding behind you on the wall or something, and put a pillow or small cushion behind the mic to cancel off-axis reflections. You'll still get some ambient reverb, but this will keep some of the natural acoustics.

Yeah, I did a fair bit of research.

 

[RainMotorsports]

Wouldn't really call myself an audio junkie since I could care much less about what something sounds like than most of the audiophiles I run into. The Mixer you see in the background is part of my Gaming setup. Blending multiple sound cards into one headset so that my audio recordings only have game sounds on them and any teamspeak/skype and or music/netflix I have going at the time ends up in my headset but not my recording.

I tested a few minutes ago took the rubber/gel off my cell phone. I placed an object on it big enough for the mic to sit on and recorded 3 noise tracks. On desk you can hear the computers vibrations, on the gel you really cant and it seemed to be about the same as suspending it in air. Thanks for the tip and while I will still get a stand for doing videos, I think for voice overs I might just pick up a slab of material that will absorb the vibrations from the PC.

Nice mic you got there. I almost bought a headphone amp to replace whats boosting the signal past that mixer and then I was just like screw this im going home. They had the Meteor for 69 and it having been 99 when it came out last year I decided to pop for it.

Once again I am not impressed by much with audio. There is crap, passable, okay, good and excellent with me. The Meteor obviously can capture the bass in my voice and sounds much more natural. But the biggest complaint I would give my headset is you tell your talking into a piece of plastic and it ruins whatever sound it managed to capture. The greatest value is when I am doing an instructional video and I am in the frame, I have a mic that will work for that. But with my finances I would normally say otherwise I would have just saved the money.

 

[Tharic-Nar]

The Yeti I picked up was going really cheap at the time. Think I paid £65 for it at the time, 2 weeks later, the price shot up to £115, so yeah, kind of got lucky like you.

The problem with gel or rubber pads is that it won't help much when typing or moving the mouse around on the desk. I tried the stacked mouse mat trick, you get 5 or 6 rubber mouse mats on top of each other and put the mic on top of that; some of the vibration from me typing was still getting through. It sounded like I was in the middle of an earthquake when typing due to the rumble, but the Yeti is really sensitive too.

A couple months ago, I picked up a boom arm. It came with an integrated mono XLR cable, but the springs are really stiff. The Yeti is not a light microphone, it's huge and heavy; the Samson PSO1 pop filter is also heavy. The two combined on the end of the mic stand... it didn't budge and is still really stiff. Was very surprised. I would link it, but it was unbranded and from the UK, so I have no idea what it was. The closest i can find in the US is this...

http://www.amazon.com/Broadcasting-...7939851&sr=8-3&keywords=studio+microphone+arm

That comes with a shock mount too, mine did not. I wouldn't feel comfortable saying they are the same, but they are damn near close. Even down to the g-mount for the desk. Excuse the mess, but this is near enough my setup (though I have since moved things around).

<img src="http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn230/tharicnar/junk/IMG_1084.jpg">

 

[RainMotorsports]

Thanks for finding that. If I was podcasting or something it would be an absolute must. I still need a mic stand for some videos and that is the cheapest at the moment so I grabbed it. Also picked up a pop filter. Went to a store called Guitar Center on my break.

Picture: (Assuming photobucket is going to play nice)

Typing is not much of a concern. It took me 30 takes just to show off the cigarette lighter and cup holder in my computer. I did so many takes because of speaking that the lighter shot out due to the hot metal. I absolutely can not speak live or in one solid take with any amount of reliability. When it comes to screen recorded tutorials for software, etc I record the video speaking out loud what I think I will say and then record the audio later. Any videos with me in them, if my face is out of frame I just record voice over later blending into any audio kept.

Now I just have to work out the room acoustics as much as I can without actually doing anything.... lol. Don't worry that wall is not in my room. I like to shoot against it sometimes.