Condenser mic for...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brittonal 

Has anyone ever used a condenser mic for gaming?  I mean as apposed to a clip on mic or a headset?  I was just kind of curious.  You could use your favorite headphones of choice and not have a mic strapped for your face.  I tend to only play MMOs on PC so I'm on Ventrilo or Skype a lot during these times so I wondered.  I know there are some good options out there such as the AT2020 or the Blue Yeti and it may be overkill but would give quality, especially for voip or pod casting as well.  I ask or bring this up as I have leaned this way as it can be useful for other things but I have also gave thought to the ridiculously overpriced Beyer MMX300.

 

What are your thoughts?

Yes! I use a condenser mic with a pop filter regularly straight into my 0404. There are loads of options when it comes to this, but more often than not I reach for the workhorse MXL 990, which is cheap, reliable, and beautifully creamy and warm sounding, which has a pleasant effect on male voices. Mostly I turn the gain up and move the mic away for convenience, but the best sound is of course with it in front of your face. 

I have it on one of these: http://www.amazon.com/Stage-DS7200B-Adjustable-Microphone-Stand/dp/B0002M3OVI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1294113945&sr=8-1

sure, you COULD use one, but why do you want to run a condenser when the bulk of the use will be skype/teamspeak where the compression codecs will nullify the benefits?  if just pick up a stand and a cheap dynamic mic if it were only for gaming use

if you ever plan on recording, then sure, a condenser mic will be a great multi-tasker, and will be more than adequate for gaming

Yeah that's extreme overkill. Even a dynamic would be overkill. Like El_Doug says though, if you're going to use it for recording or something else then it would be fine. Make sure you use phantom power with condensers.

I do use a proper microphone with skype and such on a regular basis, but it's not worth it when using it just for that purpose. In my case only one of the people I talk to online uses speakers and headphones with which he might be able to tell the difference. Unless you're doing podcasts which are recorded properly and are using a properly configured mumble, ventrilo or TS server the chances anyone is actually going to notice a difference are small. If you want a microphone to stand on your desktop you can always go with the one logitech makes.

Quote:

Originally Posted by salannelson 

Yeah that's extreme overkill. Even a dynamic would be overkill. Like El_Doug says though, if you're going to use it for recording or something else then it would be fine. Make sure you use phantom power with condensers.

There are $5 dynamic mics, how is that overkill?

I've used a Blue Mouse running into a Fireface when I was inbetween headsets. Unwieldy of course. I much prefer headsets, as I discovered after wasting my time with the Zalmans for at least a year, believing what I read on here. 

I use the 'ridiculously overpriced' MMX 300 and... is it overpriced? It has one of the best pick-up mics I've tested on a consumer headset and can be readily had for $300 and under. That gets you a ~$40-ish-value USB soundcard with decent performance, a $20 bag and a 5-year warranty as well.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brittonal 

Has anyone ever used a condenser mic for gaming?  I mean as apposed to a clip on mic or a headset?  I was just kind of curious.  You could use your favorite headphones of choice and not have a mic strapped for your face.  I tend to only play MMOs on PC so I'm on Ventrilo or Skype a lot during these times so I wondered.  I know there are some good options out there such as the AT2020 or the Blue Yeti and it may be overkill but would give quality, especially for voip or pod casting as well.  I ask or bring this up as I have leaned this way as it can be useful for other things but I have also gave thought to the ridiculously overpriced Beyer MMX300.

 

What are your thoughts?

Quote:

Originally Posted by revolink24 

Quote:

Originally Posted by salannelson 

Yeah that's extreme overkill. Even a dynamic would be overkill. Like El_Doug says though, if you're going to use it for recording or something else then it would be fine. Make sure you use phantom power with condensers.

There are $5 dynamic mics, how is that overkill?

It doesn't matter how much the mic is, VOIP would kill the sound quality of it, and it would probably sound like any other headset mic.

I'm not saying it wouldn't work, because it would be more than adequate... just overkill.

The fact remains however that a decent VoIP (e.g. Skype) still has way more headroom than your average crappy mic. The perceived (by the listener) quality of the mic is not only about quality captured, it's also about the tone captured. And as a result you'll see that even low-bitrate podcasts with higher production values than someone talking into an entry-level headset sounds better.

Pros & Cons of MMX 300... Sonically, you can put the DT 770 Premium pros/cons here. Volume Control is Windows volume. Would be nice if it controlled headset volume only, but alas, this is not a pro-level soundcard. The interface has an onboard mute, which I would like built into the boom as on the Logitech G35 for example: It is much more convenient for the mic to auto-mute when flipped up. No controls on the MMX 300 apart from that... it's a 'pure analog' headset. Aside from a durability question over the jack arrangement / moulding (which given the 5-year warranty shouldn't be a big worry), I really have no major issues with it at all.

Quote:

Originally Posted by bangraman 

even low-bitrate podcasts with higher production values than someone talking into an entry-level headset sounds better.

That's true

I use an AT2020USB  for ventrilo and CS:S. Sure, it may be overkill, but it wasn't all that expensive, especially when compared to the amount we spend on headphones.

Quote:

Originally Posted by salannelson 

Quote:

Originally Posted by revolink24 

 

It doesn't matter how much the mic is, VOIP would kill the sound quality of it, and it would probably sound like any other headset mic.

 

I'm not saying it wouldn't work, because it would be more than adequate... just overkill.

Yes, but (nearly) all headset mics and normal computer mics ARE dynamic. Right down to the cheapie in your laptop. Therefore, I do not understand why "even a dynamic would be overkill."

Quote:

Originally Posted by revolink24 

Quote:

Originally Posted by salannelson 

Quote:

Originally Posted by revolink24 

 

It doesn't matter how much the mic is, VOIP would kill the sound quality of it, and it would probably sound like any other headset mic.

 

I'm not saying it wouldn't work, because it would be more than adequate... just overkill.

 

Yes, but (nearly) all headset mics and normal computer mics ARE dynamic. Right down to the cheapie in your laptop. Therefore, I do not understand why "even a dynamic would be overkill."

Ah, I'm thinking of something like this when I mean overkill. I wasn't thinking about headset mics, I thought most of those were electret. Sorry for the confusion.

Ah, alright.

Nice SM58 there .