What's the best USB desk microphone for recording your lectures?

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  • čas přidán 13. 08. 2020
  • In my University department, we're preparing for recording all the lectures for the upcoming term. Here I compare some microphones that our lecturers may want to use: the Blue Snowball, Blue Yeti Nano, Blue Yeti, Rode NT-USB mini, and Rode NT-USB. Part of a more general playlist on this topic at tinyurl.com/lecture-recording... .
  • Věda a technologie

Komentáře • 78

  • @mreinspirations1639
    @mreinspirations1639 Před 3 lety +19

    Superb comparison, thank you. It’s refreshing to hear a genuine review with no attempt to sell the items.

  • @QueertyUCR
    @QueertyUCR Před 4 dny

    What a great video and lovely host. My favorite was the Rode, then the Blue Yeti original.

  • @cycl0n31911
    @cycl0n31911 Před 3 lety +6

    Thank you, sir. This is exactly the comparison I was looking for.

  • @esbenbuckingrasmussen
    @esbenbuckingrasmussen Před 3 lety +4

    Thank you for a good and comprehensive review. All schools and universities should care this much about the online lecturing experience.

  • @proarchetype9949
    @proarchetype9949 Před 3 lety +4

    Awesome comparison. You’re a really likeable guy Quentin!

  • @vnucka
    @vnucka Před 3 lety +1

    That's a wonderful review. Thank you so much for recording

  • @dicharachera
    @dicharachera Před 3 lety +1

    This comparision it's incredible, thank you so much, it was very helpful

  • @mkmeed
    @mkmeed Před 3 lety

    Great indepth analysis and helping to choose the best one...

  • @healinglight333
    @healinglight333 Před 3 lety +13

    The Blue Yeti (not the nano) was the best for me and your voice. The Rode NT (not the mini) is a very close second and I believe it did justice to the poem the most. But they are all good and as you pointed out the built in mic in the Mac book is surprisingly good.

  • @exatorian3468
    @exatorian3468 Před rokem

    Perfect review! Thanks mate. You helped me out alot.

  • @kv9163
    @kv9163 Před rokem +1

    Superb comparison of most famous microphones. This is what I wanted. Very genuine and very clear. I liked the clarity of the Blue Yeti. It is just awesome. Thanks for the video.

  • @AustinPetDetective
    @AustinPetDetective Před 3 lety +4

    Wow the full size Rode mic sounds amazing.

  • @sharmashivanand
    @sharmashivanand Před 2 lety

    You recorded yeti in stereo. Feels like you are present in front of the listener. Very surreal!

  • @molen_oo
    @molen_oo Před rokem +3

    8:44 Blue Snowball
    9:29 Rode NT-USB Mini
    9:51 Blue Yeti Nano
    10:10 Rode NT-USB
    10:48 Blue Yeti

  • @ismailpatel
    @ismailpatel Před 3 lety +1

    Best usb mic comparison in great depth. Amazing 🤩

  • @jonakibd
    @jonakibd Před rokem

    Thank you so much. You are a great person. 👍

  • @melsheila1
    @melsheila1 Před 4 lety +1

    Very imformtive and a very good video!

  • @simonbrooksstoryteller

    Nice video, thanks!

  • @NotJustBikes
    @NotJustBikes Před 3 lety +2

    This was quite funny. I'm in the market for a USB microphone and ... it's Quentin! I used to work for Newnham Research / DisplayLink. :)
    Anyway, this was a very useful review! I use an XLR mic at home, but I'm looking for a mic to use when I'm not at home.

    • @quentinsf
      @quentinsf  Před 3 lety +1

      Hi Jason! Good to hear from you! Have watched one episode of your channel and immediately subscribed. (It did take a bit of digging to work out who was behind it, though! It's a very long time since I've actually heard your voice, and I'm not on Facebook, so I was watching and wracking my brains... I know that voice...)
      Hope you're well!
      Off to watch another episode...

  • @davidgraham9577
    @davidgraham9577 Před 2 lety +3

    I have seen other reviews where the nt mini (and presumably the yeti nano) is mounted on stand or arm bringing the mic much closer to the mouth, delivering much better sound nearly comparable to the full sized version. I think the main benefits of these smaller devices are in compact size for travel, being less intrusive for zoom calls and cheaper. Compact size at least is presumably immaterial for fixed studio settings.

    • @quentinsf
      @quentinsf  Před 2 lety

      Yes, even with the Yeti I currently use, I have it mounted on a boom arm with a shockmount.
      This allows me to bring it closer while still keeping it just out of view, but it also solves the main weakness of that otherwise excellent mic, I think, which is that the nice robust stand supplied with it can transmit a lot of noise from the desk it's standing on.
      Putting my coffee cup down could be quite dramatic for those at the other end when I first got it... :-)
      But you're right, almost any mic will benefit from being closer to you.

  • @ot7stan207
    @ot7stan207 Před 2 lety +3

    I have a macbook but since I talk softly I needed an external so I can bring it close to my mouth. I have the Mini Rode usb. If you bring it a few inches from your mouth it sounds really good

  • @andrejss
    @andrejss Před 3 lety

    Thank You!

  • @moose43h
    @moose43h Před 2 lety

    best review of nt usb and yeti

  • @thanosmes
    @thanosmes Před 2 lety +3

    I loved the Yeti mini as it doesn't give so much bass. I think too much bass can get your audience tired.

  • @digosane
    @digosane Před 3 lety +1

    Excelente, parabéns!

  • @abhishek_patra_
    @abhishek_patra_ Před 3 lety

    Amazing video

  • @bacsidon
    @bacsidon Před rokem +2

    I think the first is Rode NT USB Mini and the second is Blue Yeti 😄

  • @Thee_Jadex
    @Thee_Jadex Před rokem +1

    Using the Rode NT-USB Mini right now and its really dang solid. Didnt think a usb could do it, especially one going for mini but its actually really nice with it having like no sibilance that iv been able to detect so far which is just so nice to know im not killing anyone listening to me, def its best feature. That and that its so easy to just have on the desk, do wish it had a mute button like its big brother though. Its actually kinda too bad, they just released a new X version of it but killed the sound quality (added tons of sibilance at least) so they could stick a couple streaming features on it for like 50 bucks more, definitely a downgrade.

  • @leonardobissoli7854
    @leonardobissoli7854 Před 3 lety +3

    Great video!!! 👍 I just bought the Rode USB Mini. Let's see if the quality is good.

    • @healinglight333
      @healinglight333 Před 3 lety +1

      How did you find the mic? Was it any good?

    • @leonardobissoli7854
      @leonardobissoli7854 Před 3 lety +4

      @@healinglight333 hi. Yes. This mic is really good. Drawbacks: need to have an arm otherwise you need to put books or something to get the mic close to mouth. No gain built-in but you can control via software which is ok. For the price I do recommend this mic. Tks for asking 😀👍.

    • @healinglight333
      @healinglight333 Před 3 lety +1

      @@leonardobissoli7854 Thank you for answering! 🙂

  • @kunalzagde6486
    @kunalzagde6486 Před 3 lety +1

    I would go for usb nt mini

  • @Irfankhan-rf7ip
    @Irfankhan-rf7ip Před 3 lety

    nice video sir but can you please compare boya M1000 vs Blue Yeti

  • @qazalmusic5794
    @qazalmusic5794 Před 2 lety

    can some body help me please
    which one is better for recording vocal
    blue yeti or rode nt usb mini

  • @Jongraphs8600
    @Jongraphs8600 Před 2 lety +2

    UNBELIEVABLE that the Rode NT USB Mini sounds that good from that far. I have to eat the microphone to get it to sound that good.

    • @quentinsf
      @quentinsf  Před 2 lety +3

      It IS a nice acoustically-damped room, which probably helped!

    • @Jongraphs8600
      @Jongraphs8600 Před 2 lety

      @@quentinsf Great point! I get a lot of room noise when the gain is up.

  • @LaWebdelPortu
    @LaWebdelPortu Před 2 lety +1

    The Blue Yeti is the winner for me. Thanks for the video. 👍

  • @JensErikWeber
    @JensErikWeber Před 3 lety +3

    Thanks for the nice comparison! I have the impression from this video, but also from having heard a colleague online, that the Blue Yeti is quite noisy compared to the Røde NT-USB and NT-USB mini. Is that correct? Nevertheless most comparisons I found prefer the Blue Yeti over NT-USB or NT-USB-mini. Btw: The USB mini has 24 bit resolution while the NT-USB jsut has 16 bit.. Do you think that makes any difference? 16 bit is the resolution that CDs have. For private use I have the Røde NT1 & AI-1 Complete Studio Kit because I needed an XLR microphone for music. That’s about the mic with the lowest noise level you can buy for a reasonable price.

    • @quentinsf
      @quentinsf  Před 3 lety +2

      Hi Jens-Erik - I don't have the two side by side any more to do a comparison, so all it depends what you're likely to be using it for. As I mention in the subtitles, I wasn't very careful in this video to set everything at the correct level, and I may not have done justice to the Blue Yeti, in particular.
      I wouldn't worry about 16 bit vs 24 bit: you'd need to be in a very good studio with much more expensive microphones and even then I think you'd be unlikely to hear the difference. The only time I can imagine 24 bits being useful would be if you got the recording levels very badly wrong and had to recover a signal from a very very quiet recording, and you're likely to have problems from other sources if you're doing that.
      For my own work, I've been using the Yeti since making this recording and have been very happy with it. I think I could make a case that the Rode NT-USB might be slightly better, but when we were buying significant quantities a year ago, it was also quite a bit more expensive. The one feature it does have, which I would like, is a mixing control so that if you have headphones plugged in to the mic you can choose how much of your own voice to hear compared to the output from the computer: the Yeti only has an overall volume control.
      But in the end, it'll depend to a fair degree on your own voice and what makes you sound good!

    • @JensErikWeber
      @JensErikWeber Před 3 lety

      @@quentinsf Hi Quentin, thanks a lot for your detailed answer!

  • @Denon395
    @Denon395 Před 2 lety +1

    The Blue Yeti is the winner for me.

  • @specspec6851
    @specspec6851 Před 3 lety

    bravo!

  • @crychicken9462
    @crychicken9462 Před 3 lety +14

    Rode NT-USB far ahead!

  • @jenshentan8997
    @jenshentan8997 Před 3 lety

    Im kind of interested to know what mic did you use to record for the introduction stage. Is it a wireless mic attached to your shirt?

    • @quentinsf
      @quentinsf  Před 3 lety +1

      Ah yes, I think that was recorded on the little black thing clipped to my shirt: well spotted! It's an Instamic, and they're great, but they aren't wireless mics: they're little high-quality audio recorders - the sound is recorded on them and you offload it via USB later. So you do need to sync the audio up afterwards, which is just a couple of clicks in Final Cut Pro, but may be more awkward in other situations.

  • @Poonpun9439
    @Poonpun9439 Před 3 lety

    Great review! thanks
    Between rode nt mini and blue yeti nano
    Which one do you buy?

    • @quentinsf
      @quentinsf  Před 3 lety +1

      Mmm. I haven't used either of them very much beyond this test, so I don't think I could do a good comparison! I think I would probably go for the Yeti Nano, but I also think that either of the bigger ones are significantly better, so if you have the money and don't mind the size, I think it's worth paying the extra.

    • @Poonpun9439
      @Poonpun9439 Před 3 lety

      @@quentinsf Thank you
      I’m looking for the small size due to limited space. In case of sound quality, I think yeti nano is better from your test, but nt mini has usb-c which probably compatible with future devices.

  • @MaxRiley
    @MaxRiley Před 2 lety +1

    NT-USB hands down

  • @rajarshihalder5038
    @rajarshihalder5038 Před 3 lety +9

    Test - 8:43

  • @bravojl
    @bravojl Před 3 lety +1

    Blue Yeti Nano is the best

  • @HOLLASOUNDS
    @HOLLASOUNDS Před rokem +1

    They kinda look like Starwars droids.

  • @simonbrooksstoryteller
    @simonbrooksstoryteller Před 3 lety +3

    Every mic has it's own 'colour' (some might favour the high end, some the low end). Because your vocie is personal to YOU, you should really try a mic out.

    • @healinglight333
      @healinglight333 Před 3 lety

      Sound advice here! They should let us try them out like shoes of sorts 🙂

  • @speciti4751
    @speciti4751 Před 3 lety +1

    So which is the best

    • @quentinsf
      @quentinsf  Před 3 lety +1

      That depends on your budget, whether size is an issue, and to some degree on your voice. But you do get pretty much what you pay for, so if money's no object, then the two most expensive ones are the best: the Blue Yeti and the NT-USB.

    • @JessieOng029
      @JessieOng029 Před 3 lety

      @@quentinsf but blue yeti has lots of ambience sound like when u put ur arm on thr table.. It can hear those sounds

    • @quentinsf
      @quentinsf  Před 3 lety +3

      @@JessieOng029 Yes, that's true. I use a Yeti at home now, but I have it in a shock mount.

    • @ADY_SR
      @ADY_SR Před 2 lety

      @@JessieOng029 thats because
      1. Gain was 60%
      2. No shock mount like elastic bands..

  • @kaustavghosal2729
    @kaustavghosal2729 Před 3 lety +4

    9:30

  • @Pfsif
    @Pfsif Před rokem

    Kipling?

  • @axelmaldini4218
    @axelmaldini4218 Před 2 lety +1

    At 10:49 it's weird 'cause in the Blue Yeti you have the microphone gain set to 0, it is not possible to get any capture signal from the microphone... I don't believe you...

    • @quentinsf
      @quentinsf  Před 2 lety

      Ah, well, you're very observant, if somewhat ill-mannered... 🙂 But on the Yeti you *do* get a signal even with the gain right down at the bottom -- I've just been and tested it again on my own one. It's just a very low signal, so I had to amplify it in the editing. This of course reduces the quality, and that's why I drew attention to it in the caption. But it's surprising, I think, how good the quality is, given that mistake.

    • @ADY_SR
      @ADY_SR Před 2 lety

      gain to extreme left doesn't mean its 0.. it means it has been set to lowest Gain setting.. easy common sense there

    • @ADY_SR
      @ADY_SR Před 2 lety

      @@quentinsf Quality would be persistent as your mouth is still good close to the mic.. Gain settings are done in case that distance goes more then 1.5 feet;.
      Lowest gain gives you best noise free voice.

    • @quentinsf
      @quentinsf  Před 2 lety

      ​@@ADY_SR Hi Aditya... Sadly not. In general, when you amplify the weak signal to get it to a usable level, it'll amplify background noise as well as the signal, with the result that they'll probably be about the same as if you had set the gain correctly in the first place.
      But you will also amplify electrical noise which will then be a higher proportion of the overall signal. In addition, because these are USB mics, the signal that comes to the computer has been converted to digital, and so a quieter signal will be using fewer bits. So when you amplify it up (i.e. multiply the digital numbers) you'll lose resolution there as well.
      You are right, though, that if you *have* to turn the gain up because somebody is too far from the mic then it won't be as good as if they were close and you could keep the gain lower and still get the same signal. In my case, however, it was too low even when I *was* close!

    • @ADY_SR
      @ADY_SR Před 2 lety +1

      @@quentinsf Thank you for your time and very detailed explanation; learnt it in a different way today.

  • @unitedstateser
    @unitedstateser Před 2 lety

    I think the original yeti sounded the worst.

  • @kaustavghosal2729
    @kaustavghosal2729 Před 3 lety +1

    10:47

  • @HemantPandey123
    @HemantPandey123 Před 3 lety +3

    This video proves only one thing. Content is the gold, delivery is silver and interface (Instrument, software etc. ) is Bronze.

  • @JohnKenneymusic
    @JohnKenneymusic Před 3 lety +1

    Woops no Samson G Track Pro the best USB Mic. lol

  • @seanwebb605
    @seanwebb605 Před 3 lety

    Don't use any of these.