If you demand a microphone that sounds like those found in a professional recording studio, none of these USB microphones is what you’re after-instead, get a “real” microphone, plug it into a USB or FireWire interface, and learn to use it. But when you do, you risk a plosives problem-popping Ps and Bs. These are mics you want to get really close to in order to produce a lot of sound. The Rode Podcaster and Blue Snowball microphones produce reasonable sound quality once you boost, with your recording application on your computer, the volumes of files you’ve recorded-but boost them you must, because their gain is low, even when you crank up the Input Volume slider within OS X’s Sound preferences.
You’ll notice a distinct improvement in sound quality. If you tried a Snowball when it first appeared on the scene and weren’t happy with its sound, try today’s model. The current Snowball uses different electronics than the original version of the mic-which we previously reviewed-and those electronics improve its sound. The first position puts the microphone into cardioid (directional) mode, the second position places a -10dB pad-lowers input gain by -10dB-on the cardioid function, and the third position switches the microphone into omnidirectional mode, where it records sound from all sides rather than just those sounds in front of it. The Snowball microphone includes a three-position switch on the back. (For the latter, you need to choose the microphone as your output device in the Output tab of Sound preferences.) You can use this jack to monitor the microphone’s input or to hear audio from your computer. The Rode Podcaster microphone also includes a headphone jack with a dedicated volume knob. But if you want to hear what’s coming from the computer-from a digital audio workstation application such as GarageBand, for example-you can flip another toggle switch on the side of the G-Track to the CPU position. Plugging your headphones into this port allows you to monitor the mic’s input directly, without the latency you’re likely to get from sound going through the G-Track, into a tethered computer, and back out to the laptop or microphone’s headphone jack. The G-Track’s Volume knob controls output volume from the mic’s built-in Headphone jack, also found on the bottom of the mic. To switch between instrument and line-level input, there’s a toggle switch on the left side of the microphone. You use this input for connecting-and, thus, recording-instruments such as an electric guitar, bass, or keyboard, or for recording a line-level input-the output from a tape deck or mixing board, for example.
The Inst knob controls the gain for the miniplug input (“In”) port found on the bottom of the microphone. Above the Mic knob you’ll find the Inst and Volume knobs. The G-Track sports two additional knobs, which hints that it’s more than simply a USB microphone. This is a nice touch as it makes it easy to adjust and test the gain without having to record a long segment, only to realize afterwards that the gain was too hot. The G-Track also includes an LED that glows green until you over-power the mic, at which point the LED turns red. The Samson G-Track offers a gain knob marked Mic once you’ve adjusted the gain to your liking, you press the knob to lock it in position. On the MXL mic, this appears in the form of a three-position switch marked Lo, Med, and Hi. This slider is grayed-out with the MXL and Samson microphones instead, these mics include hardware controls for adjusting gain. The gain of the Podcaster and Snowball microphones can be adjusted via the Input Level slider in the Input tab of Sound preferences. When you plug them into your Mac, they appear as an input option in the Sound pane of System Preferences-identified as either USB Audio Codec (for the MXL and Samson mics) or by the microphone’s actual name.
No special drivers are necessary for the microphones to operate. Each microphone includes some variety of mounting hardware: a stand for the MXL, G-Track, and Snowball mics and a stand mount for the Podcaster. The Snowball microphone has an additional omnidirectional mode that, with the flip of a switch, allows the mic to record from all sides. These are directional microphones that pick up sound in front of them in a heart-shaped pattern.
Apple MacBook Pro built-in (3.1MB AIFF)Īll the microphones I tested are of the cardioid condenser type.To hear how these microphones compared to a “real” professional microphone (meaning one that doesn’t require USB), I also recorded test files with my favorite podcasting microphone, a vintage AKG C414 EB large-diaphragm condenser microphone plugged into CEntrance’s $150 MicPortPro USB mic preamp, and with the built-in microphone on my MacBook Pro.