Microphone and sound help !

[Danieludus]

Hi There,

So I'm looking at starting up YouTube, and am in need of some help regarding my audio setup. I am looking at buying a condenser cardioid, microphone, and an audio interface, but am really just looking up general tips of how to setup the hardware I want up with my computer.

The microphone I am buying is..: MXL 770 condenser xlr microphone.
With the following Audio interface: Scarlett 2i2

I currently have the audio coming directly out of my mac through an audio splitter, so that it runs to my headphones and speakers, and I just mute my speakers when I want to listen through my headphones.
Speakers I have : logitech z200 speakers
Headphones i have: steelseries Siberia v2
I was hoping somebody could help me out regarding how I would setup the audio through the interface to use the microphone. Do I need to have my headphones and speakers connected to it to get computer audio, or can I simply rout the microphone through the interface to the computer, to get the best audio quality from the mic. Of course if my sound quality from headphones and speakers will be better through the interface, then help setting that up would also be appreciated.

Any tips are appreciated, and sorry for the novice-ness, I know very little regarding this !!

Thanks

Danieludus

 

[Tarmack]

I use a Behringer mixing board, so while the form factor is different, the basic concept is the same. The mixer once installed became my computer sound card, with everything routed through it. So my monitors(studio speakers, not screens), microphones and headphones are all connected directly to the mixer and then the mixer connected to the computer via USB.

The 2i2 uses quarter inch L&R jacks for output, so with the Logitech speakers you would need a rather unique splitter that I've not seen before. Minijack female splitting to quarter inch left and right male. I'm sure it's out there somewhere.

Alternatively, you could look for a basic minijack splitter with 2 female inputs and one male output so that both your headphones and speakers could be plugged into the headphone jack on the front of the 2i2. Then just use the volume dial on the speakers to mute them.

Further to that, you could keep using the computer soundcard and use the 2i2 for just the microphone input. I've run into problems with device conflicts occasionally in the past though, so you'd need to test it and make sure it works.

 

[Danieludus]

Thanks for the reply,

Yes i will look for that splitter you talk about, but if not I do currently own a splitter that plugs into my 3.5mm Jack on my Mac, and splits the audio to my headset and my speakers. Can I use this with the headphone jack on the front of the 2i2? if not I may just use the interface to get a great quality mic and keep using the soundcard for my computer output.
Thanks for the help

Danieludus

 

[Tarmack]

Thanks for the reply,

Yes i will look for that splitter you talk about, but if not I do currently own a splitter that plugs into my 3.5mm Jack on my Mac, and splits the audio to my headset and my speakers. Can I use this with the headphone jack on the front of the 2i2? if not I may just use the interface to get a great quality mic and keep using the soundcard for my computer output.
Thanks for the help

Danieludus

Before you spend any more money, yes give that a try.

 

[Danieludus]

Thanks Tarmack. Do you have any experience with an xlr to usb adapter, such as the blue icicle? I am wondering whether it is worth trying that out as it is much cheaper than a full interface... Will it give a good enough quality for commentary, given that I can use adobe audition for compression/equalising etc. I just liked the live compression and equalising of using an audio interface..

Thanks

 

[Tarmack]

I've never used an XLR to USB adapter, no. My preference has always been towards more professional kit. I don't have a particular reason, other than a general dislike of Blue gear.

 

[Danieludus]

yeah, I'm assuming this allows you to just do compression and eq etc live, so that it is in all applications and such? That's the main thing I'm looking for, as my current usb mic means I have to run adobe audition and add a load of effects to get good compression,eq etc. Is it worth investing this much early on? Will the added quality be more of a draw to videos.. as quality is one of the main things obviously I look for when subscribing to people.

 

[Tarmack]

yeah, I'm assuming this allows you to just do compression and eq etc live, so that it is in all applications and such? That's the main thing I'm looking for, as my current usb mic means I have to run adobe audition and add a load of effects to get good compression,eq etc. Is it worth investing this much early on? Will the added quality be more of a draw to videos.. as quality is one of the main things obviously I look for when subscribing to people.

To be honest, hardware compression at a low cost level is inferior to the software compression that Audition does. You need thousands of dollars of gear with items like a proper preamp, compressor, EQ rack mount to be able to do what you can edit in post with Adobe.

The primary issue IMO is related to live streaming. Setting up a quick effect chain that you can reuse in Audition is easy, so editing videos after the fact is fast. I do all of mine in 5 minutes or less. But for live streaming to have the compression be immediate, does have some value. I'm sure you can use Audition as a live processing program of some kind but I've not done that myself.

Will it be a draw to videos, no. People still have to get to your video and YouTube doesn't really spend a lot of time ranking "high quality" better. What it can do is increase audience retention, but by and large having good audio quality versus great audio quality is a feature unnoticed by the majority of viewers. Viewers will stick around with both good and great, but will bounce with bad. For me, it's more of a pride thing.

 

[Danieludus]

Yeah, I've actually found the site thomann.de which allows me to get all the gear I want for a crazy amount cheaper than on a site like amazon. This is the kit that I am looking for atm. And then just will add the ws-002 windscreen for the mxl 770.

Seems like it could get me a real decent audio setup, and for the cheap price is a steal too. You think that's decent?

 

[Tarmack]

I've not used the MXL770. I've recommended the 990 before but I tend towards Shure mics myself, so I can't really speak to it. Prices seem ok, but I always shop around a ton, so just make sure it's the best you can find and check to make sure the site is reputable.

I do swear by that mic stand though. Been using it since December and it's bloody great.