Articles | Hardware Reviews

Simple and to the point.

"Mac Mice" microphone (USB mic)

Samples I produced on this $20 radioshack mic 25 years ago still outstrip quality and production of samples produced by most self-proclaimed "AAA" studios in present day. Bendy necks are, however, certain death for wiring. Lived an admirable and long-lived life nonetheless. Company probably doesn't even exist anymore.

Samson Q1U (Line-in Mic)

Step up in price (~60$ CAD iirc) from my radioshack mics but every time I tried to use it I went right back. Its quality is terrible.

Blue Yeti (USB mic)

Decent audio quality;it can put out equivalent to a top quality studio but you need decent reverb conditioning. Extremely heavy and doesn't work with most stands. Incredibly fragile, especially for its apparent build quality. If it falls even a foot onto its head it'll probably short. You can't disassemble this thing conventionally. The omni mood picks up too much noise. The padded base doesn't stop vibrations from hitting the reception, no escaping a need to treat any sources of that e.g. external hard disks and their heads on a separate desk can be sufficient.

I doubt a scissor arm can handle this thing, but if you can find one that does I recommend that over the stand that comes with it. It is, however, a side address mic, so keep that in mind.

AT 2020 (USB mic)

Notably more difficult to get good volumes out of than the yeti. Lack of the hardware gain control is also a big difference. But the quality was a bit superior iirc. Sturdier build.

Rode M2 (XLR)

My first XLR mic. It has a bit harsh of sibilant pickup but its otherwise very solid and a significant step up from the Yeti on build quality and production quality.

LS-208 (XLR)

Decent upgrade from the M2 but the isolation properties are overhyped and it wasn't worth the 1.1k CAD I ended up paying for it ($418 USD). Otherwise it's quite similar to the M2 although its a bit bigger and heavier. Look for a very heavy-duty scissor arm to hadle this, a cheap one won't be able to.

Scarlett Solo 2i2 (Front-end)

Garbage hardware and garbage software. Tons of problems from audio corruption to dropping out and needing restarts. Never read anything good about it. Stay away.

C-Media something (need to find) (Front-end)

Worked until it didn't out of nowhere. C-media used to make decent front-ends. Decades ago. Not today. Keep clear.

US-2x2HR XLR (Front-end)

Significant price hike but seems to be the first of the front-ends that hasn't straight up died. Sometimes cuts out on power but this may not actually be the front-ends fault and may be due to a faulty USB controller. More testing is needed. Tentatively recommended.

Elgato Streamdeck+

Software tends to fail to hook to OBS consistently. Hardware, especially the plastic keys, collects grime from humidity at an insane rate. Lots of corruption shows up on the LCD's randomly. Seems to be pretty poorly built on both ends. Gets its job done still I guess, but unreliable and definitely not good quality or worth the price.

AT-m50x (Headphones)

I've used several sets of these for years and the quality of the pads is shit so expect them to start falling apart in about a year. My current ones deformed because my head is too large for them. The audio quality is probably the best you can get in a huge price range but the build quality leaves a lot to be desired. At least the wires, which are the biggest failure point, can be replaced. Unfortunately, replacement wires and pads are both needlessly expensive so expect to dip into Chinese Amazon middlemen. Wicked Cushions is good for the latter but expect a transition time for your ears to take to the new accoustic profile as it will change.

Burn-in doesn't exist and anyone peddling that nonsense is a retard.