Usb Microphones Aren't Just For Pod-casting Anymore

We all know that USB connectivity effectively eliminates your vocal microphone setup time and just kind of makes sense. Plug and play appeals to just about everyone, and I am sure that for most, it wouldnt hurt to cut down on that spaghetti pile of XLR cables that always seem to be tangled around the chair legs.

To be honest, for most recordings I really wouldn't choose a USB microphone. Im just as attached to my microphone preamps and old-ish school way of doing thing as most of us are. I would say that for pod-casts, stuff like that, USB microphones are fine... However, some long-awaited game-changers are making waves in the home studio biz.

 First of all, quality is getting pretty damn good. If you are looking for something to record dialogue for a pod-cast, a headset for gaming, or something to use with SKYPE, then USB has always been the way to go. However, recording vocals for a song means you really need to feel confident with your vocal microphone before you press record. Its that feeling of confidence that has taken time to propagate throughout the home studio community, but things are changing.

 USB microphones as a sub-category of vocal microphones, are still basically thought of as consumer products, and not as good as pro-sumer and professional level wired microphones. Fair enough, that same is probably still true, but the time has come to take notice of what companies like Audio Technica, Shure, AKG, CAD, and NADY are developing for the home studio.

Audio Technicas AT2020 is a competitively priced large diaphragm USB microphone that sounds good enough to fool most home recording gurus. A new development that has a lot of people pretty excited is Shures new X2u XLR-to-USB adapter. Now, you have the luxury of being able to hook up your higher end vocal microphones with the USB adapter seems to good to be true. So far, people seem to have had pretty good results.

Great development for anyone who likes to simplify in the home studio, but doesnt want to give up the collection of wired Sennheisers. The X2u adapter is perfect for multi-track recording and features zero latency. If you have been gradually adding components to your home studio setup over the years, I suggest you consider spending a couple hundred bucks on a USB condenser microphone and lay down a couple vocal tracks, just for fun. I am willing to bet thaht you will be pleasantly surprised at how close the margin between price and USB microphone performance has become.