kinda surprised to hear shotgun mics pick up more ambient noise than omni lavaliers.

my limited experience with lavaliers is there isn't anything they don't pick up.

@icedquinn the really huge difference is dynamic vs compressor microphones. you have to have a pretty damn good environment to use the latter, but there's a reason dynamic mics are used on stage. youtubers using compressor mics is a huge scam.

@beardalaxy @icedquinn
if you point the shotgun at your chair and it creaks, you're screwed.

Maybe you mean condenser mics instead of compressor mics?

@Corfiot @icedquinn yeah whoops lol condenser, not compressor, don't know what i'm smokin

@beardalaxy @icedquinn Didn't mean to be a smartass, genuinely wondered if there was such a mic

I tried using a comp mic and it was awful, it picked up EVERYTHING. Especially typing WASD! You need it really close to your mouth to get anything done and a good soundproofed room. It can work, it's just hard

I ended up using a dynamic mic, too but I have to keep it right in front of my mouth to get any decent volume.

Tradeoffs everywhere

@Corfiot @icedquinn back when i used a condenser desk mic it would pick up traffic outside and shit lol. switched to dynamic ones and yeah, you gotta' have your mouth pretty close to it, but it's worth it for the better sound and you don't have to apply as many filters to it like noise gates. i can have my air conditioner going and not worry too much unless i'm actually recording vocals for a music track or something and want it to be as clean as possible.

unfortunately there aren't really any headset mics that are dynamic, so i use a condenser one there, but since i only use it for talking with friends or streaming once in a blue moon it isn't like i need to have zero ambient sound. pop filter and noise gate does enough without it sounding like shit.

@beardalaxy @corfiot i keep hearing this but mine doesn't do that :blobcatwaitwhat2:

maybe only the big ones do that
@beardalaxy @corfiot well at one point people complained they could hear the headphone sound through the mic. i solved that by moving it a little further away and fiddling with the gain tho.
@icedquinn @beardalaxy Well, I'd turn down the headphone audio for one and then bring the mic CLOSER to my mouth and increase the gate threshold

@Corfiot @icedquinn yeah, generally the lower you can get the gain and the closer to the source you have the microphone without it being uncomfortable or bringing in more noise, the better.

i use those foam pop filters and keep the volume relatively low, so my mouth has to be basically eating the mic. that's what stage directors always told me to do as a lead singer so i just stuck with it for all the audio i could.

@beardalaxy @corfiot i tried filters but they just sounded like ass so instead i offset the mic and just don't spit in to it.

@icedquinn @Corfiot that bad? that's weird. it shouldn't really change all that much, it just helps scatter hard, poppy sounds and gross mouth noises. if anything your quality should be better.

@beardalaxy @icedquinn maybe the foam ones are different than the cloth ones. Maybe your foam filter is too thick?

@Corfiot @icedquinn there are 3 kinds (at least, common kinds) of filters. nylon ones that go in front of the mic, foam ones that fit around the mic, and fuzzy ones that fit around the mic. i'm honestly not too sure when to use a fuzzy one vs a foam one but i do know that nylon and fuzz are generally used in studios whereas the foam ones are generally used for live stuff and general use. i just use the foam ones because they're a lot cheaper so i can give every unique person their own... it's more hygienic that way.

@beardalaxy @icedquinn i've only seen the fuzz ones used in boom mics. the foam ones outside (for wind) and the pop ones in studios.

And it was my turn to make a mistake, they're indeed nylon and not cloth as i said
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@Corfiot @icedquinn oh yeah that's right, boom/shotgun mics use those more often. though i have seen them used in studios sometimes, the game grumps actually use shotgun mics (at least, they did, i haven't watched them in like 5 or 6 years so maybe they've changed them since then). i guess if you're having people talk directly in front of them they could be useful, but expensive as fuck and not really necessary for a youtube show lol.

people also use fuzzy filters for other mics too, but again i'm not really too sure on the specifics of why.

personally i hate the nylon ones because they obstruct your view if you have the microphone placed in an optimal spot. if you don't need to look at anything i guess it's fine but otherwise i'd much rather have foam boys.

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