Microphone Review / Comparison Zalman ZM-Mic1, Blue Yeti, Logitech G930 +More

Hey guys, I am really starting to put a lot of time in on the mic.

In the past for me a mic was just an optional thing to have that I would perhaps use for game chat if somebody wanted to use mic instead of text.

Quality was not too big a deal then, but over the last several months I have started recording for YouTube and producing great audio became just as important as it has been for me in the past to product great video.

So I have picked up new microphones and wanted to share with you some of the things I have discovered along the way in terms of microphone type, quality, price, etc.

What motivated this video the most was my purchase of the G930 this week in where I could find no videos on YouTube that really showcased the microphone quality or gave sound sample comparisons.

Now that I have the G930 I am producing the type of video I was hoping to find before buying it.

I also have recommended the Zalman ZM-Mic1 to many people here as a cheap microphone that can work with any pair of headphones. Many people got it and liked it, a few others say that the quality of clip-on mics is horrible and they should never be used so that is a great secondary reason to post this video for you as I include the ZM-Mic1 in this testing.

As a great baseline I have the crème de la crème the Blue Yeti, probably the most highly rated and highest praised desktop microphone in the mix as well.

Enjoy the video and the information within. I will have a full review of the G930 soon as I get done with my CPO certification testing.

Video Here: ‪Microphone Review / Comparison: Blue Yeti - Zalman ZM-Mic1 - Logitech G930 - Altec Lansing AHS433‬‏ - YouTube


Note: My room has a very strong amount of background noise, easily audible to the ear even with music playing I can hear my fan and stuff so I gave these microphones a pretty poor testing environment. This is good as it is a worst case scenario so just keep that in mind when it comes to background noise.

 

I ended up ordering a Zalman ZM-Mic1 and Sennheiser HD 202's. My best bud has the 202's and recommended them to me and let me test them out, and they were pretty good to my easily pleased ears. Thanks for all the suggestions.

EDIT: hmm, posted this in my own thread after you, but somehow ended up here. Oh well..lol

 

I couldn't really hear any background noise, Maybe my volume isn't up enough? Wow I really like the Altec quality
Might go with the G930, and Thank you so much for the comparison video!

Edit:
are you going to keep and use the G930 for Voip and other stuff, is it going to collect dust? Or are you going to put that in the future G930 Review?

 

I am sending it back today just in case mine was defective. The bad quality of the sound and slight "hiss" of the mic makes be believe perhaps I was unlucky and had a defective item.

That is what I want to hope anyways but I do not think that is the case.

If the new one comes back the same it will mostly collect dust and be limited to use only when I find myself staying over night at a hotel without my PC and need to use a microphone for casting.

Id just take the 15% restock fee and send it back permanently but like the novelty of wireless so keeping it around just for that.

Id still use my Logitech Ultimate Ears Triple.Fi 10's + uDAC2 combo for listening but if I need a mic I may just use the G930's

As for noise there is TONS of noise actually but depends on what your listening with. On my laptop I cant hear it (or the reverb from the camcorder mic) but at home on my headphones I can hear it all clear as day.

 

Your pro super headphone? XD I think i'm going to get a new sound card, i'm pretty sure that's the problem since im using the default on my motherboard
Or maybe just get a DTR laptop.

 

You should edit out all the "inbetween" stuff and the studio mic is always the acceptable method for recording VO. If I had that I wouldn't bother with anything else. Also, your recording environment should be a quiet as possible so I'd turn off everything while recording.

Nevertheless, Audition can get ride of most unwanted noise but that's a lot of unnecessary trouble when you're in a controlled environment. It can also allow you to display and compare each mic's output if you need a visual display.