As the title says: I am looking for a good mic for the saxophone and for voice (my toddler son). Recommendations would be much appreciated. Thank you in advance.
The price is the same as the Blue Yeti. They said that the Apogee offered better quality. However, a limitation was that it only works for Mac. I am a Mac user. Does anyone have any comments about the Apogee? Also, I am probably limited to Mac. I don't know whether that represents a problem.
That is never a problem. Apogee are generally good quality, I use their interfaces and mic preamps.
I think the words "better quality" can be subjective. Is it quality due to the sample rate & gain technical specs or just because it sounds better? Does it do what the Yeti does in terms of stereo versatility (apparently not)
So it all depends on what you want from a mic and your own personal idea of what sound quality is. At that level I really believe it's truly subjective.
Thanks. They said it was the only USB mic that remotely approaches "studio quality". Perhaps this is subjective, but I perceived that they meant it could be measured.
The Blue Yeti looks more sturdy, which does matter with a 2-year old around. It can also be had for less at B&H video.
I like apogee products, too. However, it's nice to be able to change polar patterns. The apogee is cardioid only. Otherwise, the specs look good. Apogee is noted for their A/D converters, not for mic capsules. They probably buy pre-made capsules. It would be interesting to know who they buy from.
I have a apogee one "for iPad". Used it a couple of times with external microphone (sm58) and it worked very well. Great sound quality. However, unfortunately I lost the USB cable that connects to the Mac. It is virtually impossible to get a replacement. Apogee has made their own twist to the connector to make sure a standard USB will not fit. It is extremely annoying, I tried to order the cable from thoman.de, they sent me the wrong (standard) cable. The apogee-store only ships to us customers giving no alternatives to others. I have tried various shops in Norway, no success. I have now checked about 7-8 London shops, including the official apogee retailers, they don't have it in stock, need to order. My flight back to Norway means i don't have time to wait for the order. So although it is a nice converter, I am now virtually left with some useless junk because I cannot get the USB connection. I fail to understand why they need to make this proprietary USB connector if they cannot supply it to customers. It would make sense that they want to squeeze as much money as possible out of their customers, but now they don't earn more money and they p##s off their customers.
Would-have-been satisfied but now annoyed user. Cannot recommend it as of now, but hopefully they will fix these issues.
Bjorn
I don't know. For the same Price as some of those USB Mics you can get a good cheap digital interface and a Shure SM58. That's what I did and now I also have a mic to take to shows.
Plus for Mac interfaces like ones from M-Audio are true plug and play (and have 2 inputs so multitrack recording becomes possible)
I don't know. For the same Price as some of those USB Mics you can get a good cheap digital interface and a Shure SM58. That's what I did and now I also have a mic to take to shows.
Plus for Mac interfaces like ones from M-Audio are true plug and play (and have 2 inputs so multitrack recording becomes possible)
This is the way I would go too if I was only recording sax. I like the Apogee products too, and would recommend the Apogee One and the Shure SM58 if you could afford it.
Tak Bjorn! I am most certainly not into that. Thank you too Sean, but I am not into interfaces right know. I want it five-year-old simple, so I am just going to go with the regular Blue Yeti, since the Pro version seems to have some issue(s). Thanks to David, Pete and Hak for recommendations and to Hak for straightening out my polar patterns. At first I though it was a reference to global waning or my mental state, but then I found the link below on SOS, which is worth a read if you know as little about microphones as I do (probably a minority here).
I think you are doing the right thing. You will benefit from the versatility of the polar patterns, which for me is the winner over any slight sound quality technical specs. Sound quality I'd always subjective at this level. Specs can be useful, but when it is down to noise floor and frequency range that is beyond what you need or can hear for the type of recording you do, then I think it's a no brainer.
Don't laugh. For a killer USB mic, try the MacMice MicFlex- $30!! These are fast disappearing as they were discontinued. I like mine so much I bought a 2nd one just in case. Great for sax or speech, outperformed both a Blue Yeti and Snowball through Audacity I tried and returned. You can find a few new in box on eBay if you look hard.
I am happy with the Blue Yeti. I don't like GarageBand and have not used the Yeti much. At the moment it is my son I want to record. Between him, work and endless knee surgery galore there is no time left whatsoever. Anyone have another suggestion for Mac? Thanks again!
Just saw "toddler" son. I'm assuming you want him to hold it. If not, the mic on the Mac will do just fine to record him. It's OMNI and will capture everything in the room.
With that, I HIGHLY recommend the Shure SM58. It has a pop filter built in. It is the standard for a live vocal mic. It will take a beating, sound good, and because of the pop filter, has a way of taking off the edge off the horn (not too bright).
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