Music or podcasting can both be amazing and fulfilling hobbies. Today, artists make a lot of money off their talent, and you can become a star if you go about it the right way. One of the most important aspects is a microphone.
Neewer microphones have been one of the best in the market, and one will serve you well. There have been some issues with installation, especially for beginners. Let us get into the details and iron out all these issues to give you an amazing experience;
How To Set UP Neewer Microphone
Getting the right setup of your microphone is not something to be taken lightly. The correct setup will give you the best sound, and you will get a good experience.
If you miss out on the setup, the microphone will either not work, or it will not work correctly.
The biggest issue with the Neewer microphone is that users don’t understand the condenser microphone concept.
This is a powerful microphone that requires an external power source to work. For dynamic microphones, you can just plug them into any earphone jack, and it will work.
The Neewer microphone comes with a power cord, and for the microphone to work, it needs phantom power.
The original cable is okay for home use, but if the use is intense, you might consider shifting to an XLR-XLR cable that is more powerful.
The mic will not work if you plug it directly into your computer; it needs to run into a power source then into your computer.
You can use a mixer as a source of phantom power. They have ports for ices thus you can use them.
You can use any other audio interface medium with phantom power, provided it can fire up the microphone.
Make sure the power is turned on in your mixer for this to work. You can now connect a cable from the mixer to your PC or laptop. The best option for you will be the audio cable that can go into the laptop’s mic jack.
The mixer will have ports for the audio cables labeled and colored for you to know which cable goes where.
Make sure the audio cables on the mixer are connected to the outports on your mixer since the signal is coming out of the mixer to go to the laptop.
That is all you need, and your microphone should be working correctly. If it does not work, there could be some faults with the connections, and you should change them.
Using a mixer as a power source is advantageous since it gives you many options to work with. It will provide you with more settings with your mic, and you will get better sound out of it. You can even use a phone, and you won’t need additional software to tweak the sound.
If you want to use it in Skype or gaming, you must change your laptop or PC settings. Go to computer preferences and change the settings under sound input to the audio interface or mixer you connected.
Choosing The Best Microphone For You
There are thousands of singers, rappers, podcasters, and other people worldwide that use microphones for their work. Having such a wide range means no good or bad microphone; it is all a matter of use.
In whatever capacity you use a mic, you need to make the right choice for you. Your voice and specific needs will dictate the final selection, and it will vary from that of another person. Let us break it down and see how all this comes to be;
The intended use for the microphone
You can use a microphone for many uses, which will affect the choice of microphone. You can use it for podcasts, gaming videos, voice over or music.
As you look at the available microphones, you will notice that they are designed for different purposes.
Getting the wrong kind of microphone will leave you with a sound that is not well calibrated, and you would have to struggle with software to fix it. This will take a lot of time and effort, which could be avoided by making the right choice.
The type and size of the room you are using.
The design and size of the room will influence how your voice or the sound you are recording gets captured by the microphone. In a large room, you are bound to experience more reverb than you would in a small space.
For instance, if you are doing a podcast, you need your fans to hear you clearly, so you cannot afford to have a lot of reverb.
This means that you will get a microphone that cancels out the noise as much as possible to give clean output.
If the room is treated, it will cut out most of the reverb, and you will have more microphones to choose from. The noise outside your window or the room you use is also a factor in selecting a microphone.
The type of sound you want
You could want a full frequency range output or the standard radio-like frequency. Condenser microphones primarily go all the way up to 20KHz, making it more open and sensitive since there is a lot more air.
Dynamic microphones produce a more standard broadcast sound, like that of a radio. So the sound you want will make you choose between these two options, and either will work if you understand your needs.
What Are The Differences Between A Dynamic And Condenser Microphone?
There are many terms when it comes to microphones, and they might confuse you when picking one. The most common ones are condenser and dynamic microphones.
You will have to pick between these two microphones, so let us look into them to understand the differences;
How they Work
Dynamic mics have a diaphragm, a voice coil, and a magnet surrounded by the voice coil. Sound waves bombard the diaphragm, and it causes the vibration of the voice coils, and the movements around the magnet convert the sound waves to electrical signals.
The condenser microphone has a diaphragm case, a backplate, and a diaphragm. The case only holds all the other components together.
When the capsule is charged, it generates an electrical field; sound waves hit the diaphragm and vibrate accordingly. The backplate uses these vibrations and converts them to electrical signals.
Operational Differences
Because of the difference in working, there are some physical differences in how the microphones look and handle the sound input and output. Dynamic microphones have a simple and rather rugged construction.
Despite this, dynamic microphones handle very loud signals well, and they will be a big help in background noise reduction.
The problem with them is that they have a low sensitivity which means that their output is lower.
They will also, at times, lack a full frequency response that you would get from a condenser microphone. They, therefore, have a broadcast-like sound since radio stations commonly use them.
Condenser microphones are more complex, and they tend to be a bit fragile. However, they can get a wider frequency response and better sensitivity, producing a more natural sound.
The problem is that they can’t handle very loud noises. You can overdrive the capsule if the sound is too loud.
In addition to this, the electronics in the microphones will generate a small amount of noise as you use them more and more. A dynamic mic will need you to stay in front of it since the further you go, the less sound it picks up.
With a condenser microphone, you can move around the microphone more freely, and it will still pick your voice. This edition comes with the issue that it will not be able to cancel the background noises.
Knowing these two major differences between dynamic and condenser microphones should put you in a better position to tell them apart and choose one. For singers, the best microphone would be a condenser, but gamers can use dynamic microphones.
Conclusion
Neewer microphones are mostly condenser microphones. This means that they have many components that need a lot of power to work; thus, you have to connect them to an external power source.
When setting up your Neewer microphone, make sure it goes through a source of phantom power like a mixer.
You can then connect the mixer to your laptop or PC, and it should work perfectly. The choice of a microphone is a big deal, especially for professionals.
You need to get a mic that will work well for your environment. The room you use and the surrounding noise will also dictate your final choice. If there is a lot of noise in your workspace, you should get a mic that will cancel the noise out.
