Blue Microphones Introduces Ember XLR for Streamers, Podcasters

[Guest]

Blue Microphones announced the Ember XLR, a $99 mic that offers a step in between the popular Yeti product line and more expensive XLR microphones.

Blue Microphones Introduces Ember XLR for Streamers, Podcasters : Read more

 

[Calculatron]

I'm always interested to see how new, affordable XLR microphones coming into the market compare with the competition.

XLR still is, with some exceptions, the domain for people who are getting serious with their audio recordings --- but using one for streaming certainly isn't a requirement. I think Twitch and Youtube still depend on a fairly serviceable, but limited, bitrate of an audio format that uses lossy compression. You will very quickly hit a point of diminishing returns with your money, and will, more or less, be purchasing a mic more for the "color" of its sound than its actual fidelity.

A competent USB mic can be more than good enough, just make sure that it isn't going to have that annoying pre-amp hiss, and that you've eliminated any echo, feedback, and peaking. No one likes to hear people talking like they've swallowed their mic. (Unless you're into that sort of thing.)

 

[mischon123]

USB talk mics are mostly fine but depend on the built in a/d converter or the lowend audio on motherboard or card. It sort of works if you have no interference from the PC. Mac are worse. No real pad, no phantom power, lift, ground or limiter. So here its a condenser xlr Rockwell and a condenser ars technica DRVX1 low z to a 404hd mic amp usb audio interface and output it into one or two Yamaha THR5A amp/USB audiointerface. This gives me a clean initial instrument signal and voice. The 192khz signal I voice with the amp app on the Yamaha and output as 48khz. Decent headroom for the filtering. Cant have that comfort with USB mics.

 

[Calculatron]

So here its a condenser xlr Rockwell and a condenser ars technica DRVX1 low z to a 404hd mic amp usb audio interface and output it into one or two Yamaha THR5A amp/USB audiointerface. This gives me a clean initial instrument signal and voice. The 192khz signal I voice with the amp app on the Yamaha and output as 48khz. Decent headroom for the filtering. Cant have that comfort with USB mics.

And, for me, this is adding to the point that XLR is still, with some exceptions, for the domain of those getting serious with their audio recordings. Streaming services like Youtube and Twitch, if I recall correctly, allow for up to 160 kbps for their data rate, and many podcasts still utilize 128 kbps for a datarate, and both use lossy compression formats. This is fine for what they are and what they achieve, but they're not taking full advantage of what any component mic can do.

 

[mischon123]

Calcu: Correct. USB mics are fine for talk but not the best for musicproduction. It adds failure points that you cannot easely fix.

XLR is terminated. Lowers the noise floor, among other things.


Streaming is an endproduct and it is low quality unless you stream from ripped CD through ASIO and output through a digital crossover. That can go up to 32bit content at 192khz. Good content can have dynamic range and depth and sounds like real. Which does not matter because todays mono speaker setups and streamers are just plain bad and most people dont even know how good 2.0 actually is.

 

[Calculatron]

Calcu: Correct. USB mics are fine for talk but not the best for musicproduction. It adds failure points that you cannot easely fix.

XLR is terminated. Lowers the noise floor, among other things.


Streaming is an endproduct and it is low quality unless you stream from ripped CD through ASIO and output through a digital crossover. That can go up to 32bit content at 192khz. Good content can have dynamic range and depth and sounds like real. Which does not matter because todays mono speaker setups and streamers are just plain bad and most people dont even know how good 2.0 actually is.

And with all this said, it makes you wonder why --- money-grab aside --- they decided to make an XLR microphone for Gaming Streamers and Podcasters.

 

[Fait]

Any recommendations on affordable, yet quality, mixers?

 

[BulkZerker]

"And with all this said, it makes you wonder why --- money-grab aside --- they decided to make an XLR microphone for Gaming Streamers and Podcasters"

Because this has an xlr input, that means you can use a mixer for multiple audio inputs without fighting your capture software to work. It's bad enough using two webcams for a "let's do a thing with physical objects like cooking or painting" type vod or stream.

@Fait I would recommend the TC-Helicon GoXLR as a person's first and last mixer as far as a streamer is probably concerned.

 

[techy1966]

I know very little about mics like these but from what I have seen they do sound very decent. For my own needs I just use a headset but then again I just talk to friends online and do not do anything else that would require a complex mic setup. My own headset is a decent enough Turtle beach setup and my GF uses a Razor Krakan Pro V2 setup that I got her for Christmas both seem to have decent sound quality and their mics work pretty decent as well not to this kind of quality I am sure but pretty good for $100+ headsets.

 

[millibrixx]

"And with all this said, it makes you wonder why --- money-grab aside --- they decided to make an XLR microphone for Gaming Streamers and Podcasters"

Because this has an xlr input, that means you can use a mixer for multiple audio inputs without fighting your capture software to work. It's bad enough using two webcams for a "let's do a thing with physical objects like cooking or painting" type vod or stream.

@Fait I would recommend the TC-Helicon GoXLR as a person's first and last mixer as far as a streamer is probably concerned.

do you know somethink about the goXLR if so I have a steelseries arctis 7 headset with a box for line in and line out if I have that on that little box does that mean I can still have wirelles headset?