so I´m here to ask if somebody know about good USB sound card for microphone ModMic 5? I´m trying to get best from this microphone and I don´t know where to look for proper device. Now i have microphone plugged directly into MoBo ASRock X370 Taichi and the sound is just fine - but I still think it can be a bit better. Together with the mic I purchased 2 small cheap USB Sound cards from Amazon (I want it just for the mic) - however one of them didn´t work on windows 10 and with the second one I have sound qualitty issues - buzzing mostly. I expected that this sound card will be just fine and the sound will be worse if I plug the mic directly into my Mobo however it is quite opposite.
So is there anyone who experienced with more expensive soundcard just for microphone with jack connector? I want something around 100$ max something like focusrite scarlett for condenser microphone - just only for my ModMic with 3,5mm jack :D.
I want to use mic for good qualitty communications with my friends etc. Use it for some streaming on twitch one day maybe. I know many peoples are using condenser microphones which should be “better sound qualitty” however my opinion is that all of these peoples are just wrong and they don´t know what are they buying. For streaming broadcaster dynamic microphone is best choice however they need more power etc and it is something for wellknown people (it´s not cheap) and I want now just something better for my modmic.
I have DAC/Amp Audio-gd nfb 11 for my AKG K712 however this device don´t have microphone input, what a shame :/. So I want something smaller just for the microphone nothing else - and use it separatelly witch my DAC. I looked for some soundcards on aliexpress but I´m not really sure if it is what I´m looking for.
Thanks everyone for reply and forgive me my bad english.
As I understood, you want a setup for voice chat and maybe streaming at some point. For that purpose you aquired the ModMic5 and are now looking for an upgrade in your (non-existant) audiointerface.
Tough luck without adapter. The industry runs on XLR or 6.3mm.
Yup, and they are taking the very-easy route here.
No?
Best choice would be ribbon mics (eg: Rode NTR & Royer Labs R-10) running upwards of 300 bucks a pop. Alternativly large-diaphragm (eg: Rode NT1-A, AKG C214) and diaphragm-condenser microphons do also very good work capturing language.
Most of the better microphones require 48V phantom power delivered by the mixing desk or audio-interface. As some audio-interfaces (such as the one linked above) provide 15V phantom power, mix&match may not work, so be careful what you buy now.
A little more advanced. Compared to the Behringer above, this one has the advantage of having a proper 48V phantom power option.
(Edit: Your microphone will be the limiting factor here. When going with this one, be certain you will upgrade your microphone at some point. Else you waste money here.) https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIAF4V6MX1028
Option “start over as if you asked before throwing money at the problem”:
and:
Little rant:
The idea behind the modmic series in general is a good one. However the sound quality at the price point is mediocre. Both Rode and theTBone have lavalier-mics at half the cost outperforming it. Samson has the infamous Meteor which costs the same but sounds twice as good…
So if people could stop buying headsets or modding otherwise good headphones with mediocre modmics and start getting actuall microphones from companies who are not including stupid usb-dongles because their customers know what they are doing, that would be great!
I had a similar problem. ModMic 4 was quiet, yet buzzy when connected to my motherboard. I bought the Sabrent USB adapter for 7 bucks and it improved the audio quality tremendously. The mic is louder with less background noise. If I crank the input volume to more than 95, there’ll still be buzzing though. I think fixing that would require way more money, or even a different Mic. I don’t mind though, it’s loud and clear enough.
The folks at Antlion recommend just using one of those little USB dongle things. No need to spend more money when one of the little $7 jobs like @gentooman linked work.
I use a behringer umc404HD. I would recommend the 204HD to save a couple bux unless you need 2 more preamps. MIdas designed preamps sound amazing. It works under linux out of the box. I wouldn’t suggest a scarlett from focusrite because, you cant use there mix software. It’s windows and Mac only. With behringer you get a class compliant usb interface with damn near top notch preamps for the price.
My Modmic works with onboard sound; however, the sound quality of the mic is complete garbage. My onboard sound, Maximus VI Hero, has a very high sound floor.
I went with this:
I have great results. No perceptable noise on the mic or headphones. For the price, I think this is a great solution.