Wireless USB Microphones Recommendations?

Aug 20, 2014

OWEN HOLT
By OWEN HOLT

There have been a number of discussions concerning microphones, but many of these appear to centered around "wired" solutions for recording narration. I am looking for a quality wireless solution that would support VoIP.

Here is the scenario I need to support:

The speaker/presenter is in a large room with participants.

Most of the attendees, however, are off-site and dialed in to a conference call.

The request is for a high quality wireless microphone that will connect to a laptop (through USB preferred) that is dialed in to the conference number.

The laptop might also have external speakers plugged in to broadcast the speakers voice from the back of the room (to amplify the speaker) so we want minimal latency.

Suggestions? Reviews? Recommendations?

6 Replies
Bob S
over 9 years ago08/21/14 at 7:34 am (UTC)

Hi Owen,

You might really want to consider an alternative approach.... a higher quality wireless mic and outboard a/d convertor-interface. Such a solution will offer a ton more flexibility and multi-use capability as well as (typically) better quality.

In terms of price, it's like anything lese... quality and flexibility vary as you go up. On the cheap side, a simple interface like this one or this one will set you back about $40 and allow you to run a "real" mic into your computer. Stepping up a bit to the $90-100 range, you start to get into some pretty cool little products like this interface-mixer that let's you use two mics, or a mic and outside source, and mix (balance) between them while monitoring with headphones before going to your computer. Then simply pick up (or borrow) your favorite wireless mics used with camcorders etc the world over and your in business!

The bottom line.... for less than $100 you can open a up a new world of using high quality analogue mics for your digital recording needs.

Hope this helps,

Bob

PS: One of those flexibility advantages I mentioned with this approach is exemplified by your scenario above with concerns over latency.... with analgoue mic(s) you can do the local sound reinforecement directly in the room with no latency whatsoever, while converting to digital for broadcast. Probelem solved.

Andy Minshall
over 9 years ago08/21/14 at 7:51 am (UTC)

Hi Owen,

I deliver webinars every two weeks in my office at home. I record both myself presenting (via WebEx) and all those dialled into our conference line.

I did a little research into mics used for podcasting (with a modest budget) and the best result I came up with was the Samson Go USB mic: http://bit.ly/ssgousb

It is great for picking up sound across a decent sized meeting room (this I've tried as its so portable I carry it in my bag) and the webinar output I produce is captured via SnagIt screen recorder, so I can edit both video presentation and sound capture. I can't fault the quality for a solution around £70 GBP ($115 USD)

Hope that helps.

Andy.

Michael Harris
over 9 years ago08/21/14 at 10:24 am (UTC)

Hi,

My go-to for audio solutions is sweetwater.com. They offer the Behringer ULM100USB, which consists of a decent wireless microphone and a USB dongle you can plug into a laptop or a powered speaker, depending on you particular need. The price is right around $100.

A USB connection has inherent low latency. Generally, software in the signal chain is the main contributor to latency. VOIP is computationally intensive. It is conceivable for the line output on the laptop to be faster than the VOIP connection. Regardless of which solution you choose, test it in a realistic scenario before unleashing it on the world.

Thanks,

Mike Harris

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