- Do XLR microphones sound better than USB microphones?
The quick answer to this question is yes and no.
Let's start with the no first.
From a raw technical point of view,
it is possible to get exactly the same quality of microphone
on either side of the connectivity spectrum.
Here we have the Audio-Technica AT2020 XLR version,
and the Audio-Technica AT2020 USB version.
Now both of these microphones
have exactly the same capsule in them.
They have exactly the same microphone quality.
Depending on what audio interface you use,
might compete with the type of audio interface
that's built into the USB version.
But from a pure technical point of view,
both microphones are identical.
Same with this Shure MV7 here.
This microphone has both USB and XLR connectivity.
From a pure technical point of view,
this microphone is exactly the same,
no matter how you connect to it,
it just depends what other equipment you connect to it.
That being said, there are four big advantages
to going with an XLR microphone.
The first big advantage is connectivity.
The XLR connectivity is a universal platform
to connect to almost any professional grade audio equipment
on the market.
It opens up a whole world of audio interface,
external preamps, compressors,
all types of processing equipment, connectivity equipment,
and so on and so forth.
Basically, if you're in live sound,
or in a studio environment,
there's a really easy way to connect XLR microphones
into the equipment that you're working with.
That can't be said with USB microphones.
With USB microphones,
you're pretty much just using a USB cable
to connect the microphone to your computer.
The second big advantage,
is that you get way more selection of XLR microphones
compared to USB microphones.
Probably in the order of 10 to 50 times more options
on the market for using an XLR microphone
compared to USB microphone.
The third advantage to an XLR microphone
is that you get much more modularity.
Inside a USB microphone,
you have a microphone, a preamp, an audio interface,
a headphone amp,
all of those are married together.
On the XLR side, you get all of those broken out.
You get to choose the microphone you want.
You get to choose the audio interface you want.
If you have a headphone amp,
you can choose the headphone amp that you want.
You can select and define each one of those,
and in that process, you typically do end up
with more quality out of your recording.
And the last big advantage that you get
with an audio interface is a better upgrade path,
or repair path.
If any one component inside of a USB microphone breaks down,
the microphone, the preamp, the audio interface,
anything like that,
the whole unit is a write-off, it's done.
With an XLR microphone,
since those are all separate components,
you can replace them at will,
or upgrade them at will.
If you like your audio interface,
you can upgrade your microphone.
If you like your microphone,
you can upgrade your audio interface,
and so on and so forth.
So you can do a lot more configuration and upgradability
and repairability with the XLR side
compared to a USB.
Now there is one downside to using an XLR microphone,
and that really is the cost.
Generally, your whole workflow will be more expensive,
because you're mixing and matching,
and you need more cables to connect everything
since you are expanding the number of units
inside your signal chain.
You have the microphone, a cable,
your audio interface, a cable.
If you're using a preamp,
or external compressor, more cables, more equipment.
So all of those things do add up,
and sometimes it can be really tempting
just to go with an out of-the-box,
all-in-one solution, like a USB microphone.
I hope this video's helpful.
If you are looking for a buyer's guide
to help narrow down the type of microphone that you want,
we have all kinds of links down in the description below.
If you have any questions about this,
please leave a comment down in the comment section below,
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