- In this video, we're gonna explore
the similarities and differences
between a USB microphone and an audio interface.
We're gonna go through how either system works.
We're gonna talk about the pros and cons,
and at the end of the video,
we're gonna make some recommendations as to which device
I would recommend for your application.
Whether you're doing video conferencing, live streaming,
podcasting, or music production,
we're gonna give you some broad recommendations
as to which system might be better for you.
Because that's probably why you're here in the first place.
You're starting to go down a road, you know,
kind of what you're looking for,
but it is easy to get overwhelmed
with all the choices and options,
so we put this video together to help you.
Now, one disclaimer at the beginning of this video,
we will be using some generalizations.
It's simply not fair to always say a USB microphone
is always better or always worse.
But we will be using the best information that we have
with our experience to make general recommendations
and a general assumption about the quality levels
and value as to all the different things
that we're gonna speak about in this video.
Of course there are increasingly a number of hybrid devices
and gray areas between the two of these,
but we are gonna be speaking
in general terms during this video.
In this video, we're gonna be using
the Audio-Technica AT2020USB+ microphone.
If you're listening to this microphone,
you'll see a photo of the microphone up in the top corner.
If you're listening to the Audio-Technica AT2020
XLR microphone connected to the audio interface
the Focusrite Scarlet 2i2,
you'll see a photo of the audio interface
up in the top corner.
Okay, to start this video off,
let's give an overview of how a USB microphone works.
Inside a USB microphone here,
there's a microphone capsule.
That capsule will convert acoustic energy
or sound waves into an electric signal.
This microphone level signal is extremely small.
You have to remember we're catching sound waves
out of the air and making
a very, very small electrical signal
out of those sound waves vibrating through air.
So that small electrical signal will then go into a preamp,
and then that preamp will boost the signal up to something
that's a bit more appropriate for your computer recording.
Then that analog electrical signal will get converted
to a digital signal inside this microphone here,
and then it will get converted to a USB cable
and go to your computer where you can record,
or you can listen like you're listening to you right now.
USB microphones will also generally come
with their own software suite now, some do and some don't,
but these software suites will automatically set the gain
or that preempt for you.
They'll prevent clipping,
they'll give you some customization as to how you set up
the sound with your microphone.
So these are the software that comes with a USB microphone
can be very handy, but generally speaking,
most USB microphones are also just plug and play.
You can connect this USB cable to your computer,
your computer will recognize it as a microphone
and you can easily log in to recording software
or video conferencing or something like that
and your microphone should work
straight out of the box into the computer.
Now with the USB microphone,
you do get some connectivity options.
Obviously you have a USB cable that comes out of the bottom
of the microphone that goes to your computer.
You generally cannot connect another audio source into this.
It's just taking the acoustic energy out of the microphone
and sending that to your computer,
but you can connect a set of headphones
and you do get some volume options for your headphones,
and sometimes you'll even get what's known as a blend knob,
which allows you to design what you're listening to
through your headphones,
whether or not you only want to hear
what's coming through your microphone,
or if you wanna be hearing audio
that comes from your computer,
you can blend between the two.
So if you have music playback
and you're trying to record at the same time,
you can blend that knob to set it how you want it to be.
This isn't a feature on all microphones,
but it is available on some microphones.
Now the benefits of a USB microphone are fairly obvious.
It's an all in one device.
It's very simple to use compared to a microphone
and audio interface setup.
It is less expensive and it is more portable.
So portability, simplicity, and price
are important to you, then a USB microphone
can be really, really good for your solution.
Okay, so now let's go through
an overview of an audio interface
and how it workflow with an audio interface should work.
An audio interface will generally
have a variety of inputs on it.
The first input would be for XLR microphone.
So just like the USB microphone,
an XLR microphone will capture that acoustic energy,
the vibrating sound waves,
and it will convert it to an electrical signal.
It will ship that electrical signal through an XLR cable
and go into your audio interface.
That's where both devices are similar,
and that's about where the similarity ends.
From there, an audio interface
has a really high quality preamp.
A good preamp will boost that signal,
while introducing as little noise as possible.
If you've ever heard of recording with a lot of static
or hits behind it,
that usually means that it was recorded
with a bad or low quality preamp.
This can be common in some inexpensive USB microphones
and some inexpensive audio interfaces.
But generally speaking, an audio interface
will have a better quality preamp, so less noise,
less hits, than what is found inside of a USB microphone.
Next we've just talked about microphones so far.
An audio interface will also allow you to plug
an instrument level signal or a line level signal.
An instrument level signal would be from directly from
an electric guitar, bass guitar or something like that.
And a line level signal is what you would get from
an electric piano or a drum machine or something like that.
So generally you'll get a lot more inputs
on your audio interface.
Now, not only do you get more inputs
on your audio interface, but you also get more outputs.
You get a headphone Jack output as well,
and you'll get some line level monitor outputs
for studio monitors from your desk,
which can be really helpful as well.
So you can easily switch between using headphones
or studio monitors while you're working on your project,
or if you're just listening to music from your computer.
So once we've dealt with all the inputs and outputs,
it's important to note that an audio interface
will also handle that analog audio digital conversion.
So it will take that small signal from your microphone,
it'll boost it up to a bigger signal,
and then it will also convert it to be a digital signal
and send it over a USB cable to your computer for recording.
So overall the benefits of using
an audio interface are quite obvious.
It has more inputs, more outputs,
has a better quality preamp in it
to deal with mic level signals.
It also does a better job
of the analog to digital conversion,
and as you can tell, it is quite a bit more modular
where you can mix and match
a lot more different pieces of equipment.
So let's compare these two
a little bit more in general terms.
In terms of costs, a USB microphone will be less expensive
than getting an XLR microphone and an audio interface.
In general terms, the actual microphone component
of both systems is fairly even.
Right now both of these microphones inside
have identical capsules.
So if I get close to either one or back up from either one
they'll sound the same, the frequency response is the same,
the place of protection is the same,
but that's about where the similarities end.
In terms of quality, an audio interface will generally
give you a better preamp
and a better audio to digital conversion.
With the two examples that we have here,
the USB microphone here is 16 bit and 48 kilohertz,
which is CD quality audio.
This is a very high quality solution.
But an audio interface such as the Focusrite Scarlet 2i2
that I have here is 192 K and 24 bit
for the analog to digital conversion.
So it is many magnitudes better at doing it's analog
to digital conversion and giving you more quality
on the recording than it's USB counterpart.
The USB counterpart here is still good,
but the audio interface is better.
Now in terms of usability,
this one is a tough one to measure.
The USB microphone is plug and play.
That is extremely usable,
but an audio interface will give you
more control over more output.
So depending how you define usability,
you can flip the coin as to which one is better.
The USB microphone is easier to use,
but you'll get the result that you're looking for
more so using an audio interface.
In terms of portability, this one's a no-brainer.
If you're a pilot that's doing a flying podcast
or YouTube channel or a musician
or a traveling business person or something like that,
a USB microphone would be my recommendation
for you all the way.
Portability is everything, when you're flying or traveling,
you don't wanna be taking a lot of space,
plus with portability, you also get reliability.
As you can see between these two systems here,
that the USB microphone has less points of failure.
There's one cable, that's it.
Everything else is in a hard metal case here
and is quite well-protected.
With this other system, you have two different cables,
you have two different types of components,
and you have a lot more features
that have the possibility of breaking down.
You have more points of failure within the system,
because there's just more items in the signal chain
between capturing that acoustic energy
and delivering digital signal
all the way through to your computer.
Now, the next thing is modularity.
It's great that a USB microphone has all-in-one design,
everything just travels with,
but it doesn't give you a lot in terms of being able
to experiment or try different things.
You got what you got with a USB microphone.
With an audio interface,
you can always be experimenting with different devices.
Like I said, you can swap out different microphones,
so you can always try a different microphone
for your voice or your instrument,
plus you can always plug in an instrument
or a line level input,
you have a lot more options to get more results
depending on the project that you're working for.
If you know that you're somebody that is always tempted
to upgrade or swap or try different creative things
to try and get different sounds or better results,
then an audio interface is probably
the best solution for you.
Okay, let's sum it up now.
What are actual recommendations for you.
If you're video conferencing,
so you're wanting better online meetings on Zoom
or Microsoft teams or for school
or work or something like that,
I don't think you can beat the simplicity
and the reliability of a USB microphone.
There's no clutter on your desk,
there's one cable, it's super reliable,
extremely clean, good quality,
everything that you need to improve your audio
for your video conferencing,
you will get from a USB microphone.
I think it's the best start,
and it's the max value that you can get.
Of course you could always go for higher quality options,
but in those environments like Microsoft teams or Zoom
or anything like that, your audio is so compressed anyway,
that you would never be able to notice the difference
between either one of these options.
I think you'll much happier with the simplicity
of a USB microphone.
Now, what if you're live streaming?
So you're on YouTube or Twitch or something like that,
you're into gaming or you do a lot of live streaming,
I think that this one is a coin toss.
I think it makes sense for a lot of people who are getting
into live streaming, just start with a USB microphone.
Now this doesn't offer a lot of modularity
or interchangeability or creativity for you,
but it does get you into the game
at a much lower price point.
That being said again,
if you know that you're like a gear guy
and you want to experiment more with pieces of equipment
and you know that you just won't be able to help yourself,
and you're gonna be wanting to upgrade microphones
and equipment in the near future,
then it will be cheaper for you in the long run.
Just to go with an audio interface and start upgrading
your microphones as you go.
But if you're not really sure
where your live streaming path is going,
and you're just wanting to get going with something better
than the built-in microphone on your laptop,
then a USB microphone is a really good solution for you.
Now for podcasting, I'm kind of split as well.
If you're doing a lot of remote, one person podcasting,
so an example I gave before,
there's a lot of like airline pilots that are on YouTube
doing shows from their hotel room.
If that's you, a USB microphone is the way to go
because you're always traveling and on the move.
If you're getting into podcasting
and you're mostly staying in the same area,
I would say get an audio interface.
Before you know it, you're gonna want to have another guest
on your podcast or want that additional connectivity,
or you're gonna wanna go down the level of starting
to upgrade your microphones and upgrade your headphones
and that type of thing.
So I think most people would be much happier
with their investment of an audio interface
compared to a USB microphone,
unless you're traveling a lot more.
It's a much better, much more expandable solution.
And podcasting is honestly kind of a gateway
into the audio warm or it will start off quite simply,
and then you will get addicted to the gear.
So I do think with that context that an audio interface
with an XLR microphone is a better solution
for most podcasters.
Next, we have music production.
I think this one is a no-brainer
for music production and audio interfaces
clearly the way to go.
A USB microphone just does not offer you
the flexibility that you need in a music environment.
You can have one type of microphone
and no other connectivity options
if you have a USB microphone,
but if you have an audio interface,
even if you only have one microphone,
at least you can connect your instruments
and line level inputs and all those types of things
to your computer for recording.
So it does get you in the door with a lot more options.
So for that reason,
if you're in a music production,
an audio interface is clearly the best way to go.
If you're recording music at all,
I would not get a USB microphone.
The other benefit of going with an audio interface,
is then you're dealing with XLR microphones,
which you're more likely to use in the live world as well.
If you're recording music at home,
there's a good chance that you're gonna wanna do
some music in a live environment,
and this way all your microphones will be compatible
in that environment as well.
I hope this video has been helpful.
If you are looking for pricing or specs for anything
that you've seen in this video,
we do have some links down in the description below.
Again, if you do have any questions or if there's anything
that we didn't quite answer for you,
please leave a comment down in the comment section below,
and if you wanna see more videos like this in the future,
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Thank you for watching.