Reddit reviews XLR Cable, VAlinks 10FT 3PIN XLR Female Microphone Cable Studio Audio Cable Connector Cords Adapter for Microphones or Instruments Recording Karaoke Singing - 3m/10ft

Hello Podcasters!

I have a very basic gear question, hopefully this is a suitable thread to post it:

I have a condenser mic I used previously for music recording. It has an XLR connection type, and was part of a kit (from PreSonus) with a box and software.

I'm wondering if buying something like this (see link below) will allow me to use this mic to do podcasts, Skype, gaming, etc. I'm hoping to not have to buy a new mic, and just use this as a do it all solution. I'm not sure if this would give it the "phantom power" Condensers need, or if there are any other issues I'm unaware of and would be just wasting money on the cable.

Also, is a condenser mic a good idea to use for podcasts, Skype, gaming.... or would a dynamic mic be better suited? I don't really know how the descriptions translate to real world use. If one will be more harsh or pick up more unwanted noise?

Any insight on if this simple solution would work or alternative recommendations would be greatly appreciated! Thanks all!

https://www.amazon.com/VAlinks-Microphone-Converter-Microphones-Instruments/dp/B019GYKGRC/ref=sr_1_cc_2?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1509973939&sr=1-2-catcorr&keywords=XLR+to+USB+converter

If you are only looking to also record the sermon, etc, you can set up an aux out with a mix and send it to a laptop via usb with one of these. I use one as a backup to record the sermons in case the USB recording fails on the M32. (that happens about twice a year.) This, like love, never faileth.

In thinking about it one way around this could be to get a USB > XLR adapter. I am not sure how well they work or any specific design to recommend but I would check Monoprice for them and test one out. This way you could retain the USB mic you currently have and maybe for the second mic buy an XLR with the idea of maybe replacing the other later or if it works well keep this configuration. An XLR AT2020 may actually be less expensive than the USB version (if my memory is correct) but they are nearly identical in performance.


*Edit: Not an endorsement just an example of the cable Iam talking about XLR to USB Cable

I don't use blankets or anything. I just use a Pyle PDMIC58 with an XLR to USB cable to connect the mic to my computer where I record with Audacity.

If you want to hear what that sounds like you can check out my podcast, Wedding Photo Hangover.

Also, I picked that mic based on Marco Arment's mic review. He reviewed a ton of mics and has sample audio files from those mics. You can check that out on his website marco.org.

No worries at all. On that power supply, there's only an XLR in, and an XLR out. There's no way to plug an XLR connection into a computer without some sort of ADC (analog to digital converter). Usually, that's your audio interface. It takes your analog XLR signal, and converts it into a digital signal that your computer can understand.

I was in your situation once, before I knew much about audio. I had an XLR mic (Shure SM57) that I used to use for my band's shows and stuff, but I wanted to use it for gaming later on. I bought this stupid thing assuming it would let me do that. Well, technically it worked, but I was so quiet that my friends couldn't hear me at all. After I returned that, I bought this Behringer interface hoping it would fix my problems. It was better, but I had to crank the volume up to full for anybody to hear me still. Plus, the headphone output on it was TERRIBLE. It sounded bad, and it behaved weird with video playback. No bueno.

Learn from my mistakes. Go this way before you spend dumb money on it haha

Would something like this work in the output rather than the one with the 3.5?

https://www.amazon.com/VAlinks-Microphone-Converter-Microphones-Instruments/dp/B019GYKGRC/ref=pd_sim_267_6?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B019GYKGRC&pd_rd_r=4FQQ0S2HSD6E9RDJ7TJC&pd_rd_w=qk22M&pd_rd_wg=6KV6W&psc=1&refRID=4FQQ0S2HSD6E9RDJ7TJC