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If you want what they use in places like the Senate and other Big Boy meetings, get a Shure MX418D/C and a real external audio interface with phantom power. I u

If you want what they use in places like the Senate and other Big Boy meetings, get a Shure MX418D/C and a real external audio interface with phantom power. I use mine for gaming, and while it's totally overkill, it's a purpose-made professional quality desktop voice mic. They're tanks and will last 20 years. You can buy replacement parts for them. They're also on eBay for ~$120 if you keep an eye out. Pair that mic with something like a Focusrite Scarlett Solo (~$110), Zoom UAC-2 ($250), Universal Audio Arrow ($500, has built-in DSP accelerator [offload]), or something crazy overkill like a RME ADI-2 Pro ($2000), Antelope Zen Studio+ ($2500), or an Avid HDX system (~$5k with Pro Tools) with external Neve preamp (~$3500) and a Neumann U87 Ai ($3600) mic. That's if you're trying to record the next Grammy Award-winning track and have an unlimited budget to get world-class audio. For reference, something like a $400 Shure SM7B is what you'd hear on most broadcast radio stations. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpU6H2EtjLI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpU6H2EtjLI has a comparison of the $3600 Neumann U87 vs the $230 Rode NT1-A for comparison. You won't be able to hear the difference over a conference call.

porker 8y ago
If only the mic was my problem and not the network! On cable here (Virgin, UK) and impossible to get VoIP to work well (lack of delay, crisp audio etc). Have tried half a dozen service providers and a range of codecs (including Opus). When my mobile phone has less latency and better sound, I know my VoIP is screwed.
vonseel 8y ago
RME user here with plenty of nice microphones and preamps to choose from. It’s been years since I went through the trouble of setting one up for a conference call. These days I just use my Sony Bluetooth headphones. IIRC, the difficulty with most (not DAW or professional audio) software on Mac and any external audio interface, is that it doesn’t actually allow selecting which input to use, only the device. So while I might select “RME Fireface 802” in Chrome as the input device, I can’t select Input 1, 9, or 12 as the input channel to use for microphone. This used to be possible with apps like Soundflower, though, I’m not sure what the best solution is nowadays. UA DSP for conference calls, now wouldn’t that be something. Ha-ha.
copperx 8y ago
> You won't be able to hear the difference over a conference call. The difference between the microphones is stunning, I thought I was not going to be able to tell the difference, but the Neumann is extremely more, should I say, articulate? the Rode sounds "stiff." But nobody is going to be singing over a conference call, true.

porker 8y ago

If only the mic was my problem and not the network! On cable here (Virgin, UK) and impossible to get VoIP to work well (lack of delay, crisp audio etc). Have tried half a dozen service providers and a range of codecs (including Opus). When my mobile phone has less latency and better sound, I know my VoIP is screwed.

vonseel 8y ago

RME user here with plenty of nice microphones and preamps to choose from. It’s been years since I went through the trouble of setting one up for a conference call. These days I just use my Sony Bluetooth headphones. IIRC, the difficulty with most (not DAW or professional audio) software on Mac and any external audio interface, is that it doesn’t actually allow selecting which input to use, only the device. So while I might select “RME Fireface 802” in Chrome as the input device, I can’t select Input 1, 9, or 12 as the input channel to use for microphone. This used to be possible with apps like Soundflower, though, I’m not sure what the best solution is nowadays. UA DSP for conference calls, now wouldn’t that be something. Ha-ha.

copperx 8y ago

> You won't be able to hear the difference over a conference call. The difference between the microphones is stunning, I thought I was not going to be able to tell the difference, but the Neumann is extremely more, should I say, articulate? the Rode sounds "stiff." But nobody is going to be singing over a conference call, true.