Tag: mics
Blue Yeti mics are up to 35 percent off for Black Friday
Now is the time to splurge on a gift for a rookie podcaster or game streamer. Amazon is running a sale on many Blue microphones for Black Friday, with up to 35 percent off Yeti models. The Blue Yeti Nano is down to $70 (normally $100), while the regular Yeti has dipped to $90 (usually $130). You can also find deals for higher-end models and bundles.
Blue has a reputation for quality microphones, particularly for anyone making their first foray beyond built-in mics. As Engadget’s own Valentina Palladino noticed, the ‘entry’ Yeti Nano provides a major audio quality upgrade for podcasts and video calls without consuming much desk space. It’s also reasonably future-proof with both cardioid and omnidirectional polar patterns — you can host roundtable podcasts in addition to virtual chats.
Higher-end models mainly improve fidelity and monitoring. The standard Blue Yeti has three condensers versus the Nano’s two, and supports stereo and figure-eight patterns. Spring for the top-end Yeti X and you’ll get four condensers, 24-bit/192kHz audio, LED metering (to keep your output at the right volume) and even custom lighting. These won’t replace the most advanced microphones on the market, but the sale prices make them good values for many users.
Buy Blue microphones at Amazon – starting at $70
Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.
Ahead of Warzone 2.0’s launch, you console players need to mute your mics
With Warzone 2.0 launching tomorrow, community members have flooded online to urge others to turn their mic off, as the sound of crying babies, deep breathing, and arguing with loved ones is worsening the experience.
This is a complaint largely aimed towards console players. As the PC community is largely used to push-to-talk and the issues around a hot mic, it’s those on consoles, specifically the PS5 strangely enough, who appear to be the biggest source of guilty parties.
But first, a detailed breakdown of the problem. In Modern Warfare 2 and indeed Warzone 2, you can communicate with other players via voice chat. Nothing extraordinary there, but since the PS5 controller has a built in mic that is automatically enabled upon booting up the console, this means players have been jumping into MW2 games blaring awful rap, eating the crunchiest of crisps, and slurping their gamer drinks right into everyone’s ears. Also, if they’re playing game audio through their TV, the PS5 pad picks that all up.
Rode’s gaming-focused Rode X brand launches with two new mics, new software
Rode’s gaming sub-brand debuts with ‘Unify’ streaming software and two familiar mics
Gaming creators and streamers will already be familiar with Rode. The company’s microphones and podcastingproducts make good options for those plugging into OBS, YouTube, Twitch and anywhere else you might “go live.” But as of today, there’s a whole new sub brand specifically catering to their needs: Rode X.
The first three products under the new mark include two microphones and a comprehensive desktop app for stream routing and mixing. The mics will look eerily familiar to fans of Rode products, but the company assures us they have been “redesigned internally for optimal performance for streaming and gaming.”
The new mics are the XDM-100 ($249) and XCM-50 ($150). The clue to the difference between them is in the name – D for dynamic, C for condenser (you can read about the difference here). The XDM-100, at least physically, looks like Rode’s Podcaster with a dash of red at the top. The XCM-50 is a condenser microphone that appears to be built on the same platform as the NT-USB Mini and features a distinct red button on the front.
Both microphones are USB only (no XLR), which means you won’t need an audio interface to use them, and they have built-in headphone ports for latency-free monitoring. Which of the two might interest you most will depend on both your preferences and the room where you stream from.
The XCM-50 has a bright sound that will work well for those in acoustically treated, or “softer” rooms. When tested side by side with its NT-USB Mini doppelganger, they do sound incredibly close, but to my ears the XCM-50 is a tiny bit brighter sounding. The NT-USB Mini sounds a shade “closer” by comparison.
The XDM-100 has a more classic “dynamic” microphone sound. While perhaps not quite as well rounded as something like the Shure SM7B or even Rode’s own Podmic, it feels cleaner than the Podcaster that it shares its physical appearance with. If you want a good USB dynamic option, this feels like a competitive choice for the price. Especially once coupled with the new Unify software.
The one thing that a lot of gamers and streamers really need isn’t so much a microphone – there are many options for that – it’s a reliable tool to route all the sounds in your stream, usually some mix of game sounds, chat, music and effects. With Unify, you have a simple software solution that is similar to the routing matrices you find with the GoXLR, the BEACN Mix Create or Elgato’s Wave Link.
Unify creates a couple of virtual audio interfaces on your PC and you can then control which app uses what, and where that sound goes. For example, you probably want your intro music to go out on the stream, but maybe you don’t want it in your headphones? Or maybe you want your audience to hear a YouTube video you’re playing, but not the music you’re streaming. With Unify, you can pipe most things to most places, and then change the levels, or “mix” for each destination also.
Rode has added the ability to record all your audio directly within the app, too. This makes it appealing to more than just streamers. For example, you could use it to record both sides of a Zoom call and be able to feed audio into that call that would otherwise be tricky. The fact that Unify has sound pads for intros and effects means it also works quite well as a software “Rodecaster Pro.”
Unify looks most similar to Wave Link but offers much more fine-grained control. The app isn’t quite as simple as BEACN’s, which lets you access each mix matrix at all times and has a slightly clearer UI. BEACN also benefits from the hardware mixer, too, but there’s no option to record within that app or trigger sound effects.
Where Unify differs from most of its rivals is that you don’t have to buy the company’s hardware to use it. If you just wanted the software features you can pay $5 a month or $45 a year for the app alone. This means you can easily use it with any microphone you have, you’re not beholden to using a Rode (unlike, Wave Link that requires an Elgato mic). If you do buy a Rode X mic, then the software is free. Sadly, if you already own a Rode USB mic, it won’t unlock the software, you’ll be paying like everybody else.