How to Properly Use a USB Microphone: Tips and Tricks

Hey guys, so it's J here with a video on how to properly use a microphone. So many people use microphones for all kinds of purposes, but today I'm going to give you guys a few tips on how to use your microphone to get the absolute best results.

One of the most important tips in using a microphone is to use it properly. Some microphones, such as this blue yeti here, are what is known as side address microphones. What that means is that you need to talk into it from the side, like I'm doing right now, rather than talking into the top. Sure, you'll still be able to hear the audio quality, but you guys can hopefully tell that it's going to be much much better when you use it properly as a side addressed microphone.

Another tip is to speak fairly close to the microphone so you don't actually have to be like right on top of it. That's not going to quite sound that great, but having a fairly short distance between you and the microphone is good for a couple of different reasons. The main thing is that it allows you to cut out a lot of the background noise because you're going to be really up and close to the microphone and you're going to be speaking hopefully fairly with a decent volume. It's going to allow you to turn the overall volume of the microphone down, thereby letting you cut out a lot of the background noise. Maybe it's going to be computers or anything else that's around you and help kind of cut that down in addition.

Some microphones have what is known as recording modes now again using this blue yeti as an example it has four stereo cardioid omnidirectional and bidirectional these modes are made to help you get the right sound in any situation. For example, cardioid which is what I'm using right now is great for doing voiceovers, podcasts, etc. You guys can see here that I'm talking straight into the mic there should be nothing else there's no one around me nothing else that I do want to record so it's going to help kind of filter out some of the background noise.

Likewise, if I wanted to go with stereo perhaps if I was doing a band or something I wanted to be able to hear a lot from around the mic it would do that as well. So that's one key thing although not all microphones do support these modes if you do have some optional modes definitely take a look at them because they can absolutely help increase your audio quality if you do a lot of voice over work like I'm doing right here.

A pop filter may be very helpful and what a pop filter is all about is kind of help even out some of the harsh tones that can kind of pick up on the audio that you wouldn't otherwise normally be able to hear. Do want to stress this though, a pop filter is optional it's not going to dramatically increase your audio quality at any rate it's just going to help kind of smooth it out if you're going to be doing a lot of p's and you know hard sounds on the microphone um but especially if you're doing other things such as you know recording a band or anything like that it's really not going to be necessary anyway guys that's it for my tips on how to properly use a USB microphone so hopefully that you found this helpful and it helped you improve your audio quality by just doing a couple simple things like speaking a little bit closer to the microphone and making sure that you are actually speaking into it properly.

WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhey guys so it's j here with a video on how to properly use a microphone so a lot of people use microphones for all kinds of purposes however today I'm going to give you guys a few tips on how to use your microphone to get the absolute best results one of the most important tips in using a microphone is to use it properly so some microphones such as this blue yeti here are what is known as a side address microphone and what that means is that you need are meant to talk into it from the side like I'm doing right now as opposed to doing something like this talking into the top sure you'll still be able to hear the audio quality but that you guys can hopefully tell that it's going to be much much better when you use it properly as a side addressed microphone another tip is to speak fairly close to the microphone so you don't actually have to be like right on top of it that's not going to quite sound that great but have a fairly short distance between you and the microphone and this is good for a couple of different reasons for the main thing is is it allows you to cut out a lot of the background noise because you're going to be really up and close to the microphone and you're going to be speaking hopefully fairly with a decent volume it's going to allow you to turn the overall volume of the microphone down thereby letting you cut out a lot of the background noise maybe it's going to be computers or anything else that's around you and help kind of cut that down in addition some microphones have what is known as recording modes now again using this blue yeti as an example it has four stereo cardioid omnidirectional and bidirectional these modes are made to help you get the right sound in any situation so for example cardioid which is what I'm using right now is great for doing voiceovers podcasts Etc you guys can see here I'm talking straight into the mic there should be nothing else there's no one around me nothing else that I do want to record so it's going to help kind of filter out some of the background noise likewise if I wanted to go with stereo perhaps if I was doing a band or something I wanted to be able to hear a lot from around the mic it would do that as well so that's one key thing although not all microphones do support these modes if you do have some optional modes definitely take a look at them because they can absolutely help increase your audio quality if you do a lot of voice over work like I'm doing right here a pop filter may be very helpful and what a pop filter is all about is kind of help even out some of the harsh tones that can kind of pick up on the audio that you wouldn't otherwise normally be able to hear I do want to stress this though a pop filter is optional it's not going to dramatically increase your audio quality at any rate it's just going to help kind of smooth it out if you're going to be doing a lot of pe's and you know hard sounds on the microphone um but especially if you're doing other things such as you know recording a band or anything like that it's really not going to be necessary anyway guys that's it for my tips on how to properly use a USB microphone so hopefully that you found this helpful and it helped you improve your audio quality by just doing a couple simple things like speaking a little bit closer to the microphone and making sure that you are actually speaking into it properlyhey guys so it's j here with a video on how to properly use a microphone so a lot of people use microphones for all kinds of purposes however today I'm going to give you guys a few tips on how to use your microphone to get the absolute best results one of the most important tips in using a microphone is to use it properly so some microphones such as this blue yeti here are what is known as a side address microphone and what that means is that you need are meant to talk into it from the side like I'm doing right now as opposed to doing something like this talking into the top sure you'll still be able to hear the audio quality but that you guys can hopefully tell that it's going to be much much better when you use it properly as a side addressed microphone another tip is to speak fairly close to the microphone so you don't actually have to be like right on top of it that's not going to quite sound that great but have a fairly short distance between you and the microphone and this is good for a couple of different reasons for the main thing is is it allows you to cut out a lot of the background noise because you're going to be really up and close to the microphone and you're going to be speaking hopefully fairly with a decent volume it's going to allow you to turn the overall volume of the microphone down thereby letting you cut out a lot of the background noise maybe it's going to be computers or anything else that's around you and help kind of cut that down in addition some microphones have what is known as recording modes now again using this blue yeti as an example it has four stereo cardioid omnidirectional and bidirectional these modes are made to help you get the right sound in any situation so for example cardioid which is what I'm using right now is great for doing voiceovers podcasts Etc you guys can see here I'm talking straight into the mic there should be nothing else there's no one around me nothing else that I do want to record so it's going to help kind of filter out some of the background noise likewise if I wanted to go with stereo perhaps if I was doing a band or something I wanted to be able to hear a lot from around the mic it would do that as well so that's one key thing although not all microphones do support these modes if you do have some optional modes definitely take a look at them because they can absolutely help increase your audio quality if you do a lot of voice over work like I'm doing right here a pop filter may be very helpful and what a pop filter is all about is kind of help even out some of the harsh tones that can kind of pick up on the audio that you wouldn't otherwise normally be able to hear I do want to stress this though a pop filter is optional it's not going to dramatically increase your audio quality at any rate it's just going to help kind of smooth it out if you're going to be doing a lot of pe's and you know hard sounds on the microphone um but especially if you're doing other things such as you know recording a band or anything like that it's really not going to be necessary anyway guys that's it for my tips on how to properly use a USB microphone so hopefully that you found this helpful and it helped you improve your audio quality by just doing a couple simple things like speaking a little bit closer to the microphone and making sure that you are actually speaking into it properly