Microphones

[Colif]

Good advice, don't buy one from a gaming company, buy one from an audio company

The Microphones made by gaming companies are made to be sold to people who watch streamers.
usual suspects: Razer, Asus, Logitech, HyperX, Steelseries.
They not great and some have bugs that have been reported years before and not fixed.
The Asus one has clipping issues, no one will sound good over it.
They don't care about problems as people keep buying them.

 

[ZedClampet]

Good advice, don't buy one from a gaming company, buy one from an audio company

The Microphones made by gaming companies are made to be sold to people who watch streamers.
usual suspects: Razer, Asus, Logitech, HyperX, Steelseries.
They not great and some have bugs that have been reported years before and not fixed.
The Asus one has clipping issues, no one will sound good over it.
They don't care about problems as people keep buying them.

I gave up on my microphone. Laptops don't really need one, and I had to change the sound settings every time I used it and every time I went into Discord. For some reason Windows kept going back to default settings even though I never unplugged it.

My kids couldn't tell the difference between my microphones and the microphone array, so I just packed away the microphones.

 

[Colif]

i only ever had one headset and I never used its microphone. So buying an actual microphone isn't on my shopping list. I thought about getting a new headset (refer headphone thread) but never did. If I ever play an online mulitplayer game again I will think about it if it comes up.

I just don't play games where I need to hear other people or talk to them... the last time was when I played Test Drive unlimited 2 and that is almost 10 years ago now (wow)

Might just get a modmic and attach to my HD600 since I won't be doing any streaming so why waste money on a stand alone Microphone.
Use Aune amp attached to PC via USB to power headphones, mic just needs to attach to soundcard. Or get the USB model. I don't really have any plans.

 

[JarlBSoD]

Well the "Gaming" brand is in most cases a general warningsign that stuff has been skimped on or are overpriced. There are exeption ofc but.. you get the idea

 

[Colif]

He didn't plug them all in so I can't tell if they all had rgb on them. I also don't want to look that hard as Youtube gets funny ideas and suddenly thinks I want to only watch videos about that topic. But in most cases, the "gaming" tag means its covered in flashing lights to distract users. And sponsorships by influenzers paid to use the crap in events to sell your chairs.... sorry, Microphones.

Gaming tag doesn't always mean that though, some might make sense. Looks at his LG Ultragear Gaming Monitor... its 144hz refresh rate, while not amazing compared to some now, is overkill for desktop. So It is more useful in games. Its also not covered in flashing lights.

Those aren't necessarily gaming brands. Okay, Maybe 3 of them are... Razer, Steelseries & HyperX, but Logitech will sell peripherals to anyone, and Asus make so much more than just gaming gear. Only one I have never used before is HyperX. (They owned by HP now, I only found that out now after remembering they made ram - they don't anymore, or if so, its made under HP name... no idea. They used to be owned by Kingston so possible they don't make ram now, as Kingston just renamed HyperX memory division to Fury for DDR5). So with HyperX under new management, maybe I keep it that way,

Companies that try to make everything generally don't make the best of anything. They just flood market and see what sticks.
Companies that specialize either get good or fail.

It can depend on who you are too. Samsung are 1/3 the economy of South Korea and own so many companies they can have one specialize... they helped build Burj Khalifi, they make ships and tank... but I digress.

 

[Brian Boru]

Companies that try to make everything generally don't make the best of anything

Don't forget that 'best' can't be considered in isolation—it must be evaluated with price or else we'd all be clamoring for Rolls Royce. 'Good enough' is a perfectly valid business approach, and the market for their products is almost definitely a lot bigger than the enthusiast or snob markets.

 

[Colif]

Rolls Royce, until bought by VW, could also rely on a lack of supply to keep their prices high. Hand built everything takes time to make. Exclusive club of people even get to buy them, and even fewer get to ask them to make their own car just for them.

Mass produced cars are the bulk of the market just like every other market.

I guess everything is the same. You get what you pay for. Often if you pay just a little more you can get way better. Look outside the box. Stop following crowds (are you a lemming? Or a sheep?)

It is a shame most people are willing to pay for "good enough" as that stops companies trying harder or to fix problems. looks at gaming industry...

Razers software has been bad for years, I had a mouse/KB of theirs over 10 years ago now and I stopped using them because of Synapse. When your hardware sells you don't need to fix Software. As long as gamers want to buy your crap because some stupid E SPorts player uses them, it won't be fixed. So the problems with their Microphone won't get fixed any time soon.
Logitech, 15 years ago, was in Razers position now. Dominated hardware, had bad software. Never used their microphones so can't really comment on that. Make sollid hardware still.
Asus software is almost as bad, and main reason I wouldn't buy their hardware (I ignore kb last year because of it)
I thought Sonar was better on Steelseries but I have never used it myself. The Steelseries problem appears to be software as well. Same as Asus, they combined 2 functions into one knob and they really should be apart

So Asus & Steelseries could fix theirs in software. Do they care to though? Do they need to with people still buying them cause they "good enough"? Probably not.

 

[Brian Boru]

It is a shame most people are willing to pay for "good enough"

Well the alternative is not being able to pay for 'better than needed'. Why is it better for people not to have serviceable stuff? Unless you have more money than you need, spending extra on quality you don't need just to get better or best is silly.

people still buying them cause they "good enough"

That's contradictory—either product is good enough for market, or not.

I agree with all your complaints about consumer behavior, but don't blame companies for it. Blame consumers.

Rolls Royce

A bad example, I should've said Mercedes or BMW to eliminate supply constraints.

 

[Colif]

Unless you have more money than you need, spending extra on quality you don't need just to get better or best is silly.

i never buy the best of anything but I also try to buy something that is slightly better than average. I might be mistaken but paying more for things often means they last longer. It does help to research first so you know its actually good and not just hyped up.

Where you might buy items that need to be replaced every few years, I try to buy one item that lasts the same amount of time as several of yours. I know there are examples, maybe keyboards?

That's contradictory—either product is good enough for market, or not.

I guess. Since both Asus & Steelseries have settings that are created in such a way no one using them can avoid clipping, yet no one complains or brings it up anywhere, so people must just not realize its happening.

Most reviewers for gaming microphones spend little time on the sound and most on features... just like headsets. What is important to me is almost an after thought in some videos. Watched one on Gaming headsets earlier and 3 minutes of the 24 minutes was on sound and he couldn't cover the 12 or so headsets in video in that time. That isn't an advert to me. It is a waste of 24 minutes. If headphones don't sound good, why use them. Oh, the rgb looks good? Do you use a mirror?

 

[Brian Boru]

I might be mistaken but paying more for things often means they last longer

No mistake there, good policy. In no way does 'good enough' mean cheapest or worst. And of course if you're an audiophile and I'm not, then your 'good enough' is going to be higher quality and price than mine. There's no universal 'good enough', it's each individual's need.

So to your point—it's not a shame most people are willing to pay for "good enough", that's what should happen.

Where you might buy items that need to be replaced every few years, I try to buy one item that lasts the same amount of time as several of yours. I know there are examples, maybe keyboards?

Probably not KB, this one is 2016 and I never bought many. Mice tho, I bought a bagful of those at one stage—but that was mainly trying to find my 'perfect' mouse, rather than price/quality driven.

Computer gear is a bad example anyway. I worked in a computer factory, and have followed hardware for a long time. So I know it's sub-optimal to buy anything to last beyond the expected life of the current system.

The tech is still advancing at quite a rate, so buying to last say 7 years is going to slide down the same hill as consoles—a gradual decrease in effectiveness relative to the emerging techs.

Most reviewers for gaming microphones spend little time on the sound and most on features

I know what you mean, I have the same trouble with many game reviews. So relatively little attention to gameplay, most of it on the supporting stuff like graphics, story, music etc—oh and of course the 'lack of innovation' pet hamster I recommend you find audio-focused reviewers for audio, should have more of the content you desire.

 

[Colif]

Computer gear is a bad example anyway. I worked in a computer factory, and have followed hardware for a long time. So I know it's sub-optimal to buy anything to last beyond the expected life of the current system.

Mostly I agree with you:

1. GPU can be put in next system if it is still good enough. I normally replace it at least once in a systems life.
2. Peripherals can be used on multiple systems. My speakers been used on 3 now. I generally buy them independently of PC
3. Displays can last more than one PC.

Games reviews that talk about anything other than gameplay aren't even looked at. In the past, before the internet, magazines were the only way to find out about what game played like. Now with video, I guess there is less need but it still helps to mention it somewhere in review. What type of game is it? What do you do.

I recommend you find audio-focused reviewers for audio, should have more of the content you desire.

I do have people I watch for audio gear, but I poke my head out at the headset market and see only one or two of them I would use.
Noise cancelling headphone reviews tend to be the same, concentrate on everything apart from sound. Doesn't make sense to me to use headphones that sound bad, just to block noise.. Earplugs are cheaper.

I am not an audiophile I don't think, I have just used cheap headphones and things all my life and just wanted something better. I can't afford to look at most of it, I have my limits. I have always wanted better sound gear, just never got there.

Knowing about PC means I don't fall for some things others might

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$800 for a USB Cable lol. That is a cheap example, I found one for 16k last week.

 

[Colif]

Modmic upgraded

 

[Brian Boru]

Modmic upgraded

Mine isn't—what do I need to do?

 

[ninja_gaydad]

What's a good beginner mic that can serve both private and business purposes?