Getting An External Microphone For Your Mac

If you are thinking about getting an external microphone for your Mac, there are many things to consider. Most people need a bsic USB microphone and those vary in price but are easy to use. You can also connect an analog microphone. For some uses a headset is better.

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Video Transcript: Hi, this is Gary with MacMost.com. Today let me tell you about getting an external microphone for your Mac. 
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Most Macs come with a built-in mic. All the MacBooks do and the iMacs as well. Basically if it has a FaceTime camera on the front it has got to have a mic otherwise you wouldn't be able to do things like FaceTime using your Mac. You can use these microphones for anything else. You could record voice memos. You could record podcasts. You could record videos. But it may not be the best idea to use this onboard mic. First, they're very small little mics. They're pretty good quality considering that they're built-in. But they are still going to pick up noise from your fans, from things moving right on your desk, and you touching your keys on the keyboard.I f you want to up your quality game you might want an external mic. 
Now there are basically three different kinds of external mics I want to talk about. The first is to get an external USB microphone. This is what I'm using and this is what most people who would be recording podcasts or making videos would be using with their Mac. They range in price from $25 to $150. I use and love the AT2020 microphone. It's a little more on the expensive side and it's not very portable. You can find ones that are very lightweight and smaller and cost a lot less. Basically you're going to get what you pay. The higher end the better quality it's going to be.
Now these are USB microphones so they plug in into the USB ports on your Mac. Most of these microphones have been around for awhile. So the cord you get with them plugs into the older style USB connectors. If you've got a new MacBook Pro then you have USB-C so you're going to want to get a cable for a few bucks that will replace the existing cable or just a small adapter so you can plug it directly into your MacBook. If you already have a Hub and it's using older USB connections you could just use that.
Just plug this microphone into your Mac and then you can go into System Preferences and select it as your microphone Input. A lot of recording apps like GarageBand or ScreenFlow or apps like Skype and Zoom and such they allow you to pick the input as well so you can switch from your regular microphone to this USB microphone.
Remember when using a microphone the idea is to get as close as you can to your mouth. So don't expect that getting one of these microphones will give you good audio is you place it all the way on the other side of your desk. Try to get it close to you. That's why you see like on radio the microphones are really close to people's faces. But if you're doing video you probably also want to keep it just out of frame. Mine is right there where you can't see but it's still relatively close to my mouth.
Now another type of microphone is a traditional analog microphone. Those have little jacks at the end that are audio jacks, headphone jacks, or sometimes the XLR type that are circles with like three pins in them. These are analog microphones and to have them go into your Mac you need to convert them. You can get a converter that converts analog to digital. These things are pretty cheap. They can be under $10. Decent ones would probably be more like $20 to $30. You can get some that are little mixing boards that allow multiple microphones to come in and you can mix them and change things about the audio quality before they go through USB and into your Mac.
This would mostly be for musicians that already have lots of analog equipment or if you already have an analog microphone that you want to stick with you can get a converter like this. Otherwise if you're buying new equipment you want to go with just a USB mic that you can plug-in, simple plug and play, and it works, and it's digital all the way from the microphone into your app.
A third option would be to get a headset. A USB headset would make the most sense. Headsets are great for a few reasons. They keep the microphone right against your mouth. Second, they also include, of course, the earphones. So you can actually use them in different situations where a microphone and speakers won't work. For instance, you could FaceTime, Zoom, or Skype with somebody even if there are other people around you because you're the only one that's going to hear them and you don't have to talk very loud for them to hear you.
It also works well for lots of conference call type of situations where having speakers and a microphone they  may create an echo. But using a headset your microphone is not picking up the audio from your headphones. That's  just going into your ears. So when you're recording the microphone is always the same spot away from your mouth. So if you're doing say a podcast and you have to move around the room or move your head around you're not changing your mouth's location relative to the microphone which could make the volume of the sound go up and down throughout the recording. But the disadvantage of a headset is that they are always on the screen if you're doing video and also they can be uncomfortable if you wear them for a long period of time.
Now another option, which is kind of a variation on that, is to use either older iPhone earbuds which have the audio jack and you can plug them into the audio jack on say a MacBook. They have special connectors at the end and the microphone on the cord will actually work as a microphone to use. It kind of works like a headset. You can also do the same thing if you pair your AirPods with your Mac. Now the quality there is maybe going to be the same, maybe not even as good, as the quality from the microphones on your Mac. But it does allow you to move around a little more and be more comfortable than a headset. You can see sometimes the quality is just fine. A a matter of fact a lot of television work is being done today while people are stuck at home using an iPhone and AirPods and you get the same sound quality using your AirPods with your Mac.
So there's a look at a bunch of different options if you're looking to get an external microphone for your Mac.

Comments: 9 Responses to “Getting An External Microphone For Your Mac”

Jimmy Fine

5 years ago

What application do you use to cut yourself out from the background and then surround yourself with white edge?

Gary Rosenzweig

Jimmy: Do you mean in the video thumbnail image? I do it in Pixelmator Pro. But you can do it in almost any graphics tool: Acorn, Photoshop, Affinity, etc.

Yes, i was referring to the thumbnail. I am a long-time Photoshop user (since 3.5), but for the past year, i have been using Affinity Photo and Designer. My Adobe Creative Suite 6.0 died when i did my last MacOS update and am unwilling to go with the Adobe subscription. I really like being able to use the Affinity products on my iPad with the pencil.

Rocky Berlier

I noticed you didn't mention lapel or lavaliere mics. I was considering getting one of these. Do you think they are better or worse than any of the other choices you gave?

Rocky: What's the use case? Usually you use a lapel mic when you need to be on camera and move around. Otherwise, a larger mic on your desk or above it will probably sound better. If you aren't worried about camera appearance, then a headset.

Bruce

I have the AT2020 and want to get it off the desk and elevated to get closer during video work. Do you have a recommendation for a boom arm and mount similar to the one you use? I'm thinking with a clamp to connect to the lip of a table. Thanks!

Bruce: Search for "NEEWER Microphone Boom Scissor Arm" on Amazon. It comes in a few sizes.

Noemi

4 years ago

Hi Gary, I bought this mic: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0756V2B6R/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 and I also got this to connect it to the MacBook air: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B075YFDJ4Q/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 this is the only one that's worked.

When I record any audio, it is very low volume. I have tried changing the settings on the input but I can't get it to improve. Can you give some recommendations on troubleshooting?

Noemi: Are there any controls for the USB-C Microphone Adapter? That looks like a cheap one. I would just return everything and get a USB microphone instead.

Comments Closed.

Getting An External Microphone For Your Mac

Comments: 9 Responses to “Getting An External Microphone For Your Mac”

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