USB Microphone for Macbook- why is it necessary?

someoen suggested i get a USB microphone for the macbook pro...why is it necessary?

isnt the microphone on the macbookpro suposed to be really good?

i find that there is slight voice distortion on recorded video....is this normal ?


pls advise this lost mac newbie haha!!

What do you use it fore? if it's for production the snowball is just about the best you can get. For like regular podcasting, and amateur recording and stuff.

If you want to get as far as speech recognition. the cheapest you can go really is $50 I have this one from Logitech

and for regular voice stuff, like chat, or web conference. the built in is fine.

Ice Cream Man said:

What do you use it fore? if it's for production the snowball is just about the best you can get. For like regular podcasting, and amateur recording and stuff.

If you want to get as far as speech recognition. the cheapest you can go really is $50 I have this one from Logitech

and for regular voice stuff, like chat, or web conference. the built in is fine.

Click to expand...

ahh my reliable ice cream man


i want to use it for recording videos...im a singer and im sending them to my manager, youtube etc.

maybe its not the microphone but the audio playback on the speakers?

the sound i get when watchin vids on youtube or watching audioplayback on videos i recorded is very muffled.

lets use this video as an example

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6hrGYeBidY&eurl=

the music, the guys voice is pretty clear...but when Britney Spears is talking it sounds very muffled and weird...

it kinda reminds me how i sound on my webcam video playback


any ideas?? i think it might be my speakers..

Yours is a macbook, or a macbook pro? I dont' remember. Either way the speakers aren't exactly audiophile grade, as it were. I have a $150 PC Speaker setup. But occasionally i will hook the S/PDIF (optical) on my MBP to my 5.1 receiver. and listen to things.

You could also get a regular studio powered monitor. This digital set works with the S/PDIF output on your computer.

If I don't know if you have the money, or how much hardware you are looking to use/get. Or if you want to do instrument input. That is to say, how professional do you want to sound? Because this is the some of the stuff I use to record my girl friend, and other people with. And I have a Roland Keyboard so having the midi input is handy.

http://www.rolandus.com/products/productlist.aspx?ParentId=114

This is a handy device, with optical, midi, and mic (with phantom power for traditional condencer mics), interfaces thru firewire, and is 100% OSX compatible.


you might like this mic also And here is a pop screen.

if your a musician, (as am I), then im sure you have a few nice vocal mics. just get an XLR to 1/8 inch adapter, and plug straight into the mac.