Low output from USB mic?

drofluf · March 2023

My wife uses a USB mic (Marantz Pod Pack) for her voiceover work. She’s happy with the results but she has to be very close (20cm) to it and we have to boost the level in Audacity to get an acceptable recording.

Would that be the case if we moved to a powered mic, XLR I think but I’m new to this! And an audio interface etc.? Or is it just the way that these things work? She’s a former BBC broadcaster and never needed to get as close in her professional life.

Whistler · March 2023

To have never been as close as 20cm to a mic at the BBC tells us that she will have been recorded using condenser mics in acoustically treated studios.

20cm is a long way from a dynamic mic which is what I know your USB mic will be as USB in inlikely to be able to provide the phantom power that condensers need. Having never used a USB mic I will have to guess.

Before you rush out and buy a condenser mic (yes, you are right, XLR) I should ask: how well acoustically treated is your wife's current studio? An audio interface would be the right thing to buy but without acoustic treatment a condenser will make the boxy sound of an untreated room more noticeable than a dynamic which is not as good at picking up sound from further away.

Edit: Hello Paul, I didn't notice it was you when I replied. YACF meets again!

drofluf · March 2023

Thanks; it’s not really a studio, more some strategically hung duvets! So probably any gains from the investment in new kit will be marginal especially as the work is occasional at the moment.

thermionic · March 2023

USB condenser mikes are very common and that's what the Marantz is by the look of things. The problem with them is they produce a digital output so you don't have the usual control over gain that a mixer or audio interface would give you. Unless there's a way to adjust gain in software (like many USB interfaces do)?

(Posted partly just to increase the YACF content of this thread by 50%!)

Danny1969 · March 2023

Loads of audio interfaces produce phantom power from a starting 5V. That's not an issue.

Is the USB mic selected as the source rather than the laptop / camera mic ? ..... you would be surprised how many people get this wrong ?

drofluf · March 2023

Danny1969 said:

Loads of audio interfaces produce phantom power from a starting 5V. That's not an issue.

Is the USB mic selected as the source rather than the laptop / camera mic ? ..... you would be surprised how many people get this wrong ?

At work I select the wrong input on a daily basis, but it's definitely the correct source in this case.

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Low output from USB mic?

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