5 Tips To Make Your Cheap Microphone Sound Professional 

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You look like handsome Squidward.

you guys teach us the most usefull things that most producers dont...

"Eliminate noise" **shoots my neighbor**

dude this man gives me the confidence that i need, he is the bob ross of music production

Garbage input = Garbage output 😂😂😂😂😂

Haha, I laughed at the inexpensive mics mentioned were between $100 - $300. I was thinking inexpensive mics as between $10-$80. There is an easy technique to use an inexpensive mic and upgrade the wiring and eliminating the thin wiring that comes stock.

5:12 I love that strand of hair that always falls forward

I'm an aspiring producer/dj and your videos are honestly so useful!! Thank you mate for putting so much effort into these. If I ever breakthrough I will hopefully be able to give something back to you. Cheers x

My songs used to sound like 'Traffic jam'; but after applying Mike's tips now they sound like 'Japanese bullet train' 😂😂... you know what i mean 😂 now they are smooth and no noise and super quality ... Thank you IN THE MIX

When I started out I was always wondering why my microphone was so noisy. I later realized it was my laptop fan 😂

Good advice. I also clean the connectors at both ends of cables with alcohol and sometimes fine sandpaper. The sandpaper puts invisible scratches that improve the connections. The fine sandpaper works sometimes to bring an apple lightning connector back to life or to stop doing the on/off thing from movement. Beware of El cheapo cables and adapters. That doesnt mean go out and splurge on high end stuff. Its just good to read to find out which cable makers have good reputations. There are also bad batches of anything caused by faulty equipment used in manufacturing. The good companies check their stuff before releasing them to greatly reduce the chances of bad batches. Thats part of the extra cost.Have fun.

1. performance > equipment 2. Remove noise - after effects like Edison - use diff plug-ins - change side of mic( back to noise) 3. 4. Use Eq and Deesing 5. Go look at description before

I really appreciate the amount of thought that went into this youtube video - and also your tips for getting a better sound! thanks a million

I was going to buy another mic (thinking it had gone bad) and decided to look at your video. Thank you. I changed the usb plug and that did the trick. Saved me $ . Truly appreciate it!!!

Since I started focusing on recording, I have seen many discouraging videos. And most have a hint of arrogance and self-importance driving them. When you are recording, everyone needs this and that. Or you will never be successful with your voiceovers, audio media, or whatnot. The not-so-subliminal message of "without the audio-sounding professional (they mean expensive), you will fail." You drove the point that the quality of content should be the main focus. I respect that and want to thank you! In addition, you suggested the Youlean Loudness meter, and it worked wonders on my ability to export consistent sounding levels. You're one of a kind, THANKS AGAIN!

"Inexpensive microphones, like 100, 300". Me : 20€ micro :)

Is no one gonna comment on how calm this guy's voice sounds? I would honestly love to hear some asmr from him

Almost gave up on producing because of all the shitty tutorials, but I found your channel and it makes everything so much easier. thank you !

As a DIY engineer I highly recommend using the Alctron PF8 acoustic filter. It's only about $30 & helps reduce room noise drastically.

Dude... As an owner of the U87 ai, I want to THANK YOU for making content like this. You're direct, informative and you're making awesome content which liberates both those with *and* without high end gear. You're awesome. Please keep making videos.

1:52 So true, when I find a great live performance I keep listening to it even it was recorded from a potato amidst the crowd.

Another great video! Great idea for those looking to maximise small budget hardware. I bet a modded inexpensive mic would only be considered a different flavour, rather than a "cheap" sounding microphone - especially if someone has a decent instrument and usable room. I'm tempted to pull the trigger on a Pyle "SM57" and solder some upgraded wire to record general instrumentation. Thank you!

Very useful tips as usual! I've enjoyed watching this channel grow from the beginning. Keep up the good work Mike!

Funny thing is everything you described about a cheap mic describes my Neumann TLM-102 microphone even acoustically treated. I returned it immediately.

This video was right on time. Live your mixes and the info you share. Continued blessings to you. Thx for sharing.

When I was an intern at the very first studio I worked for waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay back in the day, I got a piece of recording advice from a producer/engineer who was decent, wasn't bad, wasn't great, just ye' average skill level, but they told me something that has stuck and has proven true SO MANY TIMES over the years that its still the best piece of advice I've ever gotten. He said, and I quote: "Put the mic as far away as you can and it still sound good and you'll never EVER have a problem." And I said: "So how do you mean, 'sound good', like what's the process?" and he said, AND I QUOTE: "If you hear the room tone too much and the sound is distant and it sounds more like a room mic, its too far away. If its too bassy(cardiods and hypercardiods are the common example here) its too close. Pull it away til the bass is attenuated so it doesn't sound boomy, but the room tone isn't washing over the actual instrument tone, and you've nailed it, and it gives the widest range of performer movement." While there are exceptions, and more steps to the process, OVERALL, that's fantastic advice. TO THIS DAY I pull a mic back til the bass starts to "level" and not be boomy. Once I start hearing "room", I move the mic in a bit closer (2" to a foot, depending on the situation) so that the room tone is reduced, and BAM... its usually dead on.... and I've even done this, then moved the mic closer and did another take and further and did another and the results of the first mic have always sounded better. Simple, simple, easy to visualize, easy to explain, and after you do it a few times and can 'hear' what you're listening for, it literally takes under a minute to set the mic up. ALSO, the same dude told me to try to mic ANYTHING as close to room center as possible. Put the mic in the center of the room if possible, and then adust where the performer is for distance. The more "centered" your mic is, the less effect a poorly treated room has on the tone. Its not a full-stop solution to the problem but it mitigates a BUNCH of "room problems". So I split the diff, I put the performance off from center, and then put the mic in the center of room and then move the mic. Usually don't have to move it much, because I start my mics at 4" away and just move them back. Usually ends up being 6-12" away, sometimes more, depends on mic. Simple though. super simple. Exceptions are guitar cabinets and such, sometimes pianos just don't want to be recorded, so you have to sort of be ready to tweak but its two great simple pieces of advice that helps get you 75% there in just a mtter of minutes.

I have been trying to improve the sound on my vids for a long time and it has been a bit of a steep learning curve. The one thing I have discovered is that expensive mics aren't necessarily the road to good sound - especially voice-over work. I have a dead cheap ($14) Huxley mic that came from Aldi. Unsurprisingly it sounded awful so I went out and bought a Rode Procaster that was over 10 times more expensive. Having bought the Procaster I then discovered that in order to use it I had to buy a pre-amp. When I tested the old cheap mic on the pre-amp I was astounded at the difference. It was like using a completely different mic. The echo was gone, the hiss was gone and it sounded very impressive. The pre-amp still cost over $100 but had I known what a difference it would make to the Huxley mic, I could have saved a bunch of money by not buying the Rode. You probably have a different definition of what constitutes a 'cheap mic', to me though :)

Simple and incredibly helpful advice...thank you!

I just read some tips on reducing noise from the USB cable, for that you must make your own cable with a separate input for data cables (green and white) and a second cable with power output directly to a mobile charger with 5v output. It separates power output that causes some noises with USB powered devices (or hub uses)

3:38 those 2 usb inputs are usually USB 3.0 (faster type) and the other one is USB 2.0 (type used almost everywhere, little slower). So the noise might be just the result of using high-speed usb, which sounds like a weird and interesting observation

hey thanks for summarising everything into the description for me to easily look into the contents of the video. keep it up man! :) i watched every second of the video

epic video ive been trying to fix my mic and every video said download a ton of stuff and it never rly gets the noise out but with ur tip about making sure the wire is straight and away from computer the noise is literaly all gone!!!! you are epic keep up the good work :)

This is so helpful, thanks so much! Could you do a tutorial or maybe a series on producing tracks with fl studio stock plugins as for now i only have the demo version and I'm trying to gain experience before buying the full version. Thamks again, keep up the videos :)

I remember back in 2000, I was soldering cheap PC microphones in series 🤣

Your learning to be a good salesperson. Also, a salesperson would never use the word "cheap," and that's a good thing. Keep up the excellent work.​

Thank u for doing this vid n making it free like most ppl aren't so generous to put this kind of videos out for free ✨❤️❤️❤️thank u

USB ports closer to internal fans or spinning drives tend to be noisier due to a lack of internal shielding.

Thank you for your service! It will help as I continue to experiment with your recommendations.

the usb port u use is really important, its just due to the fan placements. Those 2 usb u mentioned is near the fans

I have a BM-700 microphonen 7.5 channel usb soundcard and Neewer 48v phantom. I did a test on the sound where I used only my microphone xlr cable with the soundcard vs Xlr cable plugged into the phantom power xlr cable. I highly reccomend using a microphone with the usb soundcard connected to the 48v phantom.

Only have my earbuds mic lol

Can you please do a tutorial on vocal chops in detail as your channel is the most helpful we can get out there

Very helpful, I really got a lot from this video that I have not found in any other place. Thanks

this explains why when I plug up my microphone to my phone the audio still has as much buzz as whenever I record straight from my phone

Dude you're a gem! ❤️!!! Thsnk you so much for the knowledge you have given me!! You're amazing!!! 🙌🏼

interesting thing about those laptop USB ports - the ones that sounded quite noisy were in fact USB 3.0 or 3.1 ports, as indicated by the SS next to the USB symbol, while the less noisy one is a USB 2.0 port.

Ty man hope 2022 goes well bro

What a blessing, this guy.

And again I just get it. No relistening no nothing. It's just helpful

man you made my day shit EQ and port and mic positioning worked. I CANT BELEIVE ITS MY OLD MICROPHONE.

THat inexpensive VS cheap is somw woite man wisdom right there

Let's see how far this gets my 15 Dollar Mic

You the best with FL Studio man! Thanks a lot dude!

Your tutorials are always top notch

Definitely helped my $30 usb mic sound better! 💕

If you get noise from an USB port, that means that the ground is not exactly ground. I usually hook up my window frame to the exterior of the USB port / guitar cable / xlr ground channel and it solves most of the electronic noise. (i really need to switch to balanced cables and fix the grounding in my room)

i just started getting good at fl studio just by watching your videos, and yesterday my pc stopped working.... i’m here laying down crying because i’m broke and ..... i’m watching this while staring at my broken pc

Just tested that out, it's super useful, it's going to change the way i'm treating audio forever damn

Thank you so much for making this!

great vid bro!!!! keeping the mic aside from phones n pc/other gear makes sense n l never knew

Slick Eq is free and is great for boosting top end stuff. I never Use FLs stock Eq for anything but doing very slight adjustments. I just don't like the sound it produces. It has a bad habit of making things sound dead if you go too overboard. For me I just prefer knobs and using my ears. I'm less likely to make bad decisions.

I loved your perspective we're not learning about music only but also some psychology lol Keep it up bruh

Thanks buddy, you are a blessing...

This was so didactic I’m suddenly so pumped up

Useful equipment. Thats the idea.

please make a complete video on how we can reduce room revereb during recording in a non treated room in talking head videos like this.

Hey man I really love these videos, I'd love to just pick your brain sometime. For now, can you make a video on de essing though? I've tried looking for tutorials and it's still really confusing. Thanks!

Amazing content man! keep making videos like these please.

Correct the usb ports cause a lot of confusion in early recordings. It loses signal or doesnt wirk at all on a new computer

This video helped me a lot! And more than a lot because i record my or someone else's voice for music and for live streaming and it really helped ;) and btw how many years you are producing music and how you learned all the mixing technics?

Next video : how to make your 1000 dollar microwave sound like a Bugatti

Your videos are very helpful and much appreciated..thanx from California!

My tip for recording with cheap mics it's not use the solo button, almost all the static and noise you hear isn't really noticeable when listen to the full song as other instruments tend to opaque those frequencies

I think you had a Dell laptop, like me...They have 2xUSB 2.0 ports on one side and a USB 3.0 port on the other along with the HDMI. That must be the reason why they differ in input quality.

yes bro with edison i removed all noises from my vocals .i am using neweer 800

Those usb ports were likely noisy because they were beside your wifi/bluetooth card or antenna. Try using USBC or USB 3+ on the right hand side if you have them.

Mike please take a time to explain about new version of FL studio (20.0.4) ,it's wonderful in cpu usage according to image line news

very nice points in the mix keep uploading digging the conent

Wow... Crazy unexpectedly useful!!!

Thank you Your videos helped a lot

Always come to the point🐥💣

Great vid. Thanks!

This channel is gold 🔥🔥

Very useful. Thank you for sharing.

U are my blessing sir

Got a life lesson ty

38 dollars in ebay for a B1 that fits my voice.Priceless.

Great advices! Thank you!

he is the pope of sound

Nice ,easy and useful just like always, your my teacher Mike💕💕💕💕💕

Fab video - thanks for this!

This guy is smart.

there are "audio optimised" usb ports, the buzzing mightve been because they are normal usb ports

Hey man just wanted to know is a closet good to record in ?

Thank you for the tips!

SO HELPFUL!! THANK YOU!!!!!!!

love all your videos.. could you do one about drums? i understand there is not one technique for all drums, but i'm am have some trouble when mixing drums. do i assign my drums to a bus only? should i compress before the bus? should i keep them routed to the master as well as a bus? should i route my bus to a bus for parallel compression ? or should i get a bus to the middle of nowhere and just give up ?😭 sorry for all the questions but i would appropriate a video on this.

This was very useful. Thank you.

if your mic sounds muffled it could help to turn the microphone audio level down in the control panel, it helped me atleast