We’ve been using the X2u for years in my organisation (I would say like 6 or 7 years). It’s quite handy for throwing in the bag and radio broadcasting. Last time I was using it was during Paris attacks in November 2015, if I remember well. I was about to buy one for myself, but I found the Shure MVi more convenient (I probably discovered it in your video, a couple of years ago) and better designed for the iOS environment as well as PC/Mac. However, the MVi doesn’t have this monitor blending option between input and playback, which is very useful for broadcasting (sometimes the signal you get is so loud that you have to turn down the volume so you’re also missing your own monitoring). The Zoom U-24 has this function too, and is cheaper, but it comes at a bigger footprint.
I like how you connected it to the SM7B. That mic has become the defacto end all be all of the quality of a preamp. There should be a permanent bullet point - but can it power a SM7B? HA, infact that should just be a life quote!
I JUST watched a video about "XLR for beginners" ... I click on this after further research and it looks like your room had electronic babies! Awesome video sir!
You were lukewarm on this device. Do you have a #1 recommendation for a portable XLR-to-USB interface for a single mic? I'm particularly interested in which has the lowest noise-floor/best preamp. Thanks!
Hey Bandrew. Thanks for all your work. 🙂 Do you know of anything else with the same functionality as this? Either a USB mic or just a standalone XLR-USB interface. I need to monitor and hear the computer's audio at the same time (for gaming videos). Must be dynamic because I'm in a noisy environment. This X2U works for my uses but looking at reviews there seem to be some significant reliability issues (and noise like you said) so I'm hoping to find something better. Thanks!
USB mic would be the new AT2040USB which has no software and is just a few dials. Other than that there's not much in terms of USB mics that offer the physical mix dial to adjust the mix between zero latency and computer playback. There are audio interfaces that allow you to do this such as the Audient ID14 or the Motu M4.
Can you review the Electrovoice ND 257? I found one at a thrift store and it surprisingly sounds superb. Would love to hear your thoughts on it. Keep up the good work!
1. you chose nt1 as main mic for your videos? 2. sorry for late question also - which you like more for vocals - nt1 or se22002c? hope you`ll answer. i`m your subscriber from Ukraine. Greeting from there)))
I agree even for portability it doesn’t seem so great. 16 but is just not super usable at this point, but the chief thing I read from people is the lack of gain and Shure’s suggestion is a mic pre which kills portability.
Probably it's too late to reply. It would work, probably with a lot of noise since you would have to boost the audio because the SM58 has a low sensitivity compared to other mics. You would probably be better with a 50$ Mic and 50$ interface, or "even better" an XM8500 and a 60-75$ interface
Thank you for the great videos btw. They're great. Question: I have a focusrite Scarlet 3rd gen 2i2. I also have a an AT2020 with TypeB USB output..The 3rd gen 2i2 does not have a usb input.. Can I use the X2U to connect my 2i2? Does it work in reverse? The XLR output on the X2U is female, so I assume to plug into the 2i2 I would need a male to male XLR. What are your thoughts?
I really highly doubt that would work, and you really shouldn’t try unless you know what you’re doing. Where would power come from? If you plugged in a USB mic then it’d need the X2U to be drawing power over XLR from the scarlet to then power your USB mic - I doubt the X2U has the circuitry for this. The X2U won’t be decoding the USB input to push analog audio down the XLR. I don’t think the Shure X2U can act as a USB host, so your mic probably can’t talk to it. If you plugged in a male-to-male between your Scarlett and X2U, best case nothing happens, likely you’ll damage one or both (Unexpected phantom power down the XLR). [the USB-B plug on the X2U normally indicates the non-power-providing (and non-host) side of a client-host USB connection, they’re also used on printers and such] Generally I also don’t think you want to try this approach, Your USB mic is already emitting a digital signal from its analogue capsule, any USB->XLR would be operating as an ADC, then your scarlet would be a dac. So you’d be going analog->digital->analog->digital->computer.
So what i'm confuised on with the zero latency monitoring is is it zero latency using the headphone jack on the side of the interface or is it zero latency from when you hear it on the computer? because I have some gaming headphones cconnected to my computer via usb. I use this to play my games and everything and I Want to continue using it because it allows for a higher bitrate and surround sound. So will I still have zero latency when using my gaming headset because I really want to hear myself while playing the game.
Would you be able to use this just as a usb interface while pairing this with a discrete analog preamp? Basically could you just use this device solely to connect your analog preamp to your computer, and bypass the preamps on this device?
These things are used ALL the time for national and international television and radio broadcasting. Are there better interfaces… yes but they’re HUGE in comparison. If you are a professsional, filing TV or radio content in the field, this is considered to be very professional. Have at it. It’s not bad at all. If this isn’t you, you may not need one. If you just want a small interface that’s very portable though and a decent phantom powered condenser mic, again a great option. Be sure not to chew your mic though - if you come back a couple of inches, it will sound much better - pro tip
I have a nice Lyx Pro USB mic that I would like to use for my podcast. However, there is no headphone jack built in for latency free monitoring. Would this gadget work for that? If not, do you know of something that will? Remember it's a USB mic.
does anybody know if this would work with the ps4/5? from what i know only uac1 mixers and interfaces work with playstation, i doubt ill get any responses but any input would be appreciated
Actually it works very good. It depends on the microphone and doesn't work well with certain microphones. But all in all I get no noisy input and or output. Very quite and the sound quality it provide is actually on point. I know this channel is basically like an audiophile channel, but immediately testing this device on a microphone that requires much more than it could put it does not seem fair or even accurately right. So therefore my opinion on this review is a thumbs down because you didn't do further testing.
Do you know how to make it work with macbook touchbar which has usb-c? I tried with rode ntg 2 but always got low volume. This fine with normal usb connection
You should review the shure wh20 headset. I just ordered 2 for a on the road project. Then found out it is 8 db quieter the the sm7b. Should have looked at the stats first.
Thank you for the video. It was really helpful :) and i have some questions that i am unable to answer due to lack of experience. I am planing to buy a windows laptop to run ableton and wonder that even being without driver will this device still help to reduce my dpc latency and midi keyboard response time ? probably macbook is the best option but it seems like i cannot affort to get one. So i am looking for a portable build with laptop midi keyboard and audio interface and wonder will this device really help me :)
If you're looking for a device that assists your computer in processing the software instruments in order to lower latency, this will not help with that. I don't know of any device that does that. The closest I can think of is something like the Universal Audio or Apogee series of interface which have onboard DSP, but as far as I know those don't allow you to run a midi keyboard through them to use a software synth on their device. So I think as far as increasing that latency it would come down to your computer more than anything else. Take everything I say about computers with a grain of salt though because I am stupid about them, and I do not use windows.
I own this and use it as my backup interface. It sounds good, but the lack of gain markings let it down. I would think that the Shure Motiv MVi interface far surpasses it at this point.
Bit of a waste to have all of that and then only throw in a lame ol' 16/48 chip. This guy could use a redesign... apparently it's been out for 9 years already.
used this for years with the sm58. was trying to see if i can live without a cloud lifter with the sm7b (when i get one), will probably get the cloudlifter eventually
Not for 100 dollars. Just too many other good options in that price range. Now it if was 50 bucks then heck yes. At that price point it would be a great compact, affordable and simple to use interface for a single microphone. And even then you would probably be just as well served with a decent USB mic.
iRig Pre HD is cheaper and muuuch better solution as it can also be battery powered, used with iOS devices and it is 24bit/96kHz and has much less noise!!
? That's a type B connector, nothing to do with 1394. And a fair few USB mics do, along with just about any printer. Nothing wrong with using a big ol' rugged connector if you've got the space for it. Why do you think studios are primarily using XLR and 1/4" jacks? It's all about handling and robustness.
