Speaker 1: So when it comes to buying the perfect mic for your YouTube videos, it's important to note the kinds of mics that are offered, depending on what kind of videos you're making. And so in this video, I'll be breaking down the three different kinds of mics that you want to look into depending on your kind of YouTube videos so that you can make the right purchase when you buy your mic. Let's go. You got to just press record. Hey, what's up? It's Omar El-Takrori with Think Media, helping you build your influence with online video. And on this channel, sometimes we do YouTube strategy tips, as well as tech gear reviews, just like this one. So if you're new here, consider subscribing. Without a doubt, audio is so important when it comes to video. Here at Think Media, we like to say that 50% of video is audio. Have you ever watched a video on YouTube or on social media where the video looked good itself, but the audio was either distorted or maybe the audio was too low and it just didn't sound good? It actually just makes you more turned off to even watch the video altogether. And so deciding on what microphone you should buy definitely doesn't have to be expensive. And that's why in this video, I'll be talking about budget options when it comes to the kind of mic. But you definitely want to decide the right mic for your specific YouTube content. Now, before I break down each and every mic, let's just do a quick audio example of each mic stacked right next to each other. So the first audio test is going to be the Rode Video Micro. This is about a $60 mic and is what is called a condenser mic. And later on, I will talk about more about the mic. But as you can see, it's right out of the shot. You can see it now, obviously. But if you zoom in a little bit, it goes away. But this is how this mic could be used. Another use case for this mic would be vlogging. You just put it on the camera itself. But this mic is going to give you a nice natural and kind of clear sound as opposed to the Samsung Q2U, which we'll test right now. Now, this is the Samsung Q2U, which is a dynamic mic and gives a nice rich sound like you would hear in a radio show, podcast or what have you. Obviously, this mic you would want to see in the shot because if it's out of the shot, it wouldn't capture audio that well. Just for example, if I boom this mic, which you would never do, then you'd get really bad audio. But the closer it is to your mouth, the better it sounds. This is the Samsung Q2U, a dynamic mic. And I'll talk about best use case scenarios for this in a little bit. Now, this next mic test is using a lavalier mic. This is the Deity V-Lav clipped onto my jacket. And this is a wired mic. And so I got this wire running all the way straight into the camera. But I will talk about, again, the use cases of a mic like this. But this is the only mic out of the two that I can now move around and no matter what, have consistent audio. Obviously, you see it in the shot. But with the other two mics, you want to be in the vicinity of wherever it's capturing audio. This stays in your vicinity because it's stuck on you. So let me know in the comments which mic you liked the sound of best. Currently, I'm actually using a shotgun mic to record this talking head audio and what you saw in the intro. And just so you know, most of the time, I'm using this kind of audio setup because I'm stationary. But let's break down each mic real quick and talk about the use cases for them. So the first mic I want to talk about real quick is this Rode VideoMicro, which is a shotgun condenser mic. This is about a $60 mic that you could buy on the internet. This is an incredible mic for a lot of use cases. Like I said, if you boom this mic like I have right here, it is outside of the shot, but it's capturing really good audio. Another great use for a mic like this versus the other two is for vlogging. Because, you know, when you vlog, you're typically about arm's length distance from your camera or in the vicinity of your camera, it's going to pick up really good audio. And I would say this is a no-brainer upgrade if you plan on vlogging. A lot of the times, the onboard mic to your camera isn't that good. But just using something simple like this, plugging it right in your camera is awesome. This also comes with a wind muff. So if you are, you know, in outside and there's some wind, this will help with that. But nonetheless, this mic sounds incredible and is a mic I stand by. The other alternative I would want to point your attention to is the Deity D4 Duo. And that mic is essentially this exact mic, except it has a mic on the back. And so, you know, if you're facing your camera and pointing at something else, it's picking up your audio from behind you. And then when you face it towards yourself, then you got that mic as well. I am currently using the Deity D4 to capture this audio that you're hearing right now. And it's right outside the shot. If you wanted to put this mic in your shot and like have it right here, you totally could. We've done that before in the past. And more than anything, you're going to get a nice, clean, natural sound out of a mic like this. And so that is a condenser shotgun mic. And again, links in the description below. The next kind of mic that you can invest in is a lav mic or a lavalier mic. And these are mics that would clip onto your shirt and or jacket. So obviously you see it in the shot, but it's important to note that these mics are great if you plan on moving around. So if your camera stays stationary and you have this mic planted somewhere, whether it be on the camera or boomed here, and I'm moving around, you're going to have a lot of inconsistency in your audio. And a mic like this just stays consistent because it doesn't move from wherever you are. And so obviously some use cases like this would be like tours. If you're doing tours of houses or you're showing off something and it's requiring the camera and you to constantly move, you definitely want to look into a lavalier option. Now, the one that I've used in this example is the Deity VLAV mic. This is a $50 lav mic that I think sounds incredible, especially for the price. Now, it is important to note that this is not a wireless lav. So you essentially have to hook up the wire all the way into your camera, but it does come with about five meters of cordage, if that's even a word, but can plug into your camera or smartphone. And what I love about that is because it's so long, you don't really even see it. And so this is definitely a great budget lav solution. I think a lot of people should just have this in their kit nonetheless. But if you are looking for a wireless solution, you're gonna look at something around 180 to $200. And the one I would recommend is the Comica Boom X. And that would be this mic essentially, but wireless. And so you can have the pack hooked to your smartphone or your camera. And then the receiver or the other pack would be in your pocket allowing you there to be no cords whatsoever. But that would be considered a lav mic. Another option when it comes to YouTube videos, I think this could work well if you're doing cooking videos because you're moving around and things like that. But also, like I said, think about the kind of content you're producing. If I'm stuck in one place, the chances are is I'm gonna use a condenser shotgun mic. But if I plan on moving around, like I do a YouTube studio, you know, set up tours and stuff like that, I'm usually using a lav. And that's just because I am moving around. The next kind of mic is what is called a dynamic mic. And so, like I mentioned earlier, a mic like this, you would essentially always see in the shot. And this is the Samson Q2U. I love this mic. It's about a $70 mic. Comes with essentially everything you need. Comes with a USB. Comes with the ability to use XLR. And then it comes with the mic stand itself. And this mic is great for the use case. If you're doing like, you know, Zoom calls, if you're doing trainings using your computer and you're kind of having that like at home studio setup, this mic is the way to go. Also, because it's a dynamic mic, this is also a great mic for podcasting. A lot of the times when it comes to podcasting, you want that kind of rich, deep sound. You can use this for talking head videos as well if you just prefer the way it sounds. I do like dynamic mics. And the big reason why they kind of sound like that is because they're cutting all the noise that's coming out from around, you know, your area. So if there was a fan blowing, AC unit blowing or something, you would hear it in the mic that I'm currently using. However, if there was a fan blowing, chances are you wouldn't hear it in this mic because it's literally only picking up what's coming out from right in front of the microphone, which would be your mouth. And so this is an incredible mic. It is a USB mic. So it plugs into your computer or laptop or your phone. But we totally found that you can use this directly into your camera. If you are giving it power, so if I am powering it up with either a USB power bank or plugged into my computer, but then I use an aux cord to plug from the headphone jack into my camera, you can then use this and get the audio baked into your video with this mic. And so the Samsung Q2U is definitely a versatile mic in that regard, but I love that it comes with everything. And again, under a hundred bucks, everything I mentioned here, each one of them are well under a hundred dollars. And so you might wanna just buy all three. So when you wanna use it for specific scenarios, you can. So all in all, those are three kinds of mics that you can invest in for your YouTube videos. Obviously, as quality goes up, price goes up. There are $300 and $700 shotgun condenser mics. There's also 500 plus dollar dynamic microphones on the market. And when it comes to wireless lavaliers, you can get a Sennheiser AVX for around eight, 900 bucks. And so all that to say is you could level up, but I wanted to talk about the cheap ones and definitely check out the links in the description below. And let me know what mic you like the sound of the best. And I hope you got value in this video. And if you did smash that like button, if you wanna see a video we did reviewing one of these mics, you can click or tap the screen or check out another video from Think Media by clicking or tapping the screen. And I can't wait to see you in a future one. Peace. ♪ I'm in the clouds,