CAD Audio USB U1 Dynamic Recording Microphone

I wanted a better microphone for my online tutorials, but I didn't want to spend a whole lot. I give tips and ideas to those who cannot afford much, so while shopping around on Amazon, I came across this mic. The description said it was professional, so I thought I'd give it a try. When it arrived, I was pleased at the appearance, and even the weight! I looked and felt like a higher-end professional microphone! I couldn't wait to start using it. My excitement however was short lived, because after my first recording, I heard more buzzing, whining, and even thumping sounds, more than my voice. I re-read the instructions that came with the mic, and even checked online for a solution, all of which did me no good. When I finally found the time to check my settings, and do a few additional things, I can get excited again, as I seemed to have gotten rid of most of the bad sounds. A few of the things I needed to do was to turn off my desk lamp and desktop speakers, as they caused an interference. For Windows 7, I also found that in Control Panel, go to Hardware and Sound, then left-click on C-Media USB Audio device, then on Sound settings. Then click on the Recording tab, then on Microphone C-media Audio device to highlight that, then on properties. Choose the Levels tab, and the best ranges are from 60 to 70 and nothing beyond. Then choose the advanced tab, and instead of CD quality, choose DVD quality. Then in the Custom tab, the box next to AGC is checked by default, so click on that to uncheck the box, then select Apply and ok. Then if you have a desktop and/or speakers, turn those off, and everything should be fine! I was really surprised by not only the quality, but the price! Awesome microphone, at an awesome price, and more than excellent for beginner's on a budget. Another product that I will highly recommend on my website to my viewers!!! Addition, I do recommend a pack of those windscreen foam covers!

REVIEW EDIT: So I had ordered a NEEWER Microphone Suspension Boom Scissor Arm Stand , and used it with this mic. It allowed the microphone to sit closer to my face, which in turn, has allowed me to use the microphone with a volume input of about 40 in the Windows microphone settings. This reduction in input volume makes the noise a LOT lower than when the input is at full volume. It makes it so the white noise problem has faded out, and is barely noticeable. The sound quality is still superb, so I'll give it 4 stars, since I had to spend a total of $45 to get the mic and stand to get it closer. If you already have a mic stand that can get it within 6 inches of your face, then I recommend this microphone. If you have nothing, and are looking at finding a microphone, I'd suggest looking elsewhere first. This microphone is still spectacular except for the white noise issue. Also, I've been talking with CAD support about this over the past week, and they have been very polite and quick to respond. Even after I specified that I wasn't looking to get a replacement, or trying to get anything for free, they still offered to trade me up to a U37 if I pay shipping costs (still debating whether I want to). I definitely give a 5-star rating to the customer support at CAD, and will definitely look to purchasing their products in the future should the need arise. ============================== (ORIGINAL REVIEW BELOW) ============================== (I bought the Black Edition - CAD u4F model, not the original CAD U1 mic) This microphone is a great microphone with one condition: Assuming you can get it connected without the white noise that plagues mine. Without the white noise, this microphone has absolutely fantastic recording quality for $25. I do have Adobe Audition, so for recordings it's pretty easy to get the white noise out of the way without hindering my voice barely at all. However, for non-recording situations (streaming, Skype, or just talking to other people in general) the interference can't be avoided. All the reviews said this microphone was great, and I believed them. And you know what? It is. It is a fantastic microphone for $25 that I bought it for. The ONLY problem I have is the interference. And it isn't from the microphone itself, because even with it muted, the noise/interference remains, so it has to be coming from the cable or connection to my computer. I've tried every USB port on my desktop PC, I've tried a few different laptops, and the same noise follows it. I've also used it in 2 cities 5 hours apart, and nothing changed. So I've come to the conclusion that it's the cable. Trying to solve this, I bought a 5-pack of Ferrite Choke Clamps here on Amazon. They fit wonderfully snug on the cable (5mm chokes for the 4.5mm cable). But they do absolutely nothing to lessen the interference (which sometimes is coupled with a very faint radio signal). Before the chokes, I looked all throughout my settings for ways to lessen the interference, but couldn't find ANY settings outside of simple input volume control in my settings. This microphone registers as a Generic USB Plug-n-Play Microphone on Windows 7, and so it has none of the settings that earlier reviews mentioned. Lowering the volume does lessen the noise, but it also lessens my voice on the mic as well, meaning I'd have to be talking from 2 inches away to maintain the same volume as before. Maybe different materials are used in the manufacturing now, like maybe the cable isn't shielded as well. It's not unheard of for products to manufactured a little cheaper later in life-cycles. All I know is, if there were no white noise interference, this microphone would EASILY be worth the money because the recording quality otherwise is absolutely fantastic. I'll honestly keep using it because it doesn't personally seem worth it to have paid for this and then pay $50 for another mic that doesn't have reports of this issue. If I had known this was un-solvable before I bought it, I probably would have just ponied up the extra cash and gone with the CAD U37 or Blue Snowball.

So a bit of back story. I'm a drummer and was in need of something to get a decent to good room recording. Where I have my kit set up at home, I don't have the means to do a proper studio mic set up. Nor the mixers, programs, so on needed for such. So I started looking into USB microphones. Something to simply record the audio along with video. My band is writing new songs and I wanted an easy way to lay down ideas to see what works best before we meet back up. I have known of CAD microphones for numerous years, so they seemed like a solid choice as it's a name that has been in the game and known for quality affordable gear. I have to say that this really went beyond what I expected. I'm going to invest in another for the other side of the room for a fuller recording, but wow. At no point was it overwhelmed by any drums or cymbals. Picked up every drum clearly and did exactly what I needed. No, I didn't get the highest end recording I could get if I invested serious funds. But I got more than enough. It's a simple just plug it in and turn it on so anyone can do it. If you want a way to record yourself at home be it drums, guitar, so on, and you don't have funds for a home studio. This is a viable option.

First off - it's a $30 mic. The old adage that you "get what you pay for" is still accurate to some extent. I'd really like to give this mic higher ratings! Unfortunately, the cons can strongly impact its usage. Even so - it's still a great mic! PROS: Clear audio quality Sensitive Comes with stand Convenient USB standard Overall this mic is very clear, highly sensitive, and works pretty great for my needs. The audio quality blows any expensive headset or "affordable" freestanding mics I've had in the past completely out of the water. It's still a CAD mic after all! Everyone who's heard it has complimented the clarity and I've had zero popping issues (despite trying!). Despite the stand's cheapness, the clip holds strongly and sturdily. This mic is also extremely easy to use as it's plug'n'play USB. Unfortunately, this also poses some issues. CONS: Cheap stand Poor line insulation (static, noise) Bit oversensitive On the downside, this mic is almost painfully sensitive to electrical interference and surface noise where it might rest. I ended up having to move the mic and stand 2 ft away on a separate surface next to my desk because it was picking up any movement on the desk itself. Additionally, I regularly have to turn it off and on to clear static buzzing from the line seemingly charging over time. As mentioned, the stand that comes with it is fairly cheap, but it does the job. Perhaps this mic simply needed better line insulation. Additionally, it does take a little tweaking to find the right volume balance, especially as it initialized with boom (AGC) enabled by default and needed to be turned off. All in all, a great affordable option! Would recommend.

This is a great microphone to use as a gamer. Works well with Teamspeak, although you may have to change TS capture to "always record" so that it doesn't cut out. Doesn't have static or miscellaneous sounds (popping, hissing, etc). However, it is sensitive even when the mic boost is disabled - i.e. it will pick up the vibrations my computer sends through the desk that the mic is standing on, but its fixed with some foam under the legs. Speaking of legs, they swing out and are very sturdy. I highly recommend this mic and a pair of Sennheiser HD 280 pros instead of a gaming headset Pros: +Have an optional mic boost (make sure to DISABLE it if you can hear everything going on in your house) +Great sound recording, no hisses/pops/humming +Comes with a mic, stand, and necessary cables +High build quality, made in the USA Cons: -Even with mic boost disabled it can pick up vibrations from my PC, which sits on the same desk as the mic. However, it was fixed with some foam under the feet of the mic -Very directional, make sure you speak anti-parallel to the direction the mic is facing, or have it next to your mouth if you are perpendicular to it

I went against my better judgment and got stomped! This mic is a piece of crap. For those reviewers who've had success with it, great. I'm happy for you. Ecstatic! But for all of you who, like me, found this to be an utter piece of garbage, thanks for taking the time to tell the other side of the story. God knows I wish I would've listened. I don't care that the mic was just under $30. A product should work at least to a good enough standard that qualifies it to be an item worth paying for. The mic I received does not! So, for all of the happy, "My mic works great!" reviewers that are putting down other reviewers for sharing their not so great experiences, I followed EVERY troubleshooting and set up attempt noted on the instructions, on the internet, and on these reviews. Still, my mic does not work. In fact, it makes my voice sound like Minnie Mouse. I turned off the AGC, lowered the dBs, and went through the mic set up several times before deciding to return this piece of crap. And, for those who think using a computer without a 3 prong power cord is the reason for the feedback, distortion, etc..., I don't know of any up-to-date computers that don't come with one. Personally, I've never seen it. At any rate, mines has the 3-prong. Yet, it still picks up voices and transmissions from outside sources as well as causes loud distortion and makes my voice sound like, again, Minnie Mouse. If anyone has a fix for this, I'd sure like to hear it. Although Amazon offers the BEST refund policy EVERRRR, (Can you tell I LOVE Amazon?), I'm ticked off at having to pay $6 for UPS to pick up this microphone, or spend that much in gas and even more in time driving out to the UPS facility and back. In all fairness, before i return this mic, I'll contact the seller to see if they have an answer for my dilemma, as well as the manufacturer. However, if you see this posted, it would be because they were of little to no help.

I've been in studios and I can say that if you want a cheap microphone to do home recordings that its worth every penny. The mic itself works great, records very clear. When you get it READ THE DIRECTIONS, it tells you how to set it up. Be sure to turn off the ACG setting(directions explains where this is) because it amplifies the mics recording sound way too high. Adjust mic volume to what sounds best for you. The pop filter built in really is a good pop filter, is it perfect? well no, its not gonna be because its built in. External pop filters are always best:) The stand works great as well. Overall, this mic is great for beginners and can even work great for experienced musicians. The deciding factor is how well you know how to do your own masters (producing.) PS I dont know this to be true but many reviews bring up a feedback problem or the cord picking up the radio. I went ahead and purchased a five dollar ferrite cord suppressor (stops feedback and excess noise though the wires other than what is recorded into the microphone.)

I got this microphone because I write and narrate YouTube videos as a hobby. I used to just use my phone, which had an amazing quality microphone, but it broke, and I had to get a new phone. While the phone is much better than my old one, the audio is VERY standard phone quality. My videos are on a schedule and need to be finished and posted regularly. I couldn't risk making a poor quality video, or missing any deadlines, so I thought a cheap USB mic would do, and get me back into recording quickly so I wasn't too behind schedule. It works pretty well as a microphone itself and the quality of my voice sounds good, but only after bending over backwards, performing a few card tricks, doing a rain dance or two, and appealing to the Audacity gods. First of all, it picks up radio waves like crazy. The first time I used it there were distorted songs and voices fading in and out behind my voice. I spent about 3 hours, when I first got it, searching the internet to find ways to reduce the radio signals, and screwing around trying to play with the audio input settings to make the mic less sensitive. I read all of the reviews that stated the mic works great after some tweaking, and tried literally everything I read. My laptop is not grounded, so I put it on a grounding adapter. No luck. I tried unplugging my laptop. No luck. I tried simply turning the volume down. No luck. I tried every input setting my computer and audacity have to offer. Nothing. I read through some stuff other people posted about having these same problems, and someone mentioned that if you live too close to a radio station, you're pretty much screwed. I live near downtown of a large city, so I'm basically in radio station central. Finally I had to resort to wrapping the cord in tin foil and electrical tape. Did I mention the cord is ridiculously long? I had to wrap it around the legs of my computer desk and tape it to the desk because it's so long and heavy that the tiniest tug on the cord causes the mic to go crashing to the floor. Even after I wrapped the cord in all of the foil I had and using 1/2 a roll of electrical tape, it still only reduces about 90% of the radio waves. After covering the cord and trying to record again, I noticed the mic was picking up every tiny sound in the room, even from 20 feet away. The air purifier on the other side of the room was louder than me, and even if I was talking quietly it would max out. The audio waves were red even if I wasn't speaking. I had to turn down the input volume the the lowest setting possible (0.08) and even then it still picks up sounds from across the room and my voice maxes out even if I'm 2 feet away from it and speaking at a normal volume. I actually found it's better to not only leave the air purifier on while recording, but also put it directly behind me, because the white noise drowns out the remaining radio waves and the insanely amplified drop of a pin from across the room. From there I can just record straight to Audacity and play around with the Noise Reduction effect until it sounds right. After all that nonsense is over, my voice sounds pretty okay, but the mild distortion from the Noise Reduction effect can cause some obvious sound errors. For example, my voice sounds relatively clear and crisp with no white noise, but one or two words out of every couple of sentences sounds like I'm speaking into one of those funny Halloween voice changer things to sound like an alien. Sometimes my voice will sound clear and crisp and exactly like if I was speaking to you in person, but there will be a really strange metallic sounding ambiance behind me. Once I go through all the song and dance, all things considered, it sounds much better than you would expect. Luckily, I cover all of my narration with background music so it's harder to notice the audio errors and alien spaceship noises. The only thing left after all of this, is just the fact that if you so much as slightly bump your desk or scoot the mic over by a centimeter, there is a very loud shuffling and fumbling noise in the recording that is way louder than your voice. It sounds like someone rolling the microphone down a hill inside of a barrel full of rocks. Aside from the sound quality of the microphone itself, there are a few bones I have to pick with the way it's designed. The "built-in pop filter" is a lie. Again, the mic is way too sensitive and the tiniest gust of air touching it overpowers the entire recording. I had to buy a pop filter separately, and even though the filter is extremely light and probably only weights a few grams, if I don't position the arm of it perfectly, the whole setup tips over and falls off the desk. The tripod is really tricky, and again if the feet aren't in the exact perfect position, the whole thing falls over. Not to mention it doesn't tighten the whole way. Once you get it tight enough that it's not spinning around on it's own, you have to keep turning it in the same direction until you get it in the exact position you want it. If it's not in the right place, it falls over. If it's 1 degree off from where you want it, you have to turn it the whole way around 359 degrees, because if you turn it the other way, it gets loose and the mic will not stay in place. Even if you bump it slightly on accident, it loosens up, the microphone spins around in whatever direction it wants, and the whole setup falls over. The microphone clip is also really flimsy and even touching the power switch on the mic without holding the clip in place will make it pop right out. All things considered, I think I got exactly what I paid for, and for $30 it's more or less what you would expect it to be. I was able to get my videos out on time after buying this, but I will definitely be getting a better one in the near future. This is way more work than it's worth, and even after all the hoops you have to jump through to make it sound decent, it still isn't anywhere near perfect. It's very inconvenient and takes up a good chunk of time to prepare for recording and then revise and edit the recording afterwards. My advice to anyone who is looking into getting this would be: Unless you need it RIGHT NOW like I did, save up your money and get a better quality microphone, because after using this for about a week you're going to start saving up to get a new one anyway.

Buena calidad, solo el ruido que se escucha y que ya comentaron como resolver, me agradó en general el producto.

Probabilmente sono io che non so settarlo ma Io uso x canticchiare e se lo avvicino troppo distorce se lo allontano un po' non sento quasi niente .... potrebbe comunque essere che io non lo so gestire.

works great the stand in the picture is not the same tho and the stand to hold the mic dropping down to the desk kinda works not the best stand but not thinking about the stand this was a great buy :)

The product is really good very good mic for this price many starting complaining about the buzzing sound but I didn't find anything like that the only drawback of this mic is we couldn't able to connect to mobile or Tablet to the OTG port but we can connect via stereo port ,the product is very good for this price range I strongly recommended CAD 01 is best for youtubers and there is no need for audio interface sound quality is awesome

Ich habe mir dieses Mikrofon für Commentaries und Podcasts gekauft und dafür ist dieser Artikel perfekt. Sehr gute Soundqualität für ein Mikro unter 100€