Uploaded February 2016 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Original blog is here: alexkenis.wordpress.com/2016/02/24/narration-comparison-vocal-mic-guitarhero-mic-webcam-mic
One of my recent thrift store foraging journeys put me in possession of a mic from the Guitar Hero video game for the exorbitant price of 99 cents lol. Since you can plug it right into your computer and have it function as a USB mic, I thought I would make a quick comparison video of a professional vocal mic+preamp, the video game mic, and my webcam mic.
As you can hear, the vocal mic has the highest quality and the lowest noise. The video game mic has okay sound quality, but it is very noisy, while the webcam mic has the worst sound quality, but it’s noise level is somewhere between the other two.
Some of the problems could be fixed in post-production to an extent, but I would stick to a dedicated vocal mic where professional quality is needed. HOWEVER, the cheapie video game mic is a step-up in quality from the webcam mic (disregarding the noise), and the handling noise was lower than the other two, so I would not hesitate to use that in a pinch for interviews, streaming, or in a mobile situation where I can’t lug around a professional preamp. Careful attention has to be paid later to EQ-ing and gating out the noise.
Original blog is here: alexkenis.wordpress.com/2016/02/24/narration-comparison-vocal-mic-guitarhero-mic-webcam-mic
One of my recent thrift store foraging journeys put me in possession of a mic from the Guitar Hero video game for the exorbitant price of 99 cents lol. Since you can plug it right into your computer and have it function as a USB mic, I thought I would make a quick comparison video of a professional vocal mic+preamp, the video game mic, and my webcam mic.
As you can hear, the vocal mic has the highest quality and the lowest noise. The video game mic has okay sound quality, but it is very noisy, while the webcam mic has the worst sound quality, but it’s noise level is somewhere between the other two.
Some of the problems could be fixed in post-production to an extent, but I would stick to a dedicated vocal mic where professional quality is needed. HOWEVER, the cheapie video game mic is a step-up in quality from the webcam mic (disregarding the noise), and the handling noise was lower than the other two, so I would not hesitate to use that in a pinch for interviews, streaming, or in a mobile situation where I can’t lug around a professional preamp. Careful attention has to be paid later to EQ-ing and gating out the noise.
