PC Tech Thread

I'm looking to upgrade my audio input for l, ideally under £100 i.e. get a stand alone mic as opposed to just using my webcam mic (Logitech c920)

Any suggestions - Modmic? a USB condenser mic on an arm?

The one recommended by our equipment team at work for podcast / interviews / meetings / etc at that kind of price point is the Blue Yeti https://www.logitechg.com/en-gb/products/streaming-gear/yeti-premium-usb-microphone.html

A fraction higher in price point is this: https://www.elgato.com/en/wave-3 also well regarded.

A big jump and almost everyone purchases an external audio interface (SSL2 for example) with something like a Cloudlifter for phantom power, and then something like the Shure SM 7B mic. But this is a huge leap in cost as once you throw in a mic arm and cables you're basically at £850. There's a big gap in price between the good USB mics and the studio mics.

The Blue Yeti is very well regarded, just buy that unless the aesthetics appal you and you prefer the look of the Elgato (and also are not running Linux as you won't be able to control most of the features as software is nearly always Windows and Mac only).

Do you happen to know what they're like for noise rejection im specifically thinking of keyboards? I sort of don't want to have to have to have a mic arm hanging over the top of me if can help it.

I have considered getting an external interface but I don't know that I need it that much tbh I just wanted my voice to be a bit more 'present'

Typically good mics have a polar pattern you can configure or control that determines where it will pick up sound from and that limits noise being picked up from the environment you're in, including keyboards.

Indeed the Blue Yeti can be run in a cardioid pattern which will pick up only noise directly in front of the mic, if it's mounted on a mic arm then it will also prevent heavy typing coming through the mic stand.

But if you're using a desktop PC with an Nvidia video card you can also use Nvidia Broadcast which is a free download that uses your GPU to run a noise reduction AI thing that removes things like keyboards.

The cardioid pattern should be enough though.

Audio interfaces don’t have to be super pricy. I have both focus right Scarlett’s (pricey) but for work machine I use this SubZero branded unit as it’s USB and plug and play meaning I don’t need to beg IT for any additional drivers or software. I also like that the basic controls are physical buttons rather than in software.

It then means you can scour the web for second hand studio/PA gear which is often much better than “streaming” gear and often cheaper. May be overkill and certainly isn’t as easy as plugging in a single usb external mic but a potential option.

Audio interfaces don’t have to be super pricy

His entire budget is around the £100 mark, if the audio interface is £80 and he doesn't have a mic, mic stand, cable, and potentially a gain lifter (mic pre-amp)... then he's not going to get all of that for £20-30.

I'm with you on having nice studio stuff, it's rock solid and barely ages, but the costs are not in favour of it around this price point.

Oh absolutely agree for the £100 mark. But that interface ( has phantom power, preamps) plus second hand SM7B I’d hope wouldn’t run more than £300 inc cables and mini desk tripod vs £850. As always, options available when you know more but absolutely depends on the use case :)

Thanks both - I'm now wondering about something like Samson Q2U. It's well reviewed as a USB mic but had an XLR so I could easily add an audio interface if needed.

Annoyingly i could have had a load of this kit for free a few years ago, but before the pandemic it all seemed way OTT

I've got an Amazon Basics Condenser mike I bought in the pandemic, it's very well reviewed and good for the money and unless you're actually going to be recording podcasts or something I don't think you need to spend more:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/AmazonBasics-Desktop-Mini-Condenser-Microphone-Black/dp/B076ZSR6BB

If you have a problem with p-p-plosives you can add a pop filter but I haven't bothered.

Something which is very satisfying about it is I now use it with speakers and get no feedback, which I didn't expect.

The Blue Yeti is very well regarded.

Hmm, dunno about that. It's not a very user-friendly microphone in that it has multiple modes and settings to adjust, so it's easy to set it up incorrectly. It can definitely sound good, but a lot of the time it doesn't.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhNIg7kTnqs

If you do go for an XLR mic setup with an audio interface (admittedly just as complicated as the Yeti), a good cheap option is the Behringer XM8500 which is a dynamic microphone that will reject a lot more background noise than a condenser mic. It's something of a Shure SM58 clone, but doesn't require as much gain as the real thing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrKKjGXyHg4

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Internal HHD, what's good, reliable and affordable-ish in the 8-10tb range? Or should I go with 2x 4tb/6tb options, and if so, which?

Mine are WD Green or Seagate Barracuda. Had a few of both running 24/7 for years with minimal issues.

Always a chance they'll die though.

Laptop recommendations for boomers please - So browsing, photos of grand kids & dogs, & avoiding having their pensions stolen are the biggest priorities.

Lenovo Carbon X1.

Laptop recommendations

If the said boomers are less loaded that Brommers imagines, I've have good luck with Acer Aspires for the aged parents

iPad?

This. Dinner tray sized iPad with the text size cranked up & all superfluous app icons hidden in a folder.

Chromebook is nice and easy so long as they don't have anything that is windows dependent.

Although Windows is pretty easy nowadays but you do need to spend more (or go second hand) to avoid buying something shit

I'm going to see my parents at the weekend for the 2-monthly "unfucking of IT stuff" trip.

"All my emails are gone"
"Music is very quiet"
"Can't watch iPlayer programs that begin with A-M, but N-Z and numbers work fine."
etc

I've got an old Precision t3610 that I use for zwift. I have put a gtx 970 in it as a cheap upgrade for zwift. It had 32gb of ram installed and got another 32, all good. Then random black screens started in zwift which I put down to drivers or the new update or something. Anyway, 24hrs of ram testing gave me a faulty module, so I took it out and zwift was fine. Put a replacement one in today, and now the proxy thing won't boot, even with just a single RAM chip. I hate computers.

64GB RAM and a GTX970 for Zwift?

I use my phone for Zwift.

Yeah I was a bit bored with a broken ankle in Dec so splashed out on a home labs server thing. Got a couple of months out of it for that and another couple for zwift

With a budget of £600 what would be a decent out of the box pc for gaming?

Or is that way under budgeted?

I see this for example

https://www.box.co.uk/Cube-Epic_4713925.html?config=2303271,2336001,3814886,3934087,4086959

Windows 11 Home
Intel Core i3 10100F Quad Core Processor
Intel H510 Motherboard
8GB Kingston Fury Beast DDR4 2666MHz RAM
512GB Intel 670p M.2 SSD
GeForce GTX 1050Ti Graphics
Built in WiFi
Featuring Gigabyte & Montech
CPU Cooling: Air Cooled
3 Year Warranty
CG-SPAV2-21

The GPU is dogshit, and only 8GB RAM...

...depends on which games and resolution tbh

AWD-IT seem to have decent deals on this kind of thing. This for instance:
https://www.awd-it.co.uk/awd-volt-intel-i5-10400f-six-core-4-3ghz-nvidia-rtx-3050-8gb-16gb-ram-500gb-ssd-desktop-pc-for-gaming.html
AWD VOLT Intel i5 10400F Six Core NVIDIA RTX 3050 8GB, 16GB RAM & 500GB SSD Desktop PC for Gaming

Or a variety of others here
https://www.awd-it.co.uk/gaming-pc.html?price=519-709&product_list_order=price_low_to_high