Cable

BSP-016: Why You Should Pay Artists For Their Work

00:00 - Intro
01:20 - Cable Service Providers
06:45 - Google Play Podcast
11:17 - Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
14:04 - The Faint - Wet From Birth
16:13 - Positive Grid BIAS Amp
22:25 - Paying Artists For Their Work
33:24 - Outro

On todays episode, I share a story with you about how I got screwed back into cable, and then discuss the launch of podcasts in the google play store and what I hope is int the future for this app.

I then recommend some TV & MUSIC, and share my thoughts on an amp simulator plugin I have been trying, called: Positive Grid BIAS Amp. Lastly I talk about the age old nonsense about paying artists for their work. It's insane that I need to make this discussion, but I still hear about people asking for free art.

Do XLR to USB Cables Work?

I love finding new gear that solves a problem, or just makes life easier. But the problem with this, is a lot of the time, devices that claim to solve a problem, don't work properly. The device that I have seen popping up all over the internet are these XLR to USB cables. In theory, you should be able to plug an XLR microphone into your computer using this cable, and you'll be able to record. But do they really work?

I am not going to speak at length. I will just tell you what I found. I found that this cable does work, but only for microphones that do not require any DC voltage to function. This means that out of the box, you cannot use any condenser microphones (NW-700),  with this cable. You can only use this cable with dynamic microphones (SM58, PDMIC58).

I did test a work around: plug the condenser microphone into a phantom power supply, and then run the phantom power supplies output through this XLR to USB cable. This did allow the microphone to work, but the cable provides too hot of a signal and we were clipping with the microphone input gain set at 1%. To me, I think that this cable is essentially useless as it only works with a hand full of mics. However, if you have a dynamic microphone, and you are looking to simplify your set up even more, then this cable may be right for you. 

If you have any more questions about this cable, leave it in the comments down below or on the youtube video and I will try to get back to you ASAP. Thanks so much.

Buy it on Amazon: http://amzn.to/1SUxIRw