or you can just take our advice from the start. Take your $50 and break it by buying an extra value meal. Go down to your local electronics store and get a $30 dynamic mic. Then take the left over $15 and buy yourself a pop filter (optional but worth it). Now your audio will be twice as good as that plus you got lunch on the way to pick it up.
This audio was done with a cheap dynamic mic with no pop filter:
http://abc-124.dmusic.com/
Also you can get a condensor mic for as low as $50.
.................................................. .................................................. .....
ok now what is wrong with using a usb headset mic?
1. There is a very limited dynamic range. These mics are made to pick up vocals clearly, but are not designed to pick up all the frequencies behind your vocals. This limits the quality and fullness of your vocals on a track.
2. There is no way to use a pop filter to it. A pop filter is necessary to filter out the noise that you DON'T want. You can't use a pop filter on a mic that is attached to your face. You also cant use one on a mic that small. Without a pop filter you are forced to filter out unwanted peaks with your mixing software. Even if you're good at mixing it will never sound the same.
3. You have limited mic position. Mic position plays a big part in the sound of your vocals. A microphone's distance depends on an individual's voice. The louder you are, the farther away you must be from the mic. You can get away with turning the mic volume down but with a simple computer sound card you are going to have a problem with level/noise ratio. This means you will have a static problem.
4. The mic is just TOO SMALL.
And just to avoid argument here... yes singers often use these headsets on stage, and it sounds good. But...
- Quality isn't a big issue in live production
- The mics they use cost hundreds of dollars
- Their mics are hooked wirelessly to thousands of dollars worth of sound equipment.
So yes you CAN use a headset, but why would you when you can get much better quality for the same price.
btw I'm adding this to the tutorials list so don't start any beef. Please keep the discusion civil. I'll delete anything that is not civil.