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Can I attach a USB mic to any Android phone? Which one?

I am asking since I need to be able to shoot video with sound clear of noise.

Hence, I need the phone to shoot good video quality as well(full HD at least).

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    Never tried with an USB mike – but using one via the "headset plug" should do, as that's what headsets use as well.
    – Izzy
    Commented Aug 6, 2014 at 10:08
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    You mean the 3.5mm audio jack, right?
    – Mateva
    Commented Aug 6, 2014 at 10:14
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    Exactly. I just had a black-out concerning the term, sorry.
    – Izzy
    Commented Aug 6, 2014 at 10:38
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    Np, it was clear but I needed to be 100% sure:)
    – Mateva
    Commented Aug 6, 2014 at 10:41
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    I've summed it up with additional details in my answer below, for your convenience :)
    – Izzy
    Commented Aug 6, 2014 at 10:47

3 Answers 3

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Android currently doesn't support USB Audio Paths. You can use USB Audio if you have a Nexus 5 with Android L Preview. Otherwise you are out of luck.

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Yes, Android supports standard USB audio class devices:

Android 5.0 (API level 21) and above supports a subset of USB audio class 1 (UAC1) features:

  • The Android device must act as host
  • The audio format must be PCM (interface type I)
  • The bit depth must be 16-bits, 24-bits, or 32-bits where 24 bits of useful audio data are left-justified within the most significant bits of the 32-bit word
  • The sample rate must be either 48, 44.1, 32, 24, 22.05, 16, 12, 11.025, or 8 kHz The channel count must be 1 (mono) or 2 (stereo)

Also, Android 3.1 or higher can support USB audio if you buy an app from eXtream Software, which bundles its own drivers.

Also, your hardware has to support USB Host mode (USB On-The-Go). There are apps to test whether it does:

How can I determine if my device has USB Host Mode (OTG) support?

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    I tested this and it works (Samsung S6, Yeti Blue USB Mic)
    – Jonathan
    Commented Jul 3, 2017 at 22:32
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If you need an external microphone, and your device does not support USB audio (as Hiemanshu's answer suggests): A work-around would be using a microphone with the 3.5" audio jack. As headsets use that successfully, it should work.

I've never tried, so theoretically a side-effect could be sound output gets blocked whith the device assuming you've got a headset plugged in. If that's the case, there are apps available to control where which audio is routed to. You can find some in this list.

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