ZeroZ30o amazon - com/Behringer-UMC22-BEHRINGER-U-PHORIA/dp/B00FFIGZF6
Edit: I butchered the link because it was embedding an ad, the device is "Behringer Audio Interface UMC22".
this is designed to connect a microphone to your computer, for sound recording purposes.
ZeroZ30o Is this device necessary to use the microphone with Bela? (if not, how would I solve the phantom power / xlr-to-jack issues?)
Many microphones (mainly condenser ones) require phantom power. This is a DC voltage (in the range +12V to +48V) used to power the microphone through the XLR cable. Bela does not provide phantom power. If you want to connect to Bela a microphone that requires phantom power, you will need a device in between that is capable of generating the needed power for the microphone. For instance:
https://www.amazon.com/Neewer-1-Channel-Microphone-Condenser-Recording/dp/B014H8AWGC
or
https://www.thomann.de/gb/behringer_ps_400.htm
or
https://www.thomann.de/gb/millenium_pocket_phantom.htm (this one has two separate channels, so you can connect two microphones).
Using either of these devices, you would then need an XLR to mini-jack adapter to plug the output of the device into Bela.
Another type of devices you may want to look at are microphone preamplifiers. These typically come with phantom power as well (though it's worth double checking, especially for cheap ones). These additionally provide gain control, and could possibly have better performance than the preamplifier on board Bela. Given how some pre-amplifiers with phantom power are not much more expensive than a phantom power supply, it may be worth thinking about it.
ZeroZ30o If it is necessary, does it add a substantial time delay for audio going through?
zero latency will be added by these devices, as they are fully analog.
ZeroZ30o I'm also very happy to take other recommendations for mics, as long as they are omnidirectional and can pickup quiet sounds from afar.
The task of picking up quiet sounds from afar is not easily achievable with cheap equipment.
The two characteristics (omnidirectional and quiet sounds from afar) are somewhat incompatible. By design, omnidirectional microphones will pick up sounds from all directions, thus also picking up environmental noise from all directions. If the sound source is very quiet, with an omni microphone you can only pick it up clearly from afar if there is little to no background noise. Directional microphones could be more suited for this, for instance hyper-cardioid or shotgun microphones can be very directional.
Regardless of the microphone polar response choice, if the sound source is very quiet and the microphone is very far from it, you will need a good preamplifier to boost the microphone signal. This is an area where, in order to obtain good results, you need high-quality microphones (with low self-noise) and high-quality pre-amplifiers (high-gain, low-noise). These don't come cheap.
Perhaps you could try formulating a bit more extensively what your overall aim is, how you are planning to achieve it, and what is your budget, so that we can better understand how to help you.
lokki do not use behringer (low budget gear that tends to be noisy,esp. preamps)
It's difficult to stay away from cheap products when the cash is tight, as Behringer often manages to provide unbeatable bang-for-bucks deals. I haven't tried one of their cheap products in years, but I give to them that these days they are becoming respectable in my eyes on the basis of their line of original synthesizer designs.
