- Today I'd like to try
something a little bit different.
You might remember a
while back, I did a video
where I compared the
Rode PodMic up against
the Shure SM7B, a very
legendary vocal microphone.
And in that video, it was pretty clear
that the Shure is overall
a better microphone,
but it normally retails for $400,
whereas this guy, the
PodMic, as you might know,
usually sells for $100.
So for the cost of one Shure SM7B,
you can get four PodMics.
Which means that if you're like me
and you work with the RodeCaster Pro,
a mixer that has four XLR inputs,
for the cost of one Shure SM7B,
you could have an entire podcast setup.
And so far I've been
really, this almost looks
like an award, like the Podcast Award.
So far I've been really
happy with the Rode PodMic.
I actually own two of them.
I love 'em, I think they are terrific.
Of course, a lot of what
makes a microphone sound good
depends on your specific
voice and your preference
in terms of audio processing.
But, I still had a question.
In the $100 price range, there are a lot
of really good microphones.
Like you have a ton of
options for great mics.
Even going a little below 100,
to like the 75, $80 range,
there's some really good mics there.
I was wondering, what about
the super budget price range?
So, what I did, in my extensive research
on the couch with my
iPad, is I went to Amazon
and I looked up their cheapest microphone
that was available.
Which was this guy right here,
the Neewer condenser microphone kit.
Really catchy name, I know.
So this sounded like a
good deal at the time,
but now let's see if it actually
sounds like a good deal.
I've never used this microphone.
I don't really know much about it.
It got decent reviews.
The key component, it was $25.
So, very similarly to how
you could get four PodMics
for the price of one Shure SM7B,
you can get four of these microphones
for the price of one PodMic.
I'm really curious to see
if that's a good way to go
or if you're better off
spending a little extra
and getting a higher quality product.
So let's dive in and check this out.
We'll be doing some sound tests with this
but first, let's see what
you actually get for $25.
I haven't gone through
and opened this yet.
So we get to do a little unboxing here.
All right.
We've got our instructions.
Oh.
It actually comes with an
XLR to 3.5 millimeter cable.
You get a windscreen!
That's not too bad, it's really thin,
you get this little thin foam windscreen.
You do also get a shockmount,
which is shocking,
because the price is so low.
And this thing feels, not too bad.
It's made out of metal.
It's got some foam in here.
It's got a smaller mount than normal
but I think that's so it can more easily
mount to something like the Rode PSA1.
Very cool.
And of course, oh you get a
packet of harmful if swallowed.
And of course, the main event.
The microphone itself.
So it's gold and black,
actually looks pretty cool.
I know that when it comes to microphones,
the looks aren't the most important thing.
But, with a lot of people doing broadcast
and video podcasts and things like that,
a lot of times you do find the microphone
in the shot with you, so having something
that you think looks good makes sense.
It's one of the reasons I
actually prefer the PodMic.
So it's everything your $25 gets you,
which is not a bad deal.
Right off the bat, the
build quality of this
is very different from the
build quality of the PodMic.
The PodMic is one of the
heaviest mics I've ever used.
It's a very sturdy microphone
that could cause some serious
damage if you wanted to.
This is much more lightweight.
The thing I noticed, which
is actually kind of a bummer,
you saw me just take this
out of the package right now,
but there are some scratches on the body
that were there as soon as I opened it.
Nothing that's really
gonna show up on camera,
but when you just take something brand new
out of the package and it's scratched,
it's kind of a bummer. And of
course I'll put a link to this
down in the description
but if you wanna know
the exact model, this is the NW-800.
Kind of my fault in terms of a comparison
because this is a dynamic microphone,
this is a condenser microphone.
The difference being that this has
a lower output signal but can kinda handle
a wider variety of sounds.
Whereas a condenser
microphone might be more apt
for vocals specifically,
but it also benefits
from phantom power or an
external power source.
Fortunately since I'm using
it with the RodeCaster Pro,
I'll be able to give it the
phantom power that it needs.
To put the mic in the shockmount
you just sort of squeeze these wires.
Now of course it comes down
to what does this sound like,
so let's test it out just a little bit.
Let's grab the RodeCaster.
One thing I did notice was
there's just a little adapter
down here so if you take this out,
then it has a more
standard microphone mount
that will fit on standard mic stands.
This is always the most
popular question I get
in my microphone videos,
are about these little tabletop stands.
These are little Samson stands that I like
'cause they're shorter.
But this table is also
taller than a normal table.
These are On-Stage brand stands
that can extend out a little bit.
And they work great as well.
So I'll put links to these down below,
the taller stands and the shorter stands.
Taller ones would work really well
if your typical table is
normal height, like 30 inches.
This table is actually a
little bit taller than that.
So I like the shorter
stands so I don't just
stare behind the microphone
and you're trying to talk to someone
and this is all that you see.
And for right now, the
beginning of this video,
I've been using the Rode VideoMic Pro Plus
as always, just for my normal audio.
But in a second we're
gonna switch to these mics
pretty much for the rest of the video.
And we will put the Neewer mic,
'cause it's the newer
mic, on this mic stand.
This is sorta strange 'cause it feels
kind of strong and cheesy at the same time
so I don't know how long it'll last.
But you can kinda get an idea
for how the shockmount works.
Right off the bat what I can notice
is I'm hardly getting any
signal off of this mic.
If I turn up the PodMic,
you can see the levels
shooting up right there.
This mic, the new one, on channel two,
it's up all the way, you
can hardly see anything.
That's really because
of that phantom power.
So all I can do is go into channel.
Level.
Turn on phantom power.
And now, we can really see this is,
I can turn down the gain
significantly which is great,
cause the less gain you have,
the cleaner the signal will be.
Now as I'm setting up these microphones,
I realized I was gonna
make a bit of a mistake.
They look kind of similar,
but they don't work the same way.
The Rode PodMic is designed basically
to have you speak directly
into the front of it,
maybe across the front of it.
Whereas the best pickup
pattern for this microphone
is speaking into what looks like the side.
That's actually the front of it.
So, I put it on a taller mic stand,
which is gonna let it,
let me angle it towards me a bit more.
So there's no effects turned on.
This microphone is just set
to the generic condenser setting.
So we're gonna switch over
to the Neewer microphone
in three, two, one.
And here we go with the Neewer microphone.
It definitely sounds
different than the PodMic
but it doesn't necessarily sound bad,
and it has tremendously high output.
If you notice on the slider
here on the RodeCaster,
I have it turned down below halfway
and I'm still getting pretty high levels
which means, to get a cleaner signal
I could actually go into the gain setting,
turn the gain setting down,
and raise up the microphone's level
and it should give me a
cleaner signal overall.
Now of course, going back and forth,
this is the Neewer microphone,
and this is the PodMic.
I think right off the bat,
the PodMic does sound better
to my ears but one of the problems
with doing microphone
comparisons sometimes
is that it doesn't necessarily let you
appreciate each microphone
in its own right.
It's easy to go back and forth and think
this one doesn't sound as good as that.
But what about in a vacuum by itself?
What if you were just
using this microphone?
Would it sound good enough?
That's what I'm really curious about
and right now, I don't really
think that it sounds great.
But I am kind of optimistic
that with some equalization
we'll be able to get a
good sound out of it.
So first thing, before we test it out
and before we switch up some stuff,
let's check out the pickup
patterns on these microphones.
With the PodMic, it's
designed, like I said,
to speak directly into the front.
So if I turn the mic away from me,
you can hear my voice less.
If I turn the mic towards
me, you can hear it more.
It's really designed for you
to speak directly into the front of it.
This microphone is a little bit different.
The side right here is really the front
and if I turn the microphone away from me,
you can't hear me as much
and if I turn it towards me,
it has a very clear pickup pattern of
basically right here, is
where you wanna speak into
and direct your voice
with this microphone.
I almost messed up and just
talked into the front of it
and messed everything up.
I'm really glad I didn't do
that and had to refilm this.
Both of these microphones
are supposed to have
pop filters built into them.
Pop, pop, p-pah, pow, pow, pow, pow, pow.
Power wheels, pow, pow, power wheels.
And then if I go over here,
pow, pow, power wheels.
Pah, pah, pah, pah, pah, pah.
Pah, pah, pah.
I mean, they actually don't sound too bad.
They almost seem to have
pretty equally effective
pop filters, at least in my opinion.
This one probably seems
a little bit weaker.
But it does have a windscreen.
So let's see if this actually helps,
Peter Piper picked a pack
of pickled peppers, pizzas, pepperonis.
Peter Piper picked a pack of pickled
pizzas, pepperonis, prizefighters.
I mean it kind of makes a difference.
This isn't really the highest quality
windscreen in the world.
I bet if you got something
that was a little,
a little better, you'd
probably get better results.
This did noticeably take down the pops
but I also feel like it kinda cut out
some of the high end that was there before
and it really kinda seems
like this microphone
is lacking some of that balance, so.
Before we make our final judgements,
let's go through and play
with this microphone,
play with some of the settings.
I'm gonna go back into the PodMic.
I'm gonna go into my microphone settings,
change it over to the PodMic setting
that I normally use.
Basically I just keep
most of the effects off.
I do play with the aural
exciter a little bit,
add in some bass, adjust
the treble a little bit.
Doesn't make a huge difference
but this is with those settings
and this is without those settings.
It just kind of turns it up a little bit
and I like that.
So now I've spent just a few minutes
adjusting some of the settings on here.
This is the microphone
without any effects.
And this is the microphone
with my adjustments.
Again, this is with my adjustments
and this is without any effects.
So the differences might be kind of subtle
but basically all I did was,
I added a little bit of compression.
It almost seems like it
boosted the mids a little bit.
I'm not an audio pro, but it just kinda
got rid of some of that weird hollow sound
that this mic had, and then I
went into the aural exciter,
added a little bit on the highs
and a little bit on the lows.
Now I could do something crazy,
especially with like the bass,
and turn it up really loud
and then it's a super
bassy-sounding microphone
or I could take it all the way down
and make it really thin.
There is room to be flexible
and it doesn't sound too too bad.
Here's again, without
any of those settings.
And then with those settings.
It kinda just fills out the sound.
So just for quick comparisons,
this is the Rode PodMic.
This is the Neewer microphone.
But between these two microphones,
so imagine you're having like a podcast
and you're talking to a guest.
If you're bouncing back and forth,
I definitely think it would be possible
to make them match a little bit.
You might need to spend more time
playing with the equalization on this guy.
I boosted the aural exciter a little bit,
just to bring in a
little more of the highs.
This is without the highs being adjusted
and now this is with them being adjusted
and the reason I did that is because
I think that it helps it
match with the Rode PodMic
just a little bit more, and I
think you could pair them up
for a podcast and it's
not gonna sound too crazy,
you could say, like, "Hey,
"tell me about that
thing you're working on.
"Oh, you mean, which
thing that I'm working on?
"That thing or the other thing?
"No, the one thing, the main thing.
"Oh, it sounds like
you're in the same room
"with me on the same microphone.
"I am in the same room with you
"but I'm on a totally
different microphone.
"Wow, it must have been
equalized and worked really well,
"that doesn't sound like $25 at all.
"Really, it doesn't?
"Eh!"
So with that in mind,
in the $25 price range,
is this a decent microphone?
I think that it's not bad.
If you have nothing or this,
this is better than nothing
which probably isn't the best
tag line for the company,
like, Neewer, better than nothing.
And so, who is this microphone for?
It's for someone on a budget.
If you have any kind of budget,
don't get this microphone.
Jump up to the 50 or $100 price range.
I think the trickier part comes to
if you need more than one microphone.
Because now you can get two of these
for half the cost of this,
or four of these for one of these.
If you're trying to
put together a podcast,
p-put together, if you're trying
to put together a podcast.
If you're trying to
put together a podcast,
eh, it kinda makes a difference.
It could also be a good option
if you've already got a good mic
and you have guests on your show sometimes
and you just need a mic
every once in a while
and you don't wanna spend full
price on a second microphone
but you want something just
to have when you need it,
this could be a good fit for that.
Of course, I am a big believer in the idea
of buy quality, buy once.
And what I mean by that
is, this microphone works.
It doesn't sound the best.
It's not built the best.
I mean, it was kinda scratched and damaged
right as I took it out of the box.
Chances are, just with regular use
and plugging in, plugging out, over time,
you know, I wouldn't expect
this to last a very long time.
Whereas this, or something
like the Shure SM7B,
I would expect this to last forever
unless I like, ran over it with my car,
and even then this thing is so durable
it would probably still work after that.
The point being that you
are saving a bit of money
with this microphone but
if you can put forward
a little bit more money initially,
it's gonna deliver better quality
and it's gonna last
longer so I'm a big fan
of the idea of just bite
the bullet, buy quality,
buy once and then you're set.
So am I gonna keep this microphone?
Yeah, I, well I mean Amazon's
not taking returns right now, right,
but there's no reason to
return this microphone.
For $25 you get a mic, you get a cable,
you get a pop filter,
you get a shockmount.
That's not a bad deal.
It's not the highest quality mic.
It's not the one I'm gonna
be reaching for all the time.
But definitely in those situations
I've got two PodMics, if I
ever need a third person,
it's gonna be nice to
know that I have this
and I could use it.
I'm also actually pretty excited to see
how I can mix these mics
together to record my drums,
because drums are really hard to mic up.
And even though this isn't
the highest quality mic,
its weirdness, especially the fact
that it almost sounds like it
has scooped mids all the time,
I think might actually be
helpful when mixing in for drums
so I might end up trying to
use it for something like that.
So the thing that I would ask you to do,
if you're trying to make your decision,
is this microphone good enough for you
or do you need something better,
get the best microphone you
can afford for your budget.
If you are on a limited budget
and you need the $25 microphone option,
forget the comparison with the PodMic
and just focus on how my
voice sounds right now.
Knowing that I spent, you
know, three to four minutes
working on a basic equalization,
and knowing that if this
microphone were yours
you could spend a lot
more time dialing it in
to the style that you prefer
and to suit your voice.
So if I had not used any other
microphones in this video
and I just started with
this microphone, this sound,
would it sound good to you?
Would you notice it and
say, "Hey, your audio
"sounds terrible today," or would you be,
"Wow, that audio sounds great"?
Or would you not notice it at all?
If this were a podcast
you were listening to,
you popped in your earbuds
or put it in your car
and this is what you're
hearing through your speakers
as you're on your commute or whatever,
does it sound good enough?
And that's a personal
decision for you to make.
Ultimately you want
the best audio quality.
Who cares what the name brand is on it?
Who cares what the price tag is?
But there's definitely
something to be said
for a quality brand reputation
and maybe spending a little bit more money
to get a higher quality product
that's gonna last a long time.
But if all you have is $25 and you need
the best microphone you can get for $25,
I don't really think
there's anything wrong
with this one right here.
If you wanna know how the
Rode PodMic stacked up
against the Shure SM7B,
I'm gonna put a link
to that video right here.
And I really appreciate all
the feedback and comments
I've been getting on my videos.
I've been getting a lot of audio engineers
from all over the world,
from places like Latvia
and Czechoslovakia.
So I got feedback from
a Latvian sound engineer
and a Czech one, too.
Check one two.
Czechoslovakia.
Also.
(upbeat music)
