Today, we will be taking a look at the Podcast Condenser microphone. It’s made by unknown brand, but surprisingly comes with a XLR connector, along with a XLR to 3.5 mini jack cable. We can’t expect too much from it … but let’s see if it can at least satisfy our podcast needs!
The Background
Ok, here’s the full story. Lately I’ve been having some issues with the quality of the voice recording of our podasts. We used a non-branded USB mircophone (terrible quality with lots of background noise), we also used the onboard micorphone on our laptop (acceptable, but not great). So in the interim, we used a semi-professional tie-mic which Loy gladly managed to get his hands on … Thanks buddy.
Yes, I know … we should invest in a better microphone. So that’s why we’re here to take a look at the mircophone. It’s real CHEAP! costing only USD $12-15. But cheap don’t necessary mean nasty. Let’s listen to the quality of the voice recording and decide …
The Packagaing and Microphone
At USD $12-15, you can’t really expect too much. The packaging is pretty lame (there’s not even an instructional manual). You get the Podcast Condenser microphone (with XRL connector), a tripod stand made from some cheap plactic and a XLR to 3.5 mini jack cable. The quality of the cable is cheap I have to say … but does the job.
To monitor the audio and voice quality via my headphones/earbuds, I got myself one of these cables (see above). It’s an audio mic and headphone splitter cable thats works with any laptop, Macbook, smartphone and iPhone. Yes, that’s right … literally any device and it’s dirt cheap … only cost me USD $3.
Tech Specs
- Sensitivity: -55dB +/- 2dB
- Directivity: Noise cancelling
- Impedance: <2.2K Hertz
- Sensitvity reduction: Within -3dB at 1V
- Operation voltage: 1.5V
- Standard operation voltage: 1.5V
- Frequency Response: 50Mhz – 16Khz
- S/N ratio: More than 36dB
- Cord length: 2 Meters
Voice Recording Quality
After installing Audacity on my Macbook Air … we went along and plugged in the Podcast Condenser microphone and started to test and record some voice. Go ahead and click on the link to listen to the quality …
- Using a non-branded USB microphone – Listen
- Using the internal laptop microphone – Listen
- Using the Podcast Condenser Microphone – Listen
As you can hear for yourself … I think I prefer the Podcast Condenser microphone over the other ones. In the coming months, we will be looking at getting ourselves a better microphone designed for podcasts. I know it’s no excuse … but I’ve been super busy over the past few weeks, and literally didn’t have any time to propely look at what decent microphones are available on the market.
So for now … if you’re after a super cheap and affordable microphone … the is the one for you! For USD $12, what have you got to lose? … hahaha!
