Christmas Coalition Gaming Presents: A $30 Microphone Review

As we continue our journey through the world of gaming and audio equipment, today we're going to take a closer look at a microphone that's sure to please even the most discerning ears. This microphone is a $30 desktop microphone that can be found on Amazon, and in this review, we'll put it to the test to see if it lives up to its promises.

The First Impressions

As I picked up the microphone, I couldn't help but notice how solidly built it feels. The weight of the device is substantial, and the build quality is top-notch. This microphone may not be as complicated as some of the others we've reviewed in the past, but that's precisely what makes it so appealing to those on a budget. For just $30, this microphone offers an incredible amount of value for its price.

Using the Microphone

I decided to set up my streamer's mic using OBS with noise suppression turned on. As you can hear, the sound quality is surprisingly clear and crisp, even when running through the software. I'm impressed by how well it picks up low frequencies, as some mics tend to struggle in this department.

One thing that did strike me was the lack of background noise suppression. While this may not be a major issue for everyone, I can see how it could become an issue if you're recording in a noisy environment. Nevertheless, the sound quality remains commendable overall.

The Volume Knob

As I mentioned earlier, the volume knob on this microphone is essentially just a gain control. It's not exactly the most exciting feature, but it does serve its purpose. One thing to note is that the mic recognizes Windows immediately, which makes setup a breeze.

Mounting and Placement

One of my main concerns when using this microphone was how well it would hold up to vibrations from typing on the keyboard. As you can see in the video, I had some issues with key taps reverberating through the mic due to its placement on the desk. However, once I mounted it to my boom arm, the sound quality improved significantly.

The Boom Arm

As I mentioned earlier, I used a different arm for this review as opposed to the one included with the microphone. While it did work well, I can see how using the included arm might be more convenient. The recommendations on Amazon's page do suggest that an adapter may be necessary, which could be a consideration if you're looking to use this mic with your existing setup.

Comparison Time

As part of this review, I decided to test the microphone in various environments and settings. First up was some "dusty taps" to see how well it picks up vibrations from tapping on the desk. The result? Not ideal – there's still a noticeable reverberation. However, when I moved the mic to my arm mount and tapped on the keyboard, the sound quality improved significantly.

Distance Matters

One of the biggest issues with microphones is how well they perform at different distances. As you can see in the video, the difference between being close to the microphone and farther away was quite noticeable. While this may not be a major issue for everyone, it's definitely worth considering if you're looking for a reliable mic.

Conclusion

All in all, I'm thoroughly impressed with this $30 microphone. It may not have every feature or the most advanced build quality, but it delivers where it counts: clear, crisp sound quality and a solid build that feels substantial in your hands. For the price, it's an absolute steal. If you're on the market for a reliable mic without breaking the bank, I'd highly recommend giving this one a try.

Final Thoughts

As always, we appreciate your support and feedback. If you enjoyed this review, be sure to give us a thumbs up and subscribe for more content! We'll see you in our next video, where we'll be discussing more exciting topics in the world of gaming and audio equipment. Until then, stay tuned and keep on gaming!

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enwait that's it okay I'm gonna go get something to drink oh right the mic review let's get to it every one Christmas coalition gaming here and we've got another mic review for you and now this review is for a microphone that is nowhere near as complicated as the previous one that we did if you want to check that out that's the four dollar budget mic review and well that microphone technically goes for anywhere from 18 they're like 25ish dollars and well this one doesn't in a way if you think about it so five fine is the microphone it's a $30 desktop microphone and you'll see it all over Amazon five five USB microphone and to be honest it sounds pretty good now this is gonna be a great microphone first streamer on a budget or anybody who wants to record a little bit of just some voice stuff it's actually very clear picks up a little bit of bass and it does a decent job at background noise suppression but what you're hearing right now is me running the microphone through OBS with noise suppression turned on in there and that's as much processing as you're gonna get now I have it set up in the same way that I usually stream so if you're a streamer looking for a decent microphone this is not going to be a terrible choice as a matter of fact it's gonna be a very good choice because at $30 it is very competitive with let's say the blue snowball for example that's a popular choice and also popular choice for people to mount it with a microphone arm like I have this one now you probably saw in the intro that I mounted it using the included tripod well problem is if you have a microphone mounted not mounted rather on your desk in front of your keyboard where you type all those little vibrations from typing nevermind the sound of the keys are going to reverberate through the microphone and it can make for a very unpleasant listening experience well I already had the arm and it already had an adapter on it I'm not sure if you guys would need an adapter but I'm sure the recommendations on the Amazon page will have some more information on that I went headed mounting it to my arm and well will the boom arm that is not this arm so as it is like this once it's mounted to the arm its really really not bad at all I don't think it sounds quite as good as the other microphones and you'll see some side-by-side but the other microphone is a more complicated setup let's say you went with a twenty dollar one then you also need at least a thirty dollar interface and a ten dollar cable very quickly that turned to a save $60 setup whereas this is half that cost and it sounds about oh I don't know maybe 90% is good and it's it's definitely something that's pretty nice something I really want to mention with this microphone though is the build quality versus the BMA hundreds and the nw7 hundred in those microphones the microphone build quality here it feels fantastic it's just it feels solidly built the other microphones they feel cheap they are cheap they feel cheap and it's representative of that whereas this USB microphone does not feel like the kind of microphone that would cost $30 I guess in this day and age if you go with the right manufacturer quality is still maintained for the price so this microphone to me it's a very good value it's a 30 bucks USB very portable can mount to an arm this is a basically almost out of the box set up as a portable microphone this will do great as a budget conscious microphone it does great and I really don't even have any complaints on it it has a volume knob on it now the volume knob is just I guess it's like a gain control more than anything else so that's pretty much all you get with it there's it's very no-frills its plug-and-play windows recognize it immediately and oh yeah there you go let me let me do some sound test for you guys I did test this before I started recording and so here will be a few sound tests that I'm just gonna cut them up you'll see what they are down in the bottom and and then you guys can hear for yourself some of the stuff that I was hearing when I was testing it now because it's mounted to the desk let's do some dusty taps to see how that reverberates to the mic this is the keyboard tapping right in front of the night to pick it up pretty good anyways okay so this is on the desk man or enemy tilted up alright now I have the firefighting microphone mounted to my microphone arm and if I tap on the desk because it's mounted elsewhere it's not on a shock mount or anything but it's not attached to the same the same table so or the same desk so I'm sure this doesn't you know sound is bad and it's a bit above the keyboard site but key taps don't sound so bad now this entire review was shot using this microphone so if you guys like the sound of this review awesome but you're also gonna hear it compared to my texts or my pack start SGC 598 I think my shotgun microphone that's on the camera right now and you'll see a difference now distance is obviously a big difference here two divots it's a significant issue when trying to go with a good microphone because the further you are from the microphone the more echo and the more stuff that it gets introduced into that well you shouldn't have too many issues with this microphone especially there's this distance I think it's pretty decent distance so for a stream setup great I'm gonna give this a thumbs up and for $30 it's really hard to say no to something like this especially if you were already eyeballing something like the blue snowball anyways this is Chris with Coalition game if you guys like this video give it a thumbs up subscribe we always get more coming stay tuned every Wednesday at 8 p.m. Pacific we have our weekly streams we have a merch store as well any any purchases there help support us helps us keep making a great content and you guys get some cool and I guess that's that so we'll see you guys in the next video bye\n"