Category: Budget Tubing

UHURU UM-900 Podcasting Set

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Today I’m taking a look at the UHURU UM-900 Podcasting Set. It’s a kit for up and coming podcasters that includes a boom arm, pop filter, wind puff, shock mount, USB cable, and the UM-900 microphone itself. Even better, the mic has a maximum recording resolution of 192kHz/24bit.

I tried recording at 44.1kHz/16bit (CD quality), 48kHz/16bit (DVD quality), 96kHz/24bit (studio quality), as well as 192kHz/24bit (also studio quality, but higher res), and I had no issue telling the individual recordings apart. Well, I did have a little trouble telling 96/24 from 192/24, but so do most hardcore audiophiles. Either way, the added resolution and flat signal give me a lot of freedom to play with post processing.

I should also point out that this mic really does a great job blocking out background noise. The fans on my desktop PC aren’t the quietest, but they were almost inaudible in the background of any of my recordings so far. In fact, I was able to scrub the sound from the fans entirely from my recording without leaving any weird sound artifacts behind. I’ll try using a noise gate next time.

As for the other items in the kit, they’re all great. The boom arm is sturdy enough to hold my old Blue Yeti, the pop filter and wind puff do their jobs perfectly, and the USB cable is not only extra long (about 2 meters) but it also comes with a ferrite core to filter out interference.

One last thing I want to mention is just the look of the mic itself. The UM-900 uses a satin black finish on the chassis with a brushed nickel finish on the grill, and I love that aesthetic. Also, the fact that the UHURU logo looks like a square wave on an oscilloscope makes my inner tech geek happy.

FiFine K669 Review

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Today I take a look at the FiFine K669 USB condenser microphone. This is a very popular low cost USB mic coming in at $30 for the black model, and $28 for the rose red model.

Since I’ve already mentioned the price, let’s talk about what’s included with this mic. In addition to the K669 you will also get a tripod as well as a hard mount, and the hard mount is pretty interesting. While it looks like it was modeled after threaded mounts like the Audio Technica AT8466 and other M22X1 threaded mounts, interestingly it comes in two parts. From everything I’ve seen, the nut that you use with the mount might actually be a repainted drive or steering shaft nut. That revelation piqued my DIY curiosity.

Now let’s talk about the features of the mic proper. First and foremost is the USB cable. Sadly this mic has an integrated cable, which means you’ll need to either replace the entire mic when the cable fails or learn how to solder. That also makes storage a bit tricky, since there is a chance the USB plug will scratch the mic if you’re not careful.

Fortunately the cable is really the only shortcoming I can find for the K669. In fact, this mic also has one of my top three features, and that is on device gain control. I love not being tied to my PC’s digital, and being able to change my mic volume on the fly is a huge plus.

Finally, we need to address the K669’s audio quality. I can honestly say that this is a great sounding mic, and if you don’t believe me feel free to check out the audio sample at the end of the above video. I even get extra nerdy and run the mic’s feed through an audio spectrum analyzer.

If you want to try out the FiFine K669 for yourself you can find it here:

https://amzn.to/2D38lxd

TONOR Q9 Review and Test

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Today I take a look at the Q9 USB carioid condenser microphone, this time brought to us by TONOR. Admittedly, there are several sellers out there for the Q9 mic, it’s the accessories included in the TONOR package that make this one a bit special.

First off, let’s talk price. Pretty much every seller is going to charge between $40 and $55 for this mic, and TONOR is no different. However, every other sell will only include a tripod, the USB cable (pretty important), and a hard mount. On the other hand, TONOR gives you a shock mount, boom arm, wind guard, pop filter, and the USB cable along with the Q9 mic. That whole package will cost you $54 on Amazon as of this write up, which is only slightly more than the average.

Now let’s talk features. The Q9 includes two of my top three features on a mic, and those are on device gain control and a mute function. The gain on the Q9 is controlled by a rocker switch on the front of the mic, and it has 15 different levels. Also, if you do a long press on the rocker switch (either up or down) you activate the mute function. Fortunately there is an LED on the front of the mic that will let you know if your mic is muted or not.

Next up, let’s talk about mounting your Q9 mic. Now, the TONOR package does come with a grip style shock mount, but I typically avoid those with mics that have on device gain control (though this one doesn’t block the controls). Fortunately the Q9 also sports a threaded base that is compatible with most mounts that are sized at M22X1. Also, the threads on the Q9 are actually a hybrid of external and recessed threads, which opens up even more mount variety. As an added bonus, the Q9 even has a rubberized gasket on its base so that your mount won’t slip or scratch up the base.

Lastly, let’s touch on quality. The video I linked above has a pretty in depth audio test, but I can at least give you the highlights. The mic is very responsive, properly calibrated as a cardioid mic, has a nice sound for the price, and the gain controls are very easy to use.

All in all I think the Q9 is a really nice mic for the price, and the TONOR package comes with a good number of extra goodies that will help you out on your quest to become a content creator.

You can find the TONOR Q9 here: https://amzn.to/2F48uRm

Alctron PF8 from Banggood.com

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Today I’m taking a look at the Alctron PF8 that was kindly provided by the folks over at Banggood.com. It’s a portable alternative to treating an entire room with acoustic panels which also has a much smaller footprint than other acoustic isolation shields.

The Alctron PF8 is actually a knockoff of the Kaotica Eyeball, and both products are basically spheres (or semi-spheres in the case of the PF8) of dense acoustic foam that are meant to shield your mic from audio reflections as well as prevent them in the first place. There is a sizeable cavity inside the PF8 that is more than large enough to fit a Blue Snowball, though the main focus is on side address mics in the 45-60mm diameter range.

Of course, there are plenty of acoustic isolation shields on the market that do the same thing as the PF8. However, the PF8 has a few advantages over those. First off, as I mentioned earlier, the PF8 has a smaller footprint than the other isolation shields. It’s also made out of lightweight foam, so you can easily use the PF8 without having to worry about whether or not your usual mic stand can handle it I’ve used the PF8 on my cheapo boom arm with no issue.

The next advantage of the PF8 is the price. Admittedly, the Kaotica Eyeball is a wee bit more expensive (okay, actually 10x the price), but the PF8 comes in at around $30-40 depending on how long you’re willing to wait to get it. Banggood charges a little over $35 for the PF8.

Now, as for how well it works, I’d say it does a bang up job. If you have a room that has a bit of noise reflection and you can’t put up acoustic panels due to budget or lease limitations, the PF8 will help you out. Just keep in mind that products like this work best when you’re closer to the mic. Fortunately the PF8 has a built in double layer pop filter, so plosives won’t be much of an issue at that range. I do have a couple of sound tests in the above video if you’re interested.

If you want to check out the Alctron PF8 for yourself, you can find it here:

Alctron PF8 on Banggood: http://bit.ly/2S0tAIO
Find more microphones here: http://bit.ly/2RID4sP
Download the Banggood APP to get an extra 10%off: https://banggood.app.link/sZmbUBO2HT

Under $40 USB Mixer from Wish.com

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In this video I take a look at the Teyun A4 USB mixing console (also known as the TU04 mixing console) that can be found on many different websites. I go into a ton of detail in the above video (mostly to make up for the lack of a proper manual for this mixer) and even include some audio clips, but for those of you in a hurry I can provide a few highlights here.

First off, like the title says, this is a USB mixer. It allows you to plug multiple analog mics or other audio sources into your PC, though you are not just limited to USB audio output. Also, the mixer pulls all of it’s power from the USB cable, though if you don’t want to plug it into your PC you could just use a USB AC adapter or rechargeable power bank.

For your inputs you have an XLR & 1/4 inch mono plug combo jack on both inputs 1 and 2, while inputs 3 and 4 are actually just a single stereo input that handles both analog (using left and right RCA plugs or 1/4 jacks) as well as your digital inputs (Bluetooth, PC audio, and audio playback from a USB thumb drive). I should note that while the XLR inputs claim to have phantom power, it’s not true 48V. instead you’re looking at between 38V and 40.5V, though that is more than enough juice to drive most condenser mics.

As for your outputs, you can either go the analog route or digital. For analog, you can use either left and right RCA plugs or a pair of mono 1/4 jacks. For digital, you can output to your PC, or record directly to a USB flash drive. Sadly you can’t output your mics’ audio over Bluetooth.

Speaking of the flash drive, getting it to record is a little tricky. First off, you need to make sure you have an audio file already saved to the it. After that, with your mixer set to “line” mode, plug the flash drive into the USB port on the front of the mixer. Once you do that the mixer will switch over to “USB” mode and autoplay the first audio file it sees (or ignore the drive if you forgot to add an audio file beforehand). Once the playback has started just hold the play/pause button down for 3 seconds and your mixer will begin recording to the flash drive, and you can stop recording by holding down the play/pause button again.

If you wanted to, you could easily use a rechargeable USB power bank and a USB flash drive to turn this mixer into a field recorder for podcast interviews without the need for a PC.

Of course, there are a few limitations that you’ll encounter with this mixer. First, channels 1 and 2 are center pan mono, so you can’t isolate the mics for editing in post. Second, every analog input other than XLR is incredibly quiet, so it would be a good idea to run some audio through a preamp first. Third, the 1/4 inch jacks are not powered, so using jack powered condenser mics that aren’t XLR is a no-go. Finally, audio output either to your PC over USB or to a flash drive will be in mono. All of these are only minor inconveniences though when you consider the price you’re paying for this mixer, especially since it has the USB flash drive recording capability.

Ultimately, I believe that this mixer is a great grab if you can find it at the right price. I actually didn’t buy mine on Wish, but instead on AliExpress on sale for just under $32. As for the prices you can find it for elsewhere, there’s Amazon for $50, Banggood for $45, and Wish for $40+ after shipping. I’ll go ahead and include a few affiliate links that’ll take you to the mixer on a few of the platforms, but feel free to shop around.

Links:

Amazon
Banggood
AliExpress

U Youse Selfie Stick with SoundCam

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I came across this little gem while browsing the Five Below website looking for things to review. It’s rare that they carry microphones, so I knew I just had to get my hands on it for my Budget Tubing series.

What I’m looking at today is the U Youse Selfie Stick with SoundCam. Basically it’s just a standard selfie stick with a built in microphone. The packaging claims that it’s “the first ever SoundCam”, and I’ll only give them half credit for that claim. I’ve seen other selfie sticks with built in mics before, but admittedly this is the first one that I’ve seen with a discreet mic. All of the others made it quite obvious that they had a mic built in, and ultimately had tacky plastic karaoke or newscaster themed shells on theirs. Plus, all of the other selfie stick/mic combos I’ve come across were priced in the $10-40 range.

As for the types of content creators that would get some use out of this product, I’d have to say vloggers or any other creator that would capturing video on the go using their cell phone. It’s especially useful for when you want to take some overhead shots, since it extends to about 39 inches or so while keeping the mic firmly in your hand. The shaft also has an indentation along its entire length to keep your phone from rotating and ruining your shot.

Of course, the focus on using this with your phone does bring about one of the negatives with this little device. The phone mount is integrated, as opposed to a detachable one that uses a standard 1/4 inch bolt mount. It’s not a huge deal for most people, but I use a more traditional selfie stick as part of my overhead camera rig. That being said, the phone mount itself is very well designed. Not only does it use a nice rubberized material to grip your phone, but it even curves inward a bit for added security.

The last feature that this selfies stick has is a shutter button. It’s very useful, but at the same time it looks like this is the cause of one of the biggest negatives plaguing the device. Yes, it’s useful in that it allows you to start/stop your recording in iOS or take a still while recording on Android, but I think there might have been a goof up in either QA testing or a the design stage. Apparently the signal from the shutter button interferes with the mic, and that affects each phone OS differently. On Android you get a bit of occasional electrical interference, while on iOS the phone won’t pick up the mic and even thinks you pressed the shutter button if there’s a loud noise.

Fortunately I was able to get the mic working on both phone systems, but it did require the use of a couple of adapters. I used the TRRS (aka 4 pole or multi-jack) to dual TRS (aka standard stereo 3.5mm jack) adapter that came with the U Youse gaming headset I reviewed a while back to split the signal. I then used a dual TRS to single TRRS adapter to put just the mic signal into each phone. The end result is a clean signal in Android, and an actual signal in iOS. Of course, this does render the shutter button useless, though a Bluetooth shutter button is just $1 online.

After getting the mic to work properly, I can say that I actually really like the overall sound quality. It has a much better bass response that may of the lavalier mics I’ve used in the past, and does so without all of the extra cables. Of course, since it’s not attached to your person it does pick up a bit more environmental noise due to the needed sensitivity.

All in all, I really want to like this device, but the fact that I needed to use added adapters (which you can get online for around $1.20 total) to fix some audio issues means that I can’t give it a shining review. If you want to take a chance on the possibility that mine was a fluke or you’re willing to buy the adapters needed, then go for it. It definitely delivers decent audio at a much lower price point than many other products (including decent lav mics), but I really wish it worked properly right out of the box.

Fifine K052 Microphone Review

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Fifine reached out to me not too long ago and requested a review of one of their newest microphones, the K052. Since this was the first time a company approached me for a review (shady Amazon sellers don’t count), I thought I would give it a shot.

The K052 is a bit different from the majority of the other mics that I’ll be reviewing for my Budget Tubing series, seeing as how it’s a gooseneck microphone. Of course, the physical design of the mic doesn’t change the fact that it’s still a condenser microphone. In fact, I’d say that the design of this mic actually makes it a bit more versatile since it won’t stand out in certain environments. It would look a bit odd to have an obvious “podcasting” style mic sitting on your office desk, but a gooseneck would look right at home.

As for the price of the K052, it will set you back around $28. The research I’ve done on gooseneck mics tells me that this is actually a great price, especially when you take into account a couple of the bonus features included with this mic. Not only does the K052 have a build similar to many more expensive goosneck mics (two flex segments and a metal tube vs. a full flex neck on the cheaper mics), it also includes both a mute button and a volume knob on the mic base. You’d actually have a hard time finding a mic in this price range that has those features. Heck, even the Blue Snowball is missing the mute button and volume control.

When it comes to the audio quality presented by the K052, I have to admit that I was pretty surprised. While it looks like the mic uses a relatively small electret capsule, it still delivers clear audio with a nice frequency pickup range. Looks like Fifine did a good job picking out the other bits and bobs they shoved into this small package.

All in all, I think $28 is a great price for what you get.

BM-800 Review & Test

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Here’s another entry into my “Budget Tubing” series, and this time I’m taking a look at one of the most common entry level mics out there, the BM-800. I say it’s the most common because just about every cheap audio tech supplier has their own rebranded version of this mic, though they sometimes change the model number slightly (I’m looking at you Neewer NW-800).

Not only is the BM-800 sold by a multitude of companies, but it is also pretty inexpensive despite having a nice solid build. The average price for this mic is between $15 and $25, though I lucked out and got mine new in box for $10. With the package I ordered I got the mic, a shock mount, a 3/8 to 5/8 thread adapter for the shock mount, an XLR to 3.5mm audio cable, and a wind guard puff. If I wanted to spend a little more money I could have gotten everything listed previously, as well as a boom arm, a proper XLR cable, a phantom power supply, and a pop filter for a grand total of $40.

One very interesting thing about the BM-800 is that it can be used both with and without phantom power, unlike a lot of XLR condenser microphones. If you plug the included XLR to 3.5mm audio cable into the BM-800 you can use the mic with any audio card that has a 3.5mm mic jack, though admittedly your results may vary. In the above video I do an audio test using the 3.5mm cable and my latop’s sound card, and the resulting audio quality is quiet and noisy. However, I have also used this mic and cable combo with a USB audio capture device meant for recording music, and it sounds great despite not using phantom power.

Where the BM-800 really shines, however, is with the use of phantom power. Near the end of the video I plug the mic into my Behringer Xenyx Q1202USB audio mixer, and I was very surprised by how great it sounded. It doesn’t outshine my Audio Technica AT2020, but for a $20 mic you could do far worse. Also, the fact that I can use the BM-800 with a proper audio interface also means that I can actually monitor my audio while I’m recording, unlike most of the USB microphones I’ll be reviewing in the future.

All in all I think the BM-800 is actually a great grab for the price. The fact that you can actually use it with your standard audio card (despite it not sounding that great in some cases) is a nice little bonus, since most people beginning their content creation journey won’t have access to audio interfaces with phantom power.

U Youse Gaming Headset from Five Below

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Today I want to take a look at the U Youse gaming headset that I found at my local Five Below for $5 (surprise, surprise). These have come through Five Below on multiple occasions (which is extremely rare), and I thought it was about time I find out for myself whether or not these are worth being restocked.

First off, I want to point out that these are hands down the most comfortable headphones that I’ve ever bought from Five Below. The bulk of the headphones I’ve bought there have large pads that crush my ears, while these are true over-the-ear closed-back headphones (my favorite style BTW). Of course, the padding does feel a little bit cheap despite being comfy.

As for the audio quality, I’d have to say that it’s some of the best that I’ve heard out of a set of $5 headphones. It has a good amount of bass (though it does sound artificially boosted), and the treble avoids sounding tinny. I can’t ask for much more for $5.

Another feature that I’m really happy this headset has is a in-line volume control. I know it might not sound that impressive to most people, but back in the day I would go out of my way to find headphones with this feature. Fortunately the volume control on this headset works properly, because all of the headphones I bought in the past (for more than $5 each mind you) would have one or both cups cut out as I adjusted the volume.

U Youse actually did something that I wish Bass Jaxx would do. Both brands typically use a combo jack on their headphones that include microphones, but only U Youse was kind enough to include an adapter that splits the single combo jack to two stereo jacks (well, the mic is mono over stereo). Not only is that great attention to detail, it also made my life easier since I could properly test the headset’s mic without having to order an adapter online.

Speaking of the mic, I have to say that it’s actually not half bad. It’s nowhere near being the best mic in the world, but I’ve definitely heard worse audio coming from more expensive name brand headsets. If you want to hear what the mic actually sounds like, I did a proper mic test in the second half of the above video. I even ran the audio through an audio spectrum analyzer so that I could give you a better idea on the sound profile this mic had.

So, over all I have to say that this is a pretty great headset for $5. It’s comfy, the audio is decent, it has an in-line volume control, and the mic is pretty nice. Heck, I’d even say that the mic included on the headset would be a decent upgrade for podcasters and vloggers that are using the internal mic on their phones and/or laptops.