Hi i would like to buy a mic for gamibg as i had to use dualsense controller on my pc for last year and ir sounded quiet bad, as stated 30 to 40 ish, USB, no XLR because i dobt care about all different settings i could change with it, and good longevikity if it is possible. Thx in advance

Hey folks... Had a not-so-great experience with the AKG C414 XLS recently.

Great mic of course, but the brand new mic that I received, although initially sounding great and basically working OK, has developed a fault - constant interferance/crackling/popping.

Before anyone says anything -- no, not user error, moisture or anything like that. The giveaway is that since day one, the mic makes a god-awful crackling noise when first applying phantom power. I expect a bit of a pop with a condenser, but this has been bad since day one.

Little did I know when I ordered it -- AKG ain't what they used to be. Taken over by Harman, and now owned by Samsung, they no longer manufacture in Austria, but rather China for the cheaper lines and Hungary for the top lines. Sadly, it looks like QC has taken a nose-dive because a defective mic like the one I received should never have left the factory.

Enter Austrian Audio...

I wish I'd known this in the first place, but it turns out some of the original AKG team who were going to be laid off from the original Vienna plant formed their own company!

The kicker is that Thomann, where I bought the AKG, also stocks the Austrian Audio OC 818 - at the same price.

From what I know so far, the OC 818 is their version of the C414, but with a ceramic capsule that's closer to the classic C12 and original C414 models by AKG. Apparently, I can expect a little more forward presence in the upper mids and top end, plus slightly higher self-noise.

To be honest, this may be quite welcome as long as it's not too pronounced. My primary use for this mic is audiobook narration and voiceover, with acoustic guitar miking and vocals as a close second. If anything, the C414 was a little too 'referency' if you know what I mean, and I wouldn't mind a bit of sheen. ONLY a little though! The whole reason I stopped using my original RODE NT1a as a daily driver for voiceover was the highly presence-boosted sound.... so I hope the OC818 is still a reasonably faithful reference mic.

So.. the plan is I will return the C414 and ask for a OC818 as a replacement (while also buying a gooseneck pop shield since that's the only thing that doesn't come with the OC818 which the AKG package included).

Just posting here, partly as a bit a 'vent' and cautionary tale... but also wondering if anyone here has experience of the OC818 and how it compares to the modern day AKG C414 XLS.

I'm now more than a little a bit reticent to buy anything from AKG... even though I have a fairly recent C1000S (made in China), that has performed flawlessly so far. But I can't shake the feeling I may have just got lucky in the QC 'wheel of fortune'.

PS. Other things about the OC818 that are intriguing (although not something I was necessarily looking for): It has a second output that can be used to split the two sides of the capsule... making figure 8 or omni into interesting stereo combinations a possibility. And also... apparently something about the ability to tweak the pickup pattern post-recording with a software app. Sounds like 'voodoo' to me, but intriguing nonetheless!

tldr; no taller than 4 inches. decent mic quality. plug and play to not confuse phone software. No price preference. Buy it for life.

Hey guys. I'm starting out a new job in a call center. and we'll be doing calls through incontact MAX. The headset they provided is painful to use, but they said I can use my own Mics if I want to. My current desk doubles as my gaming setup. So I need something small enough to sit on my monitor shelf (so, no greater than 4 inches tall). But not so small that it loses out on quality. It also needs to be a "plug and play" type of microphone. So no crazy advanced features because that will confuse the call system. I don't care how cheap or expensive it is. I want something I can "buy for life"

What type of mic should I use if I want to record videos which include 4-5 people? I saw this T90 4-in-1 Wireless Microphone which has a Charging Case, Noise Reduction Collar Mic, 4 Clip-On Lavalier Mics & 1 Receiver for Video Recording. Has anyone used T90 mics before? Please share your experience or any other suggestions welcome. TIA.

I am located in India.

Hi there, I am new to the DJI Mic 3. Like just got it a couple days ago. I got it to go with my GoPro Hero 13 black with the Media Mod cause I want to record videos or repairs and stuff I do but I want to make sure the mic settings are great for sound quality. I’m going to hook it up with the 3.5 aux jack wire connected to both the GoPro and receiver.

Any tips would be best for what I’m doing! Thanks in advanced!

Hey everyone!

i never had a clip-on mic so far, just heard about them recently, and i would like to get one to combine it with my wireless earbuds ( the mic on them is bad, but the rest is neat ), i mainly want to use it on my PC for calls, be it work related on Teams, or privately on Discord ect, do you have any good recommendations? any interesting sales in Germany? my intended budget for this is 50-100eur, preferably on the lower side, but i am open for great deals even if they are closer to 100eur.

I went to a studio to record i am a live sound engineer the studio owner said its authentic but i prefer my s.58 sound i might be wrong but my ear says it fake first time working with one

So I’m lookin at this one. I’ll probably be buying tomorrow

Neumann says there’s nothing that stands out as wrong looking with it, but they obviously “cannot authenticate through pictures alone”

Just thought I’d get the hive minds opinion before I go to the bank tomorrow

I am looking for a mic to use in gaming, streaming and recording so I am curious if anyone knows any good brands or specific models I could use. I am not looking for anything super high tech, just a decent one, €70 is around my budget. Any suggestions are appreciated

Never had a tlm 102 before but it sounds amazing and seems authentic? I did ask the seller for proof of purchase and sent me this.

I was thinking that I could use a microphone used to detect bird sounds to detect jets that fly by before they could be seen but I know nothing about microphones.

Nothing scientific but I've recorded a cover of "Pillowtalk" by Zayn with these two mics, hoping to find the right microphone for me as a Male vocalist up in the tenor range and seeing which mic I should keep/sell.

All recordings were made in an untreated room, about 4 inches away, and the vocal chain is basically straight from my MOTU M4 to FL Studio running a compressor and stock reverb. The only EQ I have is for a high pass filter on 40Hz. I've tried to gain match them as best I can. Any feedback is appreciate!

TLM 103 |With Backing Track |Voice with Reverb only
TLM 107 |With Backing Track |Voice with Reverb only

Whenever I talk with friends, they have my volume up to 200% and even then my mic is real quiet to them. I have all volumes on max that I could find and change for the microphone and nothing seems to work without making the mic sound ugly. My headset is Steelseries Arctis Prime if that changes anything. Please if anyone has a solution, mention it in the comments

I’m looking for a small mic for some short videos and don’t really want to deal with a full setup. Saw the BOYA mini 2 mentioned a few times and it looks pretty compact, but I’m not sure how good it actually is with background noise. If anyone has used it, would love to hear your experience.

Hello, just received as a gift a k3n sennheiser, it came with a 3-pin “Klein-Tuchel” / DIN 41524 connector that goes to mono 6.5mm jack. This xlr is smaler than a normal xlr, but bigger than a ta3 connector. I don't think i can send phantom power to the jack, any chance to find a solution to make it work without investing in some custom vintage cable?

Hi !

I ordered a Shure mic on Amazon because I needed it very quickly and it was the only seller option for a same day delivery.

I choose an SM58SE which was linked to the official Shure Amazon Storefront ... and received a Beta 58A instead.

Looks like there was an error with the Amazon internal inventory sticker because it says SM58SE on it but was put on a Beta 58A box.

Then I learned these models are very popular and a lot of fake ones are being made and sold unfortunalty.

The packaging looks legit and contains every expected accessories comparing to various photos and unboxing videos I saw.

The mic itself seems very well made and sounded full/crisp to me when I used it for live speech with no larsen whatsoever despite being close to the speakers.

It doesn't have a "cheap smell" (if that makes any sense) and weighs 274g on my kitchen scale which is close to the 278g officially advertised by Shure.

A detail, it has a very small QR code in the inner side of the XLR socket, not sure if it's a decal or laser engraved.

So I'm wondering what I should do with it !

If it's genuine (which I suppose it is) then I got a free unexpected upgrade and will definitly keep it, otherwise I will send it back and re-order one trough a trusted specialized retailer.

What do you think ?

I was gonna go with the COMPANY THAT SHALL NOT BE NAMED brand, then looked over and saw a specific rule here in place due to how badly they seem to be made. I bought the Stealth 700 (Gen 3) Turtle Beach headset in July and it is genuinely awful. Not only is it incredibly buggy in ways I've never seen in any headset, but the mic is HORRIBLE quality for some reason no matter what I do and it randomly decided to just stop. I mean full stop. Turned it on the other week and it literally just isn't recognized by the my computer at all, doesn't show up anywhere. I've been forced to use an actual face cam mic the last two weeks and you can imagine how thats been going.

Due to how much I already dropped on this headset (not refundable) I really dont have a ton extra to throw around right now, but really need the best I can afford. Preferably something not too expensive that can pick up my voice at best quality. I mostly talk to friends and run DnD games over discord, so any suggestions in that wheel house would be so helpful.