Fifine has been a brand that has gotten quite popular recently, especially with more budget-oriented consumers. Their affordable USB mics are a hit with podcasters, streamers and musicians alike. At first glance, the Fifine K678 USB Condenser mic looks similar in form factor to the Blue Yeti Nano. The similarities end there, however.

It includes control for gain and headphone level as well as a mute button in front.

For the price, it sounds better than most USB microphone offerings in the category. The 5.5" diaphragm isn't the largest, but it still captures the voice's low frequencies nicely. I assume this might be an internal low frequency boost as a diaphragm that small usually comes with a slight penalty in the bass.

While it does come with a desk stand, it's not the best option for pretty much anything. If it's for general comms it's fine but it picks up too much keyboard noise. For vocal recording and voiceovers, it's better to have the mic closer to your mouth.

The gain and headphone level controls are also awkwardly placed in the rear out of view. This is a questionable design decision.

All in all, the Fifine K678 still earns a place in our selection not just for its popularity but because of its value. Not a lot of cheaper USB microphones can hold up to proper vocal recordings but the Fifine K678 does a decent job at it; better than most in the price range.

Specifications

• Type: Condenser
• Polar Pattern: Cardioid
• Frequency Response:40 - 20kHz
• Sampling Rate: 48 kHz
• Bit Depth: 16 bits
• Power Requirements: 5V USB
• Applications: Recording vocals/singing, podcasting and voice-overs,

Compatibility

Class Compliant USB

Fifine K678 Polar Pattern and Frequency Response

It's easy to categorize the Elgato Wave:3 as just another USB microphone but it offers a lot more in terms of software aside from just the hardware. The Wave:3 was designed primarily for streaming and includes a software mixer to adjust the levels of specific applications and chat. It was developed in partnership with Austrian mic brand Lewitt so those familiar with the sound signature will know that Lewitt designs their mics with a polished sound straight from the mic.

The mic itself has a single dial that enables control over input gain, headphone volume and crossfade between computer output and direct monitoring. The latter of the 3 is very useful beyond just voice over and streaming as many singers prefer to monitor themselves on their headphones while recording. Offering it as a control was a wise decision by Elgato.

What surprised me the most in listening to the mic is how natural it sounds. It's not a Neumann by a longshot since it has a slightly boosted upper frequency. Despite this, it never sounds brittle or brings out nasty resonances in voices. I could describe the sound as nearly "broadcast ready" or "mix ready" because with just a little compression, voices sound great in most mixes I've worked on that were recorded with it.

The only downside would be that to be able to maximize it, you would have to use the included software. It can function as plug and play but you will be missing out on a lot of its features. If you need a standalone mic for recording and don't need extra routing options, the Wave:3 shouldn't be a top priority unless you like how it sounds.

In the end, it all depends on your use case. Many singers and voice over artists are also now beginning to embrace streaming as another venue for performance and entertainment. Elgato has a head start in that market segment and know their way around its needs and demands. Get it if you're a singer, instrumentalist or voice over artist that also streams or wants to stream, but also want to do recordings.

Specifications

• Type: Electret Condenser
• Polar Pattern: Cardioid
• Frequency Response: 70 - 20000 Hz
• Sampling Rate: up to 96 kHz
• Bit Depth: up to 24 bits
• Maximum SPL: 120dB (140dB Clipguard engaged)
• Power Requirements: 5V USB
• Applications: Primarily streaming but surprisingly good for sung vocals and voice overs.

Compatibility

Class Compliant USB; Windows 8.1, Windows 10, and Mac OS X or later; USB 1.0 or 2.0, and 64 MB or more of RAM.

Inspired by the legendary Shure SM7B broadcast microphone, the Shure MV7 is a hybrid USB / XLR mic that aims to get you that famed "SM7B" broadcast sound without hundreds of dollars worth of additional equipment that the SM7B usually requires to maximize its potential (no preamp needed).

It features Shure's proprietary Voice Isolation Technology along with customizable sound signatures to tailor it to individual voices.

I'll be straightforward. It doesn't sound like a Shure SM7b. Now before you dismiss the MV7, I can safely say it does its own thing and it does it really well. It feels more like a "tweaked" version of an SM7b. It doesn't have the low mid richness of its more expensive sibling but most people actually EQ that range out in post for more modern sounding broadcasts and recordings. I can go so far as to say that the MV7 is a bit more "mix ready" than the SM7b.

Like the SM7b, the MV7 is a dynamic microphone, which means you can sing, or even scream, into it as much as you want and so long as your gain staging is proper, you can record great aggressive vocals with it.

One thing that I disagree with, which may be a con of precaution, is that the marketing material hails it as pretty much a USB version of an SM7b. This is not the case for the MV7 as they are basically different microphones. The sound signature may be similar, but they are not the same.

Despite some skepticism coming from SM7B aficionados, the MV7 is a great mic in its own right regardless of how it's marketed. Being a hybrid USB/XLR microphone also wins it points for versatility, especially when you choose to upgrade to an audio interface setup in the future.

Specifications

• Type: Dynamic
• Frequency Response: 20Hz-20kHz
• Polar Pattern: Cardioid, Bidirectional, Omnidirectional, Stereo
• Sampling Rate: 48 kHz
• Bit Depth: 16 bit
• Applications: Podcasting, vocal recording, streaming

Compatibility

Class Compliant USB; Mac OS 10.13 or later; iOS 12 or later; Windows 10; Android 8 or later.

Frequency Response

Best USB Microphone Selection Methodology

The first edition was published in 2016.

For this edition, we looked at all USB Mics currently available at major online stores in the USA across all price ranges. Based on their popularity and amount of reviews, we then narrowed the list down and collected information about those mics from experts, customer reviews and forum discussions. From our initial short-list of 42 mics, we gathered over 239,400 review and rating sources; more than three times the sources from the previous edition. These rating sources were then processed by the Gearank Algorithm to produce rating scores out of 100 for each mic. This process enables us to choose the top rated mics to recommend. You can see most of the short-listed mics in our Music Gear Database. For more information about our methods see How Gearank Works.