MAONO USB/XLR Podcast Dynamic Microphone, Studio Mic Kit with Volume Control, Shock Mount, Pop Filter, Ideal for Vocal, Instruments Recording, Voice Over, Live Streaming (HD300T)

Review for 'MAONO USB/XLR Podcast Dynamic Microphone, Studio Mic Kit with Volume Control, Shock Mount, Pop Filter, Ideal for Vocal, Instruments Recording, Voice Over, Live Streaming (HD300T)'This mic was only $50 AND it came with an adjustable stand, pop filter, and shock mount. Buying the accessories separately would cost more than the mic! I didn't try the stand as I purchased a heavy duty SnakeClamp and 5/8" adapter (check them out, seriously, SnakeClamp is amazing!) for my setup which supports the weight of the mic and my headphones.This is a dynamic mic so it is rather quiet (not much gain) but that means it also doesn't pick up background noise as much as a condenser mic would. Additionally it has a supercardioid polar pattern to reject off axis coloration, especially from the sides. Those two aspects combined make it great for rooms where you'll have a little background noise, especially from the side. In my case I have a window mounted A/C unit that I must run continuously in the summer because someone thought a split level house in a desert wouldn't be a problem :/ I still hear the A/C when I am not talking, but it's presence is reduced and since I'm directly in front of the mic my voice completely overshadows it. Discord and Zoom both have background noise cancellation which eliminates it in those applications.Although the sample rate is 44.1/48kHz (the minimum you'd find on any mic worth buying) this is more than enough for voice chat, streaming, etc. Since the mic's bit depth is 16 bit, at 44.1kHz sample rate, the bit rate is 705.6Kbps. At 48kHz sample rate, the bit rate is 768Kbps. An unboosted Discord server's voice channels max out at 96Kbps and a fully boosted one at 384Kbps which is still well below the mic's bit rate output. From what I can find, a Zoom Pro account can have a sample rate as high as 48kHz and this mic reaches that. Basically, unless you're planning on recording in a lossless format such as FLAC, the "low" sample rate of this mic is a non-issue.The bit depth of 16 bits is bare minimum for audio accuracy, and is a minor negative, but again outside of recording this still doesn't have much of an impact as at 24 bits, the bit rate would be 1152Kbps and for anything realtime over the Internet it would be compressed.Though it comes with a pop filter, it's a little bit janky TBH. It works, but does take some fiddling to get set up correctly. Protip: insert the mic into the shock mount, attach the pop filter to the little metal arm, THEN insert the arm+filter assembly into the shock mount.The mic allows for connecting via USB or XLR, and though I haven't tried it, I saw in reviews that both can be used simultaneously if you needed that for some reason. Unlike most (all?) of the other USB/XLR combo mics this one is USB-C on the mic end. The best benefit of this dual output is you can connect the mic directly to your PC via USB, but you also have the option to run it through a mixer or audio interface. So if you're on the go you can connect to your laptop with USB, then at home plug in through XLR. This also opens the door to exploring the world of digital audio if you decide to purchase a mixer/audio interface later. Technically it can connect directly to PC with an XLR to 1/8" adapter cable, but you'll have to basically swallow the mic and max the gain on your PC to hear it. I suspect this would be true for any dynamic mic.tl;dr is that this is probably the best mic you can get at this price point if your use case is streaming, gaming, voice chat, or any other realtime online voice application. The USB+XLR output provides outstanding flexibility and opens the door for anyone new to the audio space to get their feet wet with a mixer or audio interface. If you intend to do recording this is not a good fit. Consider the 'audio-technica ATR2100x-USB' which is a very comparable mic, but with higher bit depth and sample rates.

I'm setting up a home studio for voiceover work, and my old condenser mics weren't what I needed. I've got a lot of background noise, so I needed a dynamic mic that would suppress the background sound (mostly the air conditioning, which is quite loud even with the door shut- the main unit is right outside my room.)Since I didn't want to spend my money on sound treatment for the room, which would be cost-prohibitive for a part-time endeavor, I took a chance on this Maono Carotid Dynamic Microphone- and it's been great!The carotid pickup naturally suppresses the background sounds, and the mic sounds really good with my voice; I keep the mic fairly close to my mouth, and the pop filter that comes with it does a great job of suppressing the plosives (Peter Piper Picked a Peck of Pickles, etc.) so my voice sounds really natural and full-toned. It's clear and neutral, I don't hear any coloration from the mic itself, and it does a great job with the lower tones. I'm a baritone, and some dynamic mics make me sound like Mickey Mouse, but this one makes me sound more like Barry White! The pop filter could be bigger, and the rod that screws into the filter could be more robust, but that's a minor quibble- pop filters are a dime a dozen, and this one does the job as long as it's directly in front of the mic.I'm running the mic into my PreSonus 24c interface, but that's not even necessary, since this dynamic mic doesn't need 48v phantom power like most condenser mics do. This microphone can plug directly into a USB port on a computer or laptop, and it'll work just fine! In fact, with it plugged into my computer I get even more functionality- there's zero latency (no delay) when I plug your headphones (with 3.5mm stereo plug) into the rear of the microphone, and that's great: I hear exactly what the mic is picking up, and exactly what my voice sounds like before any EQ!When the mic is plugged into a USB port (USB 2 or 3, both work fine,) there's a volume control for headphones & the mic lights up with inbuilt green LED light, which looks fantastic. There's a manual On-Off switch that works both with USB and XLR. I can also have the mic plugged into an XLR input on my interface, and also have it plugged into my computer, simultaneously. I'm amazed at what this inexpensive mic can do!The kit with the mic includes everything I needed to get the mic set up & working, and the shock mount for the mic is really good. I don't have any desk space, so I don't use the mic stand which came with the mic (though it's well-made and sturdy,) but a scissor-arm bracket which I already had; the shock mount fit perfectly into the scissor-arm mic holder, no adapters needed.All in all, I'm delighted with this Maono HD-300T microphone, it's exactly what I was looking for and it sounds a heck of a lot better than its price point would suggest!

I'm going to be honest, I mostly got this Mic because a dynamic mic with such a robust accessory package for this price is basically unheard of.Overall, it's been good - though, if you're kind of soft-spoken, keep in mind that dynamic mics require you to get much closer and be a little louder than condensers. The quality, however, is crisp and clear, and the accessories package is ... well, *mostly* good.One thing definitely worth noting is that now, after several months of use, one of the sets of elastics in the shock mount *did* just rot through and snap - and when I say 'sets' I mean both of the ones on the back part of the mount. The front ones are hangin' in there, but I can see they're starting to crack too. I'll definitely need to get, at least, new elastics soon - possibly just a new shock mount if I can't find just the bands.So, if the price seems too good to be true, it probably technically is, haha! But everything else is still functional and working well. Only other issue I've had is a couple of times over the months of use, friends have reported a bad, weird buzzing sound, but unplugging and re-plugging has solved it instantly - overall still quite happy with my purchase and would recommend it.