---
title: 'I Tested Every Budget Microphone'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=7za1FkG-V6c'
video_id: '7za1FkG-V6c'
date: 2026-07-28
duration_sec: 1109
---

# I Tested Every Budget Microphone

> Source: [I Tested Every Budget Microphone](https://youtube.com/watch?v=7za1FkG-V6c)

## Summary

This video tests a wide range of budget microphones, from under $30 to $80, to find the best options for different use cases like voiceover, gaming, and singing. The host compares audio quality, build, rejection, and features, ultimately recommending top picks in each price tier.

### Key Points

- **Microphone history and budget test premise** [00:00] — The first microphone was invented in the late 1800s; the first mass-produced mic cost $175 ($3,657 today). In 2025, you can buy a better mic for under $30, so the host tests budget options.
- **Under $30 mics tested** [00:38] — Mics tested: Moo UM700, Mayano DM20, Samsung Meteor, Fifine A6V. The Fifine A6V sounded best for talking, but the Moo needed EQ for singing.
- **Singing test results** [02:00] — Moo and Fifine were best for singing; Fifine was sharp on upper end, better for voiceover. Samsung and Mayano handled yelling well.
- **Rejection tests** [03:20] — Rejection tests: keyboard typing, vacuuming, background conversation. Samsung fell short on keyboard rejection; Fifine was the clear winner.
- **$30-$60 mics tested** [05:32] — Mics tested: Feduch SL40, Pseudotac ST800, Fifine AM8, Logitech Orb, Razer Siren Mini, Feduch D20, HyperX SoloCast, Tonor TD510. Feduch D20 and Fifine AM8 were disqualified due to poor quality or buzzing.
- **Best in $30-$60 range** [07:03] — Pseudotac ST800 ($43.54) is recommended for voiceovers due to good quality and rejection. Others had issues: Razer Siren Mini needs pop filter and has poor rejection; HyperX SoloCast has clear quality but poor rejection; Tonor TD510 is bassy; Feduch SL40 is too expensive at $54.99.
- **$60-$80 mics tested with scoring** [09:55] — Five mics tested: Samsung Q2U, Elgato Wave Neo, Fifine K658, Fifine Amplitank Tank 3, Maono PD200X. Scored on build quality, travelability, controls/software, and audio quality.
- **Audio quality scores** [14:55] — Maono PD200X scored 9.8-10 for audio quality (best overall). Elgato Wave Neo scored 9.6 (great for streamers due to rejection). Samsung Q2U scored 9.4-9.5 (great for singing). Fifine K658 scored 7.7, Tank 3 scored 4.4-5.
- **Final recommendations** [17:08] — Best overall audio: Maono PD200X. Best for gamers/streamers: Elgato Wave Neo (great rejection). Best for singers/musicians: Samsung Q2U.

### Conclusion

For under $30, the Fifine A6V is the best value. In the $30-$60 range, the Pseudotac ST800 is a solid choice. For $60-$80, the Maono PD200X offers the best audio quality, while the Elgato Wave Neo excels for streamers and the Samsung Q2U for singers.

## Transcript

The very first microphone was invented
in the late 1800s. Fast forward 56
years, and the first mass-produced,
publicly available microphone was the
Western Electric 618 that at the time
cost
$175, which adjusted for inflation today
is a whopping
$3,657.40. Now, in 2025, well, you can
buy a microphone that is even better for
less than 30 bucks and have it delivered
to your door overnight without you
having to do a thing except press one
button. So, the logical thing to do is
get all of the budget ones and then well
figure out which one is the best. And
that's what I did. And really quickly,
we figured out some were just uh not the
best. This mic under 30 bucks is just
way too sensitive. Revive me, bro. Eric,
revive me. Revive me, bro. The D20 from
Pedu may look cool, but it just sounds
awful. Check, check, check. 1 2 3. And
this refined microphone was immediately
disqualified having a terrible buzzing
noise floor. It's really annoying. Just
listen. Now, with some of the bad ones
out of the way, we were actually very
surprised at how good some of the
extremely inexpensive ones were. All of
these you're about to listen to are
under 30 bucks. Let's take a listen
together to see which one is best.
Gordon Ramsay makes good food. Check.
Check. Check. One, two, three. Gordon
Ramsay makes good food. Check, check,
check. One, two, three. Gordon Ramsay
makes good food. Check, check, check.
One, two, three. Gordon Ramsay makes
good food. Check, check, check. 1, two,
3. The first one was the Moo UM700. Then
the Mayano DM20, the Samsung Meteor, and
then finally the Fine Amplame A6V. Oh,
and all of the mics I test in this video
will have Amazon links in the
description. So, if you want to go check
those out, they're down there. Of all of
those, I think it's clear that the VFine
took the cake. I mean, it just sounds so
good for the price. However, just normal
talking isn't the only test that we need
to really assess the mic's quality and
what it's good at overall. So, let's
listen to the singing test.
Rainbow, skies are blue.
We're over the
rainbow. Skies are blue.
The Moo and Fine were definitely the
best for singing, though the Moo needs
to be tuned a bit in post. And here is
what that sounds like after some EQ
adjustments.Where. Now, clearly the
Fifine sounds better than the Moo, but
it still is a little bit sharp on the
upper end. So, not great for singing.
So, I would say this is more suited for
voiceover commentary, like gaming,
things like that. But since we're
talking about that, in contrast to the
singing test, what about a test for all
of the ragy gamers and streamers? Well,
we did a test for you guys, too. Revive
me, Eric. Revive me, bro. Revive me,
Eric. Revive me. Revive me, bro. Revive
me, Eric. Revive me, bro. Revive me,
bro. Eric, revive me, bro. Revive me.
Again, the Moo and Fine taking the W
here, handling yelling quite well. But
honestly, the Mayano and the Samsung did
very well here. Trust me, some of the
other mics just cannot handle it. But
audio quality is not the only thing that
determines how good a mic is. Rejection
can be equally as important depending on
your environment. Rejection is how good
a microphone is at picking up the
intended voice or sound while not
picking up or rejecting the sound
outside of the intended voice or sound.
This could be sounds right behind the
microphone like typing on a keyboard or
the sides like someone vacuuming the
hallway or just your family being way
too loud outside your room or inside for
that matter. We're going to test this
with three different tests. The first me
typing on a mechanical keyboard right
under the microphone like it would be on
your desk. The second, someone vacuuming
in the hallway with my door open. And
the third, my girlfriend having a full
conversation on the phone in my doorway.
So
[Music]
inconsiderate in the background.
some
people. All right, guys. Now for the
ambient test of someone talking in the
background. What's going on? It's been a
while since I've talked to you, buddy.
How are the kids? Hey, Jared. How's the
kids? You got a new dog. This is someone
talking in the background. So, yeah.
That dog is the cutest thing in the
world. No, it's not. That dog is so
freaking cute. That is like the cutest
dog that I've ever seen. Rudest person
I've ever met. Did you hear the massive
difference with the keyboard test? The
Samsung completely fell short. You're
having so many of those bassy hits. If
you can't hear those bassy hits, make
sure to put on headphones so you can
listen to the sound test again to really
get an idea of what it's going to sound
like. Now, the Mayano wasn't great
either, making those not best suited for
gamers and streamers. I think it's
obvious that the Fine is the clear
winner here. But even with how good the
quality is for under 30 bucks, it's good
for the price. You just can't get
amazing detail and clarity at this price
point. So, let's bump it up just a
little bit cuz obviously this is a full
budget video. Raising the price from $30
up to a max of $60 gives you a lot more
options while still staying comfortably
low for the benefit of your bank
account. However, this is also where we
found the most, well, just unimpressive
mics. We're testing the Feduch SL40, the
Pseudotac ST800, the Papine Amplame AM8,
the Logitech orb, the Razer Siren Mini,
the Feduch D20, the HyperX SoloCast, and
the Toner TD510. Now, we already know
the Feduch D20 is awful, but for fun,
this is the D20 versus the previous
Fifine A6V. Keep in mind that the D20 is
the more expensive mic, not the cheaper
one. Check, check, check. 1 2 3. Check,
check, check. 1 2 3. We can also rule
out the Afine Ample game AM8 because
one, it just doesn't sound good. Gordon
Ramsay makes good food. Gordon Ramsay
makes good food. And two, it had a
buzzing sound that by itself would
disqualify it. All right, so this one's
having a weird buzzing thing. I don't
know. It It's not happening all the
time. It's weirdly going in and
out. I don't know, guys. That leaves six
mics. Take a listen. Gordon Ramsay makes
good food. Gordon Ramsay makes good
food. Gordon Ramsay makes good food.
Gordon Ramsay makes good food. Gordon
Ramsay makes good food. Gordon Ramsay
makes good food. Now, most of those
sounded pretty good. Logitech orb. But
there's actually only one that I think
is actually worth it. To show you what
makes me think that, you need to know
their price.
Now that you know their price, listen to
these sound tests.Where
the
rainbow.
Somewhere over the
rainbow.
Somewhere over the
rainbow.
Somewhere over the rainbow.
Somewhere over the
rainbow.
Somewhere over the
rainbow. Revive me, Eric. Revive me,
bro. Revive me, Eric. Revive me, bro.
Revive me, Eric. Revive me, bro. Revive
me, Eric. Revive me, bro. Revive me.
Revive me, Eric. Revive me, bro. But
now, the one that I recommend, well, the
Razer Siren Mini is the cheapest and its
quality is actually pretty good, but it
does need a
popular as well as its rejection with a
keyboard is pretty
awful. It's also not compatible with
Mac. Now, the HyperX SoloCast, on the
other hand, has even clearer quality
than the Razer. It's also basically the
same price and it is compatible with
Mac, but it's plagued with the same
issue having horrible rejection with a
keyboard. Take a
listen. The Toner TD510, on the other
hand, does a great job with rejection
both with a keyboard and environmental
sounds. However, the sound profile is
very bassy and not true to life, as well
as having issues with pllosives. Now,
the sound profile isn't necessarily a
bad thing, as some people may prefer
this sound profile, but I think most
people will prefer a true-to-life sound.
So, then the Feduch SL40, right? It has
great audio quality, handles rejection
of a keyboard very well, has fantastic
build quality, and even has an XLR
connection if you prefer that over USB.
Well, it's actually not this one either,
because it's just too expensive at
$54.99. Comparing this to the mics we're
about to test in the $60 to $80 price
point, which is just a little bit more,
literally 510 bucks more than this one,
they're in an entire level above
something like this Feduch D20. So then
that leaves the Pseudotac ST800. It's
well priced at
$43.54 at the time of filming. Has
really nice quality. Does great with
rejection of a keyboard. Didn't do
amazing on the Yel test, but for singers
or using this for voiceovers, this is a
great mic at a really good price point.
Otherwise though, I would bump it up to
the next price category because you get
a lot more for your money. Now, jumping
to the highest tier of mics that we're
testing today, only bumping up the price
$20 to an $80 max. This gives us five
big competitors. Now, this time we're
not just going to test them like we've
tested the previous ones. We're actually
going to test for three different
categories. We're trying to find just
the overall best audio quality for the
mic itself. Then we're trying to find
the best mic that's suited for gamers
and streamers. And then thirdly, we're
trying to find the best microphone for
singing or music. These five mics are
going through five major tests and
receiving points 1 through 10 for each
test. The first test, build quality. The
Samsung Q2U's build is almost entirely
metal, including the grill, and comes
with a nice quality stand. Overall
rating of 8.5. The Elgato Wave Neo is
made entirely of plastic and is quite
small and light. The stand is mostly
metal with a greatl looking design, but
does wiggle around a little bit. Overall
rating of 4.75. The Fifine K658 is made
almost entirely of metal. Includes a
cool looking plastic shock mount.
However, had a loose, cheap feeling foam
windscreen, bringing the rating down to
a 6.5. The Fine Amplitank Tank 3 is
built well like a tank being literally
entirely metal except for the buttons
and controls bringing its rating to a
9.5. The Mo PD200X is made completely of
metal aside from its RGB ring and
windscreen and includes a nice shock
mount with a metal screw point bringing
its rating to an 8.2. So for build
quality, the Tank 3 came in first,
closely followed by the Q2U and
PD200X. This is how long each microphone
takes to be built completely from being
broken down. Now, first the Samsung
takes the first place for the quickest.
The Tank 3 comes in next and then the
K658 and PD200X with the Elgato coming
in last because of the more intensive
stand building process. Now in your bag,
this is going to come in at about 10.5
in by a width of about 4 in.
Travelability here is excellent. I would
say this gets a 9.5. For the Elgato Wave
Neo, this thing can really break down
into a very tiny package. It measures 6x
5 1/2 in with the stand, but this really
travels the best if you leave the stand
being extremely light and small. You
just have to be a little bit more
careful with it as it's made of plastic,
but this thing comes in at a solid 7.1.
Now, the K658 comes in at 8 by 7 1/4 in
with the shock mount not installed. The
thing that I don't like is this coming
off, but I would say it's durable.
Because of that, I think I would give
this a 7.3. The Tank 3 is super durable
and pretty small at 6 1/2 by 3 in if you
leave the mount installed. Though it is
quite heavy, it's super durable, making
for a score of 8.8. Now, the Mo PD200X.
The shock mount is quite timely to
remove and install because you need a
Phillips head screwdriver. But if you
travel with it while leaving the shock
mount installed, it will take up a
little bit more space, but it's still
very, very durable, making for a score
of 6.4. Travelability is close here, but
the Q2U definitely takes the dub. For
controls and software with the Q2U,
well, this doesn't have a software. It
has an on andoff switch, and it's got
these headphone volume adjustment
buttons. But since it doesn't have any
special features, I'm just going to give
it a 5.5. Now, for the Elgato Wave Neo,
well, this doesn't really have any
controls on it except a mic mute switch
right there. However, it's also very
good out of the box, but it does have a
software. In the Wavelink software, you
can adjust everything from monitor mix
to headphone volume, mute and unmute,
and there's also a mode called voice
focus that is basically a background
noise cancelling mode. However, the
coolest thing is having the ability to
adjust a fully custom EQ. Even though
this doesn't have a bunch of controls on
it itself, I still think because that
software is so freaking useful, I'm
going 8.5. The controls for the K658,
well, it has a volume wheel right here.
You have a meat switch right there, as
well as a touch sensitive button to
adjust the RGB on the bottom of the
stand. While I really like the way the
wheel feels, there still isn't a
dedicated gain knob or any software,
bringing this to a score of 6.0. The
VFine Ample Tank Tank 3. On this one,
we've got the actual gain adjustment on
a knob, which is super nice, and a
headphone adjustment plus a mic mute
there. Now, this is pretty much as good
as it gets for your controls, but
because it doesn't have a software, this
comes in at a 6.5. Now, the Mo
PD200X, this one is excellent. There is
a mic mute button, a knob that switches
between your gain control and headphone
volume, as well as a button on the
bottom of the mic to change RGB. Now,
not just that, but this microphone also
has a software. As you can see, it's the
Mono Link app. Then, in the software,
you can adjust almost everything on this
mic from gain to headphone volume.
turning on and off your mic monitoring,
different EQ settings for recording, a
limiter, and even a compressor. You can
even change the RGB brightness, and dial
in the exact color you want with a color
wheel. And because of that, this gets a
10 out of 10 for its controls and
software. Both the PD200X and Elgato
Wave Neo far excel over the others
because of their software, allowing for
so much more
control. Gordon Ramsay makes good food.
Excellent sound quality here. Nice
trebles, nice mid-range, great for
singing and vocals like that. This has
been a staple for so long now. It's such
a great microphone. You really can't go
wrong with it. I would give this a
9.5, maybe a 9.4. It has a slight noise
floor, but overall it's really quite
impressive. Gordon Ramsay makes good
food. The audio quality on the Wave Neo
is really impressive. It's very true to
life. It's got nice deep rich bass
frequencies from your mouth, from your
vocals. This microphone also by far did
the best with the rejection test, both
with yelling and with the keyboard test.
Take a listen to
this. The trebles are nice and crisp,
but they're not overbearing. It's really
quite impressive. I'm going as high as a
9.6 here. It's really good. Gordon
Ramsay makes good food. Not bad here,
but the trebles are just a bit muffled
and they don't really have that upper
end. Uh, and in this price category with
all the other microphones, it's just
doesn't compete well enough. It's still
a good microphone, but I'm giving it a
7.7. Gordon Ramsay makes good food. Now,
this one's not really that great. It
sounds a bit muffled, especially
compared to the other ones on the list.
I just don't really like the audio
quality. The trebles are not crisp. the
mid-range is it's just not a great
microphone. Because of those reasons,
I'm going to give the Amplitank Tank 3
probably only a 4.4, maybe a five. And
that's just because compared to these
other microphones, it just doesn't even
sound close to as good. Gordon Ramsay
makes good food. This one is so
impressive. Ultra low noise floor.
You're basically hear nothing here. The
trebles are so crisp, but not
overbearing. Just sounds very true to
life. It's got great bass frequencies.
It sounds really impressively true to
life. This one is excellent. Definitely
the best one on the list. This comes in
at a 9.8. Maybe just make it a 10
because it is the best on the list. Now,
totaling up all the scores, these are
the best for overall quality, best for
streamers and gamers, and the best for
singers and musicians. For the overall
best audio quality, the Mayano PD200X is
absolutely the best. It's very true to
life, has a fantastic low noise floor,
and it looks pretty dang good. However,
it didn't do great on the yell test. So,
if you are a gamer or streamer who kind
of does rage though, there is a better
microphone for that. And that award goes
to the extremely impressive Elgato Wave
Neo. I love this mic. Now, while the
build quality of the mic itself is
mainly plastic, the amazing ability to
have fantastic rejection both of
keyboards as well as doing extremely
well on the yell test, but it also has
audio quality that is very close to the
PD200X. This is a very, very good
microphone for singers and musicians.
Well, it's the Samsung Q2U. This thing
has been a staple and it continues to be
a staple. This is a hair away from both
the Elgato Wave Neo and the PD200X in
terms of quality, but just a little bit
more noise floor. But oh my gosh, all
three of these mics are fantastic. And
if you want to check out any of them or
any of the mics I have in this video,
there's Amazon links below 40 US, UK,
Canada, and international links. And let
me know if you like this new style. But
this is a consumer tech review and I'll
see you guys in the next