[0:00] you a Creator or streamer looking for
[0:02] the perfect beginner microphone whether
[0:04] you're on a budget or need the best
[0:06] audio quality or just need something
[0:07] easy to operate today we're going to
[0:09] compare three very popular options the
[0:12] fine K 688 the road pod mic and the
[0:15] Shore mv7 by the end hopefully you'll
[0:17] know exactly which one of these mics
[0:19] will suit your needs because I'll be
[0:20] sharing my top pick for which one of
[0:22] these microphones is worth the
[0:24] investment and a big thanks to Riverside
[0:26] for partnering on today's video and as
[0:28] we go throughout the video I'm just
[0:29] going to be cutting between each
[0:30] different mic so you get a bit an idea
[0:32] of what each one sounds like in action
[0:34] for reference I've got the fine and the
[0:36] mv7 both plugged in via USB and then the
[0:38] Pod mic is plugged in Via XLR basically
[0:41] because that's kind of how they're
[0:42] designed to be used out of the box all
[0:44] right so first of all let's talk about
[0:45] the design and build quality of these
[0:47] three different microphones cuz they do
[0:49] range quite a bit now starting out with
[0:51] a f fine it's kind of a combination of
[0:53] metal and plastic and overall I would
[0:55] say this one definitely feels like the
[0:57] cheapest microphone but despite that in
[0:58] terms of the amount of money you're
[1:00] actually paying for this microphone I
[1:01] actually think it's a really good deal
[1:02] the metal definitely feels on the
[1:04] thinner side but it doesn't feel like
[1:05] they've skimped on build quality when it
[1:08] comes to the materials it feels well
[1:10] constructed while also being on the
[1:12] budget end it's also relatively light
[1:14] which again isn't necessarily a bad
[1:15] thing I am actually quite a big fan of
[1:17] the overall design it looks quite nice I
[1:19] like the green the black aesthetic also
[1:21] quite like the shock mount design I
[1:23] think the main downside when it comes to
[1:25] build quality with the F fine is
[1:26] probably where it attaches to your boom
[1:29] arm this does feel a little bit
[1:30] plasticky but again I'm definitely not
[1:32] disappointed considering the price point
[1:34] of this mic now moving up slightly in
[1:36] price we've got the road pod mic and
[1:38] this one to me is a huge contrast in
[1:40] overall build quality this one feels
[1:41] like it's built like an absolute tank
[1:43] it's actually quite heavy almost all of
[1:45] the components are made of metal with
[1:47] the exception of just a couple of things
[1:49] like the tightening knobs on the side
[1:51] but these feel like really high quality
[1:53] plastic and I've said it in my previous
[1:54] review videos of the podmic I think this
[1:56] thing is built to last like I think it
[1:58] will last easily 5 to 10 years in terms
[2:00] of the overall design I think when I
[2:02] first saw it I wasn't as crazy about it
[2:04] but over time it's actually really grown
[2:06] on me I actually really like the kind of
[2:07] old school Timeless classic look that
[2:10] the Pod mic has it doesn't have a
[2:12] removable pot filter like the fine does
[2:14] but again I don't necessarily see that
[2:16] as a downside it's kind of one less
[2:17] component to worry about which is kind
[2:19] of a good thing in my opinion and
[2:20] overall I just think it's a really solid
[2:22] microphone when it comes to the build
[2:24] quality and the design then lastly
[2:25] moving on to the short mv7 which is the
[2:27] most expensive of these three mics I
[2:29] would say it's sits kind of somewhere in
[2:31] between the first two mics although
[2:32] definitely on the Pod mic side when it
[2:34] comes to Quality so overall i' would say
[2:36] it's not quite as solid as the Pod mic
[2:39] but definitely a lot more solid than the
[2:40] fine similar to the Pod mic it's mostly
[2:43] made of metal with the exception of a
[2:45] couple of components like the tightening
[2:47] nods on the side this one does have a
[2:49] removable pop filter the actual mic
[2:51] casing underneath feels really solid and
[2:53] in terms of weight again it's somewhere
[2:54] in between the first two mics it's not
[2:56] super heavy like the Pod mic but it's
[2:58] not really light like the 5 fine in
[2:59] terms of the design I'm a fan I think it
[3:01] looks sleek kind of understated but in
[3:03] some ways maybe just because it's a
[3:04] little bit of a smaller form factor than
[3:06] the five kind of feels like it's not
[3:08] quite as premium somehow even though
[3:10] this is the more expensive microphone
[3:12] but overall I think the winner for me
[3:14] probably is the road when it comes to
[3:16] the design and build quality and
[3:18] especially when you consider how much
[3:19] money you pay for it I think it's an
[3:21] absolute bargain so as you can see these
[3:23] mics overall offer solid build quality
[3:25] which is key for any serious content
[3:27] creator but great gear alone isn't
[3:28] enough to get that perfect sound another
[3:30] really important thing that a lot of
[3:32] people forget about is how you actually
[3:34] record because no matter how great the
[3:36] microphone if you're recording setup
[3:38] isn't solid it's not going to sound good
[3:40] I've seen plenty of content creators
[3:42] invest in really high-end microphones
[3:44] but end up with subpar audio because
[3:46] they record on devices and platforms
[3:48] that don't fully preserve the audio
[3:50] quality one thing to definitely watch
[3:52] out for is using traditional video
[3:54] calling platforms like Zoom that often
[3:56] heavily compress your audio which ruins
[3:59] the quality that you be paid top dollar
[4:01] to achieve that's why if you're doing
[4:02] remote interviews podcasts or any type
[4:05] of remote recording you need a platform
[4:07] that's going to record your audio at its
[4:08] best without bad compression now I use
[4:10] Riverside for all of my remote
[4:12] recordings including my own podcast it's
[4:14] an all-in-one platform that allows you
[4:15] to record stream and edit all of your
[4:18] content right within your web browser in
[4:20] the highest quality possible it's able
[4:22] to do this by recording your audio and
[4:24] your video locally onto your computer
[4:26] meaning you get uncompressed studio
[4:28] quality files which then then get
[4:30] uploaded separately and with Riverside
[4:32] you can also automatically generate
[4:33] captions for your videos and then use
[4:35] the edit to add music and overlays
[4:37] whether you're a YouTuber doing remote
[4:39] interviews or hosting a podcast
[4:41] Riverside makes it easy to keep your
[4:43] production polished and professional if
[4:45] you want to try it out I've got an
[4:46] exclusive discount with the code nick2
[4:48] to get 20% off your subscription of
[4:50] Riverside just click the link in the
[4:51] description and you can even try it out
[4:53] for free with a free account has
[4:55] personally saved me tons of time without
[4:57] compromising quality so I hope it will
[4:59] for as well but of course the design
[5:01] isn't all that matters when it comes to
[5:03] microphones you've also got to consider
[5:05] the features so let's talk about some of
[5:06] the different features of these mics
[5:08] once again starting off with the fir
[5:09] fine so in terms of connectivity you can
[5:10] plug it in Via USBC which is really nice
[5:13] because that's quite modern it's going
[5:14] to connect to most modern laptops or
[5:16] computers you can also connect it via
[5:17] XLR which is a very nice option to have
[5:19] especially on a microphone of this price
[5:21] point you can also plug in your
[5:23] headphones directly so you can get audio
[5:25] monitoring live then you can adjust your
[5:27] monitoring levels with a little knob as
[5:29] well as your level so that's two very
[5:31] nice additions to have right on the
[5:33] microphone itself because it does give
[5:34] you that bit of extra fine control the F
[5:36] fine also has a mute switch on top which
[5:39] is very prominent which changes color
[5:41] depending on whether it's muted or
[5:42] unmuted then moving on to the Pod mic
[5:45] this one is actually pretty feature slim
[5:47] it's purely got an XLR output it's got
[5:50] no headphone monitoring controls it's
[5:51] got no game controls built in it's just
[5:53] the mic and an XLR Port that's
[5:55] essentially all that it's got so if
[5:57] you're looking for lots of onboard
[5:58] features the pod mic might not be the
[6:00] microphone for you then finally we've
[6:02] got the short mv7 this one also has
[6:04] quite a few features so this one
[6:05] features a touch panel which enables you
[6:08] to control the monitor levels because
[6:10] you can also plug in your headphones
[6:11] into the back it also allows you to
[6:13] control the gain of the microphone it's
[6:14] also got a mute switch which is really
[6:16] nice and then again the mvy servant has
[6:18] xli out as well as micro USB out now
[6:21] micro USB is definitely on the older
[6:24] side and I've mentioned in previous
[6:25] reviews that I found the cable that came
[6:27] with the mic has gotten a little bit
[6:29] bent over time so it tends to fall out a
[6:31] little bit I wish the mv7 had USBC like
[6:34] the fine the other thing to mention is
[6:35] that the short mv7 has Associated
[6:38] software which you can install onto your
[6:39] computer and you can use this to do
[6:40] things like change the preset EQ and
[6:43] even record directly to your computer
[6:45] that's the Sha motive app that's what
[6:46] I'm recording this microphone through
[6:48] right now so I consider that kind of an
[6:50] extra feature of the mv7 so for me the
[6:52] winner when it comes to overall features
[6:55] I would probably argue is actually the
[6:57] fine and that's mainly because I really
[6:59] like the knob control of the microphone
[7:02] gain and the headphone output instead of
[7:04] the touch panel the touch panel can be a
[7:06] little bit finicky to use and I also
[7:08] really like the USBC it's very hard to
[7:10] beat USBC in this day and age but even
[7:12] more important than the actual features
[7:14] of these microphones is arguably how
[7:16] good they sound so let's talk about the
[7:18] actual sound quality of these three
[7:20] microphones and one thing that a lot of
[7:22] beginners might notice is any background
[7:24] hiss and that's something that can
[7:25] really destroy your audio quality very
[7:27] quickly this is often caused by too much
[7:30] gain in the microphone or just a lower
[7:32] quality microphone overall now I'm going
[7:33] to start off with the best and then go
[7:35] to the worst when it comes to this so
[7:37] the absolute best is the short mv7 in my
[7:39] experience when you have it set to
[7:41] pretty normal gain levels either on USB
[7:43] or on XLR is almost no background hiss
[7:47] which is pretty amazing when you start
[7:48] to boost the gain a bit you do start to
[7:50] introduce a bit of a background hiss but
[7:52] it's still pretty manageable next in my
[7:54] experience was the road pod mic this
[7:56] definitely has some more noticeable
[7:58] background here just a standard gain
[8:00] levels overall to me it's totally
[8:01] acceptable you can probably e it out
[8:03] pretty easily same deal when you boost
[8:05] the gain on this mic it does increase
[8:08] that background his a bit but I think
[8:09] overall it's still quite manageable now
[8:11] when it comes to the F fine I had two
[8:13] different results depending on whether I
[8:15] was using USB or XLR so when I was using
[8:18] XLR it was actually pretty similar I
[8:20] found to the podmic maybe slightly
[8:22] better so at normal gain levels the fine
[8:25] had pretty manageable background hiss
[8:27] however I first started to notice a b
[8:28] issue when I boosted the gain and
[8:30] stepped back from the fine a bit that's
[8:32] what I noticed more of a background hiss
[8:34] and it was a bit more noticeable I think
[8:36] than the Pod mic however the big problem
[8:38] came when I was recording through USB
[8:40] which is what I'm doing right now and
[8:42] even at standard gain levels the
[8:43] background hiss on this microphone was
[8:45] relatively significant to the point
[8:47] where it was quite noticeable even with
[8:49] a bit of background music and then when
[8:50] I boosted the gain through USB the hiss
[8:53] was pretty much unusable like it was
[8:55] quite loud and very noticeable so I
[8:57] think that's something definitely to
[8:58] keep in mind with with the F fine if
[9:00] you're planning on using it with USB you
[9:02] will definitely have a noisier audio
[9:04] signal than you would if using it just
[9:06] with XLR now moving on to background
[9:08] noise rejection So currently there's
[9:10] actually some construction noise outside
[9:12] my window I've got a whole bunch of
[9:13] construction happening so you might be
[9:14] able to pick up on that as I go through
[9:16] these mics but that's actually a really
[9:17] good test to see how well each of these
[9:19] mics can reject background noise now
[9:21] once again my experience was that the MV
[9:23] Ser was by far the best and not only
[9:25] removed heaps of that background his
[9:27] when I was doing some testing earlier I
[9:28] was picking up pretty much no
[9:30] construction noise coming from the next
[9:32] block over once again I found the Pod
[9:34] mic to be second it was decent when it
[9:37] came to that noise rejection but I could
[9:39] hear a bit of that construction noise
[9:40] coming through and when I stepped back
[9:41] from the mic there was a little bit of
[9:43] echo being picked up for my room and
[9:44] then again I found the fir fying to be
[9:46] the worst when it came to background
[9:47] noise Rejection it seemed to be the most
[9:49] sensitive when it came to picking up
[9:50] that construction noise it was okay but
[9:52] it was definitely less pronounced than
[9:54] the other two microphones and lastly
[9:56] let's talk about the actual sound
[9:57] quality from each of these and the sound
[9:59] signature and I'm actually really
[10:01] interested to hear your thoughts on
[10:03] which one you think sounds the best so
[10:04] I'm not going to go in order of which I
[10:06] think is best I'm just going to go in
[10:07] random order so let's start with the Pod
[10:09] mic this is what it sounds like through
[10:10] XLR with basically no EQ added so I've
[10:13] added a bit of compression and a limit
[10:15] just so it's equal volume to all the
[10:17] other mics but I haven't eqed anything
[10:18] this is what it sounds like coming out
[10:20] of the box to my ear it's a little bit
[10:22] mid-range heavy and as a result sounds a
[10:24] little bit muffled sometimes or maybe
[10:26] not quite as well-rounded as I'd like it
[10:28] to however but once I've eqed it like I
[10:30] have now I think it sounds excellent it
[10:32] sounds quite warm and well-rounded it's
[10:34] got a little bit more punch I think on
[10:36] the highend which is probably good for
[10:38] me to give me some extra Clarity cuz I
[10:40] tend to mumble a bit but that is the
[10:41] road pod mic now let's move on to the F
[10:43] fine so this is currently coming through
[10:45] the USB which to me I think sounds
[10:48] decent although it does sound a little
[10:49] bit muffled I think that's partly
[10:51] because of that background his that you
[10:52] get through the USB now this is how the
[10:54] fine sounds been recorded through XLR
[10:57] and this is with no EQ and actually
[10:59] think it sounds pretty decent it's
[11:01] definitely got a little bit more lowend
[11:02] and it's not quite as clear on the high
[11:04] end in my experience but overall it
[11:07] sounds quite decent and then this is
[11:08] what it sounds like once I've applied
[11:10] some basic EQ to the signal and honestly
[11:14] I actually think it sounds really good
[11:15] tell me what you think in the comments
[11:17] it's really quite warm and actually kind
[11:18] of reminds me of the Sha sm7b which is
[11:21] kind of like the gold standard for
[11:23] microphones so I think that says a lot
[11:25] about this mic considering it's very
[11:27] cheap price point and then lastly the
[11:28] short mv7 this is currently being
[11:31] recorded through USB using the natural
[11:34] preset EQ and again I think it's kind of
[11:36] similar to the Pod mic and then it's a
[11:37] little bit mid-range heavy but overall I
[11:39] think it sounds quite nice it's quite
[11:41] warm and I'll definitely be happy with
[11:43] this audio signal so now I'm currently
[11:45] recording the shaw through XLR I think
[11:48] to me this is when it sounds the most
[11:50] balanced it sounds quite well-rounded it
[11:52] sounds quite warm and I think it sounds
[11:54] pretty good and then once I've eqed it I
[11:56] actually think it sounds pretty similar
[11:58] to the fine but maybe not quite as warm
[12:00] so overall out of the box I think in
[12:03] terms of which one you're going to get
[12:04] the best sound quality from without
[12:06] having to do too much extra work I think
[12:08] it's going to be the sh mv7 and just
[12:10] overall sounds really quite decent then
[12:12] I think it's probably going to be the F
[12:13] fine after that I think with USB it
[12:15] doesn't sound bad apart from that
[12:16] background hiss and so to me the key
[12:18] thing is just making sure you're sitting
[12:20] quite close to the fire and then finally
[12:22] the Pod mic is probably going to be the
[12:23] most work cuz you're going to have to
[12:24] put the most amount of EQ on this in
[12:27] post you can use it straight out of the
[12:28] box but it's not going to sound as nice
[12:30] as it could if you do some basic EQ so
[12:33] in my opinion which is the best sounding
[12:35] to be honest I actually think I might go
[12:37] with the F fine I think it actually
[12:38] sounds really quite nice but with the
[12:40] caveat that it's only when you're
[12:42] sitting quite close to it if you sit
[12:43] back a bit and try and record yourself
[12:45] from a bit of a distance you do
[12:47] introduce too much background gain and
[12:49] noise and it just kind of falls off
[12:51] pretty quickly so with that said let's
[12:52] talk about the actual price and value
[12:54] for money when it comes to these mics so
[12:56] the fine is currently the cheapest at
[12:58] around 70
[12:59] then you've got the road at about $90
[13:02] and then finally the mv7 which comes in
[13:04] at Double the price of
[13:06] $179 and to be honest I was trying to
[13:09] decide which one I think is the best
[13:11] value for money and it's actually kind
[13:13] of hard to say because they all kind of
[13:14] have different strengths and weaknesses
[13:16] I think the road pod mic is probably the
[13:18] best value for money overall when you
[13:20] consider the build quality and the sound
[13:23] quality they're both really solid I
[13:25] think the big downside is that it's
[13:26] going to be harder to use for beginners
[13:28] because you're going to have to get get
[13:29] an external USB interface to be able to
[13:31] plug it into your computer since it's
[13:33] only XLR plus you're going to have to
[13:35] spend more time eqing in post so if
[13:37] you're kind of a semi-pro or
[13:38] professional content creator the Pod mic
[13:40] might be a good choice and previously I
[13:42] would have said the shore would have
[13:43] been worth the price considering it's
[13:45] significantly more expensive than the
[13:47] other two microphones but now that I've
[13:48] used the F fine I think this overall
[13:50] sounds really nice I think what the mv7
[13:52] has over the fine is that background
[13:55] hiss which makes it overall a more
[13:57] versatile microphone I'd much more
[13:59] confidently use this in a range of
[14:00] different scenarios especially if
[14:02] there's any background noise instead of
[14:03] the F fine just because I think it's
[14:05] going to be more reliable basically
[14:06] which kind of leads me to my use case
[14:08] recommendations starting off with a mic
[14:10] that I think is best for podcasting and
[14:11] I would argue that probably the mv7
[14:13] might be best for podcasting again
[14:15] because of that versatility so you can
[14:17] take this into different setups and use
[14:18] it confidently with different people
[14:21] different speakers and you know it's
[14:22] going to be reliable when it comes to
[14:24] the best microphone for streamers I
[14:26] actually think the F fine might be the
[14:27] best because chances are if you're
[14:29] streaming you're going to be sitting at
[14:30] a desk with the microphone at a fixed
[14:31] position in front of you and that's when
[14:33] you're going to get the best audio
[14:34] quality out of the ffi so I think if
[14:35] you're a streamer especially if you're
[14:36] on a budget I think the fine could be a
[14:38] really solid option and then lastly if
[14:40] you're a YouTuber obviously I'm a bit
[14:42] biased but I think the Pod mic might be
[14:44] the best because if you're recording
[14:46] YouTube videos like this you've got time
[14:48] in post to go and really dial it in to
[14:51] match your voice create a preset and
[14:52] just make sure you're maximizing audio
[14:54] quality which is why I recommend the Pod
[14:56] mic for YouTubers so finally which is my
[14:59] personal favorite which one do I
[15:01] recommend the most I think I'm still
[15:03] honestly going to go with the Pod mic
[15:04] for now it might change in the future I
[15:06] think these other two microphones are
[15:07] still great choices and again I hope
[15:10] what I've conveyed is that what it
[15:11] really comes down to is your use case as
[15:13] well as your own particular experience
[15:15] level and hopefully by watching this
[15:17] video you've got a better idea of which
[15:19] one might suit you best so over to you
[15:21] let me know in the comments which one
[15:23] you think is the best which one do you
[15:24] think sounds the best and which one
[15:26] you're going to be buying don't forget
[15:27] to check out Riverside using the Link in
[15:29] the description and if you decide to
[15:31] look more into the road pod mic then
[15:32] check out my full review of the podmic
[15:34] right here in case you're ke to hear
[15:36] more about it