[0:00] over the past year I've had the
[0:00] opportunity of working with two
[0:02] incredible companies to review their
[0:03] microphones we've had fine fine and
[0:05] Elgato what I've come to realize through
[0:07] testing a bunch of different mics is
[0:09] that they all have their own purposes
[0:10] and I've got four here that I want to
[0:12] show you today that I would consider to
[0:14] be budget microphones and all of them
[0:16] have their own strengths and weaknesses
[0:17] and of course they all have different
[0:19] budgets so let's put all of these Head
[0:22] to Head three things I quickly want to
[0:24] tell you before we jump into things just
[0:25] to avoid any weird complications number
[0:28] one this video isn't although these
[0:30] companies may have sent me the
[0:31] microphones in the past they are not
[0:33] aware of this video they don't get to
[0:35] edit or change anything they don't even
[0:36] get to watch the video before it goes
[0:38] live there are however affiliate links
[0:40] in the description if you want to buy
[0:42] any of these mics because I need to eat
[0:45] um number two is that there are no EQ
[0:47] adjustments until the final segment of
[0:49] this video so everything you're hearing
[0:50] is just raar going through USBC into my
[0:53] PC no changes modifications nothing just
[0:56] what these mics sound like when you buy
[0:58] them there are chapter down below if you
[1:00] want to skip to a certain segment but I
[1:02] do recommend that you watch the whole
[1:03] thing because there are microphones that
[1:05] are suited more towards a type of
[1:07] content that you could be creating
[1:09] microphones that are focused on
[1:10] voiceovers and streaming and podcasts it
[1:13] may just help you to get an earful of
[1:14] each microphone and then make your
[1:16] decision afterwards oh and after this
[1:18] point there's not going to be any music
[1:19] in the video because you came here to
[1:21] listen to the mic so you don't want to
[1:24] for some reason every Tech reviewer seem
[1:26] to do it it's like I'm going to show you
[1:27] the quality of this mic but you're going
[1:29] to have to listen to it with a low fire
[1:31] track in the background no fuing around
[1:34] let's dive straight into this okay so
[1:36] we're starting strong with something
[1:38] that looks similar to the shore sm7b
[1:41] which is a beautiful microphone but uh
[1:43] nope this is the first budget microphone
[1:44] this is the fine fine K 688 not only is
[1:47] this aesthetically one of the best
[1:49] microphones on the list but I think it's
[1:51] one of the best sounding it's got a
[1:52] really nice natural tone Great Sound
[1:54] isolation it's a really wonderful
[1:56] allrounder but I think the reason that I
[1:57] wanted it personally was because I
[1:59] wanted to get two short SM 7bs and that
[2:02] was going to cost me something like 700
[2:04] quid I don't have that kind of money to
[2:06] just throw at a couple of microphones so
[2:08] for all intents and purposes this does
[2:09] the job it does it well and it's a
[2:11] fraction of the cost of what it's
[2:14] emulating now we move on to the fine
[2:16] fine am8 and this is a strikingly unique
[2:19] looking microphone I mentioned this in
[2:21] my main review but it's definitely it's
[2:23] hard to make this thing look unintrusive
[2:25] particularly when you get it in white
[2:27] it's like it just dominates the scene
[2:30] it comes with a stand which is cool but
[2:31] to get the best out of this microphone
[2:33] you really need it to be close to your
[2:35] face because it's got really thick
[2:37] filters without any EQ adjustments it's
[2:39] also pretty quiet even when you just put
[2:41] it at this kind of distance as you can
[2:43] see I've dropped down to -20 DB which
[2:46] isn't that big of a deal but it's just
[2:48] it's something to bear in mind if you
[2:49] don't know how to EQ things and add
[2:52] compressors where this one excels though
[2:54] in my opinion is the quality if you need
[2:56] a microphone for voiceovers this one is
[2:58] definitely my favorite the no isolation
[3:00] is absolutely incredible as you will see
[3:02] in a minute so if you have a lot of fans
[3:04] around you Xbox PC things like that or
[3:06] maybe you're trying to record videos in
[3:07] a house that's filled with family
[3:09] members that are incredibly uncourteous
[3:12] and would just want to be as loud as
[3:13] possible when you're recording this
[3:15] microphone I think could be a great
[3:16] option for you the fine fine tank 3 is
[3:18] honestly my least favorite of the bunch
[3:21] now as you can hear it's definitely not
[3:22] a bad microphone by any means it's just
[3:25] the other two shine in their own areas
[3:27] the am8 serves as a great microphone for
[3:29] voice over
[3:30] the K 688 is a great microphone for
[3:32] podcast and it's visually appealing so
[3:34] where does the tank 3 fit in well I
[3:37] think the answer lies in its build
[3:39] quality because this thing it's named
[3:41] tank 3 for a reason it is way heavier
[3:44] than all of the other microphones which
[3:46] should mean that there's more vibration
[3:48] resistance so if you're a streamer and
[3:50] you have a bunch of energy and you're
[3:51] flying all over the screen I think the
[3:53] tank 3 could be a great option for you
[3:55] so onscreen microphone SL podcast kind
[3:58] of vibe voiceovers and script reads and
[4:00] maybe voice acting this one could be the
[4:03] perfect microphone for live streamers
[4:05] finally we have what I would consider to
[4:07] be the allrounder this is the Elgato
[4:09] Wave 3 now I think the Elgato Wave 3 is
[4:12] fundamentally the most different
[4:13] microphone than the rest of the bunch
[4:15] not only because it's made by a
[4:17] different company but also because
[4:18] there's some things that are very
[4:20] different to the others see I haven't
[4:22] mentioned it beforehand but all of these
[4:23] microphones have both an XLR input and
[4:26] USBC meaning that if you have a fancy
[4:28] setup with mixes and monitors and all
[4:30] that kind of stuff and you want to do
[4:31] XLR you can and you'll be able to get
[4:33] the most out of the microphone by doing
[4:35] so but then even if you're in a cafe you
[4:37] can just sit down with an iPad to plug
[4:39] this thing in through USB and you can do
[4:41] whatever you need to do the Wave 3
[4:43] however does not have XLR elgot to make
[4:46] XLR microphones like the DX but this one
[4:48] is just USBC it's also more expensive
[4:51] however there are a bunch of things that
[4:53] come with the Wave 3 that make it very
[4:56] different from the rest wavelink the
[4:58] software that comes with the G 3
[5:00] microphone you see while the fine fine
[5:02] microphones generally work pretty damn
[5:04] well by themselves there's no way to
[5:06] really fine-tune them unless you go
[5:08] through XLR and you change all the
[5:09] settings with a big expensive mixer the
[5:12] wave three on the other hand comes with
[5:13] this software that is a suite of tools
[5:16] and plugins that include equalizers
[5:18] compressors Noise Gate and things like
[5:21] that things that you would need to make
[5:22] your microphone sound as good as it
[5:24] possibly could and we'll look into that
[5:26] towards the end of the video but not
[5:28] only does that software manage this
[5:30] microphone but it also manages every
[5:32] other device and music source and
[5:34] browser on your computer all at once in
[5:37] one little Suite of tools the wavelink
[5:40] software has genuinely changed the way
[5:42] that I manage my audio so while the
[5:43] microphone definitely is the most
[5:45] expensive on the list today and we'll
[5:46] get into the pricing in a minute the
[5:47] money you save not having to buy mixes
[5:50] and all the other tools to be able to
[5:51] get the most out of those other
[5:53] microphones do you think it's worth
[5:55] saving that money and then getting this
[5:57] you tell me I'm not going to say yes or
[5:58] no because again it depends on how you
[6:00] do things in terms of audio quality The
[6:02] Wave 3 is like the middle ground between
[6:04] all of those things it's great and it's
[6:06] actually my daily driver on my gaming
[6:08] channel primarily because of the
[6:10] software so if you want a device that
[6:11] will just do everything for you and
[6:13] isn't dedicated to voiceovers or
[6:16] podcasts you just want a device that can
[6:18] sit at your desk do all of your calls do
[6:21] your voiceovers do your streams the wave
[6:23] three could be the one for you now we're
[6:25] going to move on to plosive tests noise
[6:27] isolation and a bunch of other elements
[6:28] that may affect your decision when
[6:30] considering these mics I'm really
[6:31] curious as to which one you think sounds
[6:33] best so far let me know what you think
[6:35] Peter Piper picked a peack of pickled
[6:37] peppers Peter Piper picked a pack of
[6:40] pickled peppers Peter Piper picked a
[6:42] pack of pickled peppers Peter Piper
[6:44] picked a pack of pickled peppers she
[6:46] sells seashells by the seash shore she
[6:49] sells seashells by the sea shore she
[6:52] sells seashells by the seashore she
[6:55] sells seashores by the seashore now we
[6:58] have the noise isolation test over the
[7:00] next 15 20 seconds I'm going to talk to
[7:02] you and ramble while there's also some
[7:04] background noise I have an ambient Cafe
[7:06] kind of sound playing from my phone
[7:07] which is around about 20 to 30 cm away
[7:10] from the mic and I've got some music
[7:12] playing on the TV over here I was
[7:14] thinking about doing a wind test for
[7:16] these examples but then I sat down and I
[7:18] was thinking like would you be taking
[7:19] these microphones into an open field and
[7:21] recording a voice over but I mean they
[7:24] are USBC so you could just take them
[7:26] with your phone plug them in and record
[7:28] whatever you want wherever you want for
[7:30] the last test I'm actually going to tap
[7:31] each microphone a couple of times just
[7:33] to see how well particularly with this
[7:35] one and the shock mount the microphones
[7:36] absorb those
[7:41] vibrations I recognize that this
[7:42] probably isn't a deal for most
[7:48] people I think for anybody interested in
[7:51] live streaming this is definitely
[7:52] something to consider you don't want to
[7:54] breathe on the microphone
[7:57] [Music]
[7:59] just for it to sound like your grandma
[8:01] creaking away About to Blow Away In The
[8:08] Wind now before we jump into the final
[8:10] segment of this video which is the EQ
[8:12] adjustments and things like that I'll
[8:13] have a whole video coming out on all of
[8:15] that soon make sure you tap subscribe to
[8:17] stay up to date with that I always feel
[8:18] like those plugs are so forced to tap
[8:20] subscribe and like the video I want to
[8:22] sh a few technical details about this
[8:24] microphones and of course discuss the
[8:26] pricing for those who care about it if
[8:28] you're not interested in all that again
[8:29] use the chapters down below to skip
[8:31] ahead but there's some things like if
[8:32] you're thinking about accessories for
[8:34] microphones do you need the shock mount
[8:35] and such like stuff that you want to
[8:37] consider let's talk about it as I
[8:38] mentioned earlier on all of the fine
[8:40] fine microphones have the XLR and the
[8:41] USBC this one doesn't it's worth noting
[8:44] however that when using XLR on any of
[8:46] these microphones you do not need
[8:48] phantom power sometimes that's something
[8:50] you realize later on and you have to go
[8:51] and buy other stuff don't worry about it
[8:53] you don't need phantom power for these
[8:55] guys the frequency response on both the
[8:57] am8 and the tank 3 is between 50 to 16
[9:01] khz whereas the K 688 is between 70 and
[9:04] 15 khz and the Wave 3 is between 70 to
[9:07] 20 khz so with my very basic
[9:10] understanding of audio engineering and
[9:11] feel free to correct me in the comments
[9:14] tell me that I'm an idiot but I'm pretty
[9:15] sure that that means when using the am8
[9:17] or the tank 3 if you have a slightly
[9:18] deeper voice like I do these microphones
[9:21] are going to favor that deeper tone
[9:23] you're going to get that real Rich Basin
[9:25] however if you're using something like
[9:26] the Wave 3 or the K 688 if you got a
[9:28] slightly more feminine tone and you're a
[9:30] little bit higher pitched those vocals
[9:32] are going to sound a little bit better
[9:34] again feel free to correct me if I'm
[9:35] wrong I'm still learning about all of
[9:37] this if you're thinking about pop
[9:38] filters and shock mounts and things like
[9:39] that it's worth noting that the am8
[9:41] actually has a removable pop filter it's
[9:43] also got a guard and then the actual
[9:45] diaphragm itself is just underneath that
[9:47] that's why the noise isolation is so
[9:49] good because this thing is it's thick
[9:51] like Kim Kardashian level thick for this
[9:54] guy and the K 688 also has the removable
[9:56] pop filter it's nowhere near as thick as
[9:58] the am8 you're not going to get that
[10:00] level of noise isolation but it is
[10:02] removable and the K 688 also comes with
[10:04] a built-in shock mount so you don't have
[10:06] to go and buy that separately and all
[10:07] the microphones come with microphone arm
[10:09] mounts and there's actually two thread
[10:11] sizes in each bit right in here so just
[10:14] make sure that if you have a microphone
[10:15] arm you're going to be using one that it
[10:17] fits what you need cuz I don't think
[10:19] you're going to even need adapters all
[10:20] of the microphones have dials that
[10:22] control both the gain of the microphone
[10:23] and the audio monitoring the pricing for
[10:25] the am8 starts at around about 55 bucks
[10:28] the k68 8 starts at around about 70 the
[10:31] tank 3 is around about 80 and the Elgato
[10:34] is the pricier one at around about 160
[10:36] if that seems a little bit too expensive
[10:38] though like I said the main appeal for
[10:40] me personally is the wavelink software
[10:42] you can go ahead and get something like
[10:43] the wave Neo which is around about 80
[10:45] bucks or the wave DX which is around
[10:47] about 110 and buying any of those will
[10:50] get you access to the wavelength
[10:52] software which again is the main appeal
[10:54] particularly if you're into streaming or
[10:55] content creation that alone is worth the
[10:58] price and you don't have to buy the
[10:59] mixer so that could be a reasonable
[11:01] trade-off for you finally to wrap up
[11:03] this video I'm going to turn on all of
[11:05] my EQ adjustments now these are you know
[11:07] tailored to my voice so I wouldn't
[11:09] entirely recommend doing what I do I'll
[11:11] have a video on how to set up yourself
[11:13] for your voice in the future that's
[11:15] probably coming in a week or two I'll be
[11:17] doing all this in the wavelink software
[11:18] not only adding EQ adjustments but also
[11:20] compressors and noise Gates again I'll
[11:23] have a full video on all that soon but
[11:24] are you ready for this 3 two one magic I
[11:29] never cared much for fine-tuning my
[11:30] audio until recently I'm still figuring
[11:32] things out but if you compare this to
[11:34] the sample a couple of seconds ago or
[11:35] even any sample of these microphones
[11:37] coming up throughout this video there's
[11:40] a big difference and I think it's
[11:41] definitely worth taking that time to
[11:43] learn about it and understand it it's
[11:45] definitely worth saying that although
[11:46] all this is being done in wavelength you
[11:47] can do this with pretty much any
[11:49] software or even Hardware Hardware is
[11:51] typically pretty pricey though to be
[11:53] able to get this level of customization
[11:55] this is just what works best for my
[11:56] workflow not only can you apply the
[11:58] filters and E EQ settings and things
[12:00] like that to the microphones themselves
[12:01] but you can also apply them to literally
[12:03] any other audio source that means you
[12:04] can add compressors directly onto your
[12:06] game playay so loud moments can be
[12:08] reduced and Quiet Moments can come up
[12:10] you can also add limiters so that you
[12:11] don't have to worry so much about
[12:13] balancing your audio when you're talking
[12:15] there's gameplay going on you got some
[12:17] music just makes life a lot easier the
[12:19] main reason I use wavelink is just for
[12:21] efficiency I feel like efficiency is
[12:23] part of my brand image now if that's a
[12:25] thing anyway you tell me how are you
[12:27] feeling about these microphones with all
[12:29] the EQ settings turned on it's the same
[12:31] settings just copy and pasted for each
[12:32] microphone but I think with the
[12:34] microphone's natural tones all being
[12:36] different you're definitely going to be
[12:37] able to hear that difference coming
[12:38] through that's all for this video I'm
[12:40] not going to go ahead and pick favorites
[12:41] like I said it is entirely down to you
[12:43] your workflow the way that you do things
[12:45] if you have any questions about the
[12:46] microphones the way that I do things or
[12:48] perhaps even the way that I made this
[12:49] video let me know down in the comments
[12:51] and I'll be more than happy to help you
[12:52] out I do definitely recommend that if
[12:54] you're interested in a specific
[12:55] microphone go and watch my review for
[12:57] that specific mic cuz I go into a lot
[12:59] more detail about how to set things up
[13:01] what makes them unique what they're good
[13:02] at and what they're bad at in those
[13:04] videos I love your faces you're amazing
[13:06] beautiful subscribe for more videos just
[13:07] like this and I will catch you in the
[13:09] next one