---
title: '4 Budget Microphones You Won''t REGRET Buying in 2025'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=A0nEawlD3x0'
video_id: 'A0nEawlD3x0'
date: 2026-06-15
duration_sec: 0
---

# 4 Budget Microphones You Won't REGRET Buying in 2025

> Source: [4 Budget Microphones You Won't REGRET Buying in 2025](https://youtube.com/watch?v=A0nEawlD3x0)

## Summary

The video compares four budget microphones: the FIFINE K688, FIFINE AM8, FIFINE Tank 3, and Elgato Wave 3. Each mic has unique strengths for different content creation needs, such as voiceovers, streaming, or podcasting. The reviewer tests them raw, then with EQ adjustments, and discusses pricing and features.

### Key Points

- **Video overview and disclaimers** [00:00] — The reviewer has tested mics from FIFINE and Elgato over the past year. This video is not sponsored; mics were sent but companies have no editorial control. Affiliate links are in the description.
- **FIFINE K688: Best all-rounder** [01:36] — Aesthetically pleasing, natural tone, great sound isolation. Ideal for podcasts and streaming. Costs around $70.
- **FIFINE AM8: Best for voiceovers** [02:16] — Unique design, excellent noise isolation, but quiet without EQ. Requires close proximity to mic. Costs around $55.
- **FIFINE Tank 3: Best for streamers** [03:18] — Heavy build reduces vibration, good for energetic streamers. Least favorite overall but solid. Costs around $80.
- **Elgato Wave 3: Best all-rounder with software** [04:07] — USB-C only, no XLR. Comes with Wave Link software for EQ, compression, noise gate. Manages all audio sources. Costs around $160.
- **Plosive and noise isolation tests** [06:25] — Performed plosive tests with tongue twisters and noise isolation tests with background cafe sounds and TV music.
- **Technical specs and pricing** [08:10] — Frequency responses: AM8/Tank 3 (50-16kHz), K688 (70-15kHz), Wave 3 (70-20kHz). All FIFINE mics have XLR and USB-C; Wave 3 is USB-only. No phantom power needed for XLR. Pricing: AM8 $55, K688 $70, Tank 3 $80, Wave 3 $160.
- **EQ adjustments and final thoughts** [11:03] — Applied EQ, compressor, and noise gate via Wave Link software. Each mic sounds different even with same settings. Recommends watching specific reviews for more detail.

### Conclusion

The best microphone depends on your specific use case: the FIFINE AM8 for voiceovers, K688 for podcasts, Tank 3 for streaming, and Elgato Wave 3 as a versatile all-rounder with powerful software. The Wave 3's software is a standout feature that can replace expensive hardware mixers.

## Transcript

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