[0:00] Whether it's to hang out with your paid friends on Discord
[0:02] or to fulfill your lifelong dream
[0:04] of becoming a millionaire who works 16 hours a day
[0:07] and lives in squalor for some reason,
[0:08] you have found yourself in need of a microphone.
[0:12] But in a sea of many great options,
[0:16] why the ever-******, jack eating ****
[0:18] are you guys all buying this one?
[0:21] It's not the cheapest, it's not the best quality, probably.
[0:25] And while I have encountered the brand before,
[0:28] Fifine isn't exactly a household name, and yet somehow,
[0:33] it was the Amazon bestseller way back in January,
[0:36] and now, over six months later, it remains the top dog.
[0:41] Do you all know something that I don't?
[0:43] Not for long, you won't.
[0:45] With the help of the Labs team,
[0:46] I will be fi-finding out if you made a big mistake
[0:50] or if everyone else is missing out
[0:53] on the best bang for the buck.
[0:56] I know one thing you're all missing out on, though.
[0:58] Our sponsor, the Ridge.
[1:00] Life's complicated, so simplify it with the Ridge Wallet
[1:03] with a slim design to carry your essential cards in cash
[1:05] without the weight or bulk of that thing
[1:08] currently in your pocket.
[1:10] Follow the link below and use code Linus
[1:12] to save 10% off your purchase and get free shipping.
[1:15] I guess the first question is why not the Fifine A6T?
[1:19] It's $47 at the time of writing,
[1:21] has overwhelmingly positive reviews,
[1:23] works on PC, Mac, and PlayStation,
[1:26] and it includes absolutely everything
[1:29] you need to get started.
[1:30] The mic itself, a boom arm, a desk clamp, a shock mount,
[1:34] and even a cute little pop filter with a smiley face on it.
[1:38] I mean, it's kind of an incredible value.
[1:42] A setup like this purchased all pieces separately
[1:44] could easily run you double or more,
[1:47] and I'm not even talking about a more advanced setup
[1:51] with a separate XLR microphone and audio interface.
[1:54] So how are they doing all of this?
[1:56] It's kind of wild, right?
[1:58] Because fundamentally, every microphone
[2:00] from the very cheapest all the way to the most premium
[2:04] is the same in that it captures the sound
[2:08] that's coming to it via vibrations in the air
[2:10] and then outputs that as a mic level signal,
[2:13] which is basically inaudible.
[2:15] You then need a preamplifier to convert it
[2:17] to a line level signal that humans can actually hear.
[2:20] And finally, you need an analog to digital converter
[2:23] to convert the waves of analog data into digital data
[2:26] that your computer can understand.
[2:28] And yes, all of that is packed
[2:31] into the devices in your setup,
[2:33] whether you can point to the discrete components or not.
[2:36] The difference is that in fully integrated solutions,
[2:39] they just might be really, really tiny
[2:42] and or well, really, really cheap,
[2:45] which raises a huge question here.
[2:47] I mean, if you can make all the necessary pieces
[2:50] so small and so affordable, why does anybody spend the extra
[2:55] on these overkill setups like this one?
[2:59] Well, the most obvious answer is, of course, quality
[3:02] compared to our studio mic,
[3:04] which is the one I'm talking on right now,
[3:06] or the one that we use for the WAN show, the A6T, mm.
[3:12] It just doesn't sound that great by comparison,
[3:15] but we're also being totally unfair.
[3:19] I mean, considering that the mic itself
[3:21] is practically thrown in for free
[3:23] alongside its generous accessory package,
[3:26] means that I think a more reasonable comparison
[3:29] would be to a pair of old wired ear pods
[3:31] that you had lying around,
[3:32] which as expected, it sounds a lot worse.
[3:36] We're gonna get into some deeper performance comparisons
[3:38] a bit later, but first, I wanna talk about
[3:41] the second advantage of a more advanced XLR setup,
[3:45] and that's upgradability.
[3:46] It can be a bigger upfront investment,
[3:49] that is unless you choose a mic that has both USB and XLR,
[3:53] but what's nice about it is that you're able to swap out
[3:56] only your microphone or only your audio interface
[3:59] if you end up needing something else.
[4:01] Of course, for some folks, the sheer simplicity
[4:04] of having a single USB-C cable
[4:07] trumps any kind of quality or future-proofing advantage.
[4:10] So let's take a closer look at the A6T.
[4:14] The mic feels quite a bit cheaper
[4:18] than it looks in the pictures, actually.
[4:19] It's shockingly light.
[4:21] It's side address, which means you talk into it like this,
[4:24] not like this, and to help you with that,
[4:28] the pop filter only attaches to it one way,
[4:30] so you're very unlikely to mess it up.
[4:33] And the boom arm does actually a pretty darn excellent job
[4:36] of keeping the mic exactly where you put it,
[4:39] but is so light that it seems like it could break
[4:42] at pretty much any time.
[4:44] And one more thing,
[4:45] while it is nice that these cable ties are included,
[4:48] I feel like an upgrade to some better ones
[4:50] from lttstore.com is in order.
[4:53] With that said, there's no other way around it.
[4:55] I gotta give them full marks for ease of setup.
[4:57] I mean, you don't even need an app.
[4:59] You just plug it in, and the RGB lights up
[5:02] to let you know that you are officially a pro gamer.
[5:05] Forever.
[5:08] That's right, you cannot customize the RGB
[5:11] or even turn it off unless you mute the microphone
[5:15] altogether.
[5:16] Gain is adjusted with this big old knob on the bottom,
[5:19] but the indicator is inconveniently positioned
[5:22] on the bottom, and it doesn't actually correspond
[5:25] to the position of the dial,
[5:26] so maybe it would be better to just use software
[5:29] to tell you nothing.
[5:32] No, the volume slider on Windows does nothing
[5:35] with the default drivers for the Fifine.
[5:37] And the lack of an app means that there are no other drivers
[5:40] nor is there an official way to add VST plugins
[5:43] like a noise gate or a compressor and also no audio mixing
[5:47] like some other microphones allow you to do.
[5:49] However, you'll know that this isn't a huge mark against it
[5:52] if you watched our recent video highlighting
[5:54] some handy audio tools that can take care of that for you,
[5:57] none of which matters at all
[5:59] if the mic's performance is unacceptably bad.
[6:03] So we're gonna start by letting you guys judge
[6:05] some fairly challenging scenarios.
[6:07] I'm just gonna, whoop, you know what?
[6:09] I'm just gonna put it right here
[6:10] and we're gonna let the Fifine's included shock mount
[6:13] see if it can handle some desk vibrations
[6:16] and stuff like that, or, ooh, how about the pop filter?
[6:19] Pop, pop, popsicle, the plosive, or ice, ice, icicle, baby.
[6:26] Ooh, ooh, how does it handle gamer excitement?
[6:28] Pog, pog, pog, pog, gamers say pog, right?
[6:31] I'm gonna, which way is down?
[6:33] Oh, bloody hell, I don't know which way is down.
[6:35] It doesn't matter.
[6:36] In comparison, the Blue Yeti costs about twice as much
[6:41] with no accessories other than a desk stand
[6:44] and sounds about like this.
[6:46] And just so you don't have to rewind to find it,
[6:50] and just so you don't have to rewind to find it,
[6:53] here's what you'd usually hear on the WAN Show.
[6:55] And now we're back on the Fifine A6T one last time
[6:58] for your enjoyment or lack thereof.
[7:01] But for my part, I actually think it sounds
[7:03] pretty darn okay, but then again,
[7:06] we didn't hire a labs team
[7:07] so I could give you my YouTuber thoughts, TM.
[7:11] Time for some science.
[7:13] We haven't actually finalized our test suite
[7:15] or begun testing mics insignificant volumes yet.
[7:18] So what we did was choose a handful of models
[7:21] that we felt were either comparable
[7:23] due to their price and popularity,
[7:25] or because they might help provide a reference point
[7:28] for how our A6T performs compared to a bottom
[7:31] or a top tier solution.
[7:33] Our reference mic is a Dayton Audio EMM6,
[7:36] which is a calibrated omni-directional microphone.
[7:39] Compared to other USB mics,
[7:41] the A6T performs actually surprisingly similarly
[7:44] in frequency response, but the drop in this range
[7:47] suggests that it will have a slightly darker sound.
[7:50] The Elgato Wave ended up being the outlier
[7:52] the other way, sounding brighter,
[7:54] though that did come at the cost
[7:55] of picking up a little bit more sibilance,
[7:57] which is your harsh S and ss sounds.
[8:00] Overall though, the field was close enough
[8:02] that if you're considering a USB microphone,
[8:05] we just didn't really find there to be a huge difference
[8:08] in performance from the worst to the best.
[8:11] And believe it or not, we kind of see the same thing
[8:14] when we compare it even to higher end XLR microphones.
[8:18] Compared to an Electrovoice RE20,
[8:20] a mic that costs literally 10 times as much
[8:24] as this entire complete solution,
[8:26] the on paper results are shockingly close.
[8:30] And in the real world, the RE20 is better,
[8:35] but it's certainly not 10 times better.
[8:38] However, that is under somewhat ideal conditions.
[8:41] Better microphones can have advantages
[8:44] that go beyond frequency response.
[8:46] Like for example, background noise rejection.
[8:49] If you're alone in a room hanging out
[8:51] with your friends on Discord,
[8:52] you do not need a $450 mic, this is great.
[8:56] With that said, there are cases where frequency response
[8:59] does tell a big part of the story.
[9:02] Our third gen AirPods, for example,
[9:04] really struggled at the high end,
[9:06] possibly because of their Bluetooth connectivity
[9:08] or noise cancellation.
[9:10] But in practice, they sound overall not bad.
[9:12] But then our wired EarPods have a hole
[9:16] right in the vocal range
[9:17] that really does make them sound kind of muffled.
[9:21] And you can improve this situation
[9:23] by clipping the mic a little closer to your mouth.
[9:26] But at the end of the day, the mic is still omnidirectional.
[9:29] So regardless of its frequency response
[9:31] or its proximity to the source,
[9:33] it's gonna pick up any noise around you,
[9:35] including your keyboard, your mouse,
[9:37] or your mom yelling at you to get off the darn computer.
[9:40] Now, unfortunately, we're not set up yet
[9:42] to test every aspect of a microphone's performance.
[9:45] Once the lab's website is fully up and running
[9:47] and we've got our sound chamber,
[9:48] you're gonna see all kinds of really great stuff.
[9:51] But not yet.
[9:53] But we're also not done yet for today.
[9:55] Let's talk about polar patterns.
[9:57] Have you ever noticed these small symbols
[9:59] on some microphones?
[10:01] That is how well the microphone captures
[10:04] or reject sounds that are coming from different directions.
[10:08] The Amazon page for the Fifine A6T claims
[10:11] that it is a cardioid pickup pattern microphone.
[10:13] Is that true?
[10:15] Well, let's check, shall we?
[10:17] This green line is sounds coming directly
[10:20] to the front of the A6T.
[10:22] And this drop shows that it's rejecting some sounds
[10:25] that are coming in at 90 degrees
[10:27] and a little bit more at 180 degrees.
[10:29] So it is, in fact, a cardioid microphone.
[10:33] However, for reference,
[10:34] this is the polar pattern graph of the Electrovoice RE20,
[10:37] which has better rejection,
[10:40] particularly at higher frequencies.
[10:43] So from our evaluation,
[10:45] the Fifine isn't the best thing around,
[10:48] but especially for the price,
[10:49] it's a pretty Fi-fine.
[10:53] Or at least our unit is, out of the box.
[10:57] While Amazon reviews tend to get gunked up with spam,
[11:00] they can also be a way to glean useful,
[11:02] longer-term information about a product.
[11:05] So let's see what you guys liked
[11:07] and what you didn't like about the A6T.
[11:11] The five-star reviews, for the most part,
[11:13] rave about the sound quality,
[11:14] with some claiming that this mic
[11:16] has exceeded their expectations
[11:18] and others calling it the best budget mic they've ever used.
[11:21] For the price, I actually think
[11:24] this is reasonably fair praise.
[11:26] The four-star reviews mostly complain about things
[11:28] that are not related to the sound quality directly,
[11:31] the clamp feeling cheap, the gain knob being finicky,
[11:34] or worst of all, the lack of RGB customization.
[11:38] Again, though, no complaints about audio quality,
[11:41] so it seems like it's not just ours.
[11:43] This thing sounds pretty darn good.
[11:45] Of course, things take a turn for the worse
[11:48] when we look at the three, two, and one-star reviews,
[11:51] with many people reporting
[11:52] the better-than-expected quality turned into zero quality
[11:56] due to their unit lasting a few weeks
[11:58] or a few months at best.
[12:00] There aren't too many of them,
[12:02] but this is a significant red flag,
[12:05] and so is the almost complete lack of discussion
[12:08] about customer service.
[12:10] Two reviews said it was great,
[12:11] and one claimed that they did not receive a response
[12:14] after a week.
[12:15] It's not a lot of money, considering the package,
[12:18] but it is your money,
[12:20] so the choice is yours.
[12:22] Do you go with a reputable brand
[12:24] for a significant upcharge,
[12:25] or do you buy something that costs half as much
[12:28] knowing that, well,
[12:30] you might need to get another one shipped to you,
[12:32] just like I reshipped this segue to,
[12:36] and then we're gonna reuse the chunk where I say,
[12:38] our sponsor, KiwiCo.
[12:40] KiwiCo makes fun activities for all ages
[12:42] to learn science, technology, engineering, arts, and math.
[12:45] Those spell out STEAM, as in steam engine,
[12:49] which was made with technology.
[12:51] See, it's starting already.
[12:52] Every month, they'll send a crate right to your door
[12:54] with different projects designed by experts
[12:56] and tested by kids who will probably all go on
[12:59] to win the Nobel Prize.
[13:00] And since there's several different lines of crates,
[13:03] there's something for every interest and age,
[13:05] from newborns to mom and dad.
[13:07] And if you're not down for a monthly subscription,
[13:08] you can also get individual crates at the KiwiCo store.
[13:11] We checked out their Make It Yourself headphones,
[13:13] a perfect project to prepare for a long trip.
[13:16] Your kids will think the audio coming from their tablet
[13:18] sounds much sweeter coming through headphones
[13:20] they built themselves, and that's science.
[13:23] If you wanna help support the channel,
[13:24] you can save 50% on your first month with KiwiCo
[13:27] at kiwico.com slash Linus, with code Linus,
[13:30] or at the link below.
[13:32] If you enjoyed this video,
[13:33] why not check out one of the other ones from the series?
[13:35] Like, why is everybody buying this monitor?
[13:38] Spoiler alert, because it's a great value.
[13:40] But there's more to it than that.