I Tested Every Budget Microphone

[00:00] The very first microphone was invented

[00:02] in the late 1800s. Fast forward 56

[00:05] years, and the first mass-produced,

[00:06] publicly available microphone was the

[00:08] Western Electric 618 that at the time

[00:11] cost

[00:12] $175, which adjusted for inflation today

[00:15] is a whopping

[00:19] $3,657.40. Now, in 2025, well, you can

[00:22] buy a microphone that is even better for

[00:24] less than 30 bucks and have it delivered

[00:26] to your door overnight without you

[00:28] having to do a thing except press one

[00:30] button. So, the logical thing to do is

[00:33] get all of the budget ones and then well

[00:35] figure out which one is the best. And

[00:37] that's what I did. And really quickly,

[00:38] we figured out some were just uh not the

[00:41] best. This mic under 30 bucks is just

[00:44] way too sensitive. Revive me, bro. Eric,

[00:46] revive me. Revive me, bro. The D20 from

[00:49] Pedu may look cool, but it just sounds

[00:52] awful. Check, check, check. 1 2 3. And

[00:55] this refined microphone was immediately

[00:57] disqualified having a terrible buzzing

[00:59] noise floor. It's really annoying. Just

[01:02] listen. Now, with some of the bad ones

[01:04] out of the way, we were actually very

[01:06] surprised at how good some of the

[01:07] extremely inexpensive ones were. All of

[01:09] these you're about to listen to are

[01:11] under 30 bucks. Let's take a listen

[01:13] together to see which one is best.

[01:14] Gordon Ramsay makes good food. Check.

[01:17] Check. Check. One, two, three. Gordon

[01:19] Ramsay makes good food. Check, check,

[01:22] check. One, two, three. Gordon Ramsay

[01:25] makes good food. Check, check, check.

[01:28] One, two, three. Gordon Ramsay makes

[01:30] good food. Check, check, check. 1, two,

[01:33] 3. The first one was the Moo UM700. Then

[01:36] the Mayano DM20, the Samsung Meteor, and

[01:38] then finally the Fine Amplame A6V. Oh,

[01:41] and all of the mics I test in this video

[01:43] will have Amazon links in the

[01:44] description. So, if you want to go check

[01:45] those out, they're down there. Of all of

[01:47] those, I think it's clear that the VFine

[01:49] took the cake. I mean, it just sounds so

[01:52] good for the price. However, just normal

[01:54] talking isn't the only test that we need

[01:56] to really assess the mic's quality and

[01:58] what it's good at overall. So, let's

[02:00] listen to the singing test.

[02:05] Rainbow, skies are blue.

[02:11] We're over the

[02:13] rainbow. Skies are blue.

[02:17] The Moo and Fine were definitely the

[02:20] best for singing, though the Moo needs

[02:21] to be tuned a bit in post. And here is

[02:23] what that sounds like after some EQ

[02:34] adjustments.Where. Now, clearly the

[02:36] Fifine sounds better than the Moo, but

[02:38] it still is a little bit sharp on the

[02:40] upper end. So, not great for singing.

[02:42] So, I would say this is more suited for

[02:43] voiceover commentary, like gaming,

[02:45] things like that. But since we're

[02:47] talking about that, in contrast to the

[02:49] singing test, what about a test for all

[02:51] of the ragy gamers and streamers? Well,

[02:53] we did a test for you guys, too. Revive

[02:56] me, Eric. Revive me, bro. Revive me,

[02:59] Eric. Revive me. Revive me, bro. Revive

[03:02] me, Eric. Revive me, bro. Revive me,

[03:05] bro. Eric, revive me, bro. Revive me.

[03:09] Again, the Moo and Fine taking the W

[03:12] here, handling yelling quite well. But

[03:14] honestly, the Mayano and the Samsung did

[03:16] very well here. Trust me, some of the

[03:18] other mics just cannot handle it. But

[03:20] audio quality is not the only thing that

[03:22] determines how good a mic is. Rejection

[03:24] can be equally as important depending on

[03:27] your environment. Rejection is how good

[03:29] a microphone is at picking up the

[03:30] intended voice or sound while not

[03:32] picking up or rejecting the sound

[03:35] outside of the intended voice or sound.

[03:37] This could be sounds right behind the

[03:39] microphone like typing on a keyboard or

[03:41] the sides like someone vacuuming the

[03:43] hallway or just your family being way

[03:45] too loud outside your room or inside for

[03:48] that matter. We're going to test this

[03:49] with three different tests. The first me

[03:52] typing on a mechanical keyboard right

[03:54] under the microphone like it would be on

[03:56] your desk. The second, someone vacuuming

[03:58] in the hallway with my door open. And

[04:01] the third, my girlfriend having a full

[04:03] conversation on the phone in my doorway.

[04:07] So

[04:19] [Music]

[04:21] inconsiderate in the background.

[04:34] some

[04:36] people. All right, guys. Now for the

[04:38] ambient test of someone talking in the

[04:39] background. What's going on? It's been a

[04:41] while since I've talked to you, buddy.

[04:44] How are the kids? Hey, Jared. How's the

[04:46] kids? You got a new dog. This is someone

[04:48] talking in the background. So, yeah.

[04:51] That dog is the cutest thing in the

[04:53] world. No, it's not. That dog is so

[04:56] freaking cute. That is like the cutest

[04:59] dog that I've ever seen. Rudest person

[05:01] I've ever met. Did you hear the massive

[05:03] difference with the keyboard test? The

[05:05] Samsung completely fell short. You're

[05:07] having so many of those bassy hits. If

[05:09] you can't hear those bassy hits, make

[05:11] sure to put on headphones so you can

[05:12] listen to the sound test again to really

[05:14] get an idea of what it's going to sound

[05:15] like. Now, the Mayano wasn't great

[05:17] either, making those not best suited for

[05:19] gamers and streamers. I think it's

[05:20] obvious that the Fine is the clear

[05:22] winner here. But even with how good the

[05:24] quality is for under 30 bucks, it's good

[05:27] for the price. You just can't get

[05:29] amazing detail and clarity at this price

[05:32] point. So, let's bump it up just a

[05:34] little bit cuz obviously this is a full

[05:36] budget video. Raising the price from $30

[05:38] up to a max of $60 gives you a lot more

[05:41] options while still staying comfortably

[05:43] low for the benefit of your bank

[05:45] account. However, this is also where we

[05:48] found the most, well, just unimpressive

[05:50] mics. We're testing the Feduch SL40, the

[05:53] Pseudotac ST800, the Papine Amplame AM8,

[05:56] the Logitech orb, the Razer Siren Mini,

[05:58] the Feduch D20, the HyperX SoloCast, and

[06:01] the Toner TD510. Now, we already know

[06:04] the Feduch D20 is awful, but for fun,

[06:07] this is the D20 versus the previous

[06:09] Fifine A6V. Keep in mind that the D20 is

[06:12] the more expensive mic, not the cheaper

[06:14] one. Check, check, check. 1 2 3. Check,

[06:17] check, check. 1 2 3. We can also rule

[06:20] out the Afine Ample game AM8 because

[06:22] one, it just doesn't sound good. Gordon

[06:25] Ramsay makes good food. Gordon Ramsay

[06:28] makes good food. And two, it had a

[06:31] buzzing sound that by itself would

[06:33] disqualify it. All right, so this one's

[06:36] having a weird buzzing thing. I don't

[06:38] know. It It's not happening all the

[06:40] time. It's weirdly going in and

[06:42] out. I don't know, guys. That leaves six

[06:46] mics. Take a listen. Gordon Ramsay makes

[06:49] good food. Gordon Ramsay makes good

[06:53] food. Gordon Ramsay makes good food.

[06:56] Gordon Ramsay makes good food. Gordon

[06:59] Ramsay makes good food. Gordon Ramsay

[07:03] makes good food. Now, most of those

[07:06] sounded pretty good. Logitech orb. But

[07:10] there's actually only one that I think

[07:11] is actually worth it. To show you what

[07:13] makes me think that, you need to know

[07:15] their price.

[07:21] Now that you know their price, listen to

[07:23] these sound tests.Where

[07:26] the

[07:28] rainbow.

[07:29] Somewhere over the

[07:33] rainbow.

[07:34] Somewhere over the

[07:38] rainbow.

[07:39] Somewhere over the rainbow.

[07:44] Somewhere over the

[07:47] rainbow.

[07:49] Somewhere over the

[07:52] rainbow. Revive me, Eric. Revive me,

[07:55] bro. Revive me, Eric. Revive me, bro.

[07:58] Revive me, Eric. Revive me, bro. Revive

[08:02] me, Eric. Revive me, bro. Revive me.

[08:05] Revive me, Eric. Revive me, bro. But

[08:07] now, the one that I recommend, well, the

[08:09] Razer Siren Mini is the cheapest and its

[08:12] quality is actually pretty good, but it

[08:15] does need a

[08:16] popular as well as its rejection with a

[08:18] keyboard is pretty

[08:22] awful. It's also not compatible with

[08:25] Mac. Now, the HyperX SoloCast, on the

[08:27] other hand, has even clearer quality

[08:29] than the Razer. It's also basically the

[08:32] same price and it is compatible with

[08:34] Mac, but it's plagued with the same

[08:36] issue having horrible rejection with a

[08:38] keyboard. Take a

[08:42] listen. The Toner TD510, on the other

[08:45] hand, does a great job with rejection

[08:46] both with a keyboard and environmental

[08:49] sounds. However, the sound profile is

[08:51] very bassy and not true to life, as well

[08:54] as having issues with pllosives. Now,

[08:56] the sound profile isn't necessarily a

[08:58] bad thing, as some people may prefer

[09:00] this sound profile, but I think most

[09:01] people will prefer a true-to-life sound.

[09:03] So, then the Feduch SL40, right? It has

[09:07] great audio quality, handles rejection

[09:08] of a keyboard very well, has fantastic

[09:11] build quality, and even has an XLR

[09:13] connection if you prefer that over USB.

[09:16] Well, it's actually not this one either,

[09:18] because it's just too expensive at

[09:20] $54.99. Comparing this to the mics we're

[09:22] about to test in the $60 to $80 price

[09:24] point, which is just a little bit more,

[09:26] literally 510 bucks more than this one,

[09:28] they're in an entire level above

[09:30] something like this Feduch D20. So then

[09:33] that leaves the Pseudotac ST800. It's

[09:36] well priced at

[09:37] $43.54 at the time of filming. Has

[09:39] really nice quality. Does great with

[09:41] rejection of a keyboard. Didn't do

[09:43] amazing on the Yel test, but for singers

[09:45] or using this for voiceovers, this is a

[09:47] great mic at a really good price point.

[09:49] Otherwise though, I would bump it up to

[09:51] the next price category because you get

[09:52] a lot more for your money. Now, jumping

[09:55] to the highest tier of mics that we're

[09:57] testing today, only bumping up the price

[10:00] $20 to an $80 max. This gives us five

[10:04] big competitors. Now, this time we're

[10:06] not just going to test them like we've

[10:07] tested the previous ones. We're actually

[10:09] going to test for three different

[10:10] categories. We're trying to find just

[10:12] the overall best audio quality for the

[10:15] mic itself. Then we're trying to find

[10:17] the best mic that's suited for gamers

[10:18] and streamers. And then thirdly, we're

[10:20] trying to find the best microphone for

[10:22] singing or music. These five mics are

[10:25] going through five major tests and

[10:27] receiving points 1 through 10 for each

[10:30] test. The first test, build quality. The

[10:33] Samsung Q2U's build is almost entirely

[10:35] metal, including the grill, and comes

[10:37] with a nice quality stand. Overall

[10:39] rating of 8.5. The Elgato Wave Neo is

[10:42] made entirely of plastic and is quite

[10:44] small and light. The stand is mostly

[10:46] metal with a greatl looking design, but

[10:47] does wiggle around a little bit. Overall

[10:49] rating of 4.75. The Fifine K658 is made

[10:53] almost entirely of metal. Includes a

[10:55] cool looking plastic shock mount.

[10:56] However, had a loose, cheap feeling foam

[10:58] windscreen, bringing the rating down to

[10:59] a 6.5. The Fine Amplitank Tank 3 is

[11:03] built well like a tank being literally

[11:05] entirely metal except for the buttons

[11:08] and controls bringing its rating to a

[11:10] 9.5. The Mo PD200X is made completely of

[11:13] metal aside from its RGB ring and

[11:15] windscreen and includes a nice shock

[11:17] mount with a metal screw point bringing

[11:19] its rating to an 8.2. So for build

[11:22] quality, the Tank 3 came in first,

[11:23] closely followed by the Q2U and

[11:27] PD200X. This is how long each microphone

[11:30] takes to be built completely from being

[11:32] broken down. Now, first the Samsung

[11:34] takes the first place for the quickest.

[11:36] The Tank 3 comes in next and then the

[11:39] K658 and PD200X with the Elgato coming

[11:42] in last because of the more intensive

[11:45] stand building process. Now in your bag,

[11:47] this is going to come in at about 10.5

[11:49] in by a width of about 4 in.

[11:52] Travelability here is excellent. I would

[11:54] say this gets a 9.5. For the Elgato Wave

[11:57] Neo, this thing can really break down

[11:59] into a very tiny package. It measures 6x

[12:02] 5 1/2 in with the stand, but this really

[12:05] travels the best if you leave the stand

[12:07] being extremely light and small. You

[12:10] just have to be a little bit more

[12:11] careful with it as it's made of plastic,

[12:13] but this thing comes in at a solid 7.1.

[12:15] Now, the K658 comes in at 8 by 7 1/4 in

[12:19] with the shock mount not installed. The

[12:21] thing that I don't like is this coming

[12:22] off, but I would say it's durable.

[12:24] Because of that, I think I would give

[12:25] this a 7.3. The Tank 3 is super durable

[12:29] and pretty small at 6 1/2 by 3 in if you

[12:32] leave the mount installed. Though it is

[12:34] quite heavy, it's super durable, making

[12:36] for a score of 8.8. Now, the Mo PD200X.

[12:40] The shock mount is quite timely to

[12:42] remove and install because you need a

[12:43] Phillips head screwdriver. But if you

[12:45] travel with it while leaving the shock

[12:47] mount installed, it will take up a

[12:49] little bit more space, but it's still

[12:50] very, very durable, making for a score

[12:53] of 6.4. Travelability is close here, but

[12:56] the Q2U definitely takes the dub. For

[12:59] controls and software with the Q2U,

[13:01] well, this doesn't have a software. It

[13:02] has an on andoff switch, and it's got

[13:04] these headphone volume adjustment

[13:06] buttons. But since it doesn't have any

[13:08] special features, I'm just going to give

[13:09] it a 5.5. Now, for the Elgato Wave Neo,

[13:12] well, this doesn't really have any

[13:14] controls on it except a mic mute switch

[13:16] right there. However, it's also very

[13:17] good out of the box, but it does have a

[13:19] software. In the Wavelink software, you

[13:22] can adjust everything from monitor mix

[13:24] to headphone volume, mute and unmute,

[13:26] and there's also a mode called voice

[13:28] focus that is basically a background

[13:29] noise cancelling mode. However, the

[13:32] coolest thing is having the ability to

[13:34] adjust a fully custom EQ. Even though

[13:37] this doesn't have a bunch of controls on

[13:38] it itself, I still think because that

[13:40] software is so freaking useful, I'm

[13:43] going 8.5. The controls for the K658,

[13:46] well, it has a volume wheel right here.

[13:48] You have a meat switch right there, as

[13:50] well as a touch sensitive button to

[13:51] adjust the RGB on the bottom of the

[13:54] stand. While I really like the way the

[13:55] wheel feels, there still isn't a

[13:57] dedicated gain knob or any software,

[13:59] bringing this to a score of 6.0. The

[14:02] VFine Ample Tank Tank 3. On this one,

[14:05] we've got the actual gain adjustment on

[14:06] a knob, which is super nice, and a

[14:08] headphone adjustment plus a mic mute

[14:10] there. Now, this is pretty much as good

[14:12] as it gets for your controls, but

[14:14] because it doesn't have a software, this

[14:16] comes in at a 6.5. Now, the Mo

[14:20] PD200X, this one is excellent. There is

[14:22] a mic mute button, a knob that switches

[14:24] between your gain control and headphone

[14:26] volume, as well as a button on the

[14:28] bottom of the mic to change RGB. Now,

[14:30] not just that, but this microphone also

[14:32] has a software. As you can see, it's the

[14:34] Mono Link app. Then, in the software,

[14:36] you can adjust almost everything on this

[14:38] mic from gain to headphone volume.

[14:40] turning on and off your mic monitoring,

[14:42] different EQ settings for recording, a

[14:45] limiter, and even a compressor. You can

[14:47] even change the RGB brightness, and dial

[14:49] in the exact color you want with a color

[14:51] wheel. And because of that, this gets a

[14:53] 10 out of 10 for its controls and

[14:55] software. Both the PD200X and Elgato

[14:58] Wave Neo far excel over the others

[15:00] because of their software, allowing for

[15:02] so much more

[15:04] control. Gordon Ramsay makes good food.

[15:08] Excellent sound quality here. Nice

[15:10] trebles, nice mid-range, great for

[15:11] singing and vocals like that. This has

[15:14] been a staple for so long now. It's such

[15:16] a great microphone. You really can't go

[15:18] wrong with it. I would give this a

[15:22] 9.5, maybe a 9.4. It has a slight noise

[15:25] floor, but overall it's really quite

[15:27] impressive. Gordon Ramsay makes good

[15:30] food. The audio quality on the Wave Neo

[15:32] is really impressive. It's very true to

[15:34] life. It's got nice deep rich bass

[15:37] frequencies from your mouth, from your

[15:38] vocals. This microphone also by far did

[15:41] the best with the rejection test, both

[15:42] with yelling and with the keyboard test.

[15:45] Take a listen to

[15:47] this. The trebles are nice and crisp,

[15:49] but they're not overbearing. It's really

[15:51] quite impressive. I'm going as high as a

[15:54] 9.6 here. It's really good. Gordon

[15:57] Ramsay makes good food. Not bad here,

[16:01] but the trebles are just a bit muffled

[16:03] and they don't really have that upper

[16:05] end. Uh, and in this price category with

[16:07] all the other microphones, it's just

[16:08] doesn't compete well enough. It's still

[16:10] a good microphone, but I'm giving it a

[16:13] 7.7. Gordon Ramsay makes good food. Now,

[16:17] this one's not really that great. It

[16:19] sounds a bit muffled, especially

[16:20] compared to the other ones on the list.

[16:22] I just don't really like the audio

[16:24] quality. The trebles are not crisp. the

[16:26] mid-range is it's just not a great

[16:29] microphone. Because of those reasons,

[16:30] I'm going to give the Amplitank Tank 3

[16:33] probably only a 4.4, maybe a five. And

[16:36] that's just because compared to these

[16:37] other microphones, it just doesn't even

[16:39] sound close to as good. Gordon Ramsay

[16:42] makes good food. This one is so

[16:45] impressive. Ultra low noise floor.

[16:48] You're basically hear nothing here. The

[16:50] trebles are so crisp, but not

[16:52] overbearing. Just sounds very true to

[16:54] life. It's got great bass frequencies.

[16:55] It sounds really impressively true to

[16:57] life. This one is excellent. Definitely

[17:00] the best one on the list. This comes in

[17:02] at a 9.8. Maybe just make it a 10

[17:06] because it is the best on the list. Now,

[17:08] totaling up all the scores, these are

[17:10] the best for overall quality, best for

[17:12] streamers and gamers, and the best for

[17:15] singers and musicians. For the overall

[17:17] best audio quality, the Mayano PD200X is

[17:21] absolutely the best. It's very true to

[17:23] life, has a fantastic low noise floor,

[17:26] and it looks pretty dang good. However,

[17:28] it didn't do great on the yell test. So,

[17:30] if you are a gamer or streamer who kind

[17:31] of does rage though, there is a better

[17:33] microphone for that. And that award goes

[17:35] to the extremely impressive Elgato Wave

[17:38] Neo. I love this mic. Now, while the

[17:41] build quality of the mic itself is

[17:43] mainly plastic, the amazing ability to

[17:46] have fantastic rejection both of

[17:48] keyboards as well as doing extremely

[17:50] well on the yell test, but it also has

[17:53] audio quality that is very close to the

[17:56] PD200X. This is a very, very good

[17:59] microphone for singers and musicians.

[18:01] Well, it's the Samsung Q2U. This thing

[18:04] has been a staple and it continues to be

[18:06] a staple. This is a hair away from both

[18:09] the Elgato Wave Neo and the PD200X in

[18:11] terms of quality, but just a little bit

[18:13] more noise floor. But oh my gosh, all

[18:16] three of these mics are fantastic. And

[18:17] if you want to check out any of them or

[18:19] any of the mics I have in this video,

[18:20] there's Amazon links below 40 US, UK,

[18:22] Canada, and international links. And let

[18:24] me know if you like this new style. But

[18:26] this is a consumer tech review and I'll

[18:27] see you guys in the next