Is This the BEST Mic for Beginners? FiFine vs Shure vs Rode

[00:00] you a Creator or streamer looking for

[00:02] the perfect beginner microphone whether

[00:04] you're on a budget or need the best

[00:06] audio quality or just need something

[00:07] easy to operate today we're going to

[00:09] compare three very popular options the

[00:12] fine K 688 the road pod mic and the

[00:15] Shore mv7 by the end hopefully you'll

[00:17] know exactly which one of these mics

[00:19] will suit your needs because I'll be

[00:20] sharing my top pick for which one of

[00:22] these microphones is worth the

[00:24] investment and a big thanks to Riverside

[00:26] for partnering on today's video and as

[00:28] we go throughout the video I'm just

[00:29] going to be cutting between each

[00:30] different mic so you get a bit an idea

[00:32] of what each one sounds like in action

[00:34] for reference I've got the fine and the

[00:36] mv7 both plugged in via USB and then the

[00:38] Pod mic is plugged in Via XLR basically

[00:41] because that's kind of how they're

[00:42] designed to be used out of the box all

[00:44] right so first of all let's talk about

[00:45] the design and build quality of these

[00:47] three different microphones cuz they do

[00:49] range quite a bit now starting out with

[00:51] a f fine it's kind of a combination of

[00:53] metal and plastic and overall I would

[00:55] say this one definitely feels like the

[00:57] cheapest microphone but despite that in

[00:58] terms of the amount of money you're

[01:00] actually paying for this microphone I

[01:01] actually think it's a really good deal

[01:02] the metal definitely feels on the

[01:04] thinner side but it doesn't feel like

[01:05] they've skimped on build quality when it

[01:08] comes to the materials it feels well

[01:10] constructed while also being on the

[01:12] budget end it's also relatively light

[01:14] which again isn't necessarily a bad

[01:15] thing I am actually quite a big fan of

[01:17] the overall design it looks quite nice I

[01:19] like the green the black aesthetic also

[01:21] quite like the shock mount design I

[01:23] think the main downside when it comes to

[01:25] build quality with the F fine is

[01:26] probably where it attaches to your boom

[01:29] arm this does feel a little bit

[01:30] plasticky but again I'm definitely not

[01:32] disappointed considering the price point

[01:34] of this mic now moving up slightly in

[01:36] price we've got the road pod mic and

[01:38] this one to me is a huge contrast in

[01:40] overall build quality this one feels

[01:41] like it's built like an absolute tank

[01:43] it's actually quite heavy almost all of

[01:45] the components are made of metal with

[01:47] the exception of just a couple of things

[01:49] like the tightening knobs on the side

[01:51] but these feel like really high quality

[01:53] plastic and I've said it in my previous

[01:54] review videos of the podmic I think this

[01:56] thing is built to last like I think it

[01:58] will last easily 5 to 10 years in terms

[02:00] of the overall design I think when I

[02:02] first saw it I wasn't as crazy about it

[02:04] but over time it's actually really grown

[02:06] on me I actually really like the kind of

[02:07] old school Timeless classic look that

[02:10] the Pod mic has it doesn't have a

[02:12] removable pot filter like the fine does

[02:14] but again I don't necessarily see that

[02:16] as a downside it's kind of one less

[02:17] component to worry about which is kind

[02:19] of a good thing in my opinion and

[02:20] overall I just think it's a really solid

[02:22] microphone when it comes to the build

[02:24] quality and the design then lastly

[02:25] moving on to the short mv7 which is the

[02:27] most expensive of these three mics I

[02:29] would say it's sits kind of somewhere in

[02:31] between the first two mics although

[02:32] definitely on the Pod mic side when it

[02:34] comes to Quality so overall i' would say

[02:36] it's not quite as solid as the Pod mic

[02:39] but definitely a lot more solid than the

[02:40] fine similar to the Pod mic it's mostly

[02:43] made of metal with the exception of a

[02:45] couple of components like the tightening

[02:47] nods on the side this one does have a

[02:49] removable pop filter the actual mic

[02:51] casing underneath feels really solid and

[02:53] in terms of weight again it's somewhere

[02:54] in between the first two mics it's not

[02:56] super heavy like the Pod mic but it's

[02:58] not really light like the 5 fine in

[02:59] terms of the design I'm a fan I think it

[03:01] looks sleek kind of understated but in

[03:03] some ways maybe just because it's a

[03:04] little bit of a smaller form factor than

[03:06] the five kind of feels like it's not

[03:08] quite as premium somehow even though

[03:10] this is the more expensive microphone

[03:12] but overall I think the winner for me

[03:14] probably is the road when it comes to

[03:16] the design and build quality and

[03:18] especially when you consider how much

[03:19] money you pay for it I think it's an

[03:21] absolute bargain so as you can see these

[03:23] mics overall offer solid build quality

[03:25] which is key for any serious content

[03:27] creator but great gear alone isn't

[03:28] enough to get that perfect sound another

[03:30] really important thing that a lot of

[03:32] people forget about is how you actually

[03:34] record because no matter how great the

[03:36] microphone if you're recording setup

[03:38] isn't solid it's not going to sound good

[03:40] I've seen plenty of content creators

[03:42] invest in really high-end microphones

[03:44] but end up with subpar audio because

[03:46] they record on devices and platforms

[03:48] that don't fully preserve the audio

[03:50] quality one thing to definitely watch

[03:52] out for is using traditional video

[03:54] calling platforms like Zoom that often

[03:56] heavily compress your audio which ruins

[03:59] the quality that you be paid top dollar

[04:01] to achieve that's why if you're doing

[04:02] remote interviews podcasts or any type

[04:05] of remote recording you need a platform

[04:07] that's going to record your audio at its

[04:08] best without bad compression now I use

[04:10] Riverside for all of my remote

[04:12] recordings including my own podcast it's

[04:14] an all-in-one platform that allows you

[04:15] to record stream and edit all of your

[04:18] content right within your web browser in

[04:20] the highest quality possible it's able

[04:22] to do this by recording your audio and

[04:24] your video locally onto your computer

[04:26] meaning you get uncompressed studio

[04:28] quality files which then then get

[04:30] uploaded separately and with Riverside

[04:32] you can also automatically generate

[04:33] captions for your videos and then use

[04:35] the edit to add music and overlays

[04:37] whether you're a YouTuber doing remote

[04:39] interviews or hosting a podcast

[04:41] Riverside makes it easy to keep your

[04:43] production polished and professional if

[04:45] you want to try it out I've got an

[04:46] exclusive discount with the code nick2

[04:48] to get 20% off your subscription of

[04:50] Riverside just click the link in the

[04:51] description and you can even try it out

[04:53] for free with a free account has

[04:55] personally saved me tons of time without

[04:57] compromising quality so I hope it will

[04:59] for as well but of course the design

[05:01] isn't all that matters when it comes to

[05:03] microphones you've also got to consider

[05:05] the features so let's talk about some of

[05:06] the different features of these mics

[05:08] once again starting off with the fir

[05:09] fine so in terms of connectivity you can

[05:10] plug it in Via USBC which is really nice

[05:13] because that's quite modern it's going

[05:14] to connect to most modern laptops or

[05:16] computers you can also connect it via

[05:17] XLR which is a very nice option to have

[05:19] especially on a microphone of this price

[05:21] point you can also plug in your

[05:23] headphones directly so you can get audio

[05:25] monitoring live then you can adjust your

[05:27] monitoring levels with a little knob as

[05:29] well as your level so that's two very

[05:31] nice additions to have right on the

[05:33] microphone itself because it does give

[05:34] you that bit of extra fine control the F

[05:36] fine also has a mute switch on top which

[05:39] is very prominent which changes color

[05:41] depending on whether it's muted or

[05:42] unmuted then moving on to the Pod mic

[05:45] this one is actually pretty feature slim

[05:47] it's purely got an XLR output it's got

[05:50] no headphone monitoring controls it's

[05:51] got no game controls built in it's just

[05:53] the mic and an XLR Port that's

[05:55] essentially all that it's got so if

[05:57] you're looking for lots of onboard

[05:58] features the pod mic might not be the

[06:00] microphone for you then finally we've

[06:02] got the short mv7 this one also has

[06:04] quite a few features so this one

[06:05] features a touch panel which enables you

[06:08] to control the monitor levels because

[06:10] you can also plug in your headphones

[06:11] into the back it also allows you to

[06:13] control the gain of the microphone it's

[06:14] also got a mute switch which is really

[06:16] nice and then again the mvy servant has

[06:18] xli out as well as micro USB out now

[06:21] micro USB is definitely on the older

[06:24] side and I've mentioned in previous

[06:25] reviews that I found the cable that came

[06:27] with the mic has gotten a little bit

[06:29] bent over time so it tends to fall out a

[06:31] little bit I wish the mv7 had USBC like

[06:34] the fine the other thing to mention is

[06:35] that the short mv7 has Associated

[06:38] software which you can install onto your

[06:39] computer and you can use this to do

[06:40] things like change the preset EQ and

[06:43] even record directly to your computer

[06:45] that's the Sha motive app that's what

[06:46] I'm recording this microphone through

[06:48] right now so I consider that kind of an

[06:50] extra feature of the mv7 so for me the

[06:52] winner when it comes to overall features

[06:55] I would probably argue is actually the

[06:57] fine and that's mainly because I really

[06:59] like the knob control of the microphone

[07:02] gain and the headphone output instead of

[07:04] the touch panel the touch panel can be a

[07:06] little bit finicky to use and I also

[07:08] really like the USBC it's very hard to

[07:10] beat USBC in this day and age but even

[07:12] more important than the actual features

[07:14] of these microphones is arguably how

[07:16] good they sound so let's talk about the

[07:18] actual sound quality of these three

[07:20] microphones and one thing that a lot of

[07:22] beginners might notice is any background

[07:24] hiss and that's something that can

[07:25] really destroy your audio quality very

[07:27] quickly this is often caused by too much

[07:30] gain in the microphone or just a lower

[07:32] quality microphone overall now I'm going

[07:33] to start off with the best and then go

[07:35] to the worst when it comes to this so

[07:37] the absolute best is the short mv7 in my

[07:39] experience when you have it set to

[07:41] pretty normal gain levels either on USB

[07:43] or on XLR is almost no background hiss

[07:47] which is pretty amazing when you start

[07:48] to boost the gain a bit you do start to

[07:50] introduce a bit of a background hiss but

[07:52] it's still pretty manageable next in my

[07:54] experience was the road pod mic this

[07:56] definitely has some more noticeable

[07:58] background here just a standard gain

[08:00] levels overall to me it's totally

[08:01] acceptable you can probably e it out

[08:03] pretty easily same deal when you boost

[08:05] the gain on this mic it does increase

[08:08] that background his a bit but I think

[08:09] overall it's still quite manageable now

[08:11] when it comes to the F fine I had two

[08:13] different results depending on whether I

[08:15] was using USB or XLR so when I was using

[08:18] XLR it was actually pretty similar I

[08:20] found to the podmic maybe slightly

[08:22] better so at normal gain levels the fine

[08:25] had pretty manageable background hiss

[08:27] however I first started to notice a b

[08:28] issue when I boosted the gain and

[08:30] stepped back from the fine a bit that's

[08:32] what I noticed more of a background hiss

[08:34] and it was a bit more noticeable I think

[08:36] than the Pod mic however the big problem

[08:38] came when I was recording through USB

[08:40] which is what I'm doing right now and

[08:42] even at standard gain levels the

[08:43] background hiss on this microphone was

[08:45] relatively significant to the point

[08:47] where it was quite noticeable even with

[08:49] a bit of background music and then when

[08:50] I boosted the gain through USB the hiss

[08:53] was pretty much unusable like it was

[08:55] quite loud and very noticeable so I

[08:57] think that's something definitely to

[08:58] keep in mind with with the F fine if

[09:00] you're planning on using it with USB you

[09:02] will definitely have a noisier audio

[09:04] signal than you would if using it just

[09:06] with XLR now moving on to background

[09:08] noise rejection So currently there's

[09:10] actually some construction noise outside

[09:12] my window I've got a whole bunch of

[09:13] construction happening so you might be

[09:14] able to pick up on that as I go through

[09:16] these mics but that's actually a really

[09:17] good test to see how well each of these

[09:19] mics can reject background noise now

[09:21] once again my experience was that the MV

[09:23] Ser was by far the best and not only

[09:25] removed heaps of that background his

[09:27] when I was doing some testing earlier I

[09:28] was picking up pretty much no

[09:30] construction noise coming from the next

[09:32] block over once again I found the Pod

[09:34] mic to be second it was decent when it

[09:37] came to that noise rejection but I could

[09:39] hear a bit of that construction noise

[09:40] coming through and when I stepped back

[09:41] from the mic there was a little bit of

[09:43] echo being picked up for my room and

[09:44] then again I found the fir fying to be

[09:46] the worst when it came to background

[09:47] noise Rejection it seemed to be the most

[09:49] sensitive when it came to picking up

[09:50] that construction noise it was okay but

[09:52] it was definitely less pronounced than

[09:54] the other two microphones and lastly

[09:56] let's talk about the actual sound

[09:57] quality from each of these and the sound

[09:59] 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