Blue Ember XLR Condenser Mic for Recording and Streaming, Custom Cardioid Capsule and Mic Stand Mount, Gray

These days you can get the Blue Ember for quite some good deals and it's just such a relaxed and smooth sounding microphone with lots of volume in the voice. Perfect for podcasts and other voice applications like streaming etc. Get a good pop-filter OR have good mic technique and you will love this microphone. It's a condensator mic so you will need phantom power.

With the current price, might be the best investment I have ever made. The quality of this mic is incredible and comparable with way higher end mics. Build quality is solid as well. No complains at all. Amazing.

I'm not an audiophile or even an advanced audio user. I had been using a Yeti to record voice audio for recordings computer software demonstrations I record for you tube and corporate posts. The Yeti works fine, especially when you post process it. But I wanted to improve my audio for live conference calls. So I did my normal 'watch a thousand online reviews' and try to decide what I wanted. A bit of background on my selecting an XLR mic. With a USB mic like the Yeti, you can't run it through any external processing before it hits the computer. So you get what's in the mic, and that's it. The challenge with condenser mics is that they pick up sounds in your neighbor's house. So I've always run a noise gate filter on post production of Yeti recordings. When I first started thinking about the Yeti for conference calls, I tried an opensource piece of software that put itself in the audio path on Windows, and provided noise gate, eq, and more. The problem with that was it took so much of system resources, my computer couldn't keep up with the audio and web conference (i.e. all glitchy). And it wasn't very stable either. So that's when I looked at external hardware that could be used to apply filters like a noise gate. That led me into XLR mics. I won't go into my journey to find the right piece of hardware for the external noise gate to usb into PC. That's a long one, and one I haven't been too happy with so far. I'm leaning back toward just using a very simple XLR to usb interface until things advance in the current other options. So that said, this mic does really well with its cardioid pattern, and I am able to adjust the gain t where ambient noise doesn't really become irritatingly apparent. But, this also requires the mic to be 2 to 4 inches from my mouth. That's ok for the most part, since it's so slim, it doesn't really distract when in frame with a video web conference. I had purchased a shock mount for it and that was quite a bit of hardware in the way of the video frame. But I found I don't need it. When on a boom from a tripod, with the included hard mount, I don't get any reverb or noise transfer into the mic I did with the Yeti and absolutely used a shock mount for that. So that was a pleasant surprise. No shock mount = less crap on screen. Second thing that surprised me was that it seems to have an integrated pop filter. You have to practically smack your lips on the screen before you'd need a pop filter. So again, slim mic, not taking up frame real estate. I believe this is why they add streamer application to their marketing for it. And I'd agree. Now, like any mic you can crank the gain and keep it out of frame, but with this type of mic, you will be needing a very specialized recording booth. The recommended use for and mic like this is 2 to 4 inches from your mouth. I've seen a lot of reviews of this mic where they say 'oh, the included mount is substandard and you NEED a shock mount', and the same sort of thing about a pop filter. To that, I say 'no, you don't' The mic generates a great reproduction of my voice and I am pleased with it right out of gate, with no processing. All that said, I've now caught the bug to improve everything, and have added some dedicated lighting to improve my video. While it's not impossible to light and keep this very slim mic in a spot that is acceptable without throwing a shadow on your face, I've decided to try out a hyper cardioid pencil mic that I can keep just out of frame. But I will definitely have this for my go to mic when doing voice over for my recordings. I'm sure I will still do post on it, but is light years ahead of the Yeti in voice quality, so way less post and better overall results. For $100 (plus any additional XLR stuff you need if you're just leaving USB mode) I think it's money well spent. I like this thing a lot and wouldn't hesitate to recommend to someone with similar needs as me.

Best sound detailing.... Just awesome sounding.... Pro Sounding with Excellent detailing.... Worth products....Just Amazing when working with Audient Cards.... Would suggest This microphone under 15k range.....

Qualidade excelente para gravação.

These are discontinued....meaning they are WAY CHEAPER than they should be.. MUCH BETTER than a AT2020 and half the price on Amazon, where I bought it. Great deal especially for someone that doesn't have a mic. It requires phantom power so keep that in mind. Boosting this mic a bit helps

Muy buen micrófono, excelente construcción, sólido, buena calidad de sonido