FIFINEUSB Studio Recording Microphone Computer Podcast Mic for PC, PS4, Mac with Mute Button & Monitor Headphone Jack, Four Pickup Patterns for Vocals YouTube Streaming Gaming ASMR Zoom-Class (K690)Global Recycled StandardGlobal Recycled StandardGlobal Recycled Standard

TL;DR - If you’re looking for a good, all-around microphone that will morph and shift with you as your recording needs change, and want good recording quality, I would recommend this. With its different polar patterns, it can function as a voiceover microphone, a podcasting microphone, a streaming mic, an audio/video conference mic, a beginner SFX or foley mic, and it even does decently at recording instruments. At its price, it is an incredible value.First of all, I need to provide some context so that both the people who just want a high quality microphone, and the more discerning readers among you can get a reference point for why I’m equipped to make this review. I am an amateur audio recording enthusiast, and in my humble collection of microphones reside a Shure SM7B, a Rode NTG2, a Techzone Audio Products Stellar X2, a Sennheiser E614, an Audio Technica AT2035, a couple of Audio Technica ATR2100x-USB mics, a Golden Audio Project D2, and some wireless Samson systems. I’ve owned a number of other microphones in the past, from the likes of the aforementioned brands, as well as Blue. I’ve also worked with various flavors of digital recorders from Zoom and Sound Devices, and hired and worked on set with audio folks who own Schoeps, Lectrosonics, Neumann and Zaxcom gear. I’m no expert, but I’m a pseudo geek, and I *love* gear. I used to follow Curtis Judd and Podcastage religiously, until I discovered that my devotion to them was draining my wallet (I was buying stuff they reviewed, even though I didn’t need any more gear)When I got the opportunity to review the Fifine* K690, I initially scoffed at the idea. I’d owned budget Chinese audio gear in the past, and they were mediocre at best. How much better could they have become? The photos looked good, though, and my contact at Fifine who reached out to me to request a review agreed that I was not bound to say anything positive if my assessment revealed that there wasn’t anything positive to say. I told her I was in.I’ll gloss over the packaging and appearance with the exception of saying that it’s really quite nice and better than expected at this price point. Packaging discarded, I checked out the build quality of the mic. It has heft, and feels very solid. The finish is really quite nice, and the silk The included base has a small footprint, and the mic swivels smoothly in the base, while staying put when you place it at a weird angle. You can easily mount the mic on a standard mic stand or boom arm with the included adapter, which screws into the bottom of the mic, but Fifine made a very curious choice for the size of that screw thread. Perhaps this is my own ignorance on display, but I would have chosen a 1/4”-20 female screw thread on the bottom of the mic to ensure compatibility with the vast majority of grip gear. Instead, the size is strange and appears to be non-standard.I then plugged it into my 2013 Mac Pro using the included USB cable (very strangely dimensioned at 9.84 feet long), turned my monitors down, slapped my Sony MDR7506 monitor headphones on, and spun up Adobe Audition. After selecting the Fifine K690 as the input, I gave it a whirl. I started with the cardioid polar pattern first, as that’s the one that I use the most, and started recording. Color me impressed! Upon playback, I was a little shocked at how good this jill of all trades microphone performed. I’d turned the gain knob on the mic all the way down, and the signal was strong, with almost no background noise. I don’t know if there’s a built-in pop filter or not, but plosives were minimal, even though I kept saying ping pong pang punk right into the microphone. I spun the microphone around as I kept babbling to test off-axis rejection, and was rewarded with very little pickup on the back side of the mic. I then ran through tests with the other polar patterns, and voila! Omnidirectional was indeed omnidirectional, stereo was stereo and the figure 8 (or bidirectional), worked as claimed.For the price, I think it’s really hard to beat the value of this mic. Time will tell whether it will stand up to the rigors of regular use, but its utility cannot be denied. I use it for Zoom, for letting my daughter record her singing, and for calls home via Google Voice. It has a built in mute button, which is much easier to access and use than the mute button on Zoom, or having to press the Zoom keyboard combination to mute. If I was a podcaster, I’d take it on the road with me and save time on setup, and give my back a break. It now sits on my desk, taking centerstage, while my SM7B sits on its boom stand, viewing it askance, probably muttering less than savory things under its breath. I never thought I’d say this, but this might be the only mic I’d need. Does that mean I’ll stop watching Curtis Judd and occasionally getting one of the mics he recommends, even if they can only be used in limited situations? Nah, I like audio gear, and this K690 will someday join my SM7B in envy. But until then, it's a solid, all-around replacement that simplifies my audio chain significantly and works well for my current needs.*It’s pronounced like you would say the word “fine” twice in a row. I had to know since I was having too much fun making up pronunciations, and emailed them to ask

I waited a long while until I'd write a review. This bad boy works flawlessly and weighs pretty hefty too. It connects via usb-c, (which is always a good sign) and a really neat feature, the monitoring has it's own volume knob, which makes tuning it very easy. The mode switching is quick and each microphone is on the same level of quality, making it's scope of use pretty large without giving up on quality.

Needed to do something about the sound on my computer due to many Zoom and Teams calls. This is easy to set up and works great. Appreciate the ease of use and excellent sound it provides. Highly recommend!

This product is great! It sounds good and everything in the box is very useful. The cord is perfect length and I love how you can change the sensitivity and that you can listen to yourself. Durability wise the knobs move around but only if you move them forcefully so nothing to worry bout really. Only complaint I have is with its use, its settings are cool on the top on my head I think it has 4, but one setting works perfectly and its the setting I’ll be using anyways but the others when I listen to myself in the mic sound weird. But sound weird but not any sound really at all but I can see that there is a sound output. In the manual it comes with different setting options to choose from so I’m guessing I’d have to change them in my computer in order for them to sound properly so it can be a bit foggy but nothing overly complicated. It’s not too big but also not too small in my opinion so if it’s too short it has a stand holder thing you can screw into the bottom to attach whatever length stand you want. The weight is good, it’s not light like something cheap b until it doesn’t feel like a brick of metal either. You could definitely carry this thing on the go I’d say it’s pretty compatible.

This microphone is seriously awesome. There are quite a few USB microphones out there, and Fifine has made an excellent one. I already own the Blue Yeti and I wanted to see how this compared, as the features (and looks) seems pretty comparable.In most categories, the Fifine microphone is actually a clear winner! Here is a quick pros and cons list.WHERE THE FIFINE K690 WINS:- Quality and feel of buttons and knobs- PriceWHERE THE BLUE YETI WINS:- Live monitor audio quality- Includes a pop filter- Overall reliabilityWHERE THEY ARE EQUAL:- Audio recording quality- High quality weighted standLet me explain some of those things. So firstly, the audio quality is basically identical. Except if you're a major audio snob - but then why are you buying a USB microphone? I would say maybe the Blue Yeti has a very slight "warm" tone by comparison but this is something that can be easily compensated for in editing and is not really a measure of quality.The biggest PRO to me of the K690 is the buttons. I absolutely hate the buttons and knobs on the Blue Yeti. The Yeti's mute button only works about half the time, but the K690 has a springy button with plenty of feedback. Plus, the light changes color to show it's muted, unlike the flashing vs. static red light on the Yeti. The knobs also tend to turn a lot more comfortably. The Yeti's mode knobs require a lot of force to change. Otherwise, the layout is the same on both microphones, but the K690's are far more comfortable!Where the Fifine K690 fails for me is the live monitoring. As in, when you plug in a pair of headphones so you can hear what is being picked up by the mic. The quality of the live monitoring is significantly lower than the quality of audio actually being recorded. And that also goes for using it as a playback device for your computer. Audio sounds a bit tinny and like there is a bit of reverb. On top of that, the headphone jack is not the most reliable. I often need to spin my headphone jack around to get it the perfect ideal spot in the output hole, otherwise I only get audio out of one ear. It's possible I got a bad unit, and that this is not the case across all models. I also don't believe this is a deal-breaker to most people buying this. I have pretty high standards for headphones, so this affected me more. And my solution is just to not use this monitoring feature and just use the microphone as a microphone.I have used it for ASMR, Discord calls while gaming, and work calls, and it has performed well. I actually have this mounted to my desk for easy use, while my Blue Yeti gets used in a more soundproof area for recording voice-overs. So, this will definitely be a microphone I use often. And for around $30 less than the Blue Yeti, I think it is a very good purchase! I have previously used and reviewed a $30 Fifine USB mic and decided that it had an amazing level of sound quality for the price, so it's no surprise that the K690 was also amazing.