Blue Ember XLR Condenser Microphone for Recording, Podcasting, Streaming, Custom Cardioid Capsule and Mic Stand Mount - Grey

It's not just good for the price – I'd honestly put it up there as one of the best microphones ever, especially when you consider it's under $150. And as far as SDCs go, it's definitely among the best. The clarity and detail it captures are incredible; Punches way above the £49 I got it for, better than some £150 mics out there.

For the price this is a great option for a home recording studio on a budget. Build quality is impressive, pick up and sound also extremely good for the price and what I need, which is mainly recording vocals.

I've had this now for around a month and this has given me a good amount of time to test it out.The presentation of the microphone is second to none. The box that it comes in looks higher end and the microphone itself looks beautiful. It has a metallic blue tint that contrasts between the microphone head and the neck. It has a fairly decent weight to it and feels premium.Upon opening you'll find that you also get a holder for the microphone but unfortunately you do not get a tripod? I already have a microphone stand but be aware you will need something to attach the inbox holder bracket to.The connection is XLR and you will need a way to power the microphone, again I already have a 48v phantom power supply which also has a line out for easy connections to my pc and laptop.I found the microphone to be inline with a Tonor I use for recording sessions on guitar and it worked well. I actually noticed a significant reduction in background pickup.I normally record using Audacity and have to up the line in volume but I found at base this was good enough to record acoustics without any need for significant gains.I also use a pop filter with my Tonor to reduce background nose but as mentioned, this wasn't really needed when using this which is surprising.What I loved about this microphone was the quality of the sound it recorded.Playing Hotel California with a capo on sixth produced a crisp and rich tone, base was clear as well as mid pickup. No drops or crackling was observed on playback.I decided to try windows own recorder as this generally records audio with worst playback quality in comparison to Audacity and to my surprise found the quality in line. A little lower in volume but crisp and clear.Vocally I found the microphone to be excellent too. There was zero noise or interference when playing guitar via an amp. Ordinarily I would get some feedback but it didn't happen when using this.My only issue is the fact you don't get a tripod. I'm going to buy one separately and then have this on my desk area and revert to my Tonor for vocals.

Best vocal mic I have used, better than other far more expensive mics. Clear tone robust design.

I love the sound of this condenser microphone, as soon as I started using it my friends all noticed the massive improvement in voice quality. They said “I sound more like a Chad” XD. Is very clean and clear. Would recommend.

Mic was really good, lovely quality and feel, however in my streaming set up it was just too sensitive, would be much better in a proper studio set up!

The media could not be loaded. First thoughts:ProsHigh quality and well machined XLR condenser mic.Focused cardioid pattern for frontal sound pickup.Fairly good sound suppression of noise from the top, sides and the back.Thin profiled mic which is fairly unobtrusive when angled horizontally.Audio is deep and rich.ConsMinimal content if you’re looking for a mic kit.A high quality mic that suits many recording scenarios from voice work, Vlogging and internet content creation to vocal session recording (to an extent).This is definitely a mic for those who already own or are familiar with using XLR mics as you will need your existing kit to use it. If you’re buying a gift for somebody then they will need extra kit and equipment if they don’t already have it (this is NOT a USB Plug n Play mic and will require an XLR cable, 48v Phantom power and additional cabling or an audio interface to connect it to your machine).Details and things to note (See pictures and video):Just the mic and holder, so treat this as a new mic only and not a mic kit (no XLR cable, shock mount, pop filters or wind foams).Frontal cardioid pattern so audio capture is from the front (above the ‘Blue’ branding), noise is suppressed from the top and three remaining directions.Removable screw thread adapter set into the holder which can be removed to use on larger swing arm pins, and there’s a tightening ring for connection to the mic so you don’t have to screw the mic in, just seat it and rotate the ring until it’s fully connected to the base of the mic.Tested with my own mic rig but without adding my shock cradle. Audio interfaces used were my Scarlet Solo and a behringer U-Phoria UMC22.Final thoughts:The mic captures deep, warm tones so it works great for my reviews, Vlogs, content creation and voiceovers. I didn’t clean up the audio in any way so the demo is just as it is without any post production.Happy to recommend this if you have similar uses or you’re looking for a good mid-range XLR mic.