V-MODA BoomPro Microphone for Gaming and Communication - Black

As a non-gamer I bought this for video voiceovers, skype, podcasting and for use with my video camera. Now I think it won't work with my Canon Vixia DSLR or video camera, as they require a "line level" input from a powered microphone such as the Vid-Pro lavalier microphone sold on Amazon, which takes a coin cell battery and contains a small amplifier. Cons: The 1/8" Y-cable that comes with this one is terrible. It plugs in very tight and will never come out. But it seems permanent, once plugged in, and barely comes back. I felt like I could break the cable trying to remove the 2 small 90 degree plugs from my computer.I would suggest buying a new headset microphone adapter cable, for $5 on Amazon that has straight plugs.The cord is nice and braided which feels good, but it does create a bit of noise when you rub it against a zipper on a sweater or coat. It's okay. The microphone picks up a very faint talking echo in my custom cubicle-style office, unless i rotate it the microphone holes therefore face up and down completely eliminating any echo.rophone will not work with my Scarlett preamp designed for large professional microphones.Pros: This V-Moda microphone sounds clearer t accurate than an XM8500 professional stage microphone I recently purchased which sounded very dense, muffled and muddy compared to the V-Microphone Moda. After seeing how small the V-Moda was, holding it in my hand, I was extremely skeptical of its ability to properly reproduce the human voice without seriously distorting the frequency and tone like many other tiny unpowered mics or cheap headset mics. The V-Moda BoomPro is no ordinary cheap microphone. It was designed by real sound engineers because it blocks out background noise better than my $100 studio microphone and sounds almost as clear. -Moda is more of a bass and mid-range microphone, picking up the lows very well, without picking up the very lows which cause distortion and jamming. It seems to have just the right frequency response to pick up the human voice. It does not pick up ultra-low rumble frequencies or ultra-high-pitched background noise. Either way, the tiny, nearly invisible microphone records a big, booming sound and reproduces my voice with clarity and authority. The V-Moda is worth every penny because it is as good as advertised. Observations and Technique Failure: The V-Moda does not reproduce the human voice accurately. None of the microphones I have ever used sound completely natural. Microphones convert your voice into an electronic signal, so there will always be some kind of coloration of your voice tone, music recorded in the background, etc. The V-Moda is a bit heavy in the low mids, and a bit light in the high end frequency spectrum. are picked up by the microphone. I'm perfectly happy with the sound of the V-Moda for Skype calls and phone calls, as it's near perfect. Using the default settings, the V-Moda sounds clearer and less muddy than my Behringer XM8500 microphone, which was quite shocking considering the size difference. I've heard a lot of small microphones that sound so muffled and terrible that they're mostly useless. The V-Moda sounds very similar to my inexpensive studio microphone, an AKG P120 condenser microphone, which uses 48 volts and a preamp, a 2nd Gen Scarlett 2i2. For video voice-over work, the V-Moda is too heavy to mid-bass for my taste. Surprisingly, the V-Moda microphone seems to automatically block frequencies below 100Hz, preventing heavy bass noise from ruining the sound. But if you want your voice to sound absolutely natural, you will have to do some editing in a sound editor or use some sort of equalizer. This is for people who use it to make professional recordings. Now again, I was skeptical that this microphone could be good enough to make a professional recording. But indeed it can. You'll need to do some editing. I'll tell you how I was able to do it. First, you will need a new computer sound card. Unless you have a really good internal sound card in your computer or a professional recording studio, you might have too much noise. line out from your laptop or computer's cheap internal microphone port. Every computer is different. However, my laptop and PC computer both have a lot of line noise when I use a microphone on the factory microphone input jack. I tried using the V-Moda on a Sound Blaster Audigy sound card and there was absolutely no line noise or audible hiss. This is called the signal-to-noise ratio. Additional sound cards you buy separately may be better than the internal sound card, so if you're getting line noise, I recommend you either buy a Sound Blaster Audigy (open your computer and check the PCI slots open and PCI express). They make PCI or PCI Express sound cards. Or you can get a USB sound card. I found a really good PCI sound card that doubles as a professional headphone amplifier. It's called the ASUS Xonar DG sound card with 5.1 channel PCI interface. You can get it here on Amazon: http://amzn.to/2AVdJQm This ASUS DG sound card is designed for headphones, it has very high signal strength so it does not has no line noise, and it has a built-in amplifier to power expensive headphones. People report a noticeable improvement using this sound card with headphones. The ASUS DG sound card actually has adjustable output for different types of headphones, so it can work with cheap headphones or professional 600 ohm headphones which usually require an expensive external headphone amplifier. You can configure it for different headphone OHM ratings. I have never seen this feature on any other device. re sound card, especially factory internal sound cards. Sound Editing: Back to V-Moda Microphone. What makes a good microphone good is its ability to retain recorded information. If you lose certain frequencies or distort the voice too much, you can't use it. editing to fix the sound. No amount of editing can fix a bad microphone, because sound is lost before it is recorded. V-Moda handles sound editing extremely well. Again, I was shocked. It's not as good as my AKG P120, but it's close enough after fitting, that no normal person will ever notice a difference. The V-Moda cuts out a lot of the high frequencies and it naturally boosts some of the low mids, due to its design. You won't be able to magically recreate the missing high frequency sounds, but for vocal recordings this is perfectly fine and even desired in most situations. frequency are rarely desired in recordings vocals, and the most popular radio broadcast microphones today sound very similar to this V-Moda microphone, with muted highs. The V-Moda doesn't have an absolutely accurate sound, it does sound a bit boosted in the midrange area, but with some sound EQ tweaks in a sound editing program, you can make the sound more natural, simply by reducing some of the mids. If you just get a free program like Audacity, you can record your voice and then edit the sound using the built-in equalizer to get the exact sound you want. I'm sure the V-Moda records with sufficient quality that you can safely edit the sound recording without losing a significant amount of audio integrity. -mid-bass region. But it seems to be perfectly suited for picking up the human voice and blocking out things happening in the background. It's obviously a very carefully designed microphone, and is incredibly good for the price. other microphones that sound miserable and sore on the ears, this V-Moda microphone has a very soft, very warm sound that is very clear. I'm so happy to know that the engineers actually designed this microphone, unlike 99% other microphones in this price range that seem like random accidents and lack the ability to recreate the human voice. You will need some sound editing to remove some of the mid bass to make this microphone more accurate, but with a bit of sound editing I think you can make this microphone sound good enough that you never need to buy a more expensive professional grade microphone. I would consider this a professional microphone for home users and hobbyists. If you need something better than this I suggest you get a dynamic microphone like the Shure SM57 with an extra heavy duty gray foam windsock, a Shure SM7 or an AKG D5. Then you'll need a preamp like a Scarlett 2i2 USB and an XLR microphone cable 15ft.If you need super fine sensitivity and detail, then buy a 48 volt powered condenser microphone like the AKG P120, and a microphone stand with a boom arm on it, then you can hear a pin drop, literally. You'll want to buy a Sound Blaster Audigy or the ASUS DG sound card if you're using a PC computer, if you're hearing too much background white noise in your recordings. Start by lowering the gain first and looking for updated drivers for your factory sound card. Edit: 11/23/2017 I received my Asus Xonar DG sound card for my 5 year old motherboard with a PCI slot on Windows 7. The sound card The microphone input jack used with the V-Moda BoomPro is absolutely crystal clear with no trace of line noise or white noise. This V-Moda microphone sounds even better now, sounding more natural and even clearer. I'm shocked at how much a sound card $30 sound can make the microphone sound better. If you are having sound problems or have too much line noise, or not enough gain, try buying a new sound card. V-Moda microphone vs Golden Age Project D2. I bought a new dynamic professional microphone and tested it yesterday against the V-Moda. The Golden Age Project D2 sounds much worse than the V-Moda BoomPro. Same for the XM8500 , which sounds way worse, but better than the D2. Again, I'm so surprised. The D2 microphone was $150, but it sounds like you're talking into a plastic bucket, compared to the natural clarity of the V- Moda. So far the V-Moda sounds better than 2 other unpowered microphones I've tried which are much more expensive. a blue screen, if I try to use my Scarlett Focusrite at the same time, to record multiple devices at the same time. It also takes a while to start recording when you turn on the sound card, because it has to charge the capacitors. The Asus sound card software allows you to make an "EQ" adjustment in time. real ps from your microphone input, and the sound is great, with improved high frequency response from the Vmoda mic, which for the price of the sound card ($30) is really great. With the treble boosted, the Vmoda sounds even clearer and crisper. Conclusion: Get a new computer sound card, and don't worry about buying a professional condenser or studio microphone. Get the V-Moda.