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V-MODA BoomPro Microphone for Gaming & Communication - Black

As a non-gamer I bought this for video voice overs, skype, podcasting and for use with my video camera. Now I think this won't work with my DSLR or Canon Vixia 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 battery button 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 rubbing it against a zipper on a sweater or coat No big deal The microphone picks up a very faint talking echo in my custom cubicle style work desk, unless so I don't turn it so the microphone holes are angled up and down which completely suppresses any echo the phone will not work with my Scarlett preamp which is designed for large professional microphones Pros: This V-Moda microphone sounds louder clear r and precise than an XM8500 professional stage microphone I recently purchased, which sounds 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 frequency and tone like many other tiny mics. unpowered or cheap headset microphones. 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. The V-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. Somehow the tiny, almost invisible microphone, it 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've ever used sound totally natural. Microphones convert your voice into an electronic signal, so there will always be some sort of coloring in the tone of your voice, 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. It is intentionally designed this way to avoid background noise and to prevent unnecessary high-pitched sounds from being 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 sounded clearer and less muddy than my Behringer XM8500 microphone, which was quite shocking considering the size difference. I've heard a lot of little microphones that sound so muffled and terrible that they're mostly useless. generation. For video voice-over work, the V-Moda is too mid-bass heavy for my liking. 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'll have to make some edits in a sound editor or use some kind of equalizer. It's for people who use it to make professional recordings. Now, again, I was skeptical that this microphone could be good enough for professional recording. But indeed, he can. You will need to do a little 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 get too much line noise from the cheap internal microphone port in your laptop or your computer. Every computer is different. However, both my laptop and my PC computer have a lot of line noise when I use a microphone on the factory microphone input jack. I tried running 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'd recommend you either buy a Sound Blaster Audigy (open your computer and check for open PCI and PCI express slots ). They make PCI or PCI Express sound cards. Or you can get a USB sound card. I found a very good PCI sound card that doubles as a professional headphone amplifier. It is called ASUS Xonar DG 5.1 Channel PCI Interface Sound Card. 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 has no line noise, and it has a built-in amplifier to power expensive headphones. People report 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 inexpensive headphones or professional 600 ohm headphones that 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 sound cards, 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 some frequencies or distort the voice too much, you cannot use sound editing to correct the sound. No amount of editing can fix a bad microphone, because sound is lost before it is recorded. The 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. High frequency sounds are rarely desired in vocal recordings, and today's most popular radio broadcast microphones 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 confident that the V-Moda records with enough 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. Unlike other microphones that sound miserable and painful to 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% of 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 pro-grade microphone. I would consider this a professional microphone for home users and hobbyists. If you need something better than that, I suggest getting a dynamic microphone like the Shure SM57 with an extra heavy-duty gray foam air sleeve, a Shure SM7, or an AKG D5. Next you will need a preamp like a Scarlett 2i2 USB and a 15ft XLR microphone cable. 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 hear too much background white noise in your recordings. Start by turning the gain down first and look 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 better a $30 sound card can make the microphone sound. If you are having sound problems or have too much line noise, or not enough gain, try buying a new sound card. Microphone V-Moda vs. Golden Age Project D2. I bought a new professional dynamic microphone and tested it yesterday against the V-Moda. The Golden Age Project D2 sounds much worse than the V-Moda BoomPro. Ditto for the XM8500, which sounds much 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 that are much more expensive. The ASUS sound card is not perfect, it has caused my computer to freeze several times with 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 moment to start recording when you turn on the sound card, as it has to charge the capacitors. The Asus sound card software lets you do real-time "EQ" adjustment of your microphone input, and it sounds great, with improved high frequency response from the Vmoda mic, which for the price of the card his ($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.