Today we take a look at a super sleek and sexy, and very high quality condenser microphone
that… even works with your phone?!?!
Yes, please!!
[HOOK]
I know, I know.
I said Episode 2 of the Vox Test would be a $50 super-budget microphone - but that got
delayed in shipping, so instead we’re taking a look at this really awesome studio quality
mic, instead.
Those of you following me on Instagram will have noticed I do have that mic plus a mystery
cheaper mic in to review on this show, too!
*hint hint*
[INTRO PRE-ROLL] [AD DISCLOSURE]
This video is sponsored by Editors Keys - out of the interest of full-disclosure.
All opinions stated in this video are my own and they do not have editorial control over
the content, but this is a sponsored review.
Let’s get into it.
[INTRO]
The SL150 is a USB condenser microphone with large 34mm shock-mounted diaphragms.
I don’t often cover unboxings or packaging much anymore, but man they provide an awesome
unboxing experience with this microphone.
The mic comes with a shock mount and a very long USB cable in a hard-shell, foam-padded
carrying case that will keep the mic perfectly safe for long-term storage, travel, etc.
I wish all mics came with this kind of casing.
Not to mention - it came with a shock mount!!
This is usually another $25-50 you have to spend - or closer to $150 in the case of my
RE20 - on top of the mic price, but with the SL150 you get it bundled in with the very
impressive $140 price tag.
Editors Keys also sent me a small desk stand and their dual-layer pop filter with the mic.
Thanks for the hookup.
So far, the pop filter seems to be holding up much better than the cheap, generic pop
filter of the exact same build style that I have for my other mics.
If that remains the case in a month or so, I may do a comparison video showing the value
of spending a little more on the little things.
We’ll see.
[PHYSICAL OVERVIEW]
Taking a look at the microphone itself, we get a gorgeous grey-silver-y mic cylinder
- close to the the same color as my RE20, but with a lot more shine.
Below the side-address mic grill there is a cardioid pattern symbol along with a shiny
gold band that goes around the cylinder.
Below that we have the StudioSeries logo - also seen on the pop filter - and the SL150 model
numbering.
This leads us to the shiny USB 2.0 A-B housing.
Curiously, around the housing for the USB interface, there is threading -
like on my Rode Procaster - but neither the shock mount that came with it nor any accessories
I’m seeing on their websites seem to take advantage of this feature.
I don’t know if this was a “just in case” feature or a design decision that they didn’t
stick with, but I feel this might have been a missed opportunity.
While writing this script, I actually had the idea to try it out with my Procaster’s
shock mount, but it doesn’t fit.
:(
The mic isn’t very heavy for what it is, and fits great into the included silver-ish
shock mount.
The desk mount they sent me is fairly high-quality, as well - nice padded bottom to keep it from
sliding and have it not damage my surface, and is quite adjustable.
However, having the mic on the shockmount to one side and throwing the pop filter on
it gives it a bit of a lean.
Not enough to cause it to fall or anything like that, but it still doesn’t like the
weight imbalance.
The whole mount also works great on a traditional mic stand or boom arm - which is awesome,
as I’ve been test fitting it to go in my homemade vocal booth once this video is over.
Get subscribed for my video on that project.
[USAGE]
Using the mic is quite literally as easy as it gets - hook up the USB cable and start
recording in your favorite program.
I already have a few tutorials online for processing your audio in Audacity or Adobe
Audition to make it sound better, and using those to drop a little EQ and compression
on recordings from this bad boy will polish you off greatly.
Even better - you don’t actually need a computer to record with this microphone!
Yes, via Lightning male to USB female adapters or micro USB male to USB female OTG adapters,
you can use this microphone to record on your iPad, modern iPhone, or even Android phone!
I don’t know if it works with all devices, but I did test it with my Galaxy Note 5 and
it worked right away!
Pretty flipping impressive.
Plugging it in on any device - even mobiles - will show a subtle, but noticeable, blue
light inside the mic grill to indicate it’s usable.
For normal computers, it works plug-and-play with Windows, Mac, and Linux.
Some more locked-down 64-bit Windows 8.1 or Windows 10 systems may need a special signed
driver for the microphone, and that’s available on the Editors Keys product pages.
But for most systems - my Windows 10 64-bit system included - it works without any driver
installation.
[AUDIO QUALITY]
Alright, how does it sound?
I’m quite impressed.
For this price point, this microphone sounds very, very good.
It’s crisp, it’s clear, and it definitely lives up to the reputation of the “Studio
Series” brand.
I tried the SL150 in a few different scenarios, so I’ll play a few raw samples here - one
being sitting at my desk, using it as a standard desktop mic for YouTube or podcasting, the
second being setting it up towards the side of my camera to actually use as an on-camera
microphone, with the volume at normal levels, then normalized up to audible levels.
[RAW MIC TESTS]
While the audio obviously sounds better when you’re a bit closer to the mic, I was quite
impressed that this microphone still sounded fairly good when put at about a 3-foot distance
from me, near my normal DSLR camera to record more professional videos.
You do run into two issues with both getting closer to the mic and getting further away.
By getting closer, you allow more strength of your voice to carry directly to the diaphragm,
giving you a more bassy, and more radio-y sound - BUT this mic runs quite hot and so
if you’re a loud speaker like me, you run into the issue of peaking or clipping every
once in a while.
You can change the input levels for the mic within Windows, but this only affects the
output volume - so you’d still be peaking, just limited to a lower db rating.
This is a mic that actually performs quite well for quieter speakers, or placed a tad
further away from the mouth than the usual “eat the mic” positioning.
While still somewhat up close, background noise rejection is surprisingly impressive
for a condenser microphone.
It doesn’t keep up with dynamics, but does better than many other condensers I’ve tried!
Since this is a condenser mic, the further away from the mic you get - especially at
long distances like the 3 foot distance in my other case test - you start to raise the
noise floor.
Or rather - since your voice will be getting picked up much more quietly, normalizing or
amplifying your vocal levels will bring up the noise floor.
My example was an extreme example, as it was far away from me, and actually pointing at
my big desktop tower PC - things which could be avoided in a proper setup.
BUT the noise cleaned up quite well in post-processing, as you’ll hear in my processed audio examples.
These are just using my normal processing chains.
Again - more audio samples will be up on my soundcloud.
[PROC MIC TEST]
Does
the Studio Series SL150 pass the Vox Test?
Heck yes it does.
As a USB mic, it would have been nice to see sound card-like features such as headphone
monitoring and such, but this would remove the flexibility of being driverless and working
with anything, and would have likely raised the price out of the budget category.
For $140, this is a great affordable mic option for YouTube, streaming, or podcasting - just
make sure your PC isn’t super loud.
Thanks to Editors Keys for sponsoring this video, and thank YOU for watching it!
As always, product links will be in the description below.
Smash the like button, get subscribed, and check the YouTube card icon for the “Vox
Test” playlist - there are lots of other microphones for me to review!
Have a great one, and I’ll see you next time.