greetings earthlings today i'm back with a review of a fairly entry-level
podcasting microphone the microphone is the zoom zdm1 which comes in this
zoom podcast microphone pack comes with some headphones which i will not be reviewing because
mine were broken out of the box but if you are interested in this microphone pack
it will cost you around 120 dollars like always i'll throw some links down below
for this review i have the microphone connected directly to the focusrite 18i 22nd gen my gain
is set just at around 4 30. i will not be doing any kind of post processing but i may boost it
in post so check the dooblydoo to see what i didly did and now let's talk about what comes in the box
what a shocker you will get the microphone you'll get a foam windscreen that goes
right on top of the microphone you will get the microphone mount which also has a 5 8 to 3 8 inch
microphone stand adapter you'll find a desktop tripod stand a 2 meter or 6 foot xlr to xlr
cable a set of headphones with a three meter cable which terminates into a 3.5 millimeter stereo jack
and it also comes with a 3.5 millimeter to quarter inch cable adapter and some documentation as well
as a download code for steinberg wavelab cast software thing then as far as the build quality
it does feel quite good given the price point it has an all metal body as well as a very sturdy
metal mesh grille the grille doesn't have much foam to protect it from plosives though
as you move around the microphone there are no buttons no dials no filters there
is nothing else on it on the rear you'll find the xlr port this is an end address microphone
and it is manufactured in china then as far as the specs this mic has a super cardioid polar pattern
a frequency response of 50 hertz to 18 kilohertz a sensitivity of around negative 54.5 db
an impedance of 200 ohms and a max spl of 135 db now i am spinning around the zd m1 to 90 degrees
so you can hear what the off axis coloration and rejection is we'll continue around to the
180 degree rear of the mic here's what it sounds like continuing around to the second 90 degree
angle and then we will rotate and end at the front of the mic now let's go ahead and test
the plosive rejection of this microphone with and without the provided foam windscreen please bring
pizza pronto please bring pizza pronto please bring pizza pronto please bring pizza pronto
please bring pizza pronto please bring pizza pronto now i am right on top of the microphone
to demonstrate the proximity effect on this thing about three inches off of the microphone with it
pointed at the corner of my mouth and here is how the audio sounds about one foot away from
the microphone two feet away from the microphone and about four feet away from the microphone
now i am typing on a keyboard with gatoron blue switches to see how much of my voice
verse how much of the keyboard it picks up and for you elite gamers now i am typing on the sad w keys
here's how the microphone sounds in a well-treated room
and here is how the microphone sounds in a completely untreated room
now to see how well the provided microphone mount works i will go ahead and bump the desk
to see how much of that noise it rejects
and i'll go ahead and bump the boom arm
that's terrible and now to be as thorough and obnoxious as possible i'll go ahead
and tap the microphone to see if there are any kind of resonant frequencies
now for the sake of completionism i will demonstrate the effect that the provided
foam windscreen has on the tone of the microphone right now i'm about three inches off of the end
of the microphone the foam windscreen is not installed and here is how the audio sounds and
now i have installed the rather thick provided foam windscreen and here is how the audio sounds
you can tell that it really does dampen quite a bit of the higher frequencies and i think it does
help it out because this has quite a aggressive boost in the upper end there you go that's how
it affects it now i want to do a very quick comparison between the zoom and a bunch of other
popular podcasting microphones so we can see how it performs against the competition of course we
will start on the zoom zdm1 i am only three inches off of this microphone i am connected to the
focusrite 18i20 gain is set at four o'clock and check the lower third to see how much i boosted it
let's jump to the first mic and compare it to that first microphone we have is the shure sm58 this
is a handheld dynamic microphone it is 100 and probably one of the most popular microphones for
stage use and maybe even for podcasting i am three inches off the gain is still set at four o'clock
check the lower third and here's how it sounds before we jump back to the zoom let's jump back
to the zoom now we are back on the zoom zdm1 for all of these tests i do not have the provided foam
windscreen on here is how the microphone sounds before we jump to another one next we are on
one of my personal favorite handheld podcasting microphones the se electronics v7 this is another
100 handheld dynamic microphone three inches off gain at four o'clock and let us jump back to the
zoom after you've heard this and let you hear that and we're just doing a bunch of comparisons that
will that that is what we are doing here here's the sc electronics v7 there you go
back on the zoom zdm1 here's how this microphone sounds to cleanse your palette
get a good feel for it listen to it let's jump to another microphone now we are on a relatively
new microphone the rode pod mic which is more of a broadcast looking dynamic microphone it has a yoke
mount and all of that a hundred dollars i am three inches off again still at four o'clock and here is
how it sounds compared to the zoom zdm1 let's jump back to the zoom and compare some more microphones
back on the zoom microphone again here is how it sounds no settings have been changed the just the
distance is exactly the same let us jump to another microphone so you can hear how that
microphone sounds compared to this one now we're going up in price we are on the mxl bcd one which
goes for about 150 i am three inches off of this thing make sure to check the lower third to see
how much i boosted it but here is how the mxl sounds compared to the zoom zdm one alrighty
we're back on the zoom zdm one still three inches off still gains at four o'clock listen to the
microphone get a good feel for it let's jump to another one and compare it to that one now we are
on another new entry into the broadcast microphone category this is the sontronix podcast pro
this is another 150 xlr dynamic microphone has a yoke mount all of that fun broadcasting
looking stuff and here is how it sounds three inches off of it gain still at four o'clock
and let's jump back to the zoom and do a couple more microphone comparisons hey wake up don't you
dare fall asleep on me stay awake through this we're back on the zoom zd i'm sorry
we're back on the zoom zdm one here is how this microphone sounds just want you to get a good
feel for it before we jump to another microphone so you can hear how it compares to that let's jump
to that now gotcha don't fall asleep on me next because i have a severe microphone collection
addiction problem i am on the shure sm7b i am three inches off of the microphone meaning
i'm about five inches off of the capsule my gain is still set at around four o'clock so
this is gonna have to be boosted to heck but here is how the shure sm7b sounds compared against the
zoom zdm one oh and this is a 400 dynamic microphone i am sincerely hoping that this is the
last microphone we're comparing it against this is the zoom zdm1 let's go to one last microphone and
compare it to that and lastly because it was out and why not here is the electro voice re20 which
is a 450 dollar xlr broadcasting microphone no filters engaged three inches off gain it
four o'clock here is how this microphone sounds compared to the zoom zdm one 450 versus 120
dollars for a microphone and a headphone bundle i don't even know what that microphone would go for
by itself but there you go that's a quick comparison of a bunch of different microphones and
the zoom let me know in the comments down below which of these microphones did you like the best
did you like a hundred dollar microphone a 300 microphone a four hundred and fifty dollar
microphone or is the zoom zdm1 going to be your next mic let me know in the comments down below
so
a cheap podcasting microphone i've gotta test it out and find out how it sounds but what
i think it comes down to how it sounds to you you'll need to let me know how your podcasts go
let me know down below how did your podcast turn out i'm really interested what is your podcast
about tell me that comment down below what is your podcast about okay to be honest with you when i
bought this entire kit i was not expecting much given the price point for all of the stuff that
comes with it but i am happily surprised by the microphone at least this is definitely not working
i was trying to get into the halloween spirit it's it's almost halloween i'm gonna take off
the mask now sorry and first up in terms of pros the microphone did a really nice job at background
noise rejection as well as rejection of room tone when you're in an untreated space the microphone's
tone is also very clear and easy to understand while maintaining a relatively smooth sound
and assuming everything functions i think for the price point it offers a pretty nice kit then
in terms of cons the microphone was fairly susceptible to plosives so you will need to
have pretty good discipline with your microphone technique also it definitely needs a shock mount
it is terrible with bumps of the desk or the boom arm and if you have it in the provided desktop
tripod that would be even worse and it is not a standard size so it may be somewhat difficult to
find a shock mount that fits this mic and to be a little bit nitpicky i was a bit shocked to see a
max spl of 135 db although a lot of people will not hit that i was expecting to see something a
little bit higher considering most condenser microphones have a max spl of 130 135 around
the same range as this dynamic and now what are my overall thoughts and opinions of this microphone
on the electric guitar i found the top end to be somewhat grainy and gritty it wasn't my favorite
sound it does still work but it got to be a little bit shouty if that's even a proper descriptor it
got a little bit unpleasant in the upper register when i got to the upper end of the guitar the mids
pretty neutral nothing offensive there and the low end did get a little bit woolly if i could
call it that but a high pass filter would clean that right up then on the acoustic guitar i found
it to have the very slightest v-shape the top end very boosted as you could see from the frequency
response graph probably 8 db in the treble and air the low end if you get close to it you're getting
a bit of proximity effect giving you a slight v shape the mids nothing offensive pretty neutral
but all around not something i would throw on an acoustic unless i was in an absolute pinch then
for singing the first thing that i noticed was the low end got to be a little bit uncontrolled
especially between 200 and 300 hertz so you would need to do a little bit of eq and cut a little bit
of that out to clean up the low end the mids neutral nothing offensive not overly nasally
not scooped out and the top end although it is pretty boosted up there it's not the most
articulate sound and it maintains a somewhat soft and pleasing tone although if you're going for
that ultra modern hyper clarity it's not going gonna really offer that for you and lastly for
spoken word the application that this mic appears to be designed for i was quite impressed by it it
offered a relatively clear and clean sound to it even though the top end did start to sound a touch
over boosted the mids as i already mentioned are not nasally they are not scooped out they
just offer a nice and neutral and even sound the low end is fairly controlled on voice if you're
a little bit off of it if you get right on top of it it does start to get a little bit woolly
and unpleasant a high pass filter can clear that right up but the thing that stood out to
me the most is given the price point and given how boosted it is it does maintain a relatively smooth
sound which is really nice to hear at this price point pretty darn impressed for a spoken word
on the zoom zdm1 and to wrap up what i recommend the zoom zdm1 podcasting microphone kit sure
as long as you're buying it for spoken word and podcasting and not music because i think it excels
for spoken word but not so much for music now this microphone does have its issues with the rejection
of shocks also not being the best with plosives so if you are just starting out you're going
to have to really train yourself to have good microphone technique and speak past the microphone
and most difficultly to not touch the table that you are recording you can't tap it it's going to
be picked up you really need to train yourself if you pick this microphone up but at 120 dollars i
think the microphone sounds surprisingly good it comes with a six foot xlr cable a little bit
on the short side it comes with some headphones i don't know how they sound i'm not reviewing
them but for 120 dollars if that is your budget i think it offers a pretty interesting proposition
for the entire kit all right i think that is going to wrap up for today but i would love to
hear from you in the comments down below which of my air conditioning just turned on which of the
microphones that i compared the zoom against did you like the best did you like the electro voice
the 58 the v7 the pod mic the sm7b or did you like the zdm one the most let me know in the comments
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thank you so much for watching thank you so much for listening i'll talk to you later
bye