greetings earthlings and a very happy new year today i am back with a review of a brand new
broadcasting condenser microphone from earthworks that microphone being the new earthworks xlr icon
pro if you are interested in this microphone it will cost you around five hundred dollars
like always i'll throw some links down below and for this review i have the microphone connected
directly to the focusrite 18 i 22nd gen the gain is set at around 11 o'clock and i will not do
any kind of post processing but i may have to boost it a little bit in post
so check the doobly doo to see what i didily did and now let's talk about what comes in the box
of course you are going to get the microphone you'll get this great triad orbit mount and you'll
get a 5 8 to 3 8 inch microphone stand adapter but unfortunately i don't know if it's this
exact one because i've had it for a while and i always forget which adapter is the one that comes
in the box then as far as the build quality the microphone feels outstanding just like
earthworks other offerings same aesthetic and same build quality just excellent it does have an all
stainless steel construction as well as a metal grill it is a hefty boy weighing in at 1.5 pounds
here is what the capsule looks like without the grille on it the rear of the microphone you will
find the xlr port and that is it on the microphone the triad orbit mount has a single rubberized
screw you unscrew this and it allows you to rotate the microphone any which way that you want and
tightening it down does a great job holding the microphone in that position and unfortunately
the box and the packaging and the microphone do not list the manufacturing location of this mic
so i don't know where it's made then as far as the specs this microphone has a cardioid polar pattern
a frequency response of 20 hertz all the way up to 30 kilohertz a sensitivity of around negative
34 db an impedance of 65 ohms a self noise of approximately 16 dba a max spl of 139 db and
a phantom power requirement of plus 24 to plus 48 volts now i am spinning around the icon pro to 90
degrees so you can hear the off axis rejection and coloration will continue around the microphone to
180 degrees here's what it sounds like from the rear continuing around to the second 90 degree
angle and then we will rotate and end at the front of the microphone now let's see how well
this microphone does at rejecting plosives 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 yay 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 is how the microphone sounds in a well-treated room
and here is how the microphone sounds in a completely untreated room
now i'll go ahead and tap my desk to see how much of that noise the provided mount is able to reject
and i'll tap the boom arm now to be extremely annoying i am going to go ahead and tap the
body of the microphone to see if there are any kind of resonant frequencies
now i want to go ahead and switch back and forth between the icon pro and a couple of other
microphones on the market so we can see where this microphone stacks up against the competition
we are starting on the icon pro and currently i am six inches off of the microphone my gain
is set at 12 o'clock make sure to check the lower third to see how much i'm boosting each of these
microphones in post but here is how the microphone sounds let's jump to the first mic and compare it
to that and first up we have the blue yeti which is one of the most popular streaming microphones
this goes for around 90 to 100 dollars i am on the cardioid mode six inches away gain on the mic is
set at nine o'clock again on my computer is set at around 65 to 70ish percent and let's jump back to
the earthworks and do a couple more comparisons we are back on the icon pro and here is why did
i pronounce that so weird icon pro and here's how this microphone sounds let's jump to another one
so you can hear how it compares to that now we are on the audio technica at2020 which is a 100
xlr small diaphragm condenser microphone again at 12 o'clock make sure to check the lower third to
see how much i boosted this one but here is how this microphone compares against the earthworks
icon pro which is 500 as opposed to 100. we are back on the icon pro again who would have thunk it
here is how this microphone sounds same distance same gain setting same boosting all of that stuff
let's jump to another microphone and get a bit more context for this microphone now i'm speaking
into the earthworks icon which is the usb version of the icon pro the gain on the microphone is set
at fifty percent gain on the computer is set at fifty percent six inches away from the microphone
and here is how this sounds compared to the pro version of this thing i bet you would have never
considered this but i am back on the icon pro again what mind-blowing right here is how this
microphone sounds why am i being such a jerk to you today here's how this microphone sounds let's
jump to another one and hear that now i am on the shure sm7b about six inches away from the capsule
of the microphone because this is a dynamic and a very quiet dynamic microphone at that i
cranked my gain up to 100 check the lower third to see if i boosted it anymore in post as well
according to gaming careers this is the most popular streaming microphone so i figured what
better microphone to compare the icon pro against than the sm7b and here is how it sounds let's jump
back to the icon pro and do another comparison and i think we have one more microphone that we're
comparing it against now there is a loud plane outside but i am six inches off gain at 12 o'clock
on the earthworks icon pro let's jump to the last microphone and hear how it compares to that and
lastly we are on the earthworks sr314 which is one of their main handheld stage condenser microphones
this goes for around 700 i am at the same distance same gain setting check the lower third to see
how much i boosted it but here is what 200 extra dollars gets you compared to the icon pro let me
know in the comments down below which of these microphones did you like the best did you like
the 700 the 500 the 7b the other things that we looked at let me know in the comments down below
it's 2021 and i think we should all be careful do not trust the world cause the world wants you dead
i know it's a bit morose i know it's a bit dark but i think it's fairly accurate i just don't
want you all to get your hopes up i said have a great year last year look how it turned out
nothing has changed except for the calendar year all the crazy stuff that was going on in the world
is continuing for instance i hit myself in the lip with my headphones before i started recording
and i'm getting a fat lip the calendar year had no effect on that why am i still talking let's go to
the outro stop outro time earthworks is a company that company makes microphones those microphones
that the company earthworks makes are some of the most realistic and lifelike microphones that i
have ever heard a weird start to the outro isn't it but like always we will start with some pros
and the first thing that stuck out to me was the rear rejection at the knoll area was excellent so
if you play that you can get some great background noise rejection also the rejection of bumps of
the boom arm the desk and the handling noise of the microphone was excellent did a great job at
eliminating that the off-axis coloration of the microphone was also outstanding meaning if you're
in an untreated room and you have a bunch of reverb the sound that makes it in through the side
of the microphones isn't going to sound gross and offensive to your ears also the triad orbit mount
is incredible i love this thing and i kind of want it on my microphone stand all the time now
it is so useful being able to rotate it in any way shape or form that you want to it is awesome
and for those who are at all concerned about looks this thing looks really cool kind of like you'll
do some kind of crazy surgery on your stream because it kind of does remind me of some kind
of medical instrument but i don't want to know i don't want to know where it would go on you
keep that information to yourself and then as far as cons there is very little that i don't
like about this microphone but if i were to get extremely nitpicky i would like to see
a slightly lower self noise because 16 dba is getting a little bit high especially at the 500
price point something like the rode nt1 has i think 6 dba of course that is a large diaphragm
the earthworks is a small diaphragm condenser different properties but i still would like to see
a slightly lower self noise and now what are my overall thoughts and opinions on this microphone
first up on the electric guitar i really enjoyed it on that the way i would describe it is even
i enjoyed how smooth it sounded throughout the entire frequency range
nothing popped out as piercing or harsh even when i got to the upper register of the guitar
it still maintained a smooth and pleasing sound so on the electric guitar i found it pretty enjoyable
to use then on the acoustic guitar this thing sounds bonkers on that thing it brought the damn
thing to life that is something that i don't say very often but it brought the acoustic to life
the top end was crystal clear without sounding brittle or artificial the mids
were nice and neutral and accurate and the low end was full while also being controlled
it's the exact type of sound that i look for for an acoustic guitar microphone absolutely
awesome on the acoustic next up for singing i thought it offered a very balanced sound but i was
a little bit surprised at how detailed and airy it sounded if that's the sound that you're going
for true to life like you're in the room with the singer then i think this would work really well
for singing and lastly for spoken word why am i smashing the box i dig it as well as i should
given the price and the fact that it is marketed as a broadcast quality xlr streaming microphone
assuming that means it's a vocal microphone a spoken word microphone and i think it is
and i think it sounds great for that if i had to give it a catchphrase i would say
realistic and shockingly smooth put that on a billboard earthworks you'll sell millions of them
realistic and shockingly smooth really though it does have a very open and airy and detailed
and articulate top end but it doesn't sound over boosted which is a hole that a lot of condensers
seem to fall down the mids were also very open sounding and i know that's weird to describe
mids as open but sometimes mids can start to sound a little bit claustrophobic and closed off
and also a little bit nasally this didn't have any of that and the low end was extremely
controlled there was no muddiness there was no boxiness even when you get right on top of the
microphone it just maintains this beautiful neutral and flat sound that is i guess you
could describe the sound of the microphone as maybe a little bit analytical or a bit sterile
but i think that it offers that great neutral and very clear sound which i am all about there you
go and now would i recommend the earthworks icon pro xlr broadcast condenser microphone
i think i would i think i would if your budget is around 50 1500 no it's not 1500 it's 500 why
would i jump to 1500 bucks that's a lot of money if your budget is around 500 and you're looking
for more of a general all-arounder condenser microphone in this form factor or if you're
looking for a broadcast condenser microphone i think it is a great option the thing that really
stood out to me about this microphone is it does something that not many condensers are able to do
i'll start by saying why i love the sm7b it's because it's a smooth sounding microphone
it is relatively neutral it is a bit dark but it is smooth sounding you could listen to this for
hours on end without having any kind of fatigue on your ears the earthworks does something similar
and it maintains a smooth sound but it adds a bit more air to it a bit more openness to the top end
which the 7b is missing and it also removes a bit of that nasalliness that the sm7b tends to have
so if you're looking for that kind of sound i think it is tight super duper tight
great job earthworks i dig it to repeat myself for the 50th time all right i think that is going to
wrap up for today i would love to hear from you which of the microphones that i compared did you
like the best the icon pro the icon usb the blue yeti audio technica sm7b sr314 any of them let
me know in the comments down below if you found this video fun interesting or helpful go ahead and
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thank you so much for listening i love you all happy new years and i will talk to you later bye