Audio-Technica ATR2500-USB Cardioid Condenser USB Microphone

I run a small time youtube channel and this records my commentary fine.Since this is dynamic microphone it will mostly capture sound from the direction it is pointing. This is different from a condenser microphone which will capture any sound anywhere in the room.This microphone is useful if you're recording in an environment where you cannot control the environmental sounds. This microphone is great for any amateur podcaster or let's player, since you're probably not going to have access to a quiet recording studio. Another perk of this microphone is that has both xlr and usb connections. This leaves you room to grow and if you decide to get a mixer then you can just switch from usb to xlr.There are a few cons. I have a mechanical keyboard, so it's a bit louder than the average keyboard. This microphone will still pick up the keyboard sounds. These sounds aren't very loud and don't distract away from my commentary so it's not really a problem for me. Just don't expect it to eliminate every single sound perfectly.The other con is that it records kind of quietly so you may need to crank up your gain a bit. From my understanding all dynamic microphones are like this. The gain will create a fuzzy sound in the background. You can easily remove this sound in post though. Even Audacity (free) has a sound removal feature that will remove this sound effectively.Once the fuzzy background sound is eliminated, my voice sounds nice, clear and proffesional. This is a great beginner microphone and your money is well spent on this microphone.If you found this review helpful then please hit that helpful button.

This is an amazing mic for the price. I'm a budding podcaster and podcast editor and this mic beats a Sno Ball & Blue Yeti hands down.Comparatively, the Sno Ball picks up every background hum and sometimes random sound frequencies so the finished audio track will contain constant fuzz behind vocals that only goes away if the speaker mutes themselves. When using a Sno Ball, it's not always apparent during a live recording, but the audio track will have picked it up. And since it's underneath the vocals, an editor can only do so much without turning the speaker into sounding like a robot. The only thing I would recommend this mic for would be for better-than-a-cheap-headset sounding Skype, Discord or TeamSpeak/Vent conversations but not for audio recordings.The Blue Yeti picks up every single background noise but is usually pretty good with not picking up buzz. Got a squeaky door? Chair? Scratch an itch on your arm or face when you're near the mic? Drop a pen? You got it, the Yeti will pick all of that up with enthusiasm. The audio quality is really decent, however, but, dang, if it doesn't want to record absolutely every sound that occurs within the room.This mic, the Audio-Technica ATR2100-USB, since it uses a cardioid polar pattern, doesn't pick up any noise from the sides or rear, making background noise pick-up very minimal. I have it right next to and slightly in front of my desktop and it never picks up the hum of the fans or noises from the processor. I've heard from musician friends that this is a challenging mic to work with on stage as a singer because you basically have to inhale the mic to be heard, but for podcasting, I find that the closer I get to the mic, the more pronounced my pops are. I can be a good 6 inches away and my vocal quality is great, without the pops.When I first got into podcasting, the reason I ended up choosing this mic as my starter mic was because all the podcasting equipment advice I kept researching pointed to this mic over a Yeti for overall sound quality and a better price point. Quality and a cheaper price is something it definitely delivers on. This mic will last me a really long time and couldn't be happier about my purchase of it almost a year ago. If you're serious about wanting really good audio with little hassle (especially in post), I highly recommend this mic. Super easy to set up, too. Just plug the USB into your computer and you're good to go.

So here is the story, I needed a microphone because the mic on my headset was one: terrible to begin with, and two: Dead. This wasn't my first headset to have major issues so I decided that instead of replacing my headset with another one( the headphones still work), I got this to replace my microphone.I decided to invest in a good microphone and hearing about the quality of Audio-Technica products, I went ahead and bought the ATR2500. While some might find the $60-100 price range a bit much for a standalone mic it's far cheaper than most good professional or prosumer mics out there so price wise, I'd say this fits well enough. Upon unboxing it I noticed how durable it is with a full metal construction and overall rugged build quality; a far cry from the not so durable headset mics I've had to deal with for the past several years. Audio quality, even in my room with a fair amount of echo, is smooth and clear both to me and people online. The USB interface makes install simple and the mic is plug-and-play, so no need to fiddle with downloading drivers or anything like that. The cable itself is a good length though with my desk set up it comes a bit short though it isn't too bad. Unfortunately I'm not particularly fond of the included stand. It was a little confusing to get it attached to the microphone and even then it was a bit on the wobbly side until I grabbed a large flat-head screwdriver from my toolbox and firmly tightened the screw on the main joint. The LED power light is also way too bright in my opinion and if I was to look at it directly it'd hurt my eyes. It even illuminated my face blue to where I could notice looking at my webcam feed, even with very bright room lighting. This was remedied with a rather DIY solution of disassembling the microphone and putting some tape and paper between the housing and the LED on the circuit board and which made the light much softer and more bearable. After those issues were sorted the microphone now stands proudly on my desk waiting to listen.All in all I'm very happy with my microphone and plan on later buying a pair of cans from Audio-Technica to pair with it(when I have the money) since my headset continues to degrade but after a few months now, the microphone is still in tip top quality.