Podcast Recording Microphone (K678)

I'm very impressed by this mic. The sound is clear. It's directional enough to cut down on feedback for video calls, which I do frequently for work lately. I used it to record and playback some songs I practice on guitar and the sound quality of the mic was really clean. I don't have an assortment of other mics to give a comparison. There are cheaper options, but this seemed like the best mic I could find and still feel like I was paying somewhat of a budget price. I was a little confused by the pictures before purchasing since one picture shows two buttons and the other shows 1 button. On the front, there is a mute button and a light that changes from red to green when it's on. On the back are mic sensitivity and headphone volume knobs. I have sensitivity set to about 40% of the scale, and it just peaks out at about 1-2 feet away if I strum my acoustic guitar strongly. Look and feel of the mic are really good too. It has a smooth matte finish. It's somewhat of a charcoal color. The only improvement that comes to mind after using it for a bit is that it would be nice to feel a little more friction in the angle adjustment on the stand. I have the knobs pretty tight, and the mic moves fairly easily, but it does stay in place. That's definitely a minor thing to me. Overall, fifine made a really nice mic, and I'm glad I picked this one. I had no problems setting it up on Windows 10. I plugged it in, looked at the sound settings, and it was set as the default recording device and default speaker. I did change the default speaker back to the original device. That might trip up some people. Other than that, I installed Audacity and everything just worked.

I am using this product mostly for Skype and Zoom. I have tested it with recording software on my PC laptop. I find it to give excellent results for these purposes. It handles sibilance from my voice quite well -- it seems to minimize my exagerated "s" sounds, which is a problem I have with many other microphones. The headphone monitoring is wonderful -- I use that feature all day long since I am also using the microphone as my sound card for computer sound output. If I was doing podcasts, I would probably still use a de-s-ing filter for recordings, but for Skype and Zoome communication, I don't think the level of sibilance is distracting to my listeners. The volume control and gain controls work perfectly and are both very useful. I also like the low-profile stand that comes with the microphone. I can position it so that it does not block my face when people are looking at me with zoom. The stand is stable and is unlikely to be knocked over. I have a two peace keyboard and keep the microphone between the two halves of my keyboard. I get great pick-up when it is about 8 inches from my mouth. I keep it pointed slightly below my mouth to minimize sibilance. If I push it further back from my mouth I start picking up room echo. The microphone does record the sound of keyboard clicks, but not as bad as a omnidirectional microphone. I want to mention Fifine customer service because I had a good experience with them. Originally I ordered a K053 lavalier microphone which was supposed to have zero latency headphone monitoring. I found that it did not have this feature. I contacted customer service and they helped me with some trouble shooting. I tried their suggestions and nothing worked. They told me to keep the K053 and did a full refund. They recommended the K678 and said it would do what I needed. They were right and I am very happy with this purchase.

This microphone is compact, elegant and provides professional grade performance - it is that good. Physical Construction: - All metal construction - very sturdy and solid build. - The 5" triangular metal base is very sturdy and has rubber pads underneath giving it a steady and slip resistant perch - this mic is solid. - There is a green LED on the front fact of the mic when the microphone is active. - Push the mute button and the green LED turns red to indicate the microphone is off. - The mute button operates silently but in the recording track, there is a muffled thump when the mute is activated but is not significant. - USB Cable - solid and well made. - The tilt of the mic may be adjusted by loosening the two knobs on the side of the body. The mic body still has a bit of play even when the knobs are fully tightened. Not a deal breaker but it could have had a better tighten and hold feature. Audio Performance and Frequency Response: - The FiFine mic was tested for voice recordings only and no musical instruments were used. - This microphone has only a cardiod pattern for pickup and it does exceptionally well. - The sound play back is clear, crisp without distortion and artifacts. - The microphone gain sensitivity can be set to drop the noise floor to achieve crystal clarity in your audio. - I used Audacity to record and play back recordings. A very useful tool to set the microphone gain for maximum clarity without being over driven. - With the mic tilted back facing my mouth straight on and the mic gain set at 25%, speaking at a distance of 6", the audio was clear without being over driven. This is monitored in real time by bar graphs and actual voice pattern plots. - Background noise rejection - Excellent! This was tested using a Bluetooth speaker placed 18" away at 10 o'clock position to one side of the mic and the volume set at pretty high (Using normal speaking voice level, a person sitting on the opposite side of the table would not be able to hear my voice as the speaker volume was set that high). As recorded on Audacity, the FiFine mic captured my voice clearly while rejecting 90% of the background music. The background music was heard faintly and did not compete at all with my voice spoken at a normal level. Impressive! Intended Microphone Application: - VoIP phone calls. - No feedback issues in using computer speakers 16" behind the microphone without using a headphone. Slight Negative Feature: - On the back of the microphone are the mic gain and headphone audio level adjustment knobs. These two knobs are the size of a pencil eraser and protrudes about the same dimension. The drawback is these knobs are smooth and have no knurling and this makes adjustments difficult. There is a indicating line on the face of these knobs to indicate position but it is rather difficult to see without a contrasting colored line. Fortunately, once these levels are set, you shouldn't have to mess with them very much and it is nice they are out of the way on the back side of the microphone. Final thoughts: This is one exceptional microphone for the price. Yes, there are features that are not available compared to the Samson G Track Pro but unless you really need those features, buy the FiFine mic as you will not give up any audio qualities. I have compared this directly with the Samson G Track Pro and it is very difficult to tell the G Track Pro is that much better from audio recordings made on Audacity. For those that want a great microphone that don't require an omni direction nor a figure 8 pattern, this is the microphone to get. The noise rejection test I did proved how exceptional this microphone really is.

Produto de otima qualidade, atende 100% o proposto. Muito robusto, não precisa ficar colado. Uso para viceo conferencias e a qualidade já foi notada. Apesar de não ter cancelamento, o direcionamento é muito bom, isolando sons indesejados.

Me gusta la fidelidad y por su precio lo amerita.

Got this for online meetings during the pandemic--the mic on my laptop is pretty crappy and besides I wanted something that can still pick up my voice clearly from a short distance away. Especially given how much time virtual meetings are taking up these days, before this it was exhausting to yell loudly into the stupid laptop to even be heard properly every time. This mic solved all those issues beautifully--I can sit at an arm's distance from the desk and speak freely. Here's a quick breakdown of why an external mic is usually a better choice: ***Built-in mics (laptop/tablet)*** Regardless of how good (or bad) the quality, most built-in microphones on laptops and tablets pick up ambient sound pretty indiscriminately--granted that's OK for occasional and short-duration needs, such as Skype calls and the like as most built-in mics are specially tuned to pick up the human voice among all the noise. That word noise is key--as these general purpose microphones (whether "unidirectional" or "omnidirectional") don't do as well if you're in a place with other potential sound sources. How acceptable the audio quality then depends on your specific case and needs--for example, my online meetings happen in a living room where I have a ceiling fan running. The laptop mic picks up the fan noise, but does ok capturing my voice too--provided I speak loudly and towards the front of the screen. ***External mics*** In contrast, external mics provide more control: many (and K678 too) are cardioid in pattern, meaning they are great at picking up sound directly in front of the mic (your voice) while mostly discarding sounds from behind. For example, as I'm not an audio pro and my meetings happen in a real room and not a sound studio, the cardioid pattern is perfect for me. The external mic picks up my voice well, and if I set it up right (more on this below) there's no trace of the ceiling fan noise in the audio as well. You could go all pro on this too of course with higher-end models, but USB mics are a good entry-level option. So although most audio pros would scoff at a "mere USB mic" the advantages are many: not just the price, but also more importantly super simple to set up (directly hook up to your computer, no "interface" needed unlike many higher-end pro models). ***Mic setup/positioning, gain levels, K678 vs 669B*** As the pattern is cardioid, the mic works best if positioned in front of you, tilted up slightly so that the front (with the LED button) is towards your mouth/throat. Note that unlike a stage performer who speaks/sings into the rounded end of a handheld microphone, you'd want to speak not to the rounded end nor the back but instead into the front of this USB mic like a classic radio personality/broadcaster. I find it works fine even when more than a foot or so away from me on the desk. On the back, you have the two control knobs--for adjusting the mic gain and headphone output levels. Crucially, I found out that keeping the mic gain level low is essential for eliminating background noise—I sometimes like to turn it down all the way to zero, but it still picks up my voice while cutting out ambient noise. Note that gain level is not the volume - in normal situations if you’re 6-8 inches away you shouldn’t need any “gain.” But you might want to experiment with different levels depending on your situation. Fifine has two USB mics that are equally worth considering--669B and 678 (the latest). I went with 678 mainly because it looked more compact to me. K678 is pretty much all metal in construction (and hence has a solid, hefty feel to it)--and also boasts a very good quality headphone jack output. I use this to hook up an external speaker (in fact, online videos sound markedly superior via this outlet compared to the one I was getting via my laptop's headphone jack). 669B lacks this output jack, which is a crucial factor for me, an added reason why I chose the K678. So while K678 is clearly the newer and superior quality version and both are budget models, 669B seems even kinder to the pocket though--choice up to you depending on your requirements. ***A word about Fifine, the company*** The name of the company ("Fifine"--pronounced f'EYE-fine, which sounds pretty weird to me). Like most electronic stuff these days though, note that this is made in China--but neither the weird name nor the China connection should stop you necessarily. Why? Because the sad reality is that from wires to chargers to tablets/computers and even smart phones, it's pretty damn hard if not nearly impossible to escape the China link really (even when we're told explicitly something is made elsewhere, chances are key components came from China). I actively try to avoid Chinese-made stuff whenever possible but clearly this policy of mine has only limited effect in practical terms (for example, my IPad--American company and bought in the US, but if you look in the back, made in China). Maybe in the old days China primarily made imitation products of inferior quality based on European or American brands. Some inferior quality stuff still comes out of China surely, but if you choose carefully it's surprising how good the quality can sometimes be. Fifine actually seems to do some innovation on its own. While K678 is clearly based on the American BLUE Yeti, also a USB mic--but instead of a copy, Fifine actually made a genuinely great microphone at half the price of the Yeti. (By the way, while the company BLUE is indeed American, no matter what they tell you chances are the main parts of the Blue Yeti, if not the whole thing, is also sourced from China.)

Perfect! and match with price

Easy set up, and worked well on my MacBook.