Maono’s PD300 X Dynamic Microphone and Boom Arm: Great Quality and a Budget Price

Increasingly, I’m operating shows or attending Microsoft Teams conferences from my table. Therefore, it turned into time to make stronger the sound setup at my workstation. Maono is a revered title within the box of microphones, and so their PD300X appeared a perfect selection for me, however how did it fare?

Although I every now and then produce quick movies for those critiques—what’s the purpose of reviewing a microphone if you can not listen what it seems like—I don’t imagine myself a YouTuber. Therefore, I’m really not desperate to spend many masses of kilos (I’m in the United Kingdom) on unnecessarily complicated equipment.

Recently, I reviewed a Maono wi-fi lavalier microphone. I used to be suitably inspired and so used to be more than pleased to possibility attempting their PD300X microphone blended with the BA37 increase arm.

First Look on the PD300X Microphone

Pleasingly, the mic and increase arrived in cardboard packaging, however the increase had a foam insert helpful for garage.

The microphone is constructed from a multi-coated aluminum alloy. Covering the tablet is a foam pop filter out. Behind that may be a mute button, after which a multi-function rotating push button. That serves because the mic acquire keep watch over, the headphone quantity, and the track mixer. Then, at the rear of the microphone is an XLR output, a USB-C socket, plus a 3.5 mm headphone jack. The mic is secured right into a rubber surprise mount, onto which is hooked up the stand adapter.

First take a look at the BA37 Boom Arm

Like the mic, the stand is made nearly completely of steel. It’s powerful and fitted with a heavy spring. At the bottom, a G-clamp secures the arm to the table. The arm that swivels at the base contains 3 elbow joints and, on the peak, the microphone too can rotate and tilt.

Setting Up the Rig

I rarely learn the directions. I’m lovely just right at figuring out how issues are put in combination and I’m keen on simplicity. If I wish to discuss with the directions, then a tool is regularly needlessly advanced. Constructing this used to be simplicity itself. The mic and arm have been out of the bins and put in on my table in underneath 5 mins.

The increase arm used to be provided with two Velcro cable tidies and the elbow joints have channels to feed the cable round. Those elbows have been too tight on receipt and I had to discover a hex key to loosen them.

The mic is plug-and-play, so putting in it on my PC simply required the USB cable to be plugged in. The field proclaimed that the mic “Made for Apple,” so it additionally works with the iPhone, iPad, and iPod, assembly Apple’s exacting requirements.

The microphone is designed for recording podcasts and due to this fact must have a just right reaction to vocal frequencies. Indeed, that’s the case, and in conferences, others commented that the sound high quality used to be a ways awesome to these the use of their laptops’ integrated microphones and even different table mics.

It collects sound in a cardioid polar development, which means that it’s designed to be pointed on the particular person being recorded and is much less most likely to select up ambient noises from the room.

On peak of the microphone, positioned across the acquire dial, is an LED array that presentations the microphone stage. That rotary dial could also be a push button, and it may trade from adjusting the microphone acquire to headphone quantity, and track mixer. The LEDs trade colour to signify which operate you might be the use of. This multi-functional knob is straightforward to function.

The Accompanying Maono Link Software

The producer produces unfastened instrument to paintings with its mics known as Maono Link. I downloaded that and ran it on my PC. The present model best works with Windows. The instrument features a easy sound recorder with a graphic equalizer that lets you save your individual presets. There also are incorporated presets for various eventualities like podcasting and gaming.

Usefully, the instrument additionally features a noise gate. It does this through attenuating the sound underneath the set threshold.

In Use

The microphone used to be simple to arrange and use. The LED stage show across the acquire knob used to be shiny sufficient to look with out it turning into a distraction. I used to be in reality happy to look that it had a mute button, which comes in handy for privateness.

As I hinted previous, the sound high quality is excellent. For speech, recorded voice over my Bose speaker comes over deep and crisp. Men’s voices are most often throughout the 80 to 180 Hz vary, whilst girls most often fall throughout the vary of 165 to 255 Hz.

The microphone claims a 192 okayHz / 24-bit sampling fee inside of a 40 Hz to 16 okayHz vary. I examined that. At the low finish, it certainly detected sounds all the way down to 40 Hz, a ways less than the human voice. It additionally detected sounds I performed thru my speaker as much as 16.5 okayHz, means above the variability of my deficient listening to and a ways upper than the best tones created through the human voice, and likewise 500 Hz upper than the marketed fee.

I haven’t reviewed anything else this is best possible, and a reviewer wouldn’t be doing their activity correctly if they discovered not anything incorrect with a work of kit. Nevertheless, I best write critiques of drugs I might be at liberty the use of, and I’ve despatched some stuff again with out writing a evaluate as a result of it’s been one thing I might now not use nor counsel. With this mic, there have been best two trivial niggles.

As I discussed, the stand’s elbow joints have been slightly too tight first of all, however I used to be in a position to loosen them with a hex key. As a photographer, it might were just right if a hex key were supplied and if the screws had 4 mm hex heads, in commonplace with Arca-Swiss quick-release plates.

Where the mic attaches to the stand, I had to launch the stress of the wingnut so I may tilt or rotate the mic, after which tighten it once more to carry it in position. If there were a rubberized sleeve over the pin within the clamp, there can have been sufficient resistance to reposition the mic with no need to loosen and retighten that nut. You can rotate the mic clockwise with the wingnut tightened. However, in the event you flip it counterclockwise, the mic unscrews from the pin. Again, this can be a very minor factor and a commonplace design characteristic of alternative apparatus; my son’s microphone from every other emblem and a lamp I take advantage of paintings in the similar means.

Once arrange, the mic labored neatly. As I discussed, the sound high quality used to be spot on, and the unidirectional nature of the mic that makes use of a cardioid polar development helped it do away with background noises. The controls, each at the mic and within the app, have been simple to make use of. Furthermore, the stand used to be powerful and regarded good. Once set in position, it stayed there.

The two multi-function controls at the mic have been simple to make use of. A brief press mutes the mic, whilst a protracted press switches a customizable operate off and on. The major keep watch over knob will also be pressed to switch its purposes too, and the ones other purposes trade the LED colours. So, on the default atmosphere, the keep watch over is ready to microphone acquire (white LEDs). With one quick press, it adjustments to the headphone quantity (blue LEDs), and a 2d press turns on the track combine (pink LEDs).

The sound high quality used to be just right for voice, and I additionally performed my acoustic guitar and sang into it. Although no setup would develop into my voice into Art Garfunkel, Luciano Pavarotti, or Freddie Mercury, the outcome used to be k.

What I Liked and What Could Be Improved Next Time

What I Liked

• Great sound high quality with a large dynamic vary and top sampling fee.

• Reasonably priced.

• Excellent construct with fine quality parts.

• Pleasingly, the button at the rotary acquire required a company push and used to be due to this fact challenging to function by chance.

• Includes an XLR output in addition to USB-C.

What Could Be Improved Next Time

• Supplying a hex key can be a boon to customers.

• Fit 4 mm hex-headed screws to the stand.

• Include a friction mount at the peak of the stand so the mic will also be repositioned with no need to loosen and retighten the wingnut.

In Conclusion

There are different microphones available in the market that price much more than this, and every now and then I ponder whether you might be simply paying for the title. When I concentrate to the recordings I made with this microphone, after which ask others to do the similar (I’ve reasonable listening to loss), I’m hard-pushed to suppose why most of the people would spend such a lot when they may be able to get a top-notch software at a far decrease finances. The Maono PD300X and their BA37 increase arm each be offering nice price for cash and are neatly value bearing in mind.