Getting a nice microphone for Zoom calls is easy. Getting a nice microphone for content creation is a whole different thing altogether. Prepare to walk through a veritable ocean of contenders running the gamut with regards to price, quality, and features. When I was initially creating the GamingShogun studio setup, I went through a wide range of them – mostly for review purposes. In addition to a microphone, you will probably end up getting a mixer unit to manage all of your audio inputs and outputs. For many years, the go-to mixer for content creators was the GoXLR. Apparently, the creators of the GoXLR left to found their own company and product line. Enter BEACN. BEACN has created the ultimate microphone and mixer for content creators that won’t break your bank.
BEACN Mic Ports
Recently, I got the chance to check out the BEACN Mic USB microphone. I took everything out of the box and thought – well, it’s a microphone! There isn’t anything overtly different or, dare I say, special about it from a visual standpoint. It comes in white or black color schemes and features an RGB ring just under the foam wind filter. On the aft side of the BEACN Mic you’ll find a USB-C port and headphone jack. What makes the BEACN Mic so special is its built-in and software-based features. After installing the BEACN software suite and plugging in your BEACN Mic, you’re treated to the most powerful microphone control suite I have ever seen – especially for its $279 Dollar price. BEACN touts that it is “a studio in a microphone” and they are very right. Inside the BEACN Mic, you’ll find a dynamic capsule with 50Hz to 20kHz frequency response capable of sampling audio in 32-bit float quality (that’s a big deal which we’ll go into later). It also features an on-board, real-time adaptive noise suppression module which masterfully removes background noise. While you can plug the BEACN Mic into a USB port and use it without the software package, you would be wasting your money in doing so. They are very much designed to work together to bring all of the BEACN Mic’s features to the fore.
BEACN Mic Colors
In the BEACN software suite, you can setup the BEACN Mic’s features. Features like its expander and gate, compressor/enhancer, headphone output, and equalizer. I have to take a moment and give special attention to the BEACN Mic’s equalizer. It is absolutely incredible and easy to setup no matter your skill level. In its basic mode, you can make subtle, easy adjustments to tweak your audio while in its advanced form you’ll find a ton of points to adjust. They’ve even labeled the various regions of the advanced equalizer with labels such as “sub bass”, “broadcast”, “nasal”, “highs & air” to make it easier to understand. The compressor/enhancement features let you adjust the compressor, bass enhancement, and exciter levels – all which, when used in combination, work together to provide a warm and broadcast quality nature to your voice. In terms of audio sampling, the BEACN Mic can sample in 32-bit float. This is a game changer in that it can record a much wider range of audio values. Like. A LOT more. Exponentially more. What’s cool about this is that the folks at BEACN knew that not every system will be able to process 32-bit float audio so they are downscaling it to PCM audio on the microphone at the same time to ensure compatibility.
BEACN Software
While the $270 Dollar price point may sound high (and perhaps it is depending on your budget), it is worth putting into perspective the amount of value that the BEACN Mic provides. For example, one of the best and most popular content creation microphones out there is the Shure SM7B XLR microphone. It retails for $399 Dollars and does not have the on-board noise suppression of the BEACN Mic. It also requires a mixer of some kind as it is an analog/XLR microphone and that will cost you even more money. The BEACN Mic can sound just as good (if not better) as the Shure SM7B, doesn’t require the mixer, and is $100 Dollars less expensive. Now, as mentioned in the first paragraph of this article, you will probably want a mixer if you are far enough along in your content creation career. If so, you can also select the outstanding BEACN Mix Create which was designed to work in concert with the BEACN Mic (but that’s a review for another time – stay tuned).
Overall, the BEACN Mic really is “a studio in a microphone”. It’s simply the best USB desktop microphone I have ever used. The BEACN Mic is available now for $279 Dollars at BEACN’s official website.
Overall Rating: 5 out of 5
