My first impressions testing the Maono AU-HD300T was that it is a high-quality desktop mic providing crisp and clear audio for a very reasonable price of only $70 USD. The Maono AU-HD300T microphone is an exceptional mic with many built in features for content creators or streamers. I’ve used similar products twice the price have not been this impressed.

The Maono AU-HD300T microphone has dual (USB and XLR) connectivity, with zero-latency monitoring and cardioid dynamics (I’ll talk about what this means further in the article). In the box, you get the following:

– microphone,
– USB and XLR cable
– heavy metal stand,
– pop filter
– user manual with detailed setup instruction for both PC or Mac

This microphone requires no drivers or external programs to connect it to a device. It has a wide range of connectivity for connecting to PC, Mac, mixer, or audio interface. This microphone has a cardioid polar pattern with built-in premium audio processor which optimizes audio quality and performance. A microphone with a cardioid pickup pattern primarily picks up sound from sources located close to the mic and reduces background noise. For more details on cardioid pickup pattern technology check out this link here. The Maono AU-HD300T microphone is ideal for podcasting, live streaming, vocal recording, voice-over, singing, home-studio and content creation. Maono also backs it product with an impressive 24-month warranty if anything breaks.

The Maono AU-HD300T is durable with its height adjustable and tiltable full metal design. Many microphone products feel flimsy but this one weighs a hefty 27 ounces! The microphone shock mounted with heavy rubber bands to absorb any vibration or noise to travel to it from the surrounding environment. There are several built features on the mic including an on/off power switch and up/down volume control buttons. I mentioned above that this microphone has both USB and XLR connections. There is also a 3.5mm headphone jack, so that you can plug in your earbuds, or headphones! The setup is bulky. This may be big for streaming depending on your setup because the ideal place for the microphone is between your keyboard and mouse. Also, if your monitor is not raised off your desk, the microphone can block the bottom part of your view slightly. If this is does not work with your setup the MAONO AU-HD300S is the same microphone however with a boom style mount. Note that the MAONO AU-HD300S does not have a pop filter.

The performance of the Maono AU-HD300T Microphone is excellent. The audio is clear and crisp. I found the lower tones were amplified and made me sound older than I am! Audio is best recorded within 6” of the pop filter. Once you get more than 6” away from the microphone, the quality decreases. The pop filter filters out unwanted sounds like saliva crackles and lip smacks. The microphone does a good job of blocking the majority of background noise. The only complaint about background noise from the tests that I conducted was that that if your streaming, make note that you can hear the key presses of your keyboard specially if you have a mechanical keyboard. The keyboard that I tested on was the Vissles V84 mechanical keyboard (product review coming soon) which is considered in the quiet category for mechanical keyboards, but my setup had the keyboard directly below the mic. Repositioning the setup would likely also fix this issue. The zero-latency monitoring on this microphone can only be used if you are using it through USB and does not work if you are using an XLR cable as the zero-latency is a digital technology that routes the input signal directly to the output on the audio card. For more information  on zero-latency audio check out this link.

Overall, this is an amazing microphone at only $70 USD! The Maono AU-HD300T microphone is high quality, feature rich and would look good on anyone’s desk. I definitely recommend it. I may be doing a giveaway on this product in the near future, but the more I use it the more the more I am tempted to hang on to it! I have no doubt you will get your full money’s worth out of it!

The Cons

• Mechanical keyboard clicks can be heard while streaming
• Takes up space on your desk and possibly block parts of your monitor depending on your set up (checkout Maono’s boom mic setup to get around this issue)