The Maono PM421  is a fairly inexpensive professional USB microphone. Only being $80 USD, this microphone comes with a full kit including a windshield, boom arm, and desk mount. This Microphone is also only $10 more than the other Maono microphone (add link) that I reviewed a while ago. We will access the end of this article if this mic is the better deal. This microphone has a professional sound chip set along with a 16mm diaphragm mic capsule. The diaphragm is a component of the microphone capsule that vibrates in response to sound waves. For more information check out this link. This microphone also has a Hi-Res sampling rate up to 192KHz/24bit which is pretty good from a microphone at this price. The sample rate is the frequency at which analog signal are collected per second. This microphone has a wide range of connectivity along with a cardioid polar pattern. 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.

In the box you get:

• Microphone
• Boom arm and table stand
• Windshield/pop filter
• Foam mic cover
• 2x cable ties
• USB cable
• User’s manual

This microphone comes with a full metal body design, which makes it very durable while having a sleek look. This microphone comes with a gain dial and a touch sensitive mute button which work very well. The boom arm is also well built, it can be a little finicky sometimes which shows that it is a cheaper boom arm. I do notice that some of the hand screws do loosen over time, which isn’t a big problem, it just means that you will have to tighten them occasionally. The boom arm also has an anti-vibration shock mount for the microphone, which means when you bump the microphone or boom arm the vibrations won’t be very loud. One slight complaint I have is that the USB cord is a little too short. It is 6’ but if you have a larger set up like I do, it would be nice to have an extra foot or two.

The performance of this microphone compared to the HD300 microphone that I review a while ago is actually pretty good! Compared to the HD300 microphone (which is $10 cheaper than this mic) this mic I find has a warmer tone while capturing the different tones of your voice crisper and clearer than the HD300 The windscreen included with this microphone works pretty well. The windscreen filters out unwanted sounds like saliva crackles and lip smacks.

This microphone does a decent job of filtering out background noise. Though you should note that if you are planning to use this microphone for streaming that your keyclicks will be heard on pretty much any keyboard.

Overall, this microphone kit is a great deal if you’re looking for an inexpensive kit with a good microphone.  The audio quality of this microphone is better than the HD300 microphone that I review a while ago. The microphone comes with a boom arm and little assembly required to make to almost instantly ready to use out of the box! So, I believe that Maono PM421  microphone is the better deal than the HD300  microphone I reviewed a while ago. Even though its slightly more expensive the PM421  has crisper and clearer audio while also having a boom arm.

 Huge thanks to Maono for sending me their microphone to review! I have reviewed some of their other products which you can check out down below!

The Cons

• Mechanical keyboard clicks can be heard while streaming