Stage Right by Monoprice Complete Podcasting and Streaming Bundle
$75.99 (frequently on sale)
Microphone tested on an M1 Mac Mini with Hindenburg DAW.
Everyone likes a bargain and Monoprice for the most part sells reasonable quality goods in various segment of a crowded market. Their cables are typically of good quality and hold up fairly well over time. However not everything is as good as it could be even if it’s fit for purpose. Case in point? Their Complete Podcasting and Streaming kit.
On the surface it does indeed come with all the hardware you would need to record a podcast or live stream and each component does certainly operate as Monoprice claims it can. Their choice of words in suggesting that each component is of the highest quality is a claim to be taken with a grain of salt or two.
What comes with this package? A USB microphone that isn’t offered anywhere else through Monoprice. It comes with a mount that will attach to any 5/8-inch stand (and includes a 3/8-inch adapter). The microphone has a mute button that makes noise when you press it while recording (as nearly all of them do). A gain knob, a headphone volume knob, and a headphone port. The microphone has a front-address capsule and is a large (ish) diaphragm condenser that has a cardioid polar pattern as most non-switchable microphones do. Here are the specifications as told by Monoprice:
Type: Condenser
Pattern: Cardioid
Frequency Response: 30Hz to 18kHz
Dynamic Range: doesn’t say
Bit and sample rate: 16-bit/48kHz
There’s no frequency chart provided by Monoprice, so how it’s frequency range and pattern is distributed is unknown.
There’s also a boom arm that is similar to most $15-25 arms available through Amazon though one nice feature is the built-in USB-B (plugs into the microphone) to USB-A cable that’s about 6-feet long. The cable seems to be of good quality so should last and is long enough for most applications. Of course if the cable DOES go bad, there’s no way to replace it. The arm also swings in and out with very little noise.
It also includes two different ways to deal with plosives (air from your mouth that moves directly into the capsule), a foam pop filter and a screw to the arm wind screen that I’ve never liked much, but they are of decent quality and will get the job done.
Lastly it comes with some headphones that have the Stage Right branding on them. They don’t reproduce sound very well and are uncomfortable after a little use. For about $30, you can get some OneOdio headphones that will sound MUCH better than these and be more comfortable too.
Some audio samples from the microphone as recorded into Hindenburg.
Final thoughts? The microphone is a little boomy but for an inexpensive condenser sounds better than I expected it to. The kit doesn’t come with a shock mount and the microphone would have been better off if one had been included. Unfortunately most standard shock mounts won’t work with this microphone because of the front gain and headphone adjustment knobs.
The boom arm is of a decent quality and having the cable included means you won’t have to wrap or cable tie it to the arm. The pop filter and wind screen do the job was intended even if I’m not the biggest fan of this design.
The headphones however are terrible and you’ll need to budget for something (anything) better.
All in all, I wish Monoprice sold the microphone separately as the included accessories make it hard to justify the nearly $80 price for this kit.
MyMac ratings
8 out of 10 for the microphone
7 out of 10 for the boom arm
7 out of 10 for the pop filter and wind screen
3 out of 10 for the headphones
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