The most important thing for me about a mic is how it sounds when I'm recording voiceover at my desk in front of the computer. And I am very happy with this mic and how it records my voice, with one mild caveat.For the first couple months I spoke directly into the mic from 6 inches away and while voice presence was good, my mouth noise (breathing, swallowing) and splosives were way too loud. Finally I realized that sitting back and speaking from 18 inches away resulted in far better recordings. This is, after all, a condenser and not a dynamic mic. There is no mouth noise and the sound of my voice still has character. Wearing headphones (Sony MDR-V6) and carefully listening, after normalizing for loudness, I do not hear any background static or hiss. The refrigerator, which I can clearly hear in-person, is not present in the recordings.Sibilance is noticable and that's the caveat, for me, with this mic. My natural speaking voice accentuates the S-sound so I wasn't surprised to hear it in the recordings. However a noticable sibilance is also present in the marketing video example clip of the man speaking into the mic, so perhaps somewhere in its digital signal processing the mic is adding its own "S" emphasis to the mix. As a result, I try to minimize using words containing the "S" sound when I'm recording voiceovers.The mic otherwise sounds great, and its fit and finish and included accessories (heavy-duty mic stand, shock absorber, pop filter) are excellent. The mic-stand and shock mount are solid pieces of gear and they simply work -- work well -- and I have no concern about them breaking or malfunctioning. The usb cable is also beefy.This sensitive mic, for me, is good for social calls with family or friends, when it can be nice for loved ones to hear background sounds -- the sounds of my world -- to feel more connected with me in that moment. Someone noted in a review that this cardioid mic might not be suitable for 2 people to use simultaneously -- it's probably sufficiently sensitive for picking up 2 or 3 people speaking in a conference call.The mic and accessories came packaged in an attractive container.

When I was offered the opportunity to purchase an Amcrest AM430-PS for review, I jumped at the opportunity. I own a lot of Amcrest equipment, most of which I really like… some have not met my needs, but still has been of high quality.When it comes to microphones, I feel I can say that I have a bit of knowledge, being a live and recording audio engineer for nearly 40 years. I own LOTS of microphones. I’ve built microphones.As soon as I saw the initial specs for this microphone, I felt it really could be a good fit for some people. I am often asked about improving audio quality for live streaming, or video conferencing, and I feel that I would confidently direct someone towards this microphone to fill those needs. In actuality, it’s right in the title “Amcrest USB Microphone for Voice Recordings, Podcasts, Gaming, Online Conferences, Live Streaming, Cardioid Microphone with Pop-Filter, Shock Mount, Adjustable Heavy Metal Stand, AM430-PS”This item retails for $45 on Amazon, and it’s worth every penny.The kit comes with the microphone, a USB cable, a desk stand, a shock mount to hold the microphone and a pop screen filter.I tested the microphone by recording it into my Reaper recording software. I compared it to a few of my other microphones and my conclusions are exactly what I was anticipating. The microphone is sold as a cardioid microphone, meaning it is directional and picks up more sound from the front (the side with the Amcrest logo), than the sides or rear. For video conferencing and gaming this means it should do a good job of rejecting sound coming from your computer speakers or monitor.I first tested the microphone in a common scenario of a simulated Teams or GoToMeeting type usage. The included desk stand makes the minimum height of the mounted microphone about 10”, a bit shorter than the Blue Yeti that I also have. However, the Amcrest stand is adjustable, and if you want to make it taller, it can go up to 14.5”. The Amcrest microphone did pick up a bit of typing noise from my keyboard; not annoyingly loud, but for something that has cardioid polar pattern I was hoping for a bit more rejection off to the lower side of the microphone. The tone and sensitivity of the microphone were very good. In comparison with both the laptop’s internal microphone array and my Bluetooth headset microphone, I easily would choose the Amcrest as a winner.Since the kit also included a pop-screen, I decided to try the microphone for a more close-up situation of voice-over/narration. I don’t think this is a strong suit for the microphone. It has a strong proximity effect and my voice definitely came up a bit boomy, yet also thin in other frequency ranges. I am noticing this as I am used to using some of my very good microphones and interfaces for doing narration… but those things cost more than 20 times the price of this unit.It has no switches! This is a good thing. I don’t need to change polar patterns, I don’t want to touch my microphone to activate the mute… or worse forget that I have a mute on the microphone and wonder why nobody hears me even though my software says my mic is not muted. I don’t need a volume control on my microphone. All of these things are easily controlled in software. I think Amcrest made the right choice in simplifying the device and not adding these things.After I did my technical evaluation, I set this up for my wife to use. She regularly does video conference meetings. The people on the other end have noted the improvement in audio quality.Overall I consider it an excellent value. I would recommend it for anybody wanting to present better sound for video conferencing. If I had to comment on any “Cons”… I think Amcrest would be better off eliminating the pop screen filter from the packaging as I don’t feel the microphone is something I would use for close use anyway. It could save a few dollars and significantly reduce the package size.