Alvoxcon USB microphone A-800

The Alvoxcon A700 is a 'simple as it gets' USB condenser mic. Connect it to a PC or Mac, and it is ready to go in seconds. It comes in a box together with a small tripod mic stand, USB cable (about 1.5m) and a foam windscreen. At £32.99 on Amazon (at time of writing), if this mic sounds even close to decent, it must be worth a look, right? AUDIO QUALITY - Overall, the A700 has excellent audio quality, especially for vocals. The mic has a 6dB boost peaking around 10kHz which gives it a lovely sweet, clear sound out of the box. No need to EQ further down the chain. I can imagine this would sound great on acoustic guitar too, but I haven't tested it. You wouldn't want to use this for any high sound pressure level work (kick drum, for example), but for the money, this sounds surprisingly good. As with any mic, you have to use it correctly to get the best out of it (about 15cm from the mic using correct mic techniques to avoid plosives). Also, as I've found with mics at this price point, they quickly hit their limitations. Though the A700 fared very well in this regard, a quick peak level into the mic will cause the audio to break entirely. You won't just get a distorted signal as with high-end ADC. The sound cuts out briefly as though the mic has temporarily given up. It's not a big deal as it takes a good shout to do this, but it's a gentle reminder that you're using a budget mic. FUNCTIONALITY - As with all USB mics, they present themselves as a new input device on your Mac or PC. In the case of the A700, this device is called USBMIC1. It would be nice to see this as something a little less generic, but it makes no difference. The sound device is fixed at 48kHz 16-bit, which is perfect for video work, Skype, gaming and pretty much everything else. It's what almost all PC sound cards natively operate at unless you manually change things. Don't worry for a moment that is not 24-bit. There is no chance that the pre-amps in a device like this would be able to make use of the 24-bits anyway outside of it just being noise. 16-bit is just perfect. There is no volume control on the mic itself (I think the A800 includes this). You adjust the level on your computer. It's handy to have a volume adjustment on the mic but only if the manufacturer has implemented it correctly. It's not uncommon for these to be a simple digital reduction in the level of an already distorted signal which completely defeats the purpose. No such worries here because it doesn't have one. Although it shows as a device in your OS, it would be nice to have something to indicate the mic is powered up. A small white LED to signify when it's up and running. No flashing RGB lights. As with the rest of the mic, keep it simple. BUILD QUALITY - The mic itself is full metal construction. I'm not a fan of the glistening 'chrome' bands at the base of the grill and mic body, but they are metal and feel good in the hand. There's not much inside the mic, but it does give the impression it would take a knock or two. It looks the part to the untrained eye. I guess this is sometimes half the battle, particularly if you're buying this as a gift for a son or daughter getting into video work. The metal build continues down to the USB port which has a thick metal surround and appears about as sturdy as a port of this type could be. To me, though, this is still a point of failure. A sharp tug on the cable could render this mic useless. Even general moving around of the mic with the cable connected could see quick wear and tear on this port. There's some argument for a well connected permanent cable, but this too could also fray and fail. A recessed USB port where the USB-B connector is semi-supported could work. Equally, it would be nice to have something as sturdy as an XLR connector here, but this is a data connection, not a balanced line audio output. Also, the use of such a port would undoubtedly bump up the cost. There's no perfect solution here, but the A700 makes a good attempt. DESIGN - When I saw pictures of the mic, I thought it looked a bit tacky. A bit like a cheap mic trying to look expensive but it's smaller than I expected and this gives it a much more sensible look. The out of box experience is very good. Not only is the box well designed and durable, but the compact A700 looks rather good tucked away inside its foam insert. The writing on the mic body is relatively subtle. Although Alvoxcon sounds somewhat like a pharmaceutical company to me, the logo isn't too prominent, and it keeps the design minimal, basic and clean. STAND & EXTRAS - As with most products at this price, the extras are 'billy basic'. The tripod stand does the job, but for how long, I couldn't say. It's a low-cost tripod with just enough breadth to balance the mic. The mic attachment is plastic and not standard sizing, though I have no doubt you would have no trouble replacing this on Amazon if you needed to. The foam windshield fits neatly and is snug. It's a bit of foam and works fine. CONCLUSION - For the money, you seriously can't go wrong. Sure, it has limitations, but they are fewer than other mics I've tested at this price. The audio on this mic is stunning for £32.99. They all sound pretty similar around this price. I wouldn't be surprised if the mic capsules were standard across several devices. That said, the Alvoxcon A700 has a little charm. It's neat and super-simple to use and looks tidy on a desk. It's well worth a try.

This is the 2nd time we have purchased this microphone, as my 2 sons now want to use this on social media and games playing. We purchased this based on price and recommendation. A great simple to install and well-manufactured microphone, that has plenty of range in its audio for our setup. This serves well as a direct USB microphone that his friends can hear clearly and without distortion. Good value +++++

I bought this mic for the sole purpose of recording vocals via GarageBand on iPad Pro. It works a treat (with USB-C adapter). It is very sensitive to ambient sound and any touching of the mic's outer, so be mindful of that and try to record in a quiet space. Sound quality is excellent so can't really fault the device itself at all other than the hyper-sensitivity. I can imagine that it's a very good mic for any needs to record discussions however. I uploaded a video of the track I produced using this mic.

It was correctly delivered in less than 24h. Comes in a nice box, well packaged and secured. Inside, you'll find the tripod, a USB cable, a windscreen filter, an instruction manual and the microphone itself. The accessories are more than correct for the use it's designed to do. The instruction manual will be useful for people not used to set up microphones on computers, but especially I wouldn't underestimate the last page, in which they tell you how you have to place the microphone when you're talking: as a sound engineer I can tell you it's well explained and you'll find the sound of the mic will improve a lot if you follow their instructions. The microphone itself is well built, and it sounds way better than the older microphones I have at home. It's got a good S/N ratio, which means you'll have low white noise when using it. Since it's cardioid, it'll record at a way higher level anything you put in front of it, rather than anything that's around it. It's connected to the computer through USB port, which is perfect if you don't have an audio interface. Overall, if placed correctly it delivers a clean and flat sound, perfect for any application involving voice. I would highlight the fact that you can talk via skype or similar with the speakers on, quite loud, and the microphone won't catch any feedback.

Not impressed at all with this mic. Was pretty cheap to buy but when it came to using it for youtube voice-overs & live broadcast it pretty much failed. The sound was way too low as a simple plug-in & use microphone. Maybe there’s ways of enhancing the output sound but thats not going to be any use to beginners who are just looking to simple plug-in & use.

I attend quite a few conference calls and wanted to ensure that I offer the best quality of sound to those whom I’m speaking with. Some friends shared with me about the USB microphone they purchased from Alvoxcon that I saw had a number of 5 star reviews on Amazon, and was a really good price (£32.99 on Prime at time of purchase). The item arrived quickly the next day, very well packaged and in sealed bags – the items look well-made and of a good quality. Set up was easy – it really was just plug into my windows 10 laptop, and I changed a single setting in skype to use this microphone for audio rather than my headset. Quality of sound is really good, and noticeably better – much clearer and crisp – to the extent those I’m talking to on Skype have remarked on the improvement and clarity. So I’m very pleased with both quality and price of this USB microphone. Spot on

Microphone is great, pop filter is an added advantage , I use it for vocal tracks and it works extremely well, great sound quality. The volume adjust knob allows you to choose the right level from the microphone which allows you to adjust the recording levels so that there’s no clipping. Great value for money.

The microphone came quicker than I expected (within 24hrs). It really is quick and easy to set up and start recording with. I've only recently started to invest in recording equipment but i completely recommend this microphone if you are looking for something portable and sturdy. It's a great beginners microphone. there is no audible feedback in recordings with the microphone, however it does pick up close range background noise as far as I can tell so keep that in mind when recording in a particular surrounding area. I've only just started using this microphone recently, but I have no complaints so far.