Hey guys, today I wanted to talk to you about a microphone that I’ve recommended several times in different videos when I’ve talked about upgrading the quality of your stream on a budget. To be honest, I always hate using that word because while this microphone costs quite a bit less than other “gaming” microphones out there, like the ever popular Blue Yeti mics, it actually sounds a hell of a lot better, in my opinion, then most of them!
In trying to keep a level of total transparency on this site, FiFine came out with a new bundle for their super popular K669 mic and while they aren’t paying me for this review, they did send me the new kit free of charge. Also, just to reiterate, I’ve been recommending this microphone to new streamers in previous videos on my YouTube video, well before they ever reached out to me offering to send this kit!
With that said, let’s jump in to my review of the FiFine T669 Microphone bundle!
Before we jump in today’s review, I’d just like to take a quick moment to remind every one that I myself livestream every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday evening. If you have any questions about this microphone or microphones in general, stop in by visiting this link!
Also, if you like this video and find value in it, don’t forget to smash that like button, hit the red subscribe button below and ring the bell to get notified when I post more videos that will help you drastically improve your own livestream and grow as a streamer!
Growing up in a church with a minister as a father I’ve been working with sound for most of my life. In fact, I ran the entire audio, video and technology department in our church for 15+ years which means I’ve used a lot of different microphones over the years. Starting with the cheaper microphones when my dad first started the church to more expensive mics as the church grew and we upgraded sound equipment.
On top of that, I’ve been streaming on and off for 5+ years and during that time have used a wide variety of computer mics ranging from gaming headset mics, USB mics to XLR microphones which run through an XLR to USB interface which allows you to use professional grade microphones for your livestream.
I say all this, not to flex, but to simply point out that I’ve been involved with sound for a long time and have the ability, at least in my opinion, to hear the difference between microphones and pick out which one sounds better. However, if you don’t want to take my word for it, I also created a video where I took this microphone, the FiFine T669 and put it up against the Blue Yeti Pro, a Turtle Beach Z300 Gaming Headset Mic and the Audio Technica AT2035 XLR Mic in a microphone blind test which I then asked people to listen to and rank the mics in order.
With all that said, let’s jump in to the review of this mic and I’ll share with you guys what I like about it and what I think they can improve on in future versions of it!
The first thing I want to mention is that that there are two versions of this microphone so that you understand what you’ll be getting depending on which kit you buy!
The first model is the FiFine K669 which you can pick up for the normal price of $29.99 but I have seen it as low as $27.99 personally.
This kit includes the FiFine mic that I’m going to be reviewing today with one minor difference. this one comes with a 5.9 ft USB cable that is built into the microphone and cannot be removed. It also comes with a tripod stand so that you’re able to set the microphone on your desk or table.
The second model is the one we’ll actually be reviewing today which is the FiFine T669 which normally runs $49.99 on Amazon, however, I’ve seen this one for as low as $39.99 personally.
This kit includes the exact same microphone as the K669, however, it comes with a detachable premium USB cable that is 8.2 feet long.
It also comes with the tripod stand just like the K669 but also comes with a scissor arm that attaches to your desk or table as well as an included shock mount.
You also receive two different styles of pop filters in the kit. A foam cover which slips over the microphone as well as a circular dual-layer pop filter which attaches to the scissor arm and sits in front of the microphone via a flexible gooseneck.
With that said, personally I would highly recommend that if you do decide to purchase this mic by the end of the video, that you pick up the kit I’m showing you today which is the T669.
For the extra $10 to $20, depending on whether you get the kit on sale or not, the additional accessories I mentioned in this kit are 100% worth the small cost increase.
Any microphone you buy would end up needing these accessories anyways to sound its best and from my experience, you won’t find better quality in budget friendly accessories nor be able to beat the price. I spent $20 just on a budget scissor arm which ended up not even being able to handle the weight of the microphone I purchased it for. I’ve had zero issues with any of the accessories included in the FiFine kit and all seem to be great quality for budget friendly gear.
With that said, let’s jump in to the specifications of the FiFine microphone and then I’ll share with you guys what I like about the system from using it and what I dislike.
The FiFine is a condenser mic with a Cardioid type pattern which means it’s great for things like podcasting, livestream, voice overs, etc. A cardioid patter means it’s setup to receive sound from directly in front of the mic but not all the way around it which means it won’t pick up extra noises to the sides or back as easily.
It’s frequency response is similar to most other mics which is 20hz to 20khz. Basically this is the range of the human ear meaning it will pick up the lowest sounding bass notes humans can hear as well as the highest highs a human can hear.
It has a -34db sensitivity rating which without getting in to all the technical info about that, basically means you don’t need any type of preamp for the mic as it’s sound is already a usable level which is true with most condenser microphone to be completely honest and isn’t really an issue with any type you use, but I did want to point out what it has. In comparison my professional Audio Technica AT2035 XLR Mic has a sensitivity rating of -33db.
It has a signal to noise ration of 78db which again compared to my profesional Audio Technica mic which has an 82db signal to noise ration, is considered excellent. Typically a ratio of 16-24db is considered poor, 25-40db is good and a ratio of 41db or higher is considered excellent.
Lastly it uses a USB 2.0 type connector and one thing I really like about the T669 kit in particular is the build quality of the USB cable. It’s super thick, well shielded and longer than the K669 version.
Now while the specs all sound amazing even when compared to my Audio Technica setup, and I do think this mic sounds amazing, it’s obviously not the same quality as spending $500 on a setup like my Audio Technica mic. Although it’s close in my opinion and much cheaper!
Let’s move in to what I love about this microphone.
First and foremost, compared to a built in microphone on any gaming headset it’s a huge leap in quality! Again, I made a video comparing this mic to three other mics including a headset mic on a very expensive headset and it still beat it out easily.
Secondly, the cost! This microphone along with all the accessories is super budget friendly at a price point of just $50. Even if you bought the cheapest Blue Yeti, the snowball ice, which costs $50 as well, you don’t get the scissor arm, shock mount, pop filters, etc. with it. Buying all those separately would easily cost you an additional $50 bringing your true cost up to about $100 for the cheapest Blue Yeti setup. Also, considering the more expensive $129.99 Blue Yeti was beaten by the FiFine in my microphone blind test, I’d say you’d be quite disappointed with that purchase.
Speaking of accessories, another plus for the FiFine is that all the accessories included in this bundle are great quality for the budget price. I’ve purchased several, more expensive, accessories in the past including scissor arms, pop filters and shock mounts and most of the time when I’ve cheaped out on them, I’ve regretted it! So far, all of these seem really well made and I’ve had no issues with any of them.
The FiFine also has a built in gain knob which allows you to adjust the sensitivity of the microphone and how easily it picks up sounds depending on how close you keep the mic to your mouth this is a necessity in any microphone and again is something that is included on most mics nowadays.
Lastly, as I mentioned before this kit differs from the K669 kit in that the USB cable is not only a more premium cable but it is also detachable which means if you ever pinch it with your scissor arm, which I’ve done, and mess it up, you can simply replace it unlike the K669 kit.
I know it sounds like I’m singing the praises of this microphone and you’d be correct. I’m not even going to try to hide the fact that I think this is one of the best microphones you can buy unless you have the money to get a professional setup and spend several hundred dollars! There are, however, a couple small issues I’d like to see changed in future iterations of this device.
There’s no mute button! While this isn’t a deal breaker for me I wish they would have included it as a feature of this mic! Personally, my professional Audio Technica doesn’t have one built in either…I sure wish it did!
Also, and maybe this is nit picking, but I hate that the knob says volume instead of gain. I understand this isn’t a professional microphone and maybe by having it read volume it helps people that are new to using microphones understand what the knob does, it hurts them in the long run. Why? Because as you move up and upgrade your setup almost every other mic out there will label this knob as gain. Also without understanding that it’s a gain knob and what this knob does exactly, you could get worse performance out of the mic then you would if you had to look up what gain does.
Lastly, while I think this mic sounds amazing right out of the box, there are some people that thinks it can sound a bit tinty out of box. This isn’t really an issue as you can simply add an EQ to the mic and add a bit of bass to it to make it sound more “full” I still wish it had this right out of the box.
And that’s really all the complaints that I have about this microphone.
Overall, if you are still rocking a headset mic and you’re looking at improving the audio of your stream I don’t think you can go wrong with this kit by FiFine. In fact, in my opinion, you’d be hard-pressed to find a better sounding USB microphone when compared to any other gaming USB mic out there! While I can’t say for sure, about the only way I see you finding a USB mic that beats this one is if you purchased a professional brand USB mic like the new Audio Technica AT2020 USB mic which is gonna cost you $150 just for the mic which means you’d still need to pick up the scissor arm, shock mount and pop filters separately which would put you close to $200.
And I’m still not sure it would sound that much better to justify the increased cost.
With that said, thanks so much for watching this video and just a quick reminder that I stream every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday evening so if you have any additional questions about this microphone or microphones in general stop in and say hello by visiting the link on the screen or in the description below!
If you enjoyed it, please smash that like button! Subscribe by hitting the red subscribe button below and don’t forget to ring the bell to be notified when I post new videos like this that will help you level up your livestream! Until next time, peace out everybody!