You probably already know about Shure microphones; among the most well-known versions, the Shure SM58, SM7b, and SM57 are all well-known for their uses in the music industry. Shure offers microphones for use in home offices in addition to stages and recording studios. The Shure MV5C fills that need. Your speaking voice will be amplified while using this portable microphone in Zoom meetings and similar settings.
By default, the Shure MV5C is screwed into its accompanying stand with a spinning ball head, which allows it a wide range of flexibility. The mic is more portable than a baseball, but it also feels cheap due to its all-plastic construction. It is also smaller and lighter than a baseball. Along with the microphone and stand, you also receive an instruction booklet, a microUSB to USB-A cable, and a microUSB to USB-C cable.
It is simple to use the mic on both a PC and a Mac because two cables—each one metre long—are provided. If you don’t want to keep the MV5C on its desk stand, you may mount it to any stand with a 1/4-inch thread adapter. The microphone includes an aux input, a microUSB port, a mute button, a volume adjustment dial, a few indication lights, and a mode changeover button. An interior foam pop filter and a plastic grille cover the mic’s capsule.
Shure MV5C review: Design
The grill on the MV5C has a classic aesthetic and is nearly completely spherical. Simply screw the tiny silver ball into the mic to connect it to its metal base, and everything comes together quickly. On your desk or any other surface, it doesn’t take up much room. Be aware of this potential problem, though, as I kept knocking it over because of how light it is. The actual microphone is hidden behind the vintage grill, and it is protected from plosives during recording by a black foam windscreen.
A 3.5mm headphone jack for listening to your audio and a micro USB port are located on the back of the ball. Additionally, there are mute and mode buttons so you may adjust the DSP level and activate the voice enhancement mode. You have several connection possibilities thanks to the unit’s inclusion of micro USB-to-USB Type-A and Type-C cables.
Three lights that represent the various DSP modes and when the mic is muted are situated in front of a chrome Shure logo on top. The centre back of the spherical construction has a headphone volume control slider incorporated into it, just below the light. At 13.1 ounces and 4.1 x 5.1 x 4.4 inches, the Shure MV5C is incredibly small, toy-like, and practically weightless. It feels breakable when you have hands like a Kraken, as I do, however I guarantee you that the main microphone housing is quite sturdy. It most closely resembles Blue’s Snowball iCe, which weighs a substantial 1.1 pounds and measures 10.6 x 5.5 x 9.1 inches.
Shure MV5C review: Performance
Actually, there are only three DSP modes: voice, instrument, and one without any DSP. This indicates that whereas the other two settings bake in some EQ and compression, the flat option does not. You may quickly dial in settings thanks to this versatility, or you can disregard them and receive the most pure signal possible. There are many USB microphones with DSP and some without it, such as Blue microphones. The Shure Motiv range has the advantage of being one of the few manufacturers to offer DSP and DSP-free signals in the same microphone.
We found the MV5 to be easy to use on a Mac Pro with GarageBand. The software recognised the microphone right away and made it available for usage. Our vocal recordings in flat mode sounded exactly like that flat, with no hints of EQ shaping or dynamic compression. If you want a pristine sound to work with but want to apply EQ or compression during mixdown, this is excellent. There isn’t a lot of low-frequency presence, but everything sounds clean and sharp. The lows are barely audible, even up close where the proximity effect is more prominent. The ideal is clarity.
Surprisingly, we discovered that the instrument mode was the preferable option for recording conventional speaking vocals. It adds some decent compression, and the EQ is rather modest. When compared to flat mode, the vocals have a little more body, and the peaks are slightly more even.
For our tastes, the voice mode turns everything up a bit too much. This mode has heavy EQ and compression. Especially if the speaker is close to the mike, recording a male voice with significant depth can rapidly turn into boomy territory. The recordings in this mode occasionally sounded a little too resonant in the lows, in our opinion. It’s not difficult to see it sounding wonderful for specific voice types, but it adds a bit too much low- and low-mid presence and may have oversmoothed the dynamics.
Therefore, we advise sticking with flat or instrument modes when recording podcast vocals. It truly depends on the performance for singing vocals; if the singer’s performance is dynamically changed, the compression that is baked in here might even help a recording.
Shure MV5C review: Price and availability
On October 27, 2020, the Shure MV5C received its announcement and went on sale for $99 MSRP at a number of shops, including Amazon, Best Buy, B&H, and others. The housing of this microphone is currently only available in black, while the stand is made of silver metal. It’s still a little early for the microphone to have seen any significant sales, but Shure is already offering the MV5C at a $10 discount for $89, so it’s already available.
Final Words
The Shure MV5 is a cost-effective, portable microphone with a variety of uses. It supports iOS, Mac, and PC and simply needs one cable connection to begin recording. The microphone is constructed of plastic, which is not the best material for construction, but it is a sturdy plastic that has so far withstood multiple drops and tumbles.
But be prepared to tip this microphone over because the aluminium stand is so annoyingly light, especially when utilising the headphone monitoring. The sound quality is surprisingly good, even though it doesn’t reach the level of some of the more expensive XLR condenser microphones powered by 48v of phantom power.
The $99 Shure MV5 is a nice microphone that is simple to recommend if you’re searching for a means to enhance the audio quality of your iOS recordings or simply want a portable microphone that can be used on both your Mac and iOS devices without having to jump through a lot of hoops.
