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Review: Maono DGM20 USB Microphone
- Stephen Knight
- 4 hours ago
- 3 min read
As I've started to do voiceovers on my YouTube videos, I was looking for a low cost USB microphone to obtain an improvement in sound quality over my laptop's internal microphone. I chose the Maono DGM20, and wrote this review.
Disclaimer
The Maono DGM20 was purchased with my own funds.
Design and Construction
The Maono DGM20 is a budget priced microphone which costs approximately US$40. It is a condensing microphone, with pop-filter, gain control, mute/noise cancellation button, RGB control button, RGB lights, and a desk stand. It connects to devices via USB-C, with a USB-C to A adapter available at the PC end. An indicator light shows if the light is muted or in noise cancellation mode. Frequency response is 50Hz to 20kHz, sample rate/bit depth is 48kHz/24-bit, and SNR 73-78dB.
Construction is of plastic quality. The desk stand is 11cm high (to pivot point), and can tilt back. A taller stand would have been more useful to get the microphone closer to mouth height at a desk. The boom arm mounted DGM20S may be better for positioning. The microphone section is suspended within the ring structure to reduce sound from table shake.
The feature that sold me on the DSM20 was the integrated background noise cancelling, which is useful as I live near a busy road. Gamers will like the RGB lighting, with 9 different settings.
Sound Quality
There are some positives and negatives of the sound quality.
My opinions are as follows:
Good detail, particularly for highs - maybe too much detail for my voice!
Pop-filter works extremely well for plosive rejection.
Fairly good rejection from ambient sound from the sides and rear.
Very good background noise cancelling with noise cancelling turned on, but some volume suppression at the starts of some words.
Fairly nasally sound.
It should be noted that after much trial and error, I found optimal sound quality when recording into Da Vinci Resolve by:
Placing my mouth around 5" from the pop-filter, and my face turned around 35 degrees from the pop-filter (i.e. not directly facing towards the microphone),
Background noise cancelling turned off, mic gain around 75%, and PC mic input gain at 75%. Some additional input gain was required in Da Vinci Resolve in path selection.
EQ with high and low pass filters, increasing the lows, and decreasing 1-2kHz range.
Limiter enabled.
Conclusion
The Maono DGM20 is a good value for money budget microphone, with a big step up from integrated microphone sound quality, without breaking the bank. The noise cancellation is a fantastic feature at this price point, and useful for in noisier ambient requirements. Sound quality is very good for the price, but will need some EQ and dynamics optimisation in recording software. This is a good mic for Streamers, or Podcast and YouTube starters. I wouldn't consider it for professional use, or for medium to large Podcast/YouTube channels. If you have the money, you may be better spending a bit more for a mic that may suit a growing YouTube or Podcasting channel - the Maono PD200W being a good contender.
The DGM20 has recently been upgraded to the wireless DGM20W, with 3 levels of noise cancellation and other improvements.
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