As the amount of creators rises, so does the availability of affordable tools. There are well-established standards for high fidelity USB microphones like the Blue Yeti lineup, but if you want something different or are on a budget, there are other options like the Movo UM700. With a Yeti-like design and a simple but robust feature set, the $100 UM700 is great for content creation like podcasts and streaming. Be sure to hit the video below to hear how it sounds for yourself.
Movo UM700: What’s in the box?
With very simple packaging, in addition to the microphone, we find a simple pop filter, USB-A to micro USB cable, and an instruction guide. The base comes installed on the microphone but can be removed with the two thumbscrews on the sides of the stand.
Design
On the front of the mic, we have a large mute button as well as the headphone volume dial. On the back are a gain dial and the four-way polar pattern selector. On the bottom, the microphone has 3.5mm headphone out and micro-USB ports as well as a ⅝” thread for mounting the microphone on other stands like this cheap Amazon one that I use.
Much like the wildly popular Blue Yeti lineup, the Movo has a large, cylindrical design. This works great for the four different polar patterns that the microphone can pick up. Mostly blacked out, the design is more discrete than other microphones like the Blue Yeti lineup or the glowing HyperX QuadCast S.
With a metal base, metal body, and metal grill on top, the Movo UM700 appears to be very robust. It has some weight to it, which makes it feel sturdy like it won’t easily fall over.
Movo UM700: Four polar patterns
Once again, similar to bigger and more expensive microphones like the Blue Yeti lineup, the Movo UM700 has four selectable polar patterns for recording one or more sources in many different situations. The selector dial on the back of the microphone makes it easy to switch between Stereo, Omni, cardioid, and bi-directional.
How does it sound?
With a triple mic capsule array, the Movo UM700 captures high fidelity audio at 48kHz/16 Bit and also picks up a wide frequency range of 20-20,000Hz. It has a neutral sound to it that will be useful for different types of content, not just vocals.
To me, it sounds great right out of the box. But in a quick comparison to the Blue Yeti X, which is priced at $170, the $100 Movo didn’t have quite the same presence as the Yeti X. The Yeti has a bit more low-end presence, which could be a good or bad thing for your situation. Be sure to hit the video and hear how they sound back to back along with the HyperX QuadCast S. In most of what I would use it for, I would run it through a little bit of EQ in Premiere Pro or whatever software I’m using to edit.
How’s the competition?
The Blue Voice software that is a part of the Blue Yeti X makes it easier to make tweaks on the front end without having to apply effects later, but that does come with a much higher price at $170. It also stands out a bit more thanks to the shiny metal grill on top.
The QuadCast S has a few unique tricks up its sleeves as well with the adjustable RGB pop filter, quick tap to mute on top of the mic, and selectable polar patterns.
9to5Toys’ Take
Overall, with its high fidelity sound, physical controls on the body, and robust build quality, the Movo UM700 looks, feels, and sounds great. I do think that it can benefit from some EQ tweaks in post, but I put a little bit of EQ on most of my microphones. For $100, it’s a great way to get started with content creation without the higher price of the other microphones.
Buy Movo UM700
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