PC & Console Peripherals

EPOS B20 – THE new all-round microphone for streamers?

The company EPOS offers high-end audio solutions – for companies and gamers. With the B20, they are launching a microphone that is primarily aimed at streamers and gamers – it is supposed to record crystal-clear audio signals, score with a slim and attractive design, and also work on both consoles and PCs via Plug-And-Play.

A particular highlight is the adaptability. The microphone’s characteristics can be adjusted – cardioid, stereo, figure-of-eight (bidirectional) and omnidirectional are possible. This gives you the right coverage for every scenario.

The B20 wants to play in the premium segment and shines on paper with convincing features and characteristics – but can it live up to them? We tested it for you.

Specifications

Buttons Gain, volume control, mute and
various directional characteristics
Cable length 2.9 m
Compatibility Windows, Mac, PS4
Transmission Range 50-20,000 Hz
Directional Pattern cardioid, figure-of-eight (bidirectional), omnidirectional (omnidirectional), stereo
Microphone sensitivity -37 dBV/PA
Microphone sensitivity tolerance +/- 3dB
Microphone Technology Condenser microphone (3 condenser capsules)
Thread size 3/8″
Recording sample rate and bitrate 24 bit / 48 kHz
Scope of delivery Table stand, 2.9 m USB cable,
Safety instructions, quick start guide
Warranty 2 years
Price € 42.99 *

Scope of delivery, workmanship and design

The Epic B20 reaches us safely in a very high-quality cardboard box. This is made of very strong cardboard and can be opened, secured with a magnet. The foam inside protects the product super even against harder impacts. If necessary, you can also use the OVP well as a transport box. On the box the product is nobly illustrated and the microphone is briefly described.

Generally, in addition to the microphone, you get a stand, instructions and a USB-C to USB-A cable to connect the microphone to your PC or console.

The microphone is kept quite plain visually. Buttons for mute, gain level, volume level and microphone characteristics are embedded in a slightly shiny, dark gray body. The actual microphone is located behind a grille at the top, and the EPOS logo can be seen from above. The low weight is conspicuous, but the workmanship seems above average throughout. The buttons can be turned and pressed comfortably, there are no optical flaws, and the material feels high-quality. There is a small LED bar above the mute button, which glows white during normal use, and a red glow as soon as mute is activated.

On the bottom, there are two ports – USB-C for connecting to the PC/console and a jack plug in case you want to listen to your recording directly.

The stand connects directly to a bracket on the microphone. This is permanently connected to the microphone – if needed, you can also connect it directly to a microphone boom or similar.

In summary – visually and haptically the B20 convinces at first sight.

Recording quality and features

The most important point of a microphone is, of course, the quality in which it records. To illustrate this, we have created a small video that shows the sound.

Click here to display content from youtu.be

In addition, especially with the B20, the special features are also interesting. The big feature is that you can switch the microphone characteristic. While almost every streamer or audio enthusiast will almost permanently use the cardioid pattern, as this is normally the best choice, there are other options for specific formats.

If you want to record a podcast, for example, you can switch to bidirectional recording, and omnidirectional for a group recording, for example, are also possible. In contrast to other microphones, you are very flexible here and get options that are otherwise denied.

Basically, the sound quality is very good. The voice is clear, although it reverberates a bit more than with other microphones – perhaps the software can still optimize the result?

Software – EPOS Gaming Suite

To further customize the microphone, EPOS offers its own software – EPOS Gaming Suite. There are a number of settings for the microphone here.

The most important items are voice amplifier, SideTone, noise gate and noise cancellation.

The voice amplifier is the same as the gain control on the back of the microphone. If you are too quiet, you can readjust it here. The SideTone is the self-monitoring – if you want to actively hear yourself, you can adjust it here.

Noise Gate works similar to the voice activation in Teamspeak, Discord and similar programs – the microphone only passes on the signals when the volume exceeds a certain threshold. This effectively filters out smaller background noises.

Do you have background noise in your environment? For example, a loud PC, a loud gaming keyboard or currently an air conditioner? Noise reduction helps you to annoy your fellow players or spectators less by filtering out these noises. Here, too, you can adjust how much this should happen with a level. But be careful – if you overdo it here, your voice will also sound very distorted.

We find the features adequate. You are not overwhelmed by features that you do not understand as an average user and still have everything to adjust your microphone ideally. In addition, the program is relatively resource efficient – it only occupies 29 MB of hard drive space and about 60 MB of RAM when in use or in the background.

Conclusion

The microphone makes a strong impression overall. The features are good, the workmanship is convincing, and the recording quality fits.

However, a big question remains here – do buyers really need the features? Is it realistic that it might even happen that you want to record a podcast or the like? Because of course, all of this comes at a price. At the time of this review, the microphone costs €199 (current: € 42.99 *) – there are some equally good microphones that cost a good bit less and come with similar features.

For our reviews, we see it as a great advantage. When you need it, it’s great to have. The features work well, the operation is easy, and the look is nice. We give the Gold Award because of the innovation, despite the high price and thus make a recommendation – if you actually use or want to use the features.

EPOS B20

Workmanship
Recording quality
Features
Value for money

90/100

Innovative microphone with good recording quality and solid overall impression.

Simon Lüthje

I am co-founder of this blog and am very interested in everything that has to do with technology, but I also like to play games. I was born in Hamburg, but now I live in Bad Segeberg.

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The company EPOS offers high-end audio solutions – for companies and gamers. With the B20, they are launching a microphone that is primarily aimed at streamers and gamers – it is supposed to record crystal-clear audio signals, score with a slim and attractive design, and also work on both consoles and PCs via Plug-And-Play. A … (Weiterlesen...)

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