For everyday voice chat use, the microphones built into headsets are usually sufficient, but their recording quality is not really perfect. If you want more, you can now choose from a variety of USB microphones, most of which offer significantly better quality.
This is exactly the direction SPC Gear wants to go with the SM900T: This is a large-diaphragm USB microphone that comes with a stand and a decoupled spider. For this package, SPC Gear currently charges € 229.00 * [testing time: 60 €]. The following text will show how well the microphone can compete for this price.
Specifications
| weight: | 780 g |
| Directional pattern: | kidney |
| connection: | USB (Type B) |
| frequency range: | 18 – 21,000 Hz |
| sound pressure level: | 135 dB |
Scope of delivery
The microphone itself is delivered, as already mentioned, together with a stand and a microphone spider. SPC Gear also includes a manual, a foam pop guard and a 1.7 meter USB cable to connect the SM900T.
Design & workmanship
In the design of the microphone, SPC Gear remains true to the typical convention of most microphones: the electronics are housed in a cylindrical case and the pickup diaphragm is covered by a grille that can be covered by the foam pop guard.
The SM900T is fixed in the spider by a metal clamp, so the microphone is connected to the outside world only by rubber bands and vibrations are damped accordingly.
The spider is fixed by a clamping screw on the thread, which allows the spider and microphone to be tilted freely. The joint is in turn screwed into the stand using a standard 5/8″ thread. The spider and stand are thus compatible with standard third-party microphone accessories.
The supplied tripod is a tripod that folds easily and stands on small foam pads. As a little extra, the tripod can be adjusted in height by a good four centimeters, giving you a little more flexibility.
Despite the rather low price of the SM900T, SPC Gear has opted for high-quality materials: The complete outer skin of the microphone, including the edging of the USB connector, is made of metal. SPC Gear uses a matt black surface almost throughout, only the USB connector’s bezel is chrome-look. The spider and the tripod are also almost entirely made of metal. Only the “ball” where the three legs of the tripod meet is made of matt black plastic.
All in all, the SPC Gear SM900 makes a very high-quality impression with the overall equipment and the choice of materials: purely haptically, the microphone looks more like a microphone from the price range above 100 Euro. The quality of workmanship is also impeccable: Everything on the SM900T is stable and without any visible or tangible defects.
Recording quality / practice
Now it’s straight to recording quality, because the SM900T focuses on the essentials: There are no operating elements or software of its own. The microphone is simply connected and you can start recording.
When it comes to recording quality, the SM900T is convincing: The sound is realistic and noise-free. In our opinion, the quality is more than sufficient for any kind of stream or podcast. Nothing can be criticized here.
The decoupling by means of the supplied microphone spider also works well: Vibrations of the background are naturally audible, but they are not recorded as distorted noise. The pop protection also does a decent job and keeps light air movements away from the diaphragm – but you should not blow directly on it.
It should also be noted that the SM900T, like all large diaphragm microphones, is susceptible to background noise. In case of doubt, the microphone must be supported by a clever positioning, sound insulation in critical directions or, if necessary, a subsequent software correction. In addition, SPC Gear has not built automatic pre-amplification into the SM900T, so you have to take care of keeping the volume constant for the listener. In this price range, however, this would not be expected otherwise.
Conclusion
With the SM900T, SPC Gear has succeeded in creating a price breaker. For current € 229.00 * [test date: 60 € ] the microphone offers a high-quality choice of materials in combination with praiseworthy accessories and good recording quality. Also the decoupling by the included spider works well.
In all core disciplines the microphone could convince us completely. Merely a lack of additional features could still be cited as a point of criticism, but here the low price of the SM900T must be taken into account. If you can do without special features such as automatic amplification or software that usually only emulates Windows functions anyway, the SM900T is definitely a good choice. For the price range below 100 Euro, the microphone has our full purchase recommendation, and even those who have more budget available should consider whether the additional money should perhaps be invested in better room acoustics.
SPC Gear SM900T
Workmanship / choice of material
Recording quality
Features
Value for money
95/100
An excellent combination of material selection, accessories and recording quality for this price range.
