Turtle Beach is without a doubt synonymous with quality sound solutions. Turtle Beach are world-renowned for their headset technology, with each headset tailored to deliver a fantastic gaming experience. Now, Turtle Beach is expanding its efforts and delivering products meant for a specific use. The Turtle Beach Stream Mic is equipped with Turtle Beach’s own TruSpeak™ technology and is ideal for those who live-stream.
The Stream Mic excels at its purpose. What I like about the Stream Mic is that it’s small and compact. It doesn’t take up too much real estate on my already small desk, so I feel inclined to let it sit there for when I need it. Other mics I have used are super bulky, making me more inclined to pack them away after using. The microphone combines a gloss and matte finish, with a metal grill effect over the mic. Touching the microphone portion of the device gives a cheap plastic kind of feel, but the microphone base is solid and sturdy enough for the mic to pass as durable. At $79.95 you can’t complain about the quality you are getting with the Stream Mic.
When you first unbox the product, the amount of parts seems intimidating. However, assembling the microphone base is easy, and once you have put everything together it’s likely that you’ll never need to assemble it again.
A USB connection gives you plug-and-play compatibility so you can stream from your Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PC or Mac without much set-up required. It is highly recommended that PC users install the latest firmware, which can be found on the Turtle Beach Stream Mic product page.
The Ear Force Audio Hub allows you to alter settings for the Stream Mic. Plugging headphones into the jack will allow you to live test your settings. In fact, having the headphone jack on this microphone is a fantastic feature. The headphone amplifier has zero latency and allows a streamer to monitor audio levels relating to both the game and their own voice. The headphone jack will support literally any set of headphones you would want to use, and will vastly improve the streaming experience.
The Stream Mic has an LED colored ring that signals the mode that the microphone is currently set to. Being able to quickly mute the microphone by pressing the button at the center of the ring gives you a satisfying level of control when interruptions arise. Being caught off guard and having to fiddle around for the mute control can lead to awkward moments during streams and podcasts, but with the Stream Mic everything you need is within reach.
Speaking of podcasting, I did a test run of the Stream Mic and noticed that the sound quality didn’t quite match up to the quality of my usual mic. Granted, my usual mic is a high-end Turtle Beach headset, but I did notice the sound was more echo-y. This was made more apparent by other cast members who were present on the show. Their mic quality was exceptionally clearer. It could have been that I needed to play with the settings in the Ear Force Audio Hub; but if the Stream Mic was an all-purpose microphone I wouldn’t have to. This isn’t a strike against the microphone, because it still serves its purpose well as a microphone for streamers. But be weary of using it as an all-purpose microphone as the quality may not hold up against others. I would only recommend it for podcasts where it is going to be the sole microphone used.
Stream Mic Verdict
The Turtle Beach Stream Mic serves its purpose to the fullest degree. It’s small, stable, durable and is capable of picking up voices at close to long range. These are all qualities that are valuable to streamers, and the Ear Force Audio Hub will allow them to tailor the sound as they need it.
Its universal compatibility is impressive and this is convenient for streamers who play on multiple systems. I would have loved this to sit on my desk as my go-to device for any type of recording; but the fact is that I can really only use the Stream Mic for streaming, and party chats. For anything else, my other Turtle Beach headsets offer clearer recording capabilities. But it’s not to say that you couldn’t use the Stream Mic for other purposes if it is your only option. At $79.95/£79.99 there’s no disputing what the Stream Mic has to offer.
