Getting started is as easy as plug and play, but you’ll need software to dive deep into all the settings. I’m not a huge fan Reason Mix software recommended on the box. Before I could download it, Shure asked for my full name, city and state, zip code, and email address for software updates, which seemed unnecessary.
The software gives you the option to switch to manual gain, adjust the tone slider from Dark to Bright, with Natural in the middle, and turn the denoiser and blast reducer on or off, as well as adjust the high-pass filter for background noise. There are also monitor and mute settings if you choose to record with Motiv Mix. Nothing groundbreaking here, but there doesn’t seem to be any other way to access these settings. I wish there were only buttons on the microphone.
can you hear me
As far as I can tell, the settings you change will remain even if the software is not open, so feel free to make adjustments, then close it and go back to what you were doing. I ran a few comparison tests with different settings while recording, and after listening back I generally found the default settings to work well enough. There is nothing here that I would find out of the ordinary or silly in any way. The explosive reducer works well enough that I don’t need a pop filter for my Ps. I didn’t notice a particularly big change from disabling the denoiser, though it was probably helped by the rear bounce of the mic, which helps keep my keyboard noise down.
The auto level did cause me to climax if I suddenly yelled after a whisper, but it adjusted quickly enough and lifted me just as quickly when I spoke quietly. It’s nice not to have to worry too much about levels, since there’s no quick-check interface, and the MV6 doesn’t have any built-in controls or feedback.
People who listened to the recordings or chatted with me on Discord noticed that my voice sounded clear and crisp, a noticeable improvement over my usual gaming headphones. I think you could easily use this microphone for occasional streaming or podcasting, and you wouldn’t get any complaints. I don’t feel like I’m missing anything sonically by using this instead of mine Audio-Technica AT2035at least when it comes to regular speech quality. Professional audio engineers may think otherwise, but unless you’re examining waveforms or recording audiobooks, you probably won’t.
Photo: Brad Bourque