Shure MX418/S Supercardioid Condenser Microphone, 18" Gooseneck with Attached XLR Preamp, Shock & Flange Mount, Snap-Fit Foam Windscreen

I run sound for a poetry and music open mic locally. I have a good array of vocal microphones for singers, but I really needed a dedicated speaking microphone that I can put on the podium for poetry readers. This mic is perfect for that application. The gooseneck is easy to adjust, so my speakers can position it comfortably for their needs. It does a nice job of rejecting feedback, and produces great clear sound with a minimum of EQ adjustments. My guests really like it because it is unobtrusive and low pro profile, which is great when they take photos or videos. It is worth investing in the mic stand too - overall, a terrific mic, very practical!

This was purchased to replace another gooseneck microphone for a church. The sound quality and sensitivity of this microphone (cardioid) is noticeably better than the old microphone (super cardioid), particularly when the speaker was positioned off-axis of the cardioid pattern. 5 stars. Update: After 1 month use this microphone developed a constant high-pitched tone when used. No other changes were made to the audio system in the 1-month period, and the microphone was not abused or damaged in use. The high-pitched tone in the audio system stopped when this microphone was replaced. A warranty claim is being submitted to Shure, as the the failure occurred shortly after the Amazon 30-day return period. The rating is being downgraded to 1 star due to poor durability.

This item is awesome clarity beyond reality. It works great.

so let me get the "warning" out of the way first - this is a 18" long model and in hindsight i wish i gotten the 12" version. i have this mic on my desk and this 18" version actually positions it perfectly from acoustical pickup perspective but makes it harder to lean on the desk to rest your back - the mic is too close to the face which is a little uncomfortable psychologically. my desk is 30" deep and the mic is almost all the way at the other side. a shorter 12" size would maybe not be as good acoustically but would allow you greater freedom to lean on your desk if you're like me and like to do that. that's just something i felt like sharing but it is by no means a downside to this mic. now to the mic itself - i compared this to my Shure Beta 87A mic and my AKG C414 mic. compared to 87A ( stage vocal mic ) this one is much more sensitive and has much better bass and crisper top. compared to C414 ( studio recording mic ) it has approximately equal voicing and sensitivity, but is not as detailed - not even close. with the 418 when you speak into it it sounds good, but if you try to record room background noise its all a mush - while with the C414 if you record background noise you can make out all the individual noises separately - this means that this mic does not have a lot of dynamic range - limited by self noise. never the less for what it is it works perfectly. the speech it records is very crisp - it just doesn't have that depth or airiness that a large diaphragm recording mic like C414 has - but for teleconferencing that doesn't matter. when you first plug it in it makes horrible noises but those go away after a few minutes - apparently it needs to charge up a few capacitors first. so have a little patience there. the build quality is SUPERB. the cord is very long ( didn't measure it but looks about 12 feet ) and the packaging was ridiculously huge - and im not talking about amazon packaging - im talking about the shure box - it's about a cubic foot and 2 feet long. no assembly required - it simply ships in a huge box. great product overall and i love it. i wish i could have compared it to Sennheiser offering as Sennheiser is probably excellent as well, but i could not find any reviews on Sennheiser so i got this one. no regrets about that, but still curious about Sennheiser though. UPDATE: i'm changing my review to 4 stars because when i tried recording with this mic i get intermittent clicks. i'm not sure why. this is not a recording mic however, and i don't have any problems using it as intended but sometimes i'm too lazy to plug in my recording mic when i need to record something and i get these strange clicks ... which i have never experienced when using my recording mic ( AKG C 414 ). i still think it's a great microphone for its intended purpose ( conferencing and such ) but for whatever reason as a recording mic it doesn't really work.

Excellent microphone! The Shure MX412/S is an excellent microphone! I have the microphone mounted on a podium using the shock mount and setup for speakers / preachers in the pulpit. This condenser microphone looks great and works perfectly with our P/A system. It allows for good volume without overwhelming the audience and it provides crystal clear voice sound. We are extremely pleased with this microphone!

I got sick of the poor signal from people not adjusting the mic to themselves at the podium. Once I got this one (paid for it myself) we haven't had a problem since. It's just less intemidating I guess. Easier to operate than a regular SM58 on a mic stand. A must for any church for these reasons.

This is an awesome mic picks up well. And is very clear. Definitely glad to have gotten it.

Works for people that tend to not talk near or directly at the mic. It sounds good if you have a tuned system. Very easy to position.