Closer Examination

The AVerMedia Live Streamer Mic 350 sports a matte black aluminium body that looks sleek and feels impressively sturdy. The microphone is affixed to an aluminium mount, which allows you to swivel it to any preferred angle. It's important to keep in mind that this is a side-address microphone though, so you have to speak directly into the metal mesh on its upper half. In other words, regardless on your chosen method of installation (table or arm), the metal mesh should always point toward your mouth.


The microphone is split into two parts. The "head" is crowned with a decorative red ring and a dense metal mesh, protecting the two integrated 14-millimeter condenser electret capsules. The bottom part of the microphone is where you'll find two dials, two ports, and a polar pattern switch.


The upper dial controls the capsule gain (microphone volume, in simpler terms). Pressing it mutes the microphone. This action is accompanied by audible but completely acceptable popping in the recording. I didn't find it annoying at all, nor did I get any complaints from the people I was talking to while testing the microphone. Nobody seemed to notice when I would mute or unmute it. I've recorded a short sample where you can hear the popping that appears when the microphone is muted and unmuted.




The bottom dial has two functions: it controls the microphone monitoring volume (how loud you'll hear the sounds picked up by the microphone in real-time), but also the system volume (how loud the sounds are coming from the device you've connected the microphone to, i.e. your PC). Pressing the button switches between the source volume and microphone monitoring volume control, so it's very easy to find a balance that's ideal for your exact use case or personal preference. A blue LED will tell you which one of those are you currently adjusting, but I have to point out that the microphone, headphone, and computer markings above and below the dials are very hard to make out in anything other than a brightly lit room. Until I got used to the layout and controls of the AVerMedia Live Streamer Mic 350, I had to turn on the lights to figure out what I was doing. My guess is AVerMedia was going for a stealthy, streamlined look of the microphone, which would be somewhat ruined by distinctive white markings on its body, but function should have been prioritized over form in this case, in my not-so-humble opinion.


The round base plate is supplied with the microphone. It weighs a little under 232 grams and keeps the microphone completely stable regardless of its adjusted angle when placed on the table. The microphone mount has a 5/8" thread mounting bracket and the metal base screws on it with ease.


There are two ports on the bottom side of the microphone. The USB-C (USB 2.0) port is used to connect the microphone to computers and mobile devices, while the 3.5 mm output is where you'll plug the headphones you want to use for microphone monitoring.


Also found on the bottom of the microphone is a polar pattern switch. The AVerMedia Live Streamer Mic 350 offers cardioid and omnidirectional voice pickup patterns. We'll get more into both in the microphone performance section of the review.