Microphone Performance

The Fifine AmpliGame AM8 is equipped with a dynamic capsule with a cardioid polar pickup pattern. The specified frequency response of the capsule is 50-16,000 Hz, and the built-in ADC (analog-to-digital converter) is capable of 16-bit/48 kHz operation.

With the cardioid polar pattern, the capsule picks up the sounds in front of it while rejecting (to a certain level) everything coming from its side and even more from behind. In practice, that means your room noise won't be as audible as with other polar patterns, especially if the microphone is close to your mouth. The cardioid polar pattern is the preferred one when you're the only one talking into the microphone, but it's not suitable for scenarios when you want to record multiple people or instruments playing in the room at the same time. This isn't a critique of the Fifine AmpliGame AM8 – it's just a fact you should be aware of. If recording multiple people is what you're after, the Fifine AM8, or any other microphone limited to the cardioid polar pattern, isn't a good choice for you.

Let's take a listen to the Fifine AmpliGame AM8 microphone in its most natural state – while it's positioned on the table between the user and the keyboard. For this test the microphone gain has been maxed out.



For a $50 microphone, the AM8 sounds excellent, especially when we consider the 30-centimeter distance from my mouth. This level of sound quality is unachievable by microphones found on most gaming headsets, particularly in terms of smoothness and naturality of the voice. From this distance, the Fifine AM8 actually sounds better than some significantly more expensive microphones I've tested, like the $120 Elgato Wave:1 (reviewed here), which you can hear for yourself by comparing the sample above with the following one.



Here's what you can expect if you tap on the table, touch the stand and body of the microphone, or mash your mechanical keyboard while talking into the microphone.



The noise handling is only mediocre, partially because I'm using the microphone at maximum capsule gain, to get enough volume from it while it's sitting on the table in front of me. An obvious way to get around it is to place the microphone on the boom arm. Table tapping then isn't an issue anymore, there won't be a base to touch, and you'll be able to significantly reduce the capsule gain, as the microphone will be positioned very close to your mouth.

Here's what the Fifine AM8 sounds like when placed on a boom arm and positioned close to the mouth.



My voice now sounds fuller and warmer – that's the proximity effect in action. Some boominess can be heard on harder-hitting plosives, but the supplied pop filter does a solid job of protecting the capsule from bursts of air hitting it directly. This can be improved by further reducing capsule gain or moving slightly further away and will depend on the overall timbre of your voice. The Fifine AM8 maintains its surprisingly good sound quality, although it no longer tops the aforementioned Elgato Wave:1 from up close. On a boom arm, the Elgato's microphone sounds clearer and airier, while handling plosives better. Hear it for yourself by listening to the sample below. This of course is by no means a fair comparison, as it also costs more than twice as much.



In a more sensible comparison, the Fifine AmpliGame AM8 blows the $60 Movo UM300 (reviewed here) out of the water both from a normal sitting distance and up close, while costing $10 less.




The Fifine AM8 sounds so much better than the Movo UM300, it's not even funny. On the other hand, it doesn't manage to top the excellent $80 Movo UM700 (reviewed here), so if you can put together an additional $30, that's a better way to go.

Finally, I recorded a voice sample after connecting the Fifine AmpliGame AM8 to the Elgato Wave XLR audio interface with a high-quality XLR cable. No filters of any kind are applied to the recording; you're hearing the raw sound picked up by the capsule and recorded by the Wave XLR.



Compared to the internal ADC, which is used when connecting the Fifine AM8 via USB, the one in the Elgato Wave XLR brings audible improvements to voice quality. My voice sounds less boxy and even more pleasant. The plosive rejection seems to have slightly improved as well, but that could be due to slightly different microphone placement relative to the mouth. Either way, it's obvious that the built-in capsule has even more potential than the USB-C interface brings out of it, which comes as great news to anyone who's going to pick up the Fifine AM8 as a starter microphone and upgrade to an audio interface down the road.