Audio and Long Form content is on the rise. People are constantly looking for more ways to engage in content throughout their coffee and lunch breaks, and that comes in the form of podcasts, streams, and YouTube channels. We all know getting involved in these content categories takes serious “bread,” but that’s not the case anymore, given you provide the Maono AMC2 NEO podcaster and PD200x Mic a chance to steal your heart.
These products can be ranked separately, as they do work independently from one another, but they truly do make a pair. Let’s speak on the AMC2 NEO first.
Maono AMC2 NEO Podcaster:
The Maono AMC2 NEO Podcaster goes for $59.99 USD, a fantastic price given all of the features packed into this product (See video review or product specs for a full breakdown of features). On top of this, the features provided have comical usability, unlike other soundboards or portable podcast devices. All sound effects are well-designed while sounding great, rather than having crummy effects slapped into a device to warrant a selling point.
Let’s discuss, in detail, some benefits and negatives of built-in features
After using the soundboard’s A, B, and C buttons for the erase and rewrite process, I was rather pleased with the potential. I can record myself, capture audio externally from an input, or even screen capture audio from my desktop’s audio out to create a sound bite. I took it a step further and recorded the soundbite into my video software, editing the audio, gain, timing, and re-recording for an even more perfected sound effect. This addition to the Maono AMC2 NEO deserved its place.
Keep in mind that there are no .mp3 or .wav files that can be uploaded to the custom A, B, and C sound buttons directly. You must record them internally before you produce your show, as the only way to change your soundbite is through erase and overwrite, so it’s best to save your files outside of the device in an organized way to work non-destructively. The sounds will save until you overwrite and erase upon a new recording. I found this to be a flaw in the user experience, and a drag-and-drop menu in the software of some kind might have translated better for customizability, but there is certainly still charm to the erase and overwrite. You become less attached to the sounds and explore fun ways to add to your production.
Regarding the “Noise Reducer.” It does work well by all means, but maybe too well, leaving no room for customizability of the gate or denoise amount. This leads to your voice being cut occasionally, most likely at the beginning and end of your sentence inflection. I often start my sentences softly and end softly so I can hear the noise reduction cutting off a syllable here and there. I do leave noise reduction enabled, on low, at all times, as I tend to take this trade-off. The Stage 2 noise reduction is a bit useless, in my opinion, as it is too harsh, but maybe it can work for some situations I haven’t encountered with the AMC2 NEO .
Referring to “Pitch Presets,” they certainly are a blast, but my only complaint is that the effects all add a serious amount of reverb. I wish there were a bit more variety, or again, a way to control these effects more tailored to my preferences. I also wish there were a more general auto-tune effect, but the closest thing is the female pitch preset, and it sounds damn good, anyway. I’m coming for you, Mariah Carey.
The “Reverb Presets” are also very fun, leaving a variance of dry and wet reverb and different room sizes. One thing to note is that you cannot use pitch presets and reverb presets together. They will simply turn one or the other off. These presets are a blast when you want to make an announcement in your stream or when you use an instrument live.
One major downfall to the AMC2 NEO user experience is the lack of ability to quickly toggle to your favorite pitch or reverb preset. You have to cycle through a linear toggle system one by one, easily leaving room for impatience error on the fly. It’s best to remember the color of the intended presets. There is an audible female voice indicator, but this can be misheard in times of live broadcast.
If you desire to livestream from your mobile phone or just use your phone as an input device, simply connect via Bluetooth. It is quite a convenient feature for on-the-fly recording or playback of any audio or content. The podcaster does not support Bluetooth headphones but does support Bluetooth to your phone for audio input. Importantly, the Bluetooth input quality is astounding. It doesn’t sound compressed or crummy as Bluetooth often does, rather giving you a great source waveform to work with.
For fun, I have been running audio or music through my AMC2 NEO to share with my friends over voice chat, making for a fun and practical day-to-day way to enjoy the hardware.
When it comes to 48V XLR phantom power vs. USB-C, you can expect the phantom power XLR to provide a slightly better input quality, range, and a small reduction in noise and fuzz. It’s not major, but worth going to XLR if possible. The sad part, the Maono PD200’s RGB ring does not receive power over 48V phantom power, so you still have to run the USB cable for maximum aesthetic. A win-lose situation for providing XLR 48V support.
Lastly, if you are a real streamer, or live musician, you might find use for Side Chain, Music Only, and the Loopback features, thus allowing you to individually turn down music volume or melody tracks to properly hear yourself. You can also feed any audio coming from your PC, Phone, or input device directly into a stream to share with your viewers in an easy manner. I was pleasantly surprised to see how well these features worked and how they apply to streaming and production culture.
Regarding features, that’s pretty much it, but if you want a live walkthrough on what these presets and inputs sound like, take a watch through the feature chapter in the video review.
If you wish to skip the video, here is a list of all features of the Maono AMC2 NEO:
. Input Gain Control
. Input Fader
. Headphone Aux Gain
. Master Output Dial
. Output Fader
. 48V Phantom Power
. Bluetooth Input Support
. Reverb Tone Presets: Original, Karaoke, Church, Hall, Valley, Room
. Side Chain and Music Only Volume and Track Control Over Livestream
. Self-Monitoring Voice, Side-Tone
. Pitch Presets: Female, Male, Baby, Robot, Default
. Input Noise Reduction Stage 1 and 2
. 3 Custom Soundboard Presets for Live Playback
. XLR, ¼” support in 48V port
. Independent Stream 3.5mm Output
. Headphone 3.5mm Amplified Output
. 3.5mm Aux Input
. USB-C PC Connection
. USB-C Charging and Power Port
. Portable Battery Up to 7 Hours
Moving on, let’s discuss more general opinions about the hardware, build, and the AMC2 NEO overall.
The front face provides a black glossy finish, with orange details and accents, regardless of whether you purchase the white variant of the AMC2 NEO, with a white matte casing. Overall, the build of the device is very “plasticy,” from the fader and gain knobs to the frame. The faders and knobs have slight pattern textures to add a bit of style and grip.
The AMC2 NEO is quite the fragile feeling piece of tech. Be careful how you push and grip the knobs and faders, as they seem easily snap if torqued improperly. I suppose you get what you pay for in this case.
The rubber-based feature and soundboard buttons at the bottom feel satisfying to the touch and press. I would say that there is a little input lag or delay when clicking these buttons, forcing you to be slow, precise, and sure of each press to work the device without a headache. If you press too quickly, you may not toggle the intended button.
The front-facing text, icons, and descriptions of each section, such as the little mic icon under the decibel meter on the left side of the device, could be a little more clearly labeled. The small icons and typography do maintain a simple and stylish aesthetic, but when learning and remembering how to use this device, it became a pain to utilize the device itself as a quick reference.
The front face also has a simple yet well-designed battery indicator with 4 green LEDs representing 25% battery each. A red light also appears when receiving external power or charging. Also, the Bluetooth symbol lights up with a colorful blue color that contrasts nicely with the other RGB colors.
Regarding hard-to-see details, the Maono AMC2 NEO is very challenging to use in a dark space, as no button is backlit. You are relying on ambient light from other buttons or your ability to master muscle memory. It’s best to work with some sort of room or studio light in conjunction with this device, especially in a live setting.
A major downside to using this device every day is the amount of wires added to your desk or game space. From a wired headset, USB plugs for RGB and PC connection, charging USB cable, and XLR cables, it could be a big jump in clutter.
On a positive note, the AMC2 NEO has impressive gain levels, leaving a large amount of room for volume control, and boy, does this get loud. My headset was so loud at max volume that it is for sure dangerous to my eardrums, making my ears ring. This is still somewhat a benefit as volume lovers can finally find their comfortable head bopping volume since there is ample room to blast your headphones full of watts. Some headsets are going to get louder than others with the AMC2, as different hardware has different sensitivity, but my favorite headset was able to get loud enough to hurt.
A negative to the impressive gain is fuzz and feedback in your headset plugged into the AMC2 NEO . The fuzz and feedback seem to come to a general halt below 50%, but it’s still present from time to time, especially while running software that is linked to the AMC2 for audio out. Simply adjust your headset accordingly.
Although, if you are listening at high gain, you most likely can’t hear the fuzz during audio playback, but in silence, the high gain can be a nuisance to your ears. It’s certainly a trade off for power provided by the AMC2 NEO .
The AMC2 NEO can also replace many devices from its multi use case personality, from desk DACs, portable audio recorders, live stream decks, and more. It’s even battery-powered, with up to 7 hours of life depending on use, with an approximate 2.5-hour charge time.
I’d like to toss in that the fun reverb and voice effects provided by the AMC2 NEO cannot be used when using a USB microphone. You must plug directly into the interface to take advantage of these benefits. Side note to this: the AMC2 seems to add a little reverb, in general, to all audio inputted. It would have been nice to see the product have a more raw sound to its default state rather than permanent reverb, but it is very slight.
Adding on, the AMC2 NEO does support instrument input, such as a guitar to the ¼” port, but it is not recommended to use both a mic and the guitar at once. The device has multi-feature, but not multi-use.
Lastly, Using an instrument directly through the C2 audio interface is a delight, where it might not have the cleanest tone in the eyes of audiophiles, the reverb and voice effects make it sound like you have guitar pedals on the fly. In general, it sounded great enough to put on a show, and that’s what matters at the end of the day.
Concluding the Maono AMC2 NEO Podcaster
The price for power in the Maono AMC2 NEO is amazing, easily blowing away the equally priced amp that I used prior to this. I won’t be looking back as the Maono AMC2 remains my day-to-day desk AMP and audio interface until something outplays it, of course. The AMC2 NEO , for the price, simply packs a huge, hard-to-beat punch. It doesn’t necessarily do anything that I haven’t seen before, and yea, it may not have top-of-the-line quality, but it blows all expectations away regarding quality and practicality for multiple use cases.
The C2 is a one-stop shop for audio and content creators on a budget. The podcaster also accommodates any supported mic with loads of power, gain, and reverb fun, so you don’t have to particularly have a Maono product to enjoy the AMC2 NEO Caster.
Noisy Pixel is giving the Maono AMC2 NEO Podcaster and A. This product is amazing, but it does fall short on build quality and annoying fuzz from gain. It also has a few user experience flaws, but overall, this product offers some of the best quality, features, and creator experiences that I have seen in a while, specifically for an affordable rate. If you think this product can suit your needs nicely, you will not be disappointed, yet thoroughly entertained.
Maono PD200X Microphone
The streaming category, but more importantly, the gaming mic category, seems to be a bit dominated by a few brands, and the same mics within these brands. You can see names like Shure, Rode, HyperX, Blue, and a few others show face often, but that certainly doesn’t stop Maono from trying to take the market share away. Claiming to have the most microphone sales in the “smartphone” market, retailing at $92.99 USD in the Maono store, the PD200X is one of these devices trying to steal the spotlight.
Hardware and Build Quality
The Maono PD200X, primarily made of inexpensive feeling metals, has a charm to it. The device has a smooth, well-painted matte texture and surface.
The easy-to-slip, on-and-off mic muff is quite unique from what I have seen on the market, providing easy access with a strange buttery-like friction. The PD200X’s true identity lies underneath, showing off a stylish grate design, leaving you the option to leave the cover off without looking ugly.
The PD200X brings a few more notable hardware talking points to the plate, such as the surprisingly bright LED ring, showing off preset colors via the button on the mic, or specifically choosing your intended color from the Maono downloadable software. We will discuss the software a bit more later.
May I say the LED button on the mic is rather unresponsive, stiff, and lacking haptic feedback, although easy to find by touch? There seems to be a lack of customization in the LED itself, only allowing you to select from a preset bunch of static colors, one rainbow effect, or the color white. I think white looks the best, showing off the brightness potential of the LED, but the lack of customizable effects here is upsetting. You can conveniently turn off the RGB by holding down this button, rather than having to open up any software windows, which was a plus.
There is also non-customizable RGB on the microphone dial. The dial is fairly untextured, but it does match the overall layout of the microphone design. The dial ring LED indicates which mode you are controlling by changing colors with a press of the dial. When adjusting the levels, the RGB ring will adjust brightness according to your input levels, which I thought was neat. I like the discrete aspect of changing modes by clicking the dial itself, as it removes more buttons to press on the mic.
Speaking of buttons, next to the dial is your built-in mute switch indicated by red LED’s after pressing the dial. It’s convenient to have a mute feature if, and when, you use the mic portably, or with USB connection.
The shock mount is simple yet functional, with tight sections of O-ring like grips pulling the mic tight enough to not jiggle at all. No matter how much I try, I can’t get the mic to bounce or sway. and I think that is from the lightweight nature of the PD200X. Nevertheless, this does not stop the mic from inputting any jiggle to the mic arm, desk, or small touch to the mic itself. The PD200X will pick up that low bass rumble from unwanted contact or movement, which is a big negative.
Lastly, the PD200X brings multi functionality and affordability together, with mix and match use of XLR or USB-C for PC, Mobile, or High-Fidelity. I love to see this adaption to all users, rather than just a pro mic, or just a consumer mic. This may pose the question, does it even sound good enough for a pro to consider a hybrid mic?
Performance
To put it simply, the Maono PD200X is a great microphone, for a great price, offering a sound range up to 40Hz-16KHz. Granted this mic sounds great, it does have trade offs depending on who you are, and how you use it.
The PD200x is a cardioid microphone allowing mic pickup from all sides, predominantly forward facing, with very little pickup from the rear. This is great for someone who doesn’t want to worry about being in the mic sweet spot. Optimal for a streamer, as this device has similar qualities to a general video mic.
For a professional or engineer trying to record the cleanest, least noisy audio, you might want to avoid buying this mic. Due to the structure of the cardioid mic, there will be way more influence in the gain fuzz from room tone, which will diminish narration quality or force post-production.
I also think the PD200X mic falls short for podcasting with multiple people in one room. The pickup is too sensitive. Also, good luck using mechanical keyboards during a livestream or during a recording where you may want to type discreetly. The PD200X is, for sure, inputting those clicky sounds, so you may want to convert switches if this is a big deal. My previous mic, structured differently, did not receive any pickup from my loud, clacky keys.
The Maono PD200X allows for loose software customizability, and I say this because it only supports this over a USB connection. You can choose your RGB preferred color, change input tone quality, which is very hard to hear the differences between “deep,” “natural,” “legacy,” and “original,.” You can also toggle mic monitoring and even EQ the headset out port via advanced settings. I find the headphones out EQ a bit useless, as I think I will never plug a wired headset into the mic itself. You can also find features like input limiter and input compressor to mess with recording sensitivity.
Although the mic offers both XLR and USB connection, using XLR through a Preamp or DAC will most certainly offer you both better sound dynamics, and less input noise. This is why the PD200X pairs greatly with the AMC2 NEO previously discussed, but I digress.
Conveniently, the PD200X input range was a nice change, allowing me to kick it back in my chair and talk to my friends without the concern of putting my mouth up to a mic. I can sit fairly far away from the mic or even go off to the side a bit, and the input sounds fairly consistent, offering a great set-up for casual gaming, content creation, or pro-streaming. The input does increase greatly, yet it is still controlled whilst sitting close to the mic, providing deeper bass and louder volumes. Overall, the PD200X allows me to not worry about whether my viewers can hear me or not, while other mics do not offer the same peace of mind.
To sum up the performance discussion, the PD200X has great input quality, fidelity, and tone, offering a wide range of bass, mids, and highs. Very surprising for the price, as I typically am disappointed by more inexpensive audio gear, but I can’t say this is the case for the PD200X.
Concluding the Maono PD200X Microphone
The PD200X puts itself in a weird position in the market. Who is this for, and why would they buy it? Well, this piece of hardware is more for an entry-level content creator, day-to-day gamer, or any streamer, pro or casual. It seems to jump around demographics, depending on how you connect the device and your intentions of use.
The best part is that it’s cheaper than most high-fidelity mics, especially if caught on sale, and can be a very handy main or backup tool to have.
For instance, the mic is much better at solo streaming due to its area coverage, allowing the user to relax, rather than narrations and professional audio where room tone, gain fuzz, and background noise could become a hassle to edit. It can also thrive in settings where people are sharing a microphone in the same space or mobile production.
I find this mic by itself, although high quality and a worthy contender on the shelf, is a bit confused regarding the intended demographic and may be overshadowed by more tailored hardware that is similarly priced. The PD200X is cheaper than most, but not by much, so make sure the reason you are buying this lines up with your hobbies or career.
As previously stated, if you catch this on sale, buying the PD200X could be a no-brainer.
Noisy Pixel is giving the Maono PD200X Microphone a B+. It has great input quality, a great price, is extremely light and portable, and has an awesome LED ring, but it is better suited for a less serious user or mobile producer, regardless of XLR support.
Pairing up the Maono AMC2 NEO , and the PD200X
The Maono PD200X mic definitely steps up in quality when connected to the AMC2 NEO caster. Granted, Most to all mics would improve general performance when using the AMC2 NEO and XLR. Compared to other amps in this price bracket, I won’t be turning back, as the AMC2 NEO packs a punch both in fidelity and features.
The added reverb and voice presets work tremendously well with the cardioid range of the PD200X, allowing for funny manipulation of how distant my voice sounds.
The bundle price of $139.99 for both the AMC2 NEO and PD200X is a great deal for most people. Even I would consider this regardless of negative trade offs.
Again, for someone who doesn’t have professional knowledge of audio or production, this combo is a fun place to start that won’t take all of your money away, but just know there are downsides such as noise, grain, and sensitivity issues that can hinder professional aspects of audio.
I would recommend these products, but you wouldn’t catch me hyping this stuff up around an audio engineer, audiophile, or hobbyist. This is more for streamers or gamers looking for quality packed in with fun for an affordable rate. However, you obviously get more mileage out of these products with knowledge of post-production, but I don’t necessarily think Maono is targeting the weathered pro.
The AMC2 NEO caster is certainly worth the low price of $59.99, single-handedly holding down any entry-level or intermediate content creator with loads of use cases, let alone its portability. I can’t speak the same for the PD200x. The mic is good, but it doesn’t scream as a necessary item in conjunction with the AMC2 NEO . Any mic would go great with the Maono caster.
Noisy Pixel is giving the Maono AMC2 NEO and PD200X bundle an A-. A happy average between the two devices. For the price, you really can’t go wrong, as there is a lot of secret value in these two gems. Maono really outdid themselves by bringing products to market that can truly compete with big brands owning the space, and it does not go unnoticed. The only place this falls short is with nitpicky audio professionals looking for the cleanest audio tone available, and the childish appeal of the hardware does not help its case. You may find high-fidelity fun here, but look elsewhere for higher-end recordings.
