I was a DJ for 3 years — here’s why the brand-new Shure MV6 is my favorite mic

Opinion
By published

Not just for experts anymore

a photograph of a black and green small microphone with a muff and a USB-C connection port and a desktop stand
(Image credit: Future)

Microphones are often overlooked. Sure, everyone asks content creators what cameras they use, or what editing software they recommend, but does anyone pay that much attention to a mic? I suppose that's the result of a mic's job well done: you don't notice a microphone with perfectly clear sound. You only notice pops, hissing and knocks. But mics should take center stage more often — they deserve it. The Shure MV6, just $149 at Amazon U.S., deserves it. 

Microphones can be daunting. Trust me, I know — I’ve been there. I spent three years presenting radio shows and podcasts, so I know my way around the best microphones now (you would hope so!). But I remember that fateful day I recorded my first ever demo and had no idea what I was doing. 

Shure MV6: $149 @ Amazon

Shure MV6: $149 @ Amazon
The MV6 is the newest microphone from audio stalwart Shure, just $149 at Amazon. Designed specifically for beginners, the mic is simplified, but with nothing sacrificed.  Get pristine audio quality and incredible premium features at a sliver of the price with this plug-and-play USB-C dynamic mic. In our Shure MV6 review, we loved how the unidirectional (cardioid) mic captured the warmth and nuance of voices without sacrificing ambient sound reduction. 

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When specs list jargon-heavy features like ‘audio sensitivity’ (in ohms — what even is an ohm?) and ‘frequency response rate’, it can be hard to decipher what this means. Thankfully, with time and practice comes knowledge. 

But what do you do when you don’t have that practice and knowledge yet? Perhaps you had a dream you started a YouTube channel, and now it’s all you can think about. Maybe your friends said you should start streaming to Twitch and it’s your new life goal. Heed this advice: all you need to do is get the Shure MV6 microphone. 

Plug-and-what? 

a photograph of a black and green small microphone with a muff and a USB-C connection port and a desktop stand

(Image credit: Future)

The MV6 is a plug-and-play mic. Plug-and-play essentially does what you think: you plug one end of the provided USB-C cable into the back of the mic, plug the other end into your laptop or recording device, and go. If your phone has a USB-C port, you could theoretically record straight into your phone. 

With Audacity, one of the best free audio recording software you can find, you can be ready to record high-quality voiceovers and streams just a few seconds after opening the MV6 for the first time. Well, what are you waiting for? Plug it in and play!

Yell all you want, I can’t hear you

With Shure’s proprietary real-time Denoiser, which is automatically activated as soon as you unbox the MV6, say goodbye to awkward background noise. In testing, I couldn’t believe how adept Shure’s Denoiser was. I played a ‘cafe white noise’ track on my phone and recorded a clip. Let me tell you, when I listened to it back, my jaw dropped. I couldn’t hear even a smidge of the cafe white noise. It was almost like I’d been recording in a soundproofed studio. 

Other mic brands I’ve tried have a ‘high-pass’ filter or ‘low-cut’ filter (depending on the brand), but nothing I’ve tested even comes close to Shure’s incredible Denoiser. No wonder the American audio brand is keeping the Denoiser to themselves. 

Come to the dark side… 

a photograph of a black and green small microphone with a muff and a USB-C connection port and a desktop stand

(Image credit: Future)

While my heading might be a little bit of a dramatization, with the live vocal tones, you can adjust your voice to sound crisper or deeper. If you set your voice to ‘bright’, it’ll up the higher frequencies, which can make you sound more detailed and alert. Then if you set your voice to ‘dark’, it understates the higher frequencies and ups the lower, which I think made me sound more sophisticated than usual. This means beginners won’t have to spend as much time fiddling around in post-production, and with the 3.5mm headphone jack on the back of the mic, you can monitor your voice in real time. 

So good you don't even notice it

Gone are the complex connections and daunting technical expertise of Shure’s previous mics. The MV6 knows what it is, and I’ll be damned — it does its job so well. If you want to dabble in content creation but don’t know where to start, or if you are already a streamer or vlogger and just want a mic that works (so well), then this is the microphone for you. You can prize this mic out of my cold, dead hands — I’ll be using it until then.

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Erin Bashford
Erin Bashford
Senior Writer, Reviews

Erin Bashford is a senior writer at Tom's Guide, focusing on reviews. She has a Masters in Broadcast and Digital Journalism from the University of East Anglia. As an ex-barista, she knows her way around a coffee machine, and as a music lover, she's constantly chipping away at her dream of having a multi-room home sound system. In her spare time you can find her reading, practising yoga, writing, or stressing over today’s NYT Games.