ECS WordSentry 19" USB Gooseneck Microphone for Computer, Noise-Cancelling, Unidirectional, Mute Button, Streaming, Voice Over, Podcasting, Gaming, Hands-Free Dictation, Meetings, Video Conferencing

I was skeptical when I came across this specific product. I was in the need for a good general-purpose microphone to replace a built-in defective mic on my laptop - something I could leave plugged into the docking station and give me plenty of placement options. What I received far surpassed my expectations. First, the build quality. The microphone consists of a base that contains the electronics, USB cabling interface (older type-B jack which is an odd choice) and a standard XLR audio socket. The microphone is a small condenser-style microphone (about the size of a small lapel microphone) mounted on a double gooseneck boom with an integrated XLR male connector that plugs into the base unit XLR socket. The mic capsule is protected by a small wire mesh cage (think Shure SM-57 but on a much small scale). The kit included two foam wind socks to add to the mic if in a windy environment. From what I can tell, all of the exterior components are fabricated with metal! This thing is as solid as a brick. My only complaint with the assembly is a small plastic cover surrounding the mute button that cover the electronics. The cover is glued in place and didn't stick to the base during assembly at the factory. The plastic cover was "floating" when I received the mic and required me to remove the protective plastic sheet (to protect from scratching during shipping) and firmly re-attach to the base. Not a big deal at all and allowed me to take a look inside the base to observe a well-designed circuit board. Second, the audio quality. The microphone sounds incredible. Because it is a condenser-style microphone, it is quite sensitive and has a really good frequency range. The pickup pattern is cardioid with good rejection from the rear. It doesn't take a lot of gain from the PC to get a good conversation volume with a respectable distance from the mic. It is generally about 18-24" from me and at this distance is able to pickup my voice without adding a lot of natural room reverb. There is a handy electronic mute button in the base that kills the audio at the microphone and doesn't require software-based audio muting either from the native PC OS (I'm using it with Win 10 by the way) or applications (I regularyly use it with Zoom, MS Lync, MS Teams, and Cisco Webex for meetings). As a bonus, there is a red light on the base AND in a ring around the microphone capsule that glows red when the microphone is "live" from the base. AS this is a USB-based device, the native audio drivers (at least in Windows 10) can trigger the mute switch via the software microphone mute switch in the the audio control panel - which also triggers the light. Great way to be reminded that you may have a hot mic in your face :) Overall, this is a fantastic purchase. The value is definitely there and I recommend to anyone looking for a general-purpose, USB-attached PC microphone.

I was recently taking a month long training class at work and we were using Microsoft Teams. After wearing my headset for 8 hours a day for a couple of days, I needed a better solution. A quick search brought me to this desk microphone. I ordered it and it arrived the next day. Setup was as simple as plugging the cord in and selecting the microphone as the default in Microsoft Teams and begin speaking away. Now I can sit back and enjoy my training and use the built in speakers in my laptop to listen and the mic to speak. And there is no feedback and I have gotten compliments on my audio quality during my calls. And another nice feature is a mute button that is located on the very sturdy base. A quick push mutes you audio and there is a red light on the button along with a ring at the top that lets you know that the audio is live. Another use I have now found is I can use the dictate function in Microsoft Word. So now I can dictate e-mails and other written materials just by speaking. I would definitely recommend this desk microphone to anyone who has to use video conferencing on a regular basis.

As others have stated the mic defaults to on when the computer is turned on. Do not like that. A little issue installing it the first time but worked pretty well. Just sad, the electronics did not make it past 2yrs.

I bought a computer mic before this one that I ended up throwing away. This one is perfect! It is very sturdy, and the gooseneck is a very generous 19'', which I appreciate. I'm not a gamer, but I Zoom a lot, and the best part is the superior sound quality of this mic. I am very pleased with it.

I received the microphone and it worked well for a few days. I then noticed static noise continuously. I did the normal troubleshooting steps with changing the USB cord, repositioning the microphone and working with support. The microphone was replaced by support. The new microphone started doing the same within one day of receiving it. I tried both microphones on multiple computers which produce the same result. The device did pick up my voice very well but the static caused too many issues with the voice applications.

I do a lot of reading, online and off. I collect a ton of information to support my writing. I hate the time it takes to write out ideas with the keyboard. Almost all modern Mac apps these days have the ability to take audio dictation and turn it into text. So why write if I don't have to? I could use the built-in mics on my iMacs but they are not the best for that purpose, especially when I need to speak quietly. So I went looking for a desktop mic for audio input. After looking at a dozen or so options, I settled on this mic. The price point suggests a quality product, as did the advertised tech specs. To date, I have no complaints. It has good sensitivity and noise rejection, probably because the gooseneck allows me to get the mic closer to my mouth than the built-in mics. The tech specs seem accurate. I don't detect any hum or electronic noise. I like the ability to easily see if the mic is switched on. The base is heavy and solid. So far, so, good, just what I needed. It would be perfect if the gooseneck could be another 6-8 inches longer so the base could be kept even further away. addendum: I bought a Logitech MX wireless keyboard which has the same layout, key-for-key as the Apple board and can switch between std Apple layout key functions or a Logitech variant with programable key options. BUT, regardless of which setup is in effect the fn key in the middle section of the board, ued to activate the dictation function noted above, does not work in either setup and can't be programmed to do so. This has been verified with Logitech tech support. This is a fatal flaw for me. The keyboard, therefore, is not a one-to-one replacement of the Apple keyboard.

This microphone is a good choice for those working at home and involved in ZOOM meetings. It is UNIDIRECTIONAL which is important in cutting down on the big-room echo and delivers voice well.

This mic seems of good quality and sounds fine. However I didn't give it 5 stars for the reason that when you plug it back into a USB port, or if you reboot your PC, it defaults to on. I don't like having the mic on when I haven't purposely turned it on from a privacy perspective. At least the red light let's you know that it is on.

We used this microphone to record critiques during dance routines. Even with the music blasting the judges voice was clear and easy to understand when played back.

This thing is built like a tank, the gooseneck works great, and there were no driver issues (plug and play). Sound options allow you to toggle automatic gain control, and there's plenty of volume from this thing (I've set it to 70% and it's still plenty). In reality, this is essentially a bundle of an XLR to USB interface with a solid quality XLR gooseneck mic. That means that if the gooseneck/mic portion ever breaks I can just swap it out, or if I really want to I could use this as an interface for any XLR mic that's plug-and-play with AGC (maybe check phantom power details before doing so).

Sound quality is very good, and it’s very practical. It highly resembles the ones used in the interpreting booth, which makes it user-friendly.