What’s in the box?
- Desk-stand
- 2.9 m USB cable
- Safety Guide
- Quick Start Guide
Released as a direct competitor to the Blue Yeti X, the B20 marketing is mostly aimed at streamers of videogames but its accessibility and overall ability mean that this is a great microphone for all events from streaming to podcasting and even home music recording.
As with Blue’s products, the supplied microphone stand is weighty and sturdy but a touch too short for standard usage (unless you are placing it on a table and using it on the omnidirectional setting to record a group chat) and so a microphone arm or extended stand is highly recommended to get the most out of this product.
The EPOS B20 feels more flexible in terms of design choices and especially the supporting software (EPOS Gaming Suite – requires Windows 10) which has a range of powerful features that allow you to fine-tune the settings to suit your style and situation. The dials feature an ‘endless rotation’ which is fine for small tweaks but I found myself using applications as opposed to the physical dials - except mute – as they are more ‘to hand’ whilst recording.
The design is classic, modern and sleek with a very ‘studio’ vibe that perfectly matched my all-black home PC setup. Featuring four pickup patterns (cardioid, omnidirectional, stereo and bi-directional) – the B20 really is a solid all-rounder for multiple situations and the quality is exactly what I’ve come to expect from EPOS, which is to say, ‘extremely good.
Although this microphone was released as a competitor to the equally priced Blue Yeti X, I personally previously used a standard Blue Yeti which has an RRP of around £109. The EPOS B20 has now usurped the Yeti in my setup. Although the sound quality for both is stellar, it’s the Gaming Suite as well as the overall design and flexibility of the B20 that won me over.
Aside from home demo recordings for my band (www.recluse.bandcamp.com) I also run a weekly podcast (www.themenwhotalk.podbean.com) and the B20 fits the bill for everything that I’ve thrown at it and the supporting EPOS Gaming Suite gives me absolute control over tweaks and alterations.
Whilst the supplied mic stand is solid, realistically you’ll need a mic arm or taller stand for most purposes and I’ll also again state that if you are a Windows user, you WILL need to be running Windows 10 to use the EPOS Gaming Suite, although if you use alternate software, this won’t be a concern.
Once again, EPOS has proven that they are heavy hitters in the market that deliver a high class and saucily-designed product. Good.
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