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TONOR TC-777 Review USB Mic For Streaming Podcasting Gaming

Thursday, August 06, 2020

The TONOR TC-777 microphone is a huge and affordable upgrade for anyone currently using their laptop's built-in mic or headset for Zoom meetings, gaming or live streaming. Costing just a fraction of more expensive microphones, the TONOR TC-777 is a great sounding mic that fits perfectly on a desk!
The TONOR TC-777 microphone has 680 Ohms output impedance, which is higher compared to professional mics, which have an output impedance around 250 ohms. That said, the TONOR TC-777 is still a low impedance microphone; hence it will work with most low input impedance devices, including Windows computers, Macs and PS4. The TONOR TC-777 microphone is not compatible with Xbox and PS4 Pro.
The TONOR TC-777 microphone measures 15cm tall, 4.5cm wide and 3cm thick. It weighs 120 grams (380 grams total with the shockmount tripod stand) and comes with a non-detachable 1.50 meters long cable.
The microphone body is made of metal with a smooth matt finish. The TONOR TC-777 has a classic design with a tall, square metal mesh and a metal trim running along the sides and top of the mesh head. Metal construction always makes gadgets feel premium and this is the case with the TONOR TC-777, which looks more expensive than its price tag suggests.
The microphone stand included with the TONOR TC-777 features a shock mount, metal tripod legs and a 5/8 inch male thread. This means, you can detach the shockmount from the stand and attach it to a 3/8 inch mic stand, although you will need a 5/8 inch thread adapter, which is not included.
The tripod legs are made of metal and feature rubbery ball feet for stability. The tripod legs measure 10cm tall and when fully extended, they provide the microphone with a height of 23cm.
The shock mount feature works like most shockmounts via a network of elastic rubber bands that suspends the microphone in mid-air to prevent vibrations that naturally occur on a ground surface or desktop. Professional studio microphones use shock-mounts because studio-grade microphones are really sensitive so, they require vibration-free surfaces to achieve a clean extended low end bass.
The TONOR TC-777 microphone is not as sensitive but it has good amplification even 3 feet away. The microphone quality is clean and clear with little distortion. You can further tweak (i.e.turn up or down the gain) the the TONOR TC-777 microphone from the sound settings of the device the TONOR TC-777 is plugged into.
There is no onboard volume controls or mute, but you can adjust the mic input volume and usage distance to reduce the noise pickup from the background. If you're using a Windows computer, select the recording tab and double-click on the microphone to open its properties. Go to the "Levels" tab, and lower the microphone boost and increase its master volume.
It's nice that a shock-mount is included, although the shockmount does not appear to be TONOR branded. Ideally, the shockmount has to be tailored-made to the microphone so, the elasticity of the shockmount suspension matches the weight of the microphone in order to achieve maximum shock absorption.
The TONOR TC-777 microphone tripod stand does have a swivel mechanism but it's fixed to the shockmount; hence the TONOR TC-777 stand cannot be used as a swivel standmount. The shockmount can swivel 180 degrees and integrates a non-detachable, long (18cm) flexible goose-neck to attach the included 95mm diameter screw-on pop filter, which has a hard plastic circumference and stocking fabric.
The pop filter and foam windscreen help protect the microphone capsule from unwanted noise and air when singing or speaking loudly into the microphone. Without a pop filter, the recording will have popping and booming sounds, especially when belting out words beginning with P and F. It's nice a pop filter is included, although even if one was not included, you can easily make your own with flexible wire and stocking fabric material.
Being a USB microphone, the TONOR TC-777 microphone is plug and play and, you can use it with just about any device as long as it has a built-in full sized USB-A port.
As far as applications, the TC-777 is compatible with Windows Sound Recorder, Skype, Audacity, Garageband, Reaper, Adobe Audition, Discord and Teamspeak. When using the TONOR TC-777 with Discord chat, you will want to set the input settings to 75% volume level, 80% input and 80% output for best results. 
The pick up pattern of the TONOR TC-777 microphone is cardoid (one-directional side address); hence you have to talk or sing into the TONOR TC-777 from the front of the microphone where the etching of the TONOR logo is located. The TONOR TC-777 is capable of picking sound from any angle but pickup will sound distant especially from the back of the microphone.
If you plan to be interviewing people, it's best getting an omni-directional pickup microphone or a dedicated top address microphone. Some side address microphones are bidirectional; hence the pickup pattern is equally sensitive to sound from the front and the back. You can buy the TONOR TC-777 microphone kit from amazon

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