AKGPro Audio Ara Professional USB-C Condenser Microphone, Dual Pattern Audio Capture Modes for Podcasting, Video Blogging, Gaming and Streaming, Blue & Silver

All features work as advertised making this truly the most diverse and easiest to use mic out there. I use it with my iPad Pro directly into GarageBand via the USB-C port and it works great. Plus the sound quality is fantastic and very customizable due to all the control knobs.

This is a great entry level, affordable microphone for a decent output. It has great features to play with for vlogging, interviewing, playing musical instruments etc. It can be used on a boom but doesn't come with a boom. It would be a good idea to get a boom if you have vibrations on the table, eg. it picks up me typing and using the mouse, plus the laptop fan. Lifting it off the desk eliminates the noises, so they are being picked up through vibrations. i am very pleased with it and don't see any need to use anything else for myself. There is plenty of adjustable gain for my quiet voice, and any background noise is very low in "front" mode. There is a Stereo mode that is great for musical instruments and effects but it picks up a lot more from around the room, too.

I was looking for a quick and simple recording setup, something easy to transport and speedy to set up. The solution arrived in the form of an Amazon daily deal on the AKG Ara and it’s big sister the Lyra. Both were reasonably priced. But I plumped for the Ara, which is perfect for my needs.The Ara is a USB-C condenser microphone, which means no preamp, no interface, no mini mixer required. Just plug it straight into your recent Mac and Garageband (or whatever) detects it automatically. Shakes hands, hello, powered by USB. It records 24-bit / 96kHz audio, which is perfect. I mean, for podcasting, it’s overkill. It comes with a little tabletop stand, which is fine, though you do of course have to be careful not to bodge the table or touch the mic while recording. This is true of almost all microphones, especially the condenser kind. Underneath the mic is the USB-C connector, as well as a headphone socket. In the package, you get the microphone and its stand, a USB cable (annoyingly, this is old fashioned USB-A to USB-C, so useless for me), and a thread adapter so you can attach it to a different stand if you want.On the front of the mic is a volume control (for the headphones, although it does also take over control the volume on your Mac) and a pattern switcher. Two polar patterns: cardioid ❥ (front only) or 360º ◯ (all around). Or is it? It might be figure ∞, because it’s labelled “Front and Back”, although the documentation refers to “omnidirectional” and the microphone itself seems sensitive in a full circle.Anyway, this is perfect for sitting at a table and recording a podcast.There is no gain control. If you want that, get the Lyra, which will then also give you a wider range of polar patterns: front; front and back; tight stereo; wide stereo. Nice! For the money, a bargain. The Lyra also has a mute (cough) button, which might be important to you. And it records 24-bit / 192kHz audio, which is ridiculous for podcast purposes. But knock yourself out if that’s what you need and you have plenty of disk space.With no gain control, you control the input level in your software: fine. The mic is clean sounding: no buzz, no hum, no noise. It can sound a little flat, but you can apply some EQ in your software. So you can turn it up, although it will pick up background noise. Because of the summer heat we’ve been recording outside at night: so we’re picking up birds, crickets, distant motorcycles, passing microlites, yapping chihuahuas etc. This doesn’t bother me too much. I know that I could get a clean recording in a quiet room with acoustic tiles etc, as in my studio at home, but it’s two people chatting across a garden table in France, at night. Why not record the sounds of a summer night? It’s fun. The microphone is clean enough that you can hear the voices, along with the extra ambience.I’m pleased with it: it does exactly what I want it to do and no more. It’s light, portable, easy and quick to set up and dismantle, and it’s from a trustworthy and established brand.

My son uses it for his gaming and video recording and is very happy with it.

I bought this for my wife to help her with being better able to teach music from home via Skype / Zoom etc. The microphone on the webcam (Logitech C920 HD Pro) is fine for most things but can make musical instruments sound a bit thin.This microphone is so much better! It has a much warmer tone. I'm particularly impressed with the switchable polar patterns (effectively Mono Front, Mono Front and Rear, Stereo Front and Stereo Front and Rear), the onboard gain control (which is really useful) and the ability to mount it on a microphone stand (by removing the nicely designed and weighted desk stand - comes with a mic stand thread adaptor). Other neat features are the latency-free headphone socket and the front mounted Mute button. It also uses a USB type C connector for connectivity and using it in Windows 10 was literally plug-and-play. It feels really nicely made and has a really attractive classic broadcaster mic look. In fact, I was so impressed with it that I bought another one for use in my home recording studio.Downsides? None without being very picky given the price. It feels like a good quality weighty product but it's clear now that almost all of that is in the stand and bracket which are made out of metal. The mesh grille is also made of metal. However, the entire microphone body is plastic, as are all of the onboard controls... and they in particular feel a bit cheap in use. There's also no pop or wind shield included (which isn't a deal breaker by any means but it would've been nice to have found one in the box).Other than that, I think the AKG LYRA (C44-USB) is one of the best performing and best value Ultra HD Multi-Mode USB microphones currently available. Highly recommended.

I was pretty excited to try out my new AKG Lyra, after using my old usb mic I've had for years. Unfortunately my excitement was short lived, as the mic just isn't up to the standard of others in the market. It looks great on your desk or table, I really dug the retro look, but the build does feel a little cheap. Like if it dropped, I'm not sure it would survive, the casing is a bit on the weak side. Sound wise, I felt it was too hissy. Picked up a lot of background noise and just didn't have that professional tone about it. I'd say it leans more on the high-end, rather than the low. My main gripe, which I was well aware of before buying, was the volume knob. Having no indicators on the volume really did bug me way more than I expected. The fact the knob doesn't have those markings made it difficult to know what your settings are and it really was the straw that broke the camels back. Returned to Amazon for a refund.