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

Crisp, clear sound; easy to plug and play; sturdy metal stand. I love this reliable microphone for daily meetings, voice-overs, and streaming.

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 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.

I've been using this incredible unique tool for over a year now.. This is ALIEN technology man!! The person that came with the idea to sell it with that incredible price needs a statute 💯💯 What a priceless tool this is. THANK YOU AKG. YOU LEFT ME NO CHOISE TO MAKE A COOL VIDEO INCLUDING THIS TOOL FROM THE "SOUND GODS" 😅🤣

As someone who is quite picky about mic's I had to do some research via YouTube reviews of this exact microphone. For the money this is incredibly good quality. Only thing they didn't do perfectly is the hardware...and what I mean is the USB cable that attaches to the microphone is too big too comfortably and consistently rotate the microphone as the USB collides with the hardware at the bottom. This means that I wouldn't be surprised if it was to break within a few months of rotating it consistently, I recommend only getting this if you aren't going to be twisting and turning the mic a lot (ie- in a music studio for singing). For me I'm just using it for gaming, so I can keep it in the same position for a long time and I do not need to rotate it a lot.

Good brand but toy-like product. I sold it shortly after purchase

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.

Mikrofon jest dość mały, bardzo ładny, solidnie wykonany (dość ciężki) i przede wszystkim nagrywa dobry dzwięk. Brakuje trochę regulacji głośności mikrofonu, jest tylko regulacja głośności słuchawek. Natomiast to co dyskwalifikuje dla mnie ten mikrofon to potworne dudnienie gdy dotyka się powierzchni na ktorej stoi mikrofon, pisze na klawiaturze itp. Jeśli ktoś chce jednocześnie nagrywać i uzywać klawiatury to ten mikrofon sie nie nadaje, najdrobniejsze nawet stuknięcia w biurko czy klawiaturę zmienia się w potężne dudnienie, ramię do mikrofonu nie pomaga chyba ze jest przytwierdzone do czego innego niż biurko z klawiaturą (świetnie to słychać w recenzji na youtube na kanale Creators Village) Zdecydowanie odradzam!

Eine unsterbliche Designikone, super verpackt. Die Verarbeitung, die man beim ersten Griff spürt, ist überragend. Alles aus Metall, kein Plastikgewackel, ordentlich schwer und absolut solide. Stecker in den USB-Anschluß, Kopfhöhrer dran und alles funktioniert von alleine. Was für ein Klang, das Mikro registriert den kleinsten Ton und ich habe noch lange nicht alle Einstellungen ausprobiert. Das ist eine absolute Kaufempfehlung, ist jeden Cent wert.

I was in the process of recording an audiobook. I was using a cheap generic condenser mic, and I was spending lot of time on the editing trying to reduce unwanted sounds. I spent 2 years just to record half of the book. So It was the time to do something about it. I bought one of the popular logitech and this one because of the reviews; made several tests recording the same thing with the 3 mics and you can really hear the difference between all of them. Despite costing almost half of the logitech brand mic, this one sounds much better, obviously this and the logitech sounded much better than the generic one. Having the mute button in front is very convenient when continually recording. I could connect my Sony noise cancelling headphones directly to the mic so I can hear me speak and that helped me to hear not only my modulation but also detect any unwanted sound around. It is more than 6 months since I got it, it is always connected so it is always ON, and not a single problem or issue, it is very durable. In fact I use it on my conference calls and it is perfect that I can have the call hands free. The base is a heavy so that it can be firm with the mic. Definitely worth the small investment.

Bought it as replacement mic for my brother for $39 it blows my mind with it build quality. Amazing sound quality. Super sensitive to human voice with almost full range pickup . Can't beat its value for money with its set on desk design that works very well also with pattern select 👍 😀 👌

First of all, I disagree with some the negative reviews given here. I would like to give a genuine review. I bought AKG lyra mainly for podcasting as well as recording. I pre-ordered the microphone and got it delivered on June 8th. I've been using it for different purposes since then. I can promise that it is a great quality microphone. Its worth every penny you spent for it. If you learn to adjust the gain control you will get crystal clear voice even in reasonably noicy atmosphere. I've tried recording it with Nuendo and Abelton live softwares and its results are impressive. I use it for zoom webinars and my friends say that it gives a clear sound. You can easily mount it on a normal microphone stand or a boom scissor arm stand. I use it on boom scissor arm stand a d I love it. You can easily connect it to Mobile, laptop or iPad. Though it's body is made of plastic, the stand is made of metal and according to my opinion that doesn't affect us in any ways. If any of you are looking for a budget microphone with an assured quality and performance you can surely go for it without hesitation. We are using AKG codeless microphones for few years in our church, with that experience I can tell you that AKG keeps the sound quality, durability and their standard even in their least priced models. Before I purchased it I went through a lot of international reviews and comparisons. All the professional guys gave good positive comments on AKG lyra. Compared with several others brands and features I found it better and affordable. I am glad about my choice.