FIFINE Tank3 Microphone Review
a classy look and sound
Retail Price: $89.99
Use code 15FIFINETANK for 15% off
Disclaimer: FIFINE sent us a unit of the Tank3 free of charge to review, but all thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are our own and were not discussed with the company prior to publishing.
I like professional looking microphones. Nowadays a lot of the really good products on the market have RGB baked in by default. A neutral color scheme that can be used for work and gaming situations makes for a versatile partner on a desk. Fifine sent us a unit of the Tank3 microphone and it matches that description to a tee. As both an XLR and a USB mic, this metal construction microphone looks extremely clean on a boom arm. Does the sound quality exude the same professional results to match the appearance?
USB and XLR
Like a lot of microphones to come out lately, the Tank3 has a port for an XLR cable as well as a USB-C slot for connection. This means you can plug the mic into an audio interface or directly into a laptop/computer. From my experience with Fifine products, the company does a great job at making the transition from beginner to mid-tier relatively seamless. If you pair this with a mixer, it unlocks additional control over the Tank3 that a USB mic would lack. No phantom power needed either by the way. That’s not to say that the results coming out of the microphone being plugged in through USB is bad though.
After exclusively using the Tank3 for all voice work on our videos for more than a month now, I’m quite satisfied with the job it's done for me. I’m not going to over exaggerate and claim this is the best thing in the world or better than some of the popular heavy hitters in the segment, but what I will say is that the Tank3 is unequivocally a quality microphone for this price segment.
As a top-down recording dynamic microphone, I did find the plosives to persist here and there even with the nice deep capsule case filtering. It does a decent job of preventing additional sounds, but the shock-absorbers to reduce unwanted noise could be better. I would recommend using a pop filter with the Tank3. Playback reveals certain background noises that I normally don’t pick up with other microphones I’ve used recently with cardioid pickup patterns. That’s not to say that sound isolation isn’t viable here, I just wouldn’t prefer to use this particular microphone for every type of recording situation.
Platforms
Thanks to XLR and USB-C, the Tank3 can be used with a PC, Gaming Consoles, and even a tablet
What I did like about the sound profile is how basic it makes my voice sound. There’s a somewhat flat, but consistent recording of audio that actually makes it very easy to mix in post-production. Imagine a neutral or natural vocal setting on audio mixing programs and that’s generally how the Tank3 picks up my voice by default. The microphone’s frequency response is 50Hz - 16KHz. Also the signal-to-noise ratio is apparently greater than 80db. Those specs are not bottom of the barrel numbers and real life performance coming out of the Tank3 reflects that.
All Metal Body
Sound aside, I think the physical appearance of the Tank3 is what sets this microphone apart. It’s got some weight behind it thanks to an all metal design. The frame engulfing the silver capsule is black, thus deploying a classic contrast that looks terrific in front of the camera. It won’t take away from the subject in front of the screen, but it has a classy look to it for sure.
The layout of the buttons and controls are also basic for users to operate. The headphone monitoring volume knob and gain control are stacked in a column. Then there’s a mute button that illuminates to identify whether it's muted or not. The two connection methods and a headphone jack are on the bottom. That’s all there is to it. The Tank3 does come with a base, but it’s quite easy to mount onto an arm if that’s what you want to do. Just to throw this in because it’s important for mounting, the threads accepted by default are ⅜” and ⅝”.
Good Value
In my opinion, the appearance and the clean flat sound profile that can easily be molded makes the Tank3 ideal for podcasting. When I consider the fact that the retail price of the Fifine Tank3 is less than $100, I’m more inclined to recommend this on my list as I do think it outperforms its price tag. I won’t go as far as to tell you that I would choose to use this over some of my other more expensive microphones, but I do find the Fifine Tank3 to cover a lot of what I want to hear recording on my video and audio needs without paying for a whole lot. And that impresses me.
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