fifine Heard You - and RESPONDED! Secret Upgrades Under that New Paint Job! 

Absolutely!!! Spot on!

absolutely! they made the mic better, cheaper, and even more cool looking on top of that with the new colors. well done fifine!

Blows my mind!!! Absolutely no push, no requests, or even a slight mention to the channels…just did it and went about their business…😎👍🏻

Fifine is really making choices that show they care about the consumers wants and complaints in their own microphones. I mean - honestly- why even bother with the upgrades if you are not even going to announce that you took on even more expenses in production costs by redesigning the internals for a mic that people are already buying??? Who does that when they decide to sell a mic in different colors?

Yes, it changed. Less plosives, and smoother tone to it. Doesn’t feel as muddy as it used to be. Definitely hit me better than the older version.

They make great gear for people working on a budget to get started, and the fact they listen to customer feedback tells you they aren’t in it for a cash grab, the truly want to make sure their customers are happy with their products!!!

No longer taking prisoners lol….😎

They are really doing a great job!!!

I think it does the same, maybe a little more, but it doesn’t improve the handling noises you get when you touch the mic itself. But handling room vibrations, desk vibrations I think it helps a a bit more.

wow! and they didn't even bother to tell anybody! They just did it, and kept it movin'! I love it!

@@levelupwithmikenewman 5:44 I don't think they moved the capsule back, looks like they made the grill cage longer compared to the first version.

I love everything about the AM8, just wish it had a metal body that didn't move around on me once on a boom arm. But straight up audio performance, tone, noise rejection is straight-up amazing - the best of their lineup. The only knocks I have on it are the housing (material/handling noise, tension knob performance) that keeps it from the top spot in my opinion. If they ever decide to make that mic with a metal body and keep THAT design - LOOK OUT EVERYBODY!

Rode needs to step it up. If they had done this with the white podmic and used it as an opportunity to fix the missing bottom end to solve the listener fatigue issue... instead of just painting it a different color and leaving it alone...I'd be excited about that mic too. fifine is the first to their mic, then add the colors, and AND NOT RAISE THE PRICE to boot!

@levelupwithmikenewman this makes me excited to see what fifine is going to do in the future too.

I would grab the new one, and use the old one for a in-studio guest if the time comes…that way you at least have matching mics!

I will ask my rep at fifine to make sure the black one had the changes on it as well!

I love this!!!! Not just giving us colors, but upgrading the performance of the mic at the same time...! Well played sir! well played! Thank you!

@@levelupwithmikenewman You're welcome, bro! With your feedback, we could do better and better! We are flattered! We will Level Up together with you!

@FifineZier wishing fifine as a company all the best soon my 10 year old boom mic finally breaks ill be sure to get a fifine hopefully my discord friends will appreciate it keep up the excellent work

​@@killerflame2​Of course! Hope our boom arm would meet your expectations

The k688 jumps ahead for me because of the sound, and ability to change the look of it if you want to ACCESSORIZE! 😎🤣

I did not alter/process or eq the sound at all in this video. I actually used the same input on the Rodecaster Duo, just swapped the mics out on my XLR cable! The sound of this mic with the extended distance the SM7B pop filter gives you just hits that sweet spot for me personally as well. The other colors doesn’t hurt at all either! 🫠😂

USB mics are not ideal for podcasts where you have more than one person in the room. They will always give you that echo/reverb sound. Best bet if you have two people in the same room and want to cut out as much noise as possible while on a budget is grab a FiFine AM8 and hook both up to a XLR interface. Here is the best budget/great quality interface now that the Vocaster 2 is no longer on sale for $99. amzn.to/3XnQ87x

Would you recommend the AM8 over the K688? I see that one recommended a lot.

Also thank you very much for the help! Much appreciated

So so good ain’t it!!! 😎👍🏻

@@levelupwithmikenewman Really good, sounds so good i love my K688. I bought it based on RU-vid reviews and I'm glad i did. 😊👍

@@GhostAreReal6glad you got the upgraded version. It is definitely an awesome budget combo mic !!! 😎

@@levelupwithmikenewman It is but the pop filter is the thin top not the thick part, the capsule part is the newer one which is recessed back.

Now you guys have me wondering if they just make them different at random, as if not on purpose. Idk. I’m seriously thinking of getting one tho!

I think shotguns only work directly because they have their own built in battery to power the mic. Never tried that setup before with k688, the headphone output on the k688 is wildly unreliable as it is not designed to push audio out to a recording device, but just headphones. Even if it worked, the audio would fluctuate and even cut out at times too. xLR and even usb mics don’t have a built in power supply, so you’ll need to still go through an interface/adaptor then run the output (3.5mm ) TRS to TRS into the camera. When I use the RodePodmic USB, to avoid this myself, I run it through a Vocaster one ($69) using xlr to connect the mic, and TRS to TRS to connect it to the camera.

@@levelupwithmikenewman All fab advice, thank you !!

I believe there have been a few in the comments who said they bought the black one and it is fixed.

@@levelupwithmikenewman Okay thanks, gonna get one in black color next week!

Thank you 🙏🏻 VERY MUCH for the Super Thanks !!! you made my day!!! I whole heartedly 100% would recommend the k669D with the big Shure pop filter ( amzn.to/3wUvhxR ). The sound quality with that pop filter, especially for a podcast that you would love the audience to hear and feel the emotion in the words of what you’re saying…that is what I would start with. But that look isn’t for everybody. The white K688 is right up there for me for spoken word now since they made the changes to the capsule and pop filter. The tank 3 would be 3rd. Because it has a slightly less neutral (almost “boxy sound” to it. ) Another affordable mic with a sound I really like for my voice is the Maono PD100. So the order I would personally rank them for audio + price with an emphasis on audio quality: 1. K669d + Shure fat pop filter 2. K688 (white + no added accessories) 3. Maono PD100 + WS14 Rode pop filter 4. Tank 3 My list (if you really want a neutral sound - using as it comes out of the box ),without adding a pop filter to it. 1. K688 (more neutral tone) 2. K669d ( a touch brighter than the k688 Without the Shure pop filter on it) 3. Maono PD100u 4. Tank 3 (good sound but price is twice as much - but sound isn’t twice as good as the others) Hope that helps! Again, this is just what I would go with if I was starting a podcast from scratch for faith based podcast.

And let me know when you start that podcast! I would love to watch it!!! I forgot to mention that I am relaunching a faith based podcast on my other channel and I plan to use my k669D on it! AND I have ordered two more for my co-hosts. Thought it might matter that mentioned that I put my money where my mouth is!!! 😂