With the advent of Twitch, YouTube and everyone's desire to become content creators, the market for audio / video accessories for demanding consumers has expanded dramatically. With Covid-19 and the need that many have had to transform their home into an office, several brands have wanted to invest in this sector, offering a whole new generation of products capable of combining performance, ease of use and superior aesthetic taste.
The colored LEDs with which all or almost all gamer products are dressed up are fun, but there are also those who need to leave the accessories in plain sight in the living room or bedroom, with the better half looking mean watch out for the proliferation of threads or things that are too bulky and colorful.
Il NZXT Capsules it seems to have been designed specifically for this slice of the market. It is, in fact, a microphone with semi-professional performance, self-installing and very compact shape, enhanced by the two colors: black and white / black.
We tell you how we found ourselves with this peripheral in the NZXT Capsule review.
Hardware features
The NZXT Capsule microphone is the first model created by NZXT, a US company specializing in PC accessories and components. The microphone is currently on the list for around € 150, a price that puts it in direct competition with Elgato Wave: 3 and other condenser microphones widely used by content creators, such as HyperX QuadCast, Rode NT-USB and Blue Yeti. To stay on the subject, you can find a guide to the best microphones for streaming and video on our pages.
The NZXT Capsule comes compact (115 x 131.3 x 252.8mm for 883 grams of weight), but above all it is equipped with a cardioid polar diaphragm which helps the microphone to capture only the sounds coming in front of it, thus eliminating much of the background noise. This ensures excellent recording out of the box, even using basic Windows recording programs or leading audio / video communication software.
In case you want to make more professional recordings, however, you will have to combine the NZXT Capsule with a software of your choice, since no support programs are provided. This, however, means that it will be enough to insert the USB-C cable at the bottom of the device and connect it to a PC. And that's it.
On the bottom there is also the classic jack to control the volume of the microphone with headphones, while on the front we have two wheels to adjust the gain and volume of the headphones. These two washers are probably the weakest point of the package: they do not have guides and therefore do not give physical feedback on the adjustment, which will have to be done by ear.
The gain wheel, when pressed, also mutes the microphone. In this case there is a handy LED ring at the base of the NZXT Capsule that turns red if the microphone is deactivated.
NZXT Capsule allows you to record to a sampling rate 24 bit and 96 kHz, useful not so much for those who stream without pretensions as for those looking for a microphone even for more professional uses.
Among the others features which is worth mentioning, there is a response frequency ranging from 20Hz to 20kHz, a maximum SPL of 120dB and a THD of 0.1% @ 1kHz.
NZXT Capsule data sheet
Offer Amazon Mic NZXT Capsules White
€148,35
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- Sampling rate: fino a 24-bit/96kHz
- Microphone Type: Polarized cardioid
- Frequency response: 20Hz - 20kHz
- Max SPL: 120dB
- THD 0,1%: @ 1kHz
- Field of view: 82 ° (diagonal)
- Connectivity: USB Type C
- dimensions: 115 x 131,3 x 252,8 mm
- Weight: 883g with the stand
- Materials:Aluminum structure with ABS plastic inserts
- Price: 149€
Design
The first thing that stands out about the NZXT Capsule is the quality with which the product was packaged. Everything from the very stylish purple box with various soft protections, to the metal alloys with which the microphone was built, shows that the manufacturer has taken commendable care even in these more "frivolous" aspects.
The microphone has a design beautiful to look at and with its essential lines and classic colors does not look bad in standard home environments. The rounded shape of the base, the led ring and the possibility of attaching it upside down to a mechanical arm, make the NZXT Capsule also suitable for those looking for a more aggressive setup.
The small and compact dimensions make it suitable even for the most congested desks and the back, with a white and black texture in the two-color version, is pleasant to see even if you end up in your room.
Experience of use
The quality of the recording and the suppression of background noise make this microphone suitable not only for soundproofed environments, but also for mixed ones, where it could happen to have disturbances in the distance or street noise that could reach the recording room.
La ease of installation moreover, it allows almost everyone to get close to this microphone without the need for great skills, obtaining without any intermediate step a drastic improvement in the quality of calls with the minimum encumbrance and an eye for theaesthetics.
The recorded voice, in fact, is warm and, as you can hear from the short video of a live on Twitch in which we used the NZXT Capsule, the microphone automatically cuts the noises in the background, as well as the breath of the speaker. Thanks to the solid base that is present in the package, the microphone has excellent stability on the desk and does not run big risks even hitting it inadvertently (obviously it all depends on the power of the blow!).
In case you have the possibility, you can mount the NZXT Capsule on a mechanical arm and keep it upside down. Switching between setups is pretty straightforward thanks to the push button that lets you unhook the microphone in seconds. In case it is also possible to hold it in the hand: the small size, the weight and the uniform shape make it pleasant to handle, even if you see that it was not designed for that.
As we said the only one weakness look like plastic washers and joints, which do not guarantee tactile feedback of a quality comparable to the rest of the microphone. The washers because they seem to spin and do not show how much gain or volume is being given to the peripheral; the joints, on the other hand, do not forcefully block the Capsule, which could lose its position if touched inadvertently.
For the rest the use of the microphone was pleasant, thanks to the ease of installation (it was enough to connect the USB-C cable to see the peripheral and already have a marked improvement in voice recording) and to the aesthetic, compact and inconspicuous appearance, perfect for a home environment or a streaming corner less gorgeous.
Comment
Price 149,99 € Buy it hereResources4Gaming.com
8.0
NZXT Capsule is a microphone that, for an affordable price, combines semi-professional performance with ease of use, while also maintaining a sobriety in the lines. Which never hurts. It is a valid alternative, a little more serious, to classic brands for gamers, which aims to adapt to the multiple needs of streamers and also to those who have been forced to transform their home into an office, but want to make quality calls. , without engaging the desk with a bulky and flashy product.
PRO
- Quality materials
- One-way sound capture and background noise suppression
- Ease of use
- Improved washers
- It has no proprietary software for equalization and advanced use
