Is Shure’s MV6 really the best USB microphone for gamers and podcasters right now?£129, shure.com
A pro-quality audio feed is essential for many of our tasks, be it conferencing, podcasting or online gaming. And the less setup you must do to achieve it, the better. A relative of Shure’s popular MV7 podcast mic, the new MV6 is significantly lower in price, coming in at around half the price of the older model.
Dig beneath the surface and you’ll find a bunch of cool automatic features to keep the sound clean and consistent without you having to worry. While a web search will serve up plenty of glowing reviews of the MV6, we’re putting it to the test so you can make up your own mind.

READ MORE: Is Shure’s SM4 a perfect microphone for the home studio?

The MV6 is solidly constructed in black metal and has a sturdy desktop stand to which it can be affixed. There’s also a universal screw thread for using other kinds of stand or a boom. The stand’s foot is large-ish but this is a worthwhile trade-off since it makes the relatively heavy mic super stable at any angle.
The mic comes with a USB-C cable, though its short length means you might need to reach for a longer one. A 3.5-mm headphone socket makes monitoring simple but there’s no XLR output as found on the MV7 so it’s limited to digital input to your computer or iPad. The striking green mic surround is also made of quality metal and this is covered by a foam windshield.
There’s only one physical control on the body: a capacitive mute button, handy for quickly silencing the mic. You’ll handle everything else via the downloadable MOTIV Mix desktop software for macOS and PC, which acts as a basic audio recorder but, more importantly, a way to configure the microphone. You can add input channels from various sources or devices and live-mix them for recording or for sending to another application via the MOTIV Virtual Mix channel. So you could easily send your streams to a DAW for recording.
MOTIV Mix app
In the software, you can control the mic’s various DSP processors. This starts with choosing between a manually-set gain level or Auto-level which intelligently reduces the gain if you move closer to the mic and raises it if you move away — as gamers and podcasters periodically do. In practice, it strikes a nice balance of being reactive but not aggressive. Even when we try to catch it out with quick movements, the results are pretty smooth and balanced.
Next up is a monitor mix control, a fairly straightforward way to blend the signal from your own voice and that sent back from the computer. Then there’s Tone, a way to EQ the sound a little to make it warmer or more clinical, which we find best left on Natural. A real-time denoiser is a clever way to filter out ambient sounds like traffic noise that are superfluous to the recording. This too is effective and, although not quite as capable as a dedicated plugin, it’s impressive for a built-in tool.
Still in beta, MOTIV Mix does have a few rough edges. While you can now save microphone settings as presets, you still cannot access recording quality settings within the app. Hopefully, Shure will continue to update and improve the app to a finished state.
The MV6 without its windshield
The MV6 comes with a foam shield but also has a digital pop stopper which, like most of the other functions, has a variable level in the software. It’s surprisingly effective and better from a visual point of view than having a physical pop shield between yourself and the mic, especially when appearing on video. Shure doesn’t divulge how it works but we’d assume some combination of processes including fast and highly-tuned compression. Finally, you can activate a high-pass filter to roll off bass rumble or proximity effect from voices.
Shure’s MV6 has a cardioid polar pattern and uses ‘Voice Isolation Technology’ – the brand’s own term – to reject sound from the rear and focus on your voice. As such, it’s very directional.
The frequency response of 50 Hz to 15kHz is typical for a dynamic microphone, but you might find other USB mics can stretch up to 20kHz. This perceived technical limitation is actually helpful for picking up vocals in this instance; the impressive voice isolation, close-up use and slightly reduced high-frequency response compared to a condenser make it ideal for capturing voices naturally in a bedroom or other acoustically untreated space. The narrowed frequency response ensures a focus on your vocal range without introducing sibilance, as some condensers do.
The capture of spoken audio is achieved tremendously. Voices are abundantly clear and free of unwanted artefacts thanks to the various digital tools. Pops and ambient noise are successfully removed and when using Auto-level our deliberately inconsistent movement while speaking isn’t an issue.
A streamer using the MV6
Ideally, presenting or streaming would involve a mic mounted on a boom arm — like with the yoke-mounted MV7+ and SM7 — since it can get closer to your mouth and be at head height. But that’s also restrictive in terms of your own movement, plus the MV6 with its clever digital tools does an excellent job of maintaining a strong level when desk mounted, at a wholly different angle than a boom.
If we could, we’d add a physical gain control on the mic body. However, it could be argued that this would only be of any use with Auto-level switched off in the software and in a situation where you could be confident that you’re not going to move around much. Still, some people might prefer that.
MOTIV Mix does a capable job of simple recording though you’d likely want to route sound to a heftier application for podcast production. For simpler gaming or streaming where your sound is just being fed to an app or website that’s less of a concern.
A solidly built and well-thought-out mic with nifty digital tools, the pickup and performance from the MV6 is perfect for podcasters, gamers and streamers alike.

Key features

USB-C
Dynamic, cardioid design
50 Hz to 15 kHz frequency response
Detachable desk stand
Digital popper stopper
3.5-mm headphone output
DSP noise reduction
Auto-level and manual gain-setting
MOTIV Mix software
Capacitive mute button

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