The FIFINE K678 microphone is a compact USB microphone for a range of different use-cases, such as conference calls, podcasting or vocal recording. The microphone features plug and play use and premium build quality for under £75.

Design
FIFINE K678 Microphone
FIFINE K678

The design of the FIFINE K678 is fairly compact, although the Rode NT-USB Mini is still a little smaller in comparison, this compact form factor makes it easy to find somewhere to place the microphone on your desk as it doesn’t take up too much space or get in the way. This is particularly useful if you want to use it for conference calls as you can keep it hidden.

The microphone features metal construction with a matte black finish, giving the microphone a solid construction, which feels well-made and durable if you needed to take it on the road. The included stand also features the same construction characteristics, giving the microphone a sturdy weight when placed on a desk and features rubber feet to prevent any scratching or sliding around. The stand also features angle adjustment so you can angle the microphone capsule towards your mouth to get the best sound quality recording.

The microphone features a sleek black design.
Of course, if you don’t want to use the included stand, the microphone includes an adapter in the box so you can place it on a boom arm or a different microphone stand – this could come in handy if you wish to get the microphone a little closer to your mouth or wish to put the microphone in a shock mount.

Looking around the microphone, which looks a lot like a Blue Yeti, the design is fairly simplistic, as it is a tube shape. On the front is some FIFINE branding as well as a microphone mute button and LED indicator light which is green and changes to red when the microphone is muted. It is handy to have a hardware mute button on the microphone if you need to quickly press mute without having to find the button in the software you may be using.

The rear side of the microphone features hardware controls for adjusting levels.
The rear side has gain controls for both the microphone itself, but also the headphone monitoring output on the bottom of the microphone. These dials are smoothly adjustable, so you can fine-tune any settings if required.

The top of the microphone is home to the condenser microphone capsule, there is no integrated pop filter, unfortunately, but there is a mesh layer between the capsule and the elements to help protect it – but this does little to prevent plosives, so you may still want to get a pop filter or windscreen if this is a concern.

The bottom side of the microphone features the USB Mini-B port for connecting it to your device with the included cable, which features plenty of length at around 2 meters long. There’s also the headphone monitoring jack as well as the screw thread for mounting the microphone on a different stand.

The microphone’s ports and connectivity can be found on the underside.
The overall design of the microphone is very nice, it feels well made and built to last and is unobtrusive, so it would work in a home and office environment. My only hindrance with the design is that the microphone looks so similar from both the front and back sides, so you’ll want to make sure that you’re speaking into the correct side of the microphone or your recording quality will be negatively impacted.