Antlion ModMic USB 2 Review – AMAZING Microphone for ANY HEADSET

This is the Antlion ModMic USB 2 – not that USB 2, it’s more like USB…. 2. The second generation of ModMic USB. This is actually quite different from the previous generation, so let me show you around it, and of course you’ll be hearing me through the mic throughout this video so you can make up your own mind on the audio quality. As a brief introduction to the ModMic – if this is the first time you’re seeing one – this is a solution to the audio quality problem of gaming headsets. See, you can spend a pretty penny on some very fancy looking gaming headphones, and sure you’re likely to get a pretty decent set of cans, and a good mic too, but they almost always pale in comparison to a proper set of audiophile headphones – and often cost more for less quality too. The downside to using audiophile headphones is that they don’t come with a microphone which makes them less than ideal for gaming use. Enter the ModMic, a stick-on microphone you can attach to anything – including VR headsets – that gives you a great quality mic that you can attach to your audiophile headphones. This happens to be the USB version, meaning it just plugs in with USB A (or C via an adapter) and you get a mic that just works, and sounds pretty good too. 

Right, with that out the way, what’s new here? Well the first thing is the mic capsule and housing itself – it’s uuuuuggggeeee! The housing itself is meant to improve internal acoustics, and the capsule is physically larger which helps reduce the signal to noise ratio, meaning less noise comes through. Part of the benefit of the USB version, compared to the new ModMic Uni 2, is that this is now an omni-directional pickup pattern, while still having unidirectional noise cancelation. This is a great bonus for sure! The other new thing is the in-line mute button. This is a little close to the mic for my taste, as in it sits almost out of eyesight range, but it’s a nice soft press that when you press it you get a clean mute and unmute – here’s an example of the muting, and unmuting. One thing I’d personally love to see is the soft fall off that Elgato uses in their mics, and with this being a USB mic that should be possible. Maybe with a firmware update? Anyway, it’s a handy feature to have that in-hardware. 

As for mounting, this is the exact same – now patented – mounting system Antlion has used since their very first ModMic. It’s magnetic so you can remove it nice and easily, but it’s also got a spiked crown ring around the magnet that means you can flip it up of the way if you want. They also include two different mounts in the box, along with an extra adhesive pad, so if you want to use it on multiple headsets, or move it to a new headset, you can. They also include a bunch of cable clips in the box so you can tie the ModMic wire to your headset’s wire to keep it all neat and tidy. 

When it comes to the audio quality, well you’ve been hearing it so far, and I’d love to hear what you think in the comments down below, but for me this sounds fantastic. It’s really crisp and clear – it’s a hell of a lot better than some gaming headset mics for sure – and to me it’s pretty true-to-life. There is a bit of noise still, a bit of fuzz, but frankly so does every mic in this sort of format. I’m really happy with the audio quality, although again I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments down below. 

For a bit of context, here is what my AudioTechnica ATH-G1WL’s microphone sounds like. This, I think, is quite an apt comparison, as these headphones are meant to be that perfect mix between gaming-grade convenience and features like wireless connectivity and a built-in mic, and audiophile grade audio quality, and yet while the headphones themselves sound great, the mic isn’t amazing. It’s compressed, tinny and has that tin-can effect to it. Compared to the ModMic there isn’t much comparison.

Another bit of context would be this, the Elgato Wave 3. This isn’t exactly a fair comparison considering this is, yaknow, a desktop mic and this is a headset mic, but I wanted to include this because of how close the ModMic gets to desktop mic levels of quality, at least to my frankly untrainted ears. The ModMic sounds just as clear to me, which is high praise.

Of course the one catch with the ModMic is the price, this USB version comes in at £90, which is how much a decent gaming headset costs. With that said, the top end gaming headsets – the ones where you start to get decent audio and mic quality – will set you back £150 to £250, which is about how much something like the Beyerdynamic DT990 Pros and one of these ModMic USB 2’s would cost, and assuming you already have the headphones, this is a no-brainer. The wireless version of the gen 2 ModMic is on its way, although it’s been delayed until next year now so if you don’t mind being wired-in, this USB one is exceptional quality.