This text review of the Fifine AmpliGame AM8 won’t be as interesting as the video – where I’ll test it with a 3m cable, a professional Tascam recorder and a high quality Focuserite audio card. But you’ll still find the text review useful, because it’s the technical details that will help you decide if this microphone is right for you.
Fifine AmpliGame AM8 video review and testing
Testing the microphone in our video review:
Market positioning
The Fifine AmpliGame AM8 costs about $78. Why not a round hundred? I don’t know, but favorable all the same. I also note and ask you not to confuse AM8 with the Fifine A8 model. It is older and cheaper. We have a review of the entire A line, aka Ampligame, on our website, which you can read here.
What in the box?
The package of the microphone is simple, but exhaustive and of high quality. The manual is very detailed, the USB Type-A to Type-C cable is long, under 2 m, the base is rubberized and weighty, and the plug-bracket is already installed on the microphone. Assembling everything together is also simple – screw the base to the bottom of the bracket, and that’s it.
Here, however, I should note that the thread on the base is 3/8 inch, i.e., standard for audio and photo equipment. The problem is that the bracket requires a special, very long screw. The 1/4-inch ones are found, for example, in camera screw sets, but it will be unrealistic to find them quickly at a flea market.
Why is this done? Because the threaded mounts of pantographs fit just such a thread and such a “deep” format without a single problem. And using a pantograph for such a microphone is an absolutely adequate option.
Fifine AmpliGame AM8 exterior view
The Fifine Ampligame AM8 is extremely solid in appearance, even BEFORE the RGB backlighting is turned on. It is a well-made rectangular-shaped microphone with rounded edges. Metal almost everywhere except for the plastic screw bases, knobs and windshield.
The windproofing, by the way, is very cool and high-quality, not made of polyethylene foam, but of velvet-like material. Of course, it’s not thick, and for some reason it doesn’t stick to the case very well, but it fulfills its role exceptionally well.
Since the AM8 will have to be held at an angle of 45° at a distance of about 20 cm from the head, the back of it will be considered the area with the operation indicator. It is interactive and touch-sensitive, has red and green indicators and, when pressed, immediately switches the microphone operation.
The front consists of an also touch-sensitive, yet drop-down backlight switch at the bottom, as well as two knobs with limited scrolling intervals. The knobs go for microphone gain and mini-jack gain for monitoring.
The mini-jack is at the bottom, next to Type-C for connecting to PCs, laptops or even set-top boxes. There’s also, oddly enough, a full-size XLR jack next to it, which is good for working with more professional speaker equipment. Like recorders or audio interfaces.
The RGB backlight is located under the diffusing plastic around the bottom of the case. It’s quite bright, which the camera doesn’t really like, but it turns off when needed. It can’t sync with anything, but it can switch to several modes, including static colors, rainbow, and gradual shimmer.
The microphone type is dynamic cardioid, the response frequency is 50 to 16000 Hz, the sound-to-noise ratio is more than 80 dB, the sensitivity is -50 dB (+/-3 dB), and the maximum sound pressure is 120 dB. Power supply for the microphone requires 5V +/- 0.25V. And the warranty after electronic registration is 24 months.
As for the sound quality – everything, and even more, will be in the video review. But I will say this – depending on which communication channel you are using, the sound will be different. In terms of volume, that’s for sure. If you have an XLR receiver, you won’t be able to control anything on the microphone body. None of the knobs will work, including gain.
So the microphone will be quieter than any comparable XLR version. I will have material on the Fifine K850, which is much, SIGNIFICANTLY less versatile, but still produces a louder standard sound on XLR. While the sound quality is excellent both ways.
Conclusions
This microphone is an extremely pleasant surprise. Its versatility is very cool, the ability to work both via USB and XLR is practically unique in this price segment. RGB will be useful for streamers, the ability to disable RGB for everyone else. So yes, the Fifine AmpliGame AM8 is my recommendation!