Thank you Maono for sending us this microphone to review!

We’ve been blessed with the opportunity to review many Maono products throughout the years and the DM50 is one of their premium products available. What makes this microphone so special is that it supports three different polar patterns. You can select the polar pattern by pressing the button located above the smart knob.

In the cardioid mode, the DM50 will pick up most of the audio in front where the pop filter is. The closer to the microphone you are, the louder it will be. Noises behind and to the side of the microphone won’t be picked up as clearly. This is the ideal mode for streaming.

Omnidirectional is better suited for recording several feet away if necessary. The downfall to omnidirectional is that it can and will often pickup background noises like keyboard typing or animals/spouses/kids trying to communicate with you while streaming.

Bidirectional picks up sound in a figure-eight shape and is best suited for interviews where the microphone is in between people talking back and forth.

The smart knob has three different functions and you can switch between them by pressing on it. The default mode is gain and in this mode you can quickly see if your microphone is picking up input and how loud it is. If it’s in the green it’s good. Yellow is borderline and red means that it’s being distorted. The second mode lets you adjust the headset volume for any headset connected to the 3.5mm audio jack on the bottom. The third mode lets you switch between the monitoring the microphone and listening to sound from the connected USB device.

When plugging in the DM50, it will become your default audio output and microphone input device. If you want to use it as your sound device you’ll find the headphone jack on the bottom of the microphone. The USB cable has a USB C connector with a built in adapter to plug into a USB-A port.

The build quality of the DM50 is excellent and is mostly metal. On top of the microphone, you’ll find the mute button. When pressed the microphone icon by the smart knob will turn red instead of green.

Out of the box the DM50 will have a white light. If you want to change the color of the light, you’ll need to download and install the Maono Link software. Linux users are out of luck as the software is only available for Mac and Windows. However, once the RGB is configured the microphone will remember the settings no matter what system it is plugged into next. The RGB can be disabled, looped, fixed, or set to breathing. There are eight colors to choose from for the fixed and breathing modes. The looping has a mixture of colors and looks nice. The software lets you adjust the volume levels and polar pattern, but being able to set these on the microphone itself is quite nice.