Earthworks is a company renowned for their naturalistic, high-end sound—and now that sound is conveniently available for live streamers, podcasters, gamers, and radio show hosts in the Earthworks Icon Pro. This hand-tuned cardioid condenser XLR microphone brings the build quality and tone of a pro-studio microphone to the home-broadcasting or streaming environment. Whether you make unboxing videos, stream game play, or host a podcast, the Icon Pro's ultrafast response time will provide a clarity of recording that can help you stand out from the pack.
The microphone certainly looks the part, with its screen-ready stainless steel finish and broadcast-style, end-address design. But more important is the sound: Earthworks have crafted a mic that responds incredibly to the human voice, all while rejecting room sound, minimizing handling noise, and keeping any self-noise to a thankful minimum—even when you're recording at high volumes. Plus the built-in windscreen and pop filter help control common problems such as breath noise and vocal plosives.
This microphone is part of the B&H Virtual Mic Locker, an online tool to help our valued customers determine the sonic differences between popular microphones for podcasting and voice over work. Each microphone was recorded using a Grace Design M103 preamp into a Presonus Quantum 2626 interface.
Delivers a Great Sound
This is an end-address, small-diaphragm condenser microphone with a cardioid polar pattern for minimizing the sound of acoustically imperfect rooms. On the tech side, the mic has been fashioned to deliver a rise speed of 11.67 microseconds, which means it reacts quickly and impeccably to the subtleties of your voice. A hand-tuned, extended-frequency response of 20 Hz to 30 kHz ensures the mic not only reacts to your voice, but captures it in a true-to-life manner.
Flawless Performance
The microphone works out of the box with your audio interface to deliver studio-quality sound right off the bat. It's able to handle an SPL of up to 139 dB, which is quite high, and will come in handy for video-game playthroughs where one might be audibly surprised by the sudden arrival of a virtual enemy. Low-noise construction means the mic won't generate hiss or other machine sounds when driven hard. And a built-in pop filter ensures you won't incur pops from plosives, so you can say phrases like "pops from plosives" without distorting the recording.
Quality Accessories for a Quality Product
The Icon Pro offers an integrated M2-R ball adapter, so you can mount the mic on any stand or boom. This mount comes courtesy of Triad Orbit, a company famous for their studio-quality modular mic stands and mic-placement solutions. A 3/8" thread is also included to bolster compatibility with all sorts of stands.
Features at a Glance
- Perfect for broadcast-quality speech and voice-over recording
- Ideal for streaming, podcasting, interviewing, gaming, web conferencing, and content creating
- Condenser capsule with lightning-fast rise time speed of 11.67 microseconds
- 20 Hz to 30 kHz frequency response
- Mounts to a boom or stand with included custom Triad-Orbit M2-R connector
- Cardioid polar pattern's off-axis rejection prevents ambient room noise from entering your stream
- Striking stainless steel design
- Easy-to-clean (and sanitize) stainless steel windscreen with integrated pop filter
- XLR 3-pin output connector
- Runs on phantom power (24 to 48 VDC)
- Designed, hand-tuned, and assembled in the USA
Earthworks Icon Pro Specs
Key Specs
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Microphone
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Performance
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Connectivity
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Earthworks Icon Pro Reviews
Fantastic
By Joshua
Rated 5 out of 5
Date: 2023-04-15
Awesome sound, clear, natural, realistic. Note for others buying the broadcast arm bundle - the arm has a wider diameter than some arm wall mount brackets.
Incredible audio quality
By Todd
Rated 5 out of 5
Date: 2021-09-23
I bought two of the Icon Pro mics when they first came out. I already owned an Earthworks SR314 which was my first Earthworks mic. It made a believer out of me. The build quality on the Icon Pro is consistent with every other Earthworks mic. Built like a tank out of milled stainless steel. Seems indestructible. But the quality of the audio is what will sell you on this mic. Stunningly accurate. You'll never sound better. I've used the SM7B for years along with other mics. This is the best sounding mic for voice work I've ever heard. I record into a Sound Devices MixPre-6 which has super quiet preamps. Perfect pairing. If you are looking for a broadcast, podcast, streaming or voiceover mic and $499 is in your budget range, don't think twice.