PreSonus Revelator Dynamic USB Mic Review
I got a chance to sit down with the Revelator Dynamic USB Microphone from Presonus, which is setting the benchmark for streamers, literally offering up a small studio in a small mic...
But is it any good?
And why am I wearing my daughters goofy gaming headphones from Turtle Beach?
Yeah...we are going to have to talk about that in a bit.
By the way, I am running this mic with the compression and EQ running, cause...well...that is the point of this mic, RIGHT?!?!
Value Proposition
This microphone is squarely directed at streamers and podcasters, but mostly streamers, who need good sound, powerful output and no compromise.
But I should point out, it isn’t just the microphone doing the heavy lifting here. It is mostly the software.
And that is the special sauce that this thing is built on.
I did a review of the Revelator io24 awhile back, you can check that out as well if you like, I will link both this video as well as that one in this article.
This is basically the same thing as the Revelator io24, only in mic form.
And as for price, it sells for $200 bucks!
Presonus Revelator Dynamic USB Mic
Build Quality
It is an all metal body, with some stylings taken from another unnamed microphone…(SM7B)
The buttons are decent, clicky, the knobs are fine and it is USB-C on the back, which doesnt have much play.
I do like the yolk system, though the only piece of plastic here is on the tightening knob, and it does kinda feel cheap.
It also comes with a stand, but honestly, it is a stand for a usb mic aimed at streamers and podcasters.
I would not use this stand. It really is worth it to have some sort of boom ability with this mic.
SPECS
This is a cardioid dynamic mic
20hz to 20 kilohertz
It is 24Bit and has a sample rate up to 96khz
It is USB Bus powered and has a max spl of 135db
And the headphone outs...The fly in the soup if you will
They are 22.6 mW and 16ohms.
Which is not enough to drive a lot of headphones, which sucks.
For the microphone tests, you can check them out here!
SOFTWARE TRICKERY
Now I am not going to go super in depth as some have with the software and effects, there are a tonne of great videos out there.
Check out EPOSVOX's if you really want a deep dive.
What I will tell you, the messaging from the Revelator io24 is the same - be careful with these effects.
They can take your audio from amazing to unlistenable with a single turn of a software knob.
To give you a small example, when I first turned the mic on and started looking at the software, my compression was set to make the audio clip.
I had to lower the output gain to get it to not sound like garbage.
And I know there is a limiter on here, but again, you need to be careful with things like that.
Too much limiter, and you are leaving a bunch of your frequencies on the table and your dynamic range will go right out the window.
No one likes listening to an audio sausage.
But if you set it just right, you can get some great sounding audio out of this mic, and more than enough to lift your voice out of the mix.
There are a tonne of options for streamers here, just like the Revelator io24.
Of course, if you are hell bent on buying this mic, I would say you want to lean into the learning curve with this mic.
This software isnt a simple one button approach, and you want to give yourself time to learn it.
PROS AND CONS
And lets start with the pros.
This mic has a tonne of potential, there is a lot of software to make this thing do some rather impressive stuff that was never considered at this price point.
It sounds good, if all the right pieces are in place, and frankly, one hell of a gold mine at this price if you are willing to put in the work to learn it.
The fact that it is a dynamic cannot be undersold either.
As other companies have shied away from dynamic usb mics, due to the issues with driving them, this is a really cool way to have more control over your sound!
As for the cons, well, the headphone outs are horrible.
My Shure SRH440s just flat out didnt work with the mic.
The 840s did, though when pinned at full volume, I can barely hear myself.
And these headphones are considered low impedance, they are only 44ohms.
Considering some people will be using this as an interface to work their audio, more needs to be done with that output.
All this advanced stuff for eq and compression, and all around voice sculpting...and you either have to run super cheap headphones, or even worse ear buds to hear properly.
That seems like a massive oversight, and I am hoping that can get fixed on the next iteration.
And you know with PreSonus, this isnt in its final form...at least I hope not.
FINAL THOUGHTS
I like the mic. There is a tonne of great stuff here.
But that headphone out is problematic
And honestly it is for that reason that I really have a hard time recommending it.
$200 is a lot of money, and is exactly the same price as the Revelator io24.
So honestly if you are looking at this thinking this is your jam, well I would say pick up the io24 instead.
And then there are no worries with headphones.
But if you are hell bent on getting this mic.
You are going to love the experience as long as you aren’t expecting to do any decent level of monitoring.
