Once mounted to a mic stand or mic boom and connected to the input of your interface, you'll be recording in higher quality than with most dynamic microphones. If you're singing a lead vocal or doing a podcast/Zoom meeting, switch the pattern to cardioid. The mic would pick up sound coming into the front while rejecting sound coming into its back and sides. You'll hear a presence that does not require you to be very close to the mic itself. For most singers that distance is about 5 to 8-inches from the MOVO's windscreen.

If you find low frequencies, traffic noises and constant rumbling also being picked up as well, throw the high-pass or Lo Cut filter switch on the left side of the mic (looking from the front). This is a good professional feature that effectively filters out that subsonic energy without too much change in the recording.

If you want to record group vocals with two or three other singers, switch the VSM-7 to the omni-directional pattern and pickup sound from all directions around the mic with no loss of fidelity. Backing singers would get their balance--a mix or blend of all their voices by varying their individual distances and singing volume(s) around the mic. This is a great way to record!

Switch the pattern switch to bi-directional or figure-of-eight, and you'll have a more focused pickup from only the front and back of the mic. The difference between figure-of-eight and omni is there is little sound pickup from the sides of the VSM-7 in the figure-of-eight pattern. When recording yourself and one other person, you both would take an opposite side and then blend with your individual mic distance and singing loudness. Since the sides of the mic are not picking up much sound, this pattern produces a more present sound with much less of the room's sound coming in. This pattern is also excellent for one-on-one interview podcasting where the interviewer is on one side of the VSM-7 and the interviewee is facing him/her on the other side. This works great!

I received the Movo VSM-7 and immediately put it to work recording vocals, a voice-over, and electric guitar. I first compared it to other condensers in my collection and was pleasantly surprised! I liked its lighter weight even with the shock-mount. The windscreen is a necessity for close in vocal recordings and it is easily removed when I put the mic inches away from a loud guitar amp's speaker. I then used the -10dB attenuator pad--another switch on the right side of the mic. That will prevent the mic from distorting your preamp and the recording.

Whether this is your first 'proper' condenser microphone or adding to your collection, the VSM-7 is a thrifty choice for all around vocal recordings, instruments, and getting a big sound for podcasting.

It sells for $124.95 MSRP.