Marantz Professional Pod Pack 1 — an affordable condenser microphone with a boom arm
The American company Marantz is well known for Hi-Fi equipment. Fewer people know the products of its professional division, Marantz Professional. The professional range currently covers recorders, wireless microphone transmitters, studio microphones, outdoor recording microphones, and USB podcast microphones.
We begin our look at Marantz Professional devices with one of its most affordable USB podcast microphones, the Pod Pack 1.
The Pod Pack 1 is an entry-level condenser USB microphone with a fixed polar pattern. It has no hardware controls, but comes with a strong metal desktop boom arm.
Pod Pack 1 specifications
| Type | Electret condenser |
| Polar pattern | Cardioid |
| Frequency range | 20 Hz–17 kHz |
| Sensitivity | -34 dB |
| Output impedance | 100 ohms |
| Minimum load impedance | 1 kohm |
| Maximum SPL | 132 dB |
| Self-noise | 16 dBA |
| Audio interface | USB 2.0 |
| Operating formats | 16-bit, 44.1 kHz, 48 kHz, |
| Signal-to-noise ratio | 78 dB |
| Power supply | USB bus power |
| Dimensions | 170 mm × 53 mm |
| Weight | 270 g |
| Package contents | Microphone, boom arm, USB cable |
The microphone looks like a typical studio condenser model. Its cylindrical housing is plastic. A metal grille at the top protects the capsule.
A bracket screws onto the bottom for stand mounting. Its standard threaded hole allows attachment to the supplied boom arm or any other microphone stand.
The Pod Pack 1 boom arm looks very reliable. Although the microphone weighs only 270 grams, the structure is strong. All parts are metal, with extra springs for smooth, convenient microphone positioning.
The stand allows microphone height adjustment from 0 to 70 cm. However, the higher the microphone is raised, the closer it comes to the arm's mounting point. Each arm section is 40 cm long, so the microphone's maximum horizontal distance from the clamp occurs at a height of 40 cm above the desk.
A USB port on the bottom connects the microphone to the computer. The cable is included. Its soft insulation makes positioning easy, and its length is 2 meters.
The microphone uses an electret capsule with a 13 mm diaphragm. The open-housing photo clearly shows the internal construction. A plastic suspension holds the capsule in the center. Metal mesh protects it from physical damage, and a thin foam layer adds wind protection. There is only one fixed cardioid polar pattern.
The polar plot shows that the microphone captures its full signal only from the front, as expected for cardioid operation. The stated frequency response is fairly linear across the operating range.
The microphone uses a CM6327A integrated chip with a single-channel ADC and USB interface. The chip supports 16-bit recording at 44/48 kHz. Converter specifications are a dynamic range of 96 dB and THD+N of -89 to -96 dB.
The operating system sees a standard recording device named USB MICROPHONE. There are no dedicated drivers, so sensitivity is adjusted through the operating system. For close speech recording, a level setting of 70 is enough for comfortable recording without clipping.
Professional audio applications require the universal ASIO4ALL driver. This allows USB MICROPHONE to be selected as the input and the computer's sound card as the output. There is no direct hardware monitoring, so monitoring must use the application's software functions. Avoid very low latency settings, which may cause recording artifacts. In our case, a delay of more than 40 milliseconds was sufficient.
The Marantz Pod Pack 1 records quite well. For an entry-level device, its sound is fairly smooth and natural, without the boomy midrange or harsh treble common in budget models. Sensitivity is sufficient for speech at a distance. As with any condenser microphone, an extra pop filter can help, but is not essential here. The fine grille and extra foam layer already control plosives fairly well.
The boom arm supplied with the Pod Pack 1 is a clear advantage. Unlike the desktop tripods usually supplied with USB microphones, it allows the microphone to be placed directly in front of the user. More importantly, it greatly reduces desk impact noise in recordings, such as typing or moving objects across the desk.
Conclusions
The Marantz Pod Pack 1 is a very interesting entry-level option. It is an excellent choice for applications that do not require an ASIO driver. Recording quality is high enough to be far beyond a headset or webcam microphone: this is a different, professional level. Unlike more expensive and advanced USB microphones, the Pod Pack 1 has no built-in audio interface with direct monitoring or dedicated driver for ASIO applications. That is why its price is much lower. Its recording quality is not inferior to that of more expensive models with extra features.
Note. This is an adapted machine translation into English. It follows the “In simple terms” approach. Read the original article at https://prosound.ixbt.com/microphones/marantz-podpack.shtml.