iCON Pro Audio Thunder X Handheld Condenser Microphone

New to the brand, but undoubtedly worth the price!

This is the first microphone from iCON Pro Audio I've ever used. I'm generally skeptical of branching out into new brands, especially when the box arrives and it's got a "made in china" origin printed on the back like this one does. I've gotten some really nice microphones from manufacturing facilities in China, and I've also gotten abysmal ones. There is such a range...

What intrigued me about the Thunder X is that it is a CONDENSER microphone, even though it is handheld. There are not too many manufacturers creating or innovating in this space, and most quality microphones are $200+! So what does the ThunderX have to offer?

Build Quality

The build quality is great. The body is appropriately sized for a standard handheld mic, and not a 75% scale version to save a few bucks. It's all metal, including the grill, and the XLR connector works flawlessly.

Sound Characteristic

When using handheld, the microphone has a little bit of boom in the bass to it, but not over the top. It's pretty clear throughout the range, though I might bump up the upper mids just a touch. Everything sounds crisp and clear, more so than a dynamic microphone. If you were using this for a live performance, this would have a pretty neutral sound.

The sound rejection is much better than I was anticipating, speaking into the microphone 90 degrees off axis is quite a noticeable difference. On top of that, plosives are handled quite well. I did not use the "extra" foam cover in the recording attached to this review, just the mic as is. Again, being the first condenser handheld microphone I've used, I was expecting plosives to be MUCH worse than they actually are. I get worse performance out of $100 dynamic mics. Handling noise was good as well, not poor, but not over the top fantastic.

The shock mount that this ships with this mic is awesome! I will enjoy using this not only for vocals, but as a multipurpose instrument mic as well. Given it is a large condenser (32mm or ~1.25 inches) it should pick up the rich tones of instruments quite nicely too! The shock mount holds the mic securely, and it does not budge.

I'm really shocked at the price point after using it. This would easily be a terrific value at $80 to $100. I'd prefer a little more richness in the 4k to 10k range, but am in no way turned off by the sound of this mic.

1:58

Very accurate, great for vocals, documentary/interview, handles loud volumes without much distortion

This is a stellar microphone, great for vocals, especially documentary/interview. It doesn't pick up faint background sounds as well as, say, the Shield, but it's more crisp, brilliant, and alive sounding. It doesn't color the sound much at all, which is mostly good, but one of the benefits of the Shield is that it makes you sound better. This makes you sound like yourself.

It has a good weight and seems well constructed, feels good in the hand and I'd expect it to last a long time in a professional environment. It comes with an isolator which prevents vibrations from being picked up by the microphone and a foam windscreen/pop filter. I tried the Shield, Thunder X and SM58 and while the Shield sounds the most lush, this sounds the most accurate.