JBL Quantum Stream Studio

JBL's approach isn't stupid: make it compact, with all the features you need, and make it easy to use. The only thing they forgot is that you don't have to make everything from cheap metal. The stand itself is quite solid, despite being made of zinc, but the base and the microphone itself are made of a cheap metal that feels more like plastic, and it simply costs too much for that. On the other hand, there are some nice touches - there's a small sensor at the top to mute, and the VU meter is built in around the volume control. Once my dislike of the metal is out in the open, I should point out that it's pretty solidly made and could easily withstand a drop or two on the floor without scratches.

I've rarely seen a product priced at the same price - £120 - in so many places. You'd almost think that someone had dictated what the price should be, even though it's illegal in many countries.

The cable has the usual JBL flair, i.e. black with orange stripes. When even the USB cable is branded, you know they mean business. I don't quite understand why there isn't USB-C at both ends, but then again, voice recording just doesn't eat up much bandwidth. There's also a headphone jack on the bottom. It works fine, but in terms of sound quality, it's always the last thing you want to use. Conversely, it's just easier to turn down the headphones this way if you want a small and compact setup.

The microphone has a classic design: four pickup patterns and three 14 mm condenser units. This allows the hordes of wannabe podcasters to record with multiple people at the same time without the sound quality deteriorating or getting weird. Plus, it can record in 24-bit, so extra points for that. On the other hand, don't get too far away from it, beyond 35-40 cm, or it will start to have problems recording the room. On the other hand, with the right recording pattern you can cut out a lot of the noise, and most things that are further than a metre away are not included.

That said, the recording quality is surprisingly good - if you have the right distance. If you're a centimetre too close, "p" and "t" sounds are far too loud and clear, but it doesn't have that shrill tone that many slightly cheaper microphones have. It actually records bass, at least in 24-bit/192 kHz. The sound is clean, dry, and clear, and if you're used to headset microphones, you're in for a big surprise.

Operation is simple with a combined rotary and push button on the front and a button under the microphone housing. Combined with a mute button on top, this layout is extremely easy and straightforward to use, so again points for that, and points for not throwing buttons and stuff on the back like we've seen before. However, I don't understand why they chose to place the headphone output at the bottom, where there isn't much space and where it sits behind the arms that hold the microphone. This really means that it's quite inconvenient if the microphone either stands straight up or, as in my case, needs to be angled a little bit backwards. It would have been so much easier to place it all at the back together with the USB port.

The base itself can be unscrewed and it's attached with a funny type of screw, but this means that the stand that the microphone body is attached to reveals a standard screw hole and this can then be attached to a boom arm, tripod, or whatever.

The software is Quantum Engine. It's ugly, yet usable with EQ and a simple compressor, but desperately needs someone who knows something about user design to be allowed to run wild with the system. Plus, white text on a black background is just not nice to look at. There should be a better way to do that. Even the Harman Group's professional software, which is designed to be 100% efficient, is better designed than this.

It's a pretty decent starter mic with a few minor flaws, but for those who use software other than JBL's own, and who want to be able to tune it down to the last millimetre, well, it's actually a pretty decent choice for a functional and great-sounding streaming microphone.