Sandberg Streamer Kit Review

The Sandberg Streamer Kit Review marks only the second time I’m writing a review for a microphone on the blog. This time, the mic comes bundled as part of a kit comprised of all the things you’ll need to get your streaming audio needs sorted.

If you’re into watching your favorite streamers over on Twitch, you’ve probably noticed they all use some sort of microphone to capture their voice. Whether that’s a microphone attached to their gaming headsets, an expensive XLR mic or a decent USB microphone.

There are many different microphones to choose from. The most popular among streamers are probably the USB style microphones. And that’s what we’re reviewing in this article.

When the mail arrived I was pretty excited to get started on my Sandberg Streamer Kit Review. I’d literally just finished the Genesis Radium 600 Review so with that fresh in my mind, I thought it’d be a perfect opportunity to see how it differed from the Genesis offering.

First Impressions

The Sandberg branded packaging looks really fun and exciting. It’s similar to the Firestorm keyboard I reviewed a while back. The dark blue colours and cloud imagery matched with the lightning storm looks fantastic.

Once I’d opened up the box I was fairly impressed with how much single use plastic was included. It wasn’t as much as I’d expected there to be, considering there are a fair few components to this kit.

The kit is well packaged and once I’d unboxed all of the bits, I’d put it together in less than 5 minutes. It’s super simple to set up and judging by first impressions alone, it all seems like it’s built with good quality materials.

But, let’s take a closer look at what you get in the kit to see if it’s as good as seems, or is it too good to be true.

Sandberg USB Streamer Kit Review: The shock mount is a great addition.

What’s In The Box?

Inside the box you’ll find all of the of components needed to get yourself set up to record your voice. The only thing you’ll need to add yourself is a computer or laptop. You can even record on the iPad Air these days!

Inside the box there is:

Microphone
Shock Mount
Wind Shield
Pop Filter
USB Cable
Flexible Mic Arm Frame.
Clamp

The shock mount is a great addition and helps reduce the amount of unintended noise being picked up in your recordings. Noise such as that when you put your pen down on the desk or accidentally knock into the table that the mic is attached too.

I’d have expected a shock mount of this quality to be included on kits that were twice the price. They’ve done well to include one in this package whilst keeping the price point reasonably modest.

Overall, I’m really pleased. When I’m writing my reviews first impressions count and this seems to hit every measure in terms of quality, style and design. But, let’s see how it performs.

Sound Quality

Before I could comment on the performance I needed to see how it performed, and what better way to do that than by recording a quick clip of my voice.

There’s a reason content creators opt for this type of microphone over a built in headset mic and that’s purely down to superior audio quality. I recorded this clip using the GarageBand app on the iPad Air 2020. It’s the raw audio and I haven’t edited it or removed any of the low or empty noise.

As you can tell from the sound clip, the audio quality is really good. I recorded my voice in my office, which has a fair bit of environmental background noise. This comes from the PC’s and storage server which can be really loud when the cooling fans kick in.

Recording on the iPad is easy, the tools included in garage band allow you to record and edit your audio track with the built in Audio Recorder. Just be sure to change the style to ‘Narrator’ so you get the raw audio sound.

The iPad air also immediately recognized the USB mic being plugged in which is good news. I was worried the iPad didn’t have enough voltage in the USB C port to power it, but I didn’t have to worry at all. It works fine and is super simple to set up. It’s as simple as plug and play.

When using a PC or Laptop to record there would be infinitely more options for editing the sound using a software package such as audacity, allowing you to improve the sound quality further.

The included pop filter and windshield whilst basic, work well and perform their primary function flawlessly. I’m not sure if much improvement would be had from using a different filter but I don’t think I’d be able to tell the difference.

I feel like a 3.5mm inline jack on the mic could have been added to allow for live audio monitoring. Using something like the Edifier H850’s would be perfect to use in combination with the Sandberg Mic.

As this mic isn’t a ‘true condenser’ microphone I was worried that the quality wouldn’t be up to scratch. The reputation of back electret condenser microphones has, in the past been tarnished by poorly designed and manufactuered devices.

But, the truth is a good back-electret mic can perform every bit as well as a traditional true condenser microphone. In some cases they can even perform a bit better.

The only thing to keep an eye on is the voltage on these types of mic can leak away over the years, so sound quality may degrade. But, in real terms that can take years so it doesn’t concern me too much to be completely honest.

The Sandberg Mic mounted on the included arm

Build Quality

Being a fan of Sandberg’s gear I had a rough idea of what to expect in terms of the build quality. And, I wasn’t disappointed. There is a great feeling of familiarity with their products.

They are extremely consistent across the board in terms of quality. Whether it’s something as small as a lightning charging cable or their power banks they are all well built, the USB streamer kit is no exception.

It’s built using some premium materials including ABS plastic, Aluminium and Zinc. This combination ensures it’s incredibly strong and very likely to hold up to whatever people can throw at it. Unless of course, you literally throw something at it!

I wanted to see how good the powder coating paint is. I normally perform a scratch test with a key or pen knife but this time I used a screw driver! I scratched quite hard along the paint on the front of the microphone. It didn’t scratch that easily but I could see a faint mark. Which proves it’s had care and attention paid to it in terms of the construction and paint job.

The only thing I wasn’t super keen on was the arm. It’s functional and works as I expect it to, but it just feels like an off the shelf one and not something that has been custom manufactured for the Sandberg Mic.

I could of course be wrong, but either way it’s just ok and not great. Which is slightly disappointing. My disappointment was short lived as the main focus of any audio setup is the quality of the recordings and that is great.

To add to your confidence in the solid build quality Sandberg also throw in a 5-year warranty as standard. Yep, that isn’t a typo. You’re covered for 5 whole years. This means that if your mic suffers any faults at all they’ll fix or replace it, completely free of charge.

Sandberg Streamer Kit Review Availbility

It’s available to buy from Amazon. Hit the affiliate link here for more information and to find out how much.

Summary & Verdict

Score: 7/10

This USB Streamer kit from Sandberg really is great. It’s solid build quality and great sounding audio are key aspects that they have well and truly nailed.

It’s absolutely fine as a first mic for amateur content creators. I’m also pretty certain seasoned audio veterans would find nice things to say about the Sandberg USB Streamer Kit. Whilst not ideal for voice over work it’d also perform well for podcast recording.

The reason why I only gave it a 7 was that I felt like the Radium 600 had a bit more of an X Factor. I really was wowed by the entire unboxing experience.