Visual inspection
The Maono PD200X is a cardioid microphone that sports not only a removable shock mount but plenty RGB LEDs. The microphone is advertised as ideal for gaming, streaming and podcasts, while not looking overly flashy.
The casing of the PD200X is made from solid metal and has a satin black finish while the included shock mount is made from good quality plastic. Other design features include a foam filter which is removable and both USB Type-C and XLR input ports.
The PD200X has several input and output ports installed on the bottom part of the casing. For starters, this microphone has two input ports, a USB Type-C and a full sized XLR port. Next to them you have a simple 3.5mm audio jack used for audio monitoring and a small round button used to cycle between the LED RGB modes. If you hold the button pressed for several seconds, the RGB LEDs will turn completely off.
The foam filter attached at the front of the microphone is held in place by a simple plastic clip. To remove this filter, all you need to do is to pull it out from the microphone.
With the filter removed we gain easy access to the metal mesh of the microphone. This metal mesh is not removable without further disassembly of the microphone.
The round dial installed on the side of the microphone acts as the volume and gain dial. The dial is set up by default as the microphone gain dial and if you want to switch it to the headset volume dial, all you need to do is press and hold it until the color of the circle surrounding it changes.
The mute button is easy to spot and use as it is quite large and has the standard mute icon printed on it. When pressed, the LED circle turns red to highlight the mute status of the microphone.
The included shock mount is made from solid plastic and has a sturdy construction. The good thing about this shock mount is the fact that it allows the removal of the microphone. Often times, these included shock mounts are integrated into the case of the microphone, and thus if the shock mount got damaged the entire microphone was not usable.
The shock mount and thus the microphone can be attached to a microphone stand or a boom arm with ease. This is the case because the shock mount uses a standard thread and has an included thread adapter. The adjustment offered in the threaded part is simple, on a single axis.
