Beyerdynamic has long manufactured pro-level recording gear, from reference and tracking headphones to studio mics.
With the Fox, Beyerdynamic delivers a solid, user-friendly USB microphone with a $179 price that lands somewhere between high-priced amateur and entry-level pro models.
Included with the mic is a snap-on pop filter to help manage plosive-prone vocalist performances, as well as a sturdy desktop mount that allows for angling the mic's diaphragm to line up with the speaker's mouth.
We found the Fox's signal to be crisp and clear in testing, with a dash of added low-mid and midrange presence, while its built-in monitoring system allows you to mix the mic's pure signal with your computer's output.
The chief complaint here is that, perplexingly, Beyerdynamic opted for a gain switch (with only two settings) rather than the typical gain knob.
Design
The dark-gray-and-black Fox USB condenser microphone ($129.00 at Amazon) is cylindrical and looks more like a pro-level mic than most USB mics we test—it measures roughly 8.3 by 2.0 inches (HW) out of the stand.
The front-facing grille has four vented areas, as does the rear grille, and the top also features vented grille panels.
Below this is a front-address condenser capsule that utilizes a cardioid pattern.
Beyerdynamic claims the Fox's frequency response is 20Hz to 20kHz.
The mic is capable of recording up to 24-bit, 96kHz output signal.
Below the grille on the front face, there's a recessed area for the included windscreen to snap onto, and below this, there's a Mute button, two knobs, and a headphone jack.
When the mute button is enabled, the orange LED blinks (it remains solid when mute is disabled).
Below the Mute button are two knobs—one labeled Mix, the other Volume.
These knobs serve the headphone jack below them (3.5mm connection).
The Mix knob blends the output of your computer's audio with the mic's signal—turn the knob fully left to get only the computer's signal, or fully right to hear only the Fox's signal.
It's a unique monitoring tool that has zero latency, ridding you of the annoying micro-delay that some recording software can introduce into the equation.
The zero latency, however, only applies to the pure mic signal, when the knob is fully to the right.
Adding in your computer's signal will introduce whatever latency exists in your computer's software, but there are ways to adjust that by tinkering with your computer/software settings.
These knobs are great, but where's the Gain knob? Oh, it's on the back of the mic, and it's not a knob, it's a switch—low gain or high gain.
Gain is most typically handled by a knob or fader, allowing you to dial in the exact ideal level.
The Gain switch here even overrides the Gain levels in GarageBand.
You can still find the right levels for any speaker, but this adds extra effort for the vocalist and the engineer, and the less mic technique and experience the vocalist has, the more that switch is going to get annoying.
Back to the positive side of things.
The Fox ships with a pop filter (referred to as a windscreen by Beyerdynamic) that snaps on to the front face of the mic.
Most of the USB mics we test don't ship with pop filters, and this means recording without one (again, you'd better hope your vocalist has a lot of experience) or buying/making one.
True, most pro-level mics don't ship with pop filters—you're expected to buy one on your own—but it seems like the USB mic market is the ideal space for an all-in-one offering to make life as easy as possible.
Props to Beyerdynamic for including one in the design that snaps on the mic and looks cool.
The included cable has an attractive orange cloth coating—it connects to the USB-C port on the mic's rear panel.
We'd like to have seen a slightly longer cable, however—at 1 meter, it's shorter than most of the cables we see bundled with USB mics.
The Fox screws into the included desktop stand, and the stand has a pivoting base that allows you to angle the mic's front-facing grille forward.
The stand works well, and allows for plenty of angling.
However, the location of the USB port on the rear panel means it can only be tilted back so far—granted, there probably aren't many typical desktop scenarios that call for tilting the mic beyond where the connected cable allows you to.
The Fox also ships with an adapter for screwing the mic into a typical mic stand.
In most scenarios, the Fox is plug-and-play ready, though if you use software like Pro Tools, you might find that there's slightly more setup involved—though it's still relatively simple.
(Google search "aggregate device ProTools USB mic" for various explanations of the workaround.)
Performance
While the lack of a gain knob is a serious annoyance, the two levels on the gain switch do offer notably different sonic experiences.
I actually found the low gain setting offered a more pure, clean signal in testing—when addressed dead-on, the mic delivers a relatively crisp sound, with a smooth low-frequency response when close to the mic, and a clean, clear sound when roughly six to seven inches away.
At this distance, the mic doesn't seem to pick up too much room sound, and when used with the pop filter, the results were solid.
In high gain, the mic sounds a lot more lively—sometimes we would get more room sound, even when working close.
It's a crisp sound at any distance, but even with the DSP preventing distortion, it can be harder to work in high gain mode as the mic seems far more sensitive.
In either mode, addressed from a distance of roughly seven to eight inches, with the windscreen in place, the Fox delivers a solid, clear signal, but we preferred working in the low gain setting.
Angling the mic up to meet the level of your mouth helps with overall intelligibility, and the included windscreen lessens the need for some vocalists with less experience/mic technique to address the mic off-axis.
Still, when addressed off-axis, the mic delivers a less crisp sound, which can be useful in certain scenarios.
Compared with the Blue Raspberry, we found both mics to be solid for the price, but the Raspberry edges out the Fox in high gain, while the low gain recordings packed a little more low-frequency richness.
That said, it's a relatively weak signal you're getting, and there's no way to boost it (during record) in GarageBand or other typical recording software—the mic's gain switch overrides the software's record levels.
So, if the signal is too low, despite being clear, that means some processing might be necessary depending on the scenario.
Regardless, in both modes, the Fox delivers solid performance, capable of picking up low-frequency vocal content and maintaining clarity throughout the frequency range.
It offers more of a low-mids and mids-inclusive sound, while remaining crisp, whereas the Raspberry is a tad crisper, and somewhat less involved in the lows and low-mids, though neither mic sounds thin or brittle.
Our suspicion is that, with a gain knob, we'd really love this mic, but as is, you get two flavors to work with, rather than being able to dial up the optimal gain levels in between.
Conclusions
The Fox's design looks professional and it ships with useful accessories, like a windscreen and a desktop stand.
Its performance is solid, with crisp, clear signal capable of picking up rich lows and low-mids.
Compared with the similarly priced Blue Raspberry, look and feel is more traditional studio, and perhaps a bit more pro, and Beyerdynamic wins the accessory war, too, thanks to the included windscreen.
From an audio standpoint, the Raspberry has the edge, if for no other reason than it includes a gain knob to dial in the ideal levels, and it doesn't employ DSP.
For less money, we're also fans of the Blue Snowball Ice, and in this price range and higher, we like the Shure MV51 and the Sennheiser MK 4 Digital.
The Fox is no slouch, and it'll ultimately come down to what your needs are, and your preferences regarding DSP in the mix.
The Bottom Line
The Beyerdynamic Fox USB microphone comes with useful accessories and delivers crisp audio with subtle DSP to prevent distortion.
