The Earthworks ETHOS is one of the best broadcast microphones you can buy for streaming and content creation. We reviewed it earlier this year, and the single CON we named was its steep $699 price. As of today, that price has gone the way of the Dodo, and the ETHOS is officially available at $399 through the rest of this year or as long as supplies last.
The ETHOS is a remarkable microphone in more ways than one. Its stainless steel design is a shining beacon of its build quality – and we mean that literally. It will reflect any light in your room and looks stunning on camera.
Most importantly, it sounds fantastic. It uses Earthworks’ ultra-fast condenser microphone capsule. Like the Icon Pro XLR, the ETHOS is able to capture exceptionally clear transients for a lifelike, detailed sound signature. The ETHOS has been tuned for vocal capture, however, and also has a very full body to give you extra presence when you’re streaming or recording your podcast.
Unlike its main competitors, the Shure SM7B and Electro-Voice RE20, the ETHOS uses a condenser capsule. It’s able to capture a much more realistic, true to life sound, lacking the dynamic “crunch” audible in those mics. That also makes it much easier to drive, saving you from investing in an expensive gain booster just to be heard by your audience.
While $399 is surely still expensive, it has price parity with the SM7B but will actually wind up being much cheaper to add to your setup. The SM7B requires a gain booster, or else an expensive audio interface, in order to be heard, so that $399 quickly becomes $499 or even higher. Without that additional requirement, the ETHOS will allow you to save that $100+ and invest that elsewhere you in your setup.
