The Seiren Mini, which is available in black, pink, or white, has a pill-shaped design with a built-in desktop stand that can tilt to angle up to the person speaking and can also be angled slightly to the side, similar to the 360-degree action of a joystick. The top half of the microphone is entirely speaker grille, with a recessed micro USB port on the back panel. When the Seiren Mini is connected, a tiny status LED on the front face of the mic illuminates. A 14mm condenser capsule delivers a supercardioid pattern and a frequency range of 20Hz to 20kHz behind the grille. The sample rate is increased to 48kHz, and the bit depth is increased to 16 bits. According to Razer, the Seiren Mini also has some internal shock mount protection. Because of the Seiren Mini’s super-cardioid pattern, it rejects more background noise from the sides and behind it, focusing more on the sound source in front of the mic. This pattern is ideal for most vocals because it draws attention to the person speaking. However, the Seiren Mini’s height and angle can have an impact on performance. The screw-in stand and tilt it provides are solid, but the tilt only goes so far back, and to actually align with your mouth, it has to be a significant distance away from ideal. When placed within 10 inches of whoever is speaking, the capsule of the microphone aims more at the person’s torso than their mouth. Because the Seiren Mini can be unscrewed from this stand, it’s possible to connect it to a boom arm or another stand entirely—but that raises the price and somewhat negates the value of this mic. One do-it-yourself solution is to place the microphone on a stack of books or anything else solid and flat. A 3 to 6 inch lift, depending on mic placement, can make a significant difference in its performance. We discovered that once properly aligned with the vocalist’s mouth, the signal was clear, with some added, subtle low-frequency warmth.
