For the price the Nady SGM-12 shotgun microphone is still one of the best values on the market. At $30 it could be described with buzzwords like “adequate”, “acceptable”, and “usable”. The audio from the Nady SGM-12 isn’t particularly impressive, but it is very usable for a $30 microphone.

Nady SGM 12

Over the years i’ve managed to mangle or destroy several Nady SGM-12 microphones and every time I do, I order a replacement. It doesn’t require phantom power, it provides a hot signal, and the switchable microphone pattern is handy. If you’d like to download some more audio samples of the Nady SGM-12 you can find them here and here

If you are looking for an extremely clear microphone that does an amazing job of reproducing the human voice, you might want to look elsewhere. On the other hand if you are looking for a useable, ultra low budget shotgun microphone that provides acceptable audio, the Nady SGM-12 is a good place to start.

On a side note, Nady was the first company to offer this microphone roughly 7 or 8 years ago. Since then, they’ve started producing it for other companies under various names and they are usually sold at higher prices. If it looks like the Nady SGM-12, but has a different model and brand name on it, you are most likely looking at a Nady SGM-12.

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