SHOULD YOU BUY THE FIFINE K688??

This mic is polarizing. GREAT sound...but there is ONE MASSIVE ISSUE...with at least MY mic.

Buy the Fifine K688 -

My Instagram - @darkcornerstudios
My Twitter - @DarkCornerYT

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My Gear -

[FIFINE]

Hi Aiden, we’re truly sorry to let you down on the defective K688 that you got. After our audio engineers replicate the use scenario as you did in the video as well as check up on the components, we suspect that the ADC IC is the culprit. And the likely reason is the electrostatic damage or cold joint solder of the IC. The defective rate of a malfunctioning IC is around 0.3%, which is not counted for the products that customers buy, but for the items that we test during the QC step. So it’s sort of the quality control issue. We use the word “sort of” because we run both the machine and manual tests of the components before they are resembled as well as the resembled items before they get shipped out to the warehouse. The whole process means that such a rather discernible noise should be found in one or two above-mentioned tests, but it’s not (sorry to make it sound like we’re blaming the shipping). We do admit that it is a defective product because of our inability to find it before it went out of the factory. And sorry again for the disappointment that you get with the very first product of FIFINE.
It has been a while since the video was released, could we still send you another K688 to try out? Though we’re not able to get our hands on the exact one that you reviewed to examine it and confirm the issue for now, we think it’s quite likely to be the defective item. If you would like to give us another chance to receive one, we will continue to ship you one from our Amazon warehouse, in case there’s any possibility of us cherry-picking one.
Btw, we are not the oldest fans of your channel but have kept an eye on your videos (since the review of the AT2040 a year ago) for the suggestions that we can take on for the microphones that are being developed. But the more videos we watched, the better we know that you may not like the Amazon sellers of audio who mainly makes USB microphone. So we do not bother you testing out some of our models that we think may meet your demanding requirements. It’s kind of a double whammy to us, we failed you as our customer and as the audio pro whom we cherish the opinion of. The replacement of the K688 should not disappoint you this time and we do hope it could also bring back some of the confidence in our brands as well as the Amazon sellers (at least some of them).

[OldLadyChar]

I have this mic and use USB connection with ZERO problems. For the price, it sounds amazing. I have it eq’d for my voice. For the $$$ I love it!

[ohmarni]

I have this mic and absolutely love it. I've used both USB and XLR. No issues with either. It's perfect for my voice. My husband loves microphones. He liked my K688 so much I had to buy him one because he kept borrowing mine. He loves it, but uses the XLR connection.

[hsjawanda]

Surprisingly, the Fifine K6888 sounded better to my ears than the sE Electronics DCM3...

[mr.bigmangames]

Your K688 is faulty with USB mode. I have it and its absolutely ok with USB. Both knobs work smooth and easy

[billie]

I'm surprised how good or sometimes even better the Amazon mic sounds like. Someone online said to save the money and get that one and they were onto something

[Ghaleon]

With that voice any mic sounds good haha

Thanks for the review

[metaljackass]

I bought this mic for streaming. For the price the sound quality is surprisingly good especially when its eq'd properly. I wish the plosive rejection was a little better and the mute functioned for both usb and xlr mode. other than that the mic is perfect for my application

[Jra]

I had that same issue with the knob but with the top one but I figured out by playing with it to pull it a tad bit and it’ll become loose like the other knob. You can actually take the whole knob off (which scared me at first) but you can put it back on but not too deep so it won’t be too tight to turn

[SmokeDaJitt]

Done Maono and FIFINE and never really had a problem for price to performance. I’m no audio expert or really worked with expensive mics yet so it’s coming from a standard user to somewhat educated perspective. As always I loved the video though!

[everope]

Sounds like an audio buffer issue to me. Something you can't really change in Windows, but perhaps they could update the USB driver the mic uses, or (even better) provide a control panel

[chronicmayhem]

I only order stuff like this from Amazon because of the 30 days no question return policy. This is the first review where I've heard the usb issue

[hwthinker]

Does the dual output (USB & XLR) of K688 operate alternately or can they be used simultaneously? If they can be used simultaneously, is it possible as a backup in case one of them encounters an issue? How about AM8? Can the USB & XLR be used simultaneously? I appreciate your help.

[Digital]

Unfortunately I think you just might have received a defective mic because I have the K688 & I’ve had absolutely no issues with it. When I first got it I started using it via the USB connect direct to my MacBook. I later got myself the Fifine SC-1 interface & began using the mic via the XLR connection - neither time did I have any issues. That said, I am considering using an inline pre-amp like the Coda MB-Stealth or the CloudLifter CL-1. My goal being for a louder, clearer voice output with a very low noise floor. That being the case, I might not need the pre-amp & might be able to do it with some good audio editing, but given I’m still very new at this I’m not exactly sure how to move forward. Any advice or thoughts on this from anyone? Would really appreciate it, thanks in advance 😅

[-adelalqatmeh]

Hello Aiden Thenx for great review ....if you had to choose between this mic and the FIFINE AM8, what would you choose between them and why? “I am speaking in terms of sound quality only.”

[Le_Perpent]

I had kind of the same problem and it happens only when usb and xlr where plugs at the same time

[DocmurdocFPV]

Just my musings on the usb issue, first try the supplied usb cable without the XLR plugged into the back of the mic. A number of devices I have worked with have a sense attached and can tell when something is plugged in or not. All the other reviews I have seen on this mic have either the XLR plugged in OR the usb not both at the same time. Food for thought.

[TopFactsofficial]

What computer did you connect fifine k688 microphone to and can it also connect to an Apple Silicon M1 processor

[wchouser]

This was a strange one. I ended up buying two of these mics. I thought you may have had a defective one, so I rolled the dice. Both of mine work splendidly, though admittedly I use them both with only the XLR output. This thing is an example of how good of sound you can get at an extremely low price point. It's also one of the few mics I can get in the color pink, which is what drove my daughter nuts for it.

[choppergirl]

Is it worth upgrading from the 669B? My 669 has never had any of that static; use Windows 7; Windows 11 is defective. I'm not joking. I'm also not spending the extra on the XSLR hardware, so it would be in USB mode like the 669... so level playing field comparison. I point my microphone right at the side of my cheek, so plosives go right past it.