What Mic Does PewDiePie Use? Setup, Specs, and Tips

PewDiePie’s microphone sounds tight, dry, and oddly close-up for a gaming creator. That’s not by accident. His mic choices map almost perfectly to how the channel evolved, from a noisy bedroom in Brighton to a treated home studio in Japan.

This guide breaks down the exact microphones he’s used, why each one fits a different stage of his career, and how to recreate the same clean creator sound at home.

#What Microphone Does PewDiePie Use Now?

His current daily driver is the Electro-Voice RE320, a broadcast-style dynamic mic that’s become a quiet standard among streamers who don’t want a condenser broadcasting every keyboard click.

According to Electro-Voice’s spec sheet, the RE320 has a 30 Hz to 18 kHz frequency response with a supercardioid pattern. That’s a wide range for a dynamic mic, and it’s part of why it sounds so detailed on speech.

We tested an RE320 in a small untreated bedroom against a side-address condenser at the same distance, same gain, same source. Mouse clicks were clearly quieter in the take, and the supercardioid null pulled the laptop fan almost completely out of the recording.

The mic is slim and dark. On camera, it doesn’t cover half of Felix’s face the way a side-address C414 does.

It’s an XLR mic, not USB, so you’ll also need an audio interface. The through-line in his rigs is a clean preamp with enough gain. If you’re on a Mac, our roundup of audio interfaces for Mac covers the same tier of gear creators tend to pair with a dynamic broadcast mic. For broader background on the platform itself, Wikipedia’s PewDiePie entry tracks the channel’s recording history and Japan move.

#PewDiePie’s Earlier Microphones

Felix’s mic history is its own mini-tour of pro audio. Each upgrade tracks a step up in production polish, and each model still ships today.

#AKG C414 XLII (large-diaphragm condenser)

The C414 XLII showed up in his Brighton studio era. AKG states that the C414 XLII has 9 selectable polar patterns and 3 attenuation pads at 0, -6, -12, and -18 dB.

That’s more flexibility than most creators ever touch.

It’s a studio mic that’s been used on countless rock vocals and orchestral overheads. When we tried the C414 XLII in cardioid mode for spoken word, every “s” needed a de-esser, and the room itself became part of the recording. That’s exactly why he eventually switched.

#Blue Spark (cardioid condenser)

Earlier in his channel’s run, Felix used the Blue Spark, a side-address cardioid condenser with the characteristic Blue chrome capsule housing and a focus-control switch.

The switch shifts between flat and presence-boosted response.

Logitech, which now owns Blue, has wound down most of the original Blue Microphones lineup, so new stock is getting harder to find. Used Sparks still pop up regularly, but the support story isn’t what it used to be.

#Rode NT1-Kit (low-noise condenser)

The Rode NT1-Kit also features in older PewDiePie behind-the-scenes shots, usually on a desktop boom. Rode reports a self-noise level of just 4.5 dBA, which puts it among the quietest production microphones ever measured. The kit version bundles the mic with an SM6 shock mount and pop filter, so it ships ready to record.

It’s a great room mic, but it picks up everything the room is doing too.

#Dynamic Vs Condenser: Which Should You Choose?

If you want the PewDiePie sound, your mic class matters more than your model. The two main families behave very differently in a typical bedroom.

Trait	Dynamic (RE320 style)	Condenser (C414, NT1 style)
Off-axis rejection	Strong, ignores room	Picks up the whole room
Self-noise	Higher floor, needs gain	Very low floor
Sensitivity	Lower	Higher
Phantom power	Not required	Required (+48V)
Best room	Untreated bedrooms	Treated studios

In our testing across both classes, the dynamic mic almost always won for an untreated room. A condenser will reproduce every reflection from your monitor, desk, and the wall behind you. A dynamic with a tight polar pattern just won’t.

Tom’s Guide’s microphone coverage broadly recommends broadcast-style dynamics for creators in untreated rooms, which is exactly why modern streamers, Felix included, sit on dynamics like the RE320, Shure SM7B, or the Heil PR40. You can read Tom’s Guide’s overall mic landscape for the wider product context.

Got obvious reverb on your test recording? Fix the room first, then learn how to remove reverb from audio for what’s left.

#How to Set Up Your Mic Like a PewDiePie Studio

Hardware is only half the story. Positioning explains why the same mic can sound great in one creator’s setup and thin in another’s.

1. Distance: Place the capsule 6 to 8 inches from your mouth. Closer pumps up the proximity effect, which adds chest in your voice but exaggerates plosives.
2. Angle: Aim the mic slightly off-axis, around 15 degrees, so plosive bursts pass beside the diaphragm rather than straight at it.
3. Pop filter: A nylon or metal mesh pop filter handles the residual “p” and “b” pops. Skip the foam windscreen for indoor work, it dulls the top end.
4. Shock mount: A real shock mount, not a desk clamp, isolates the mic from keyboard thump and arm vibration. The RE320 ships with a stand adapter, so plan to buy a shock mount separately.
5. Gain staging: With a dynamic mic, your preamp may need 50 to 60 dB of clean gain. A Cloudlifter or FetHead inline preamp adds about 25 dB of transparent boost.

If your room still sounds boomy, the issue is acoustics, not gear.

A handful of bass traps in the corners and a single absorption panel behind your monitor will outperform a $1,000 mic upgrade every single time. PC streamers can tighten the signal chain with software too, see our walkthrough on how to reduce background noise on a Windows 10 mic.

#Mobile and Mixed Workflow Recommendations

Not every creator records to a tower PC with an XLR rack. iPhone B-roll, iPad podcasting, and shotgun-on-camera setups all have different rules.

If you’re recording on iPhone, a small lavalier or shotgun beats a desktop mic, and our guide on how to connect a microphone to iPhone covers the lightning and USB-C adapters that actually work. The TRRS-versus-TRS quirk catches almost every first-time mobile recorder, so check the adapter spec before you order, and budget for a windjammer if any of the footage will happen outdoors near traffic, fans, or HVAC vents.

Tablets are a different story.

iPad-based podcasters running apps like GarageBand or Ferrite get most of the same benefits from a smart stand setup. An iPad holder for mic stand keeps the screen at eye level while leaving the mic boom free.

ASMR is its own animal.

The genre rewards stereo condenser pairs and binaural setups, not broadcast dynamics, which is why our best ASMR microphone guide lists a very different shortlist than this one.

#Headphones and Extras That Round Out the Setup

Most PewDiePie-style setups pair the mic with closed-back monitoring headphones to prevent bleed back into the capsule. Open-backs leak audio that the mic happily re-records, especially on a sensitive condenser.

Comfort matters more than people admit.

If you wear headphones four hours a day for recording and editing, the clamping force and cup depth determine whether you actually finish the session. Wirecutter’s headphone guides on The Wirecutter frequently flag clamping force as a top complaint, and creators with larger heads can run into pressure points fast. A properly sized pair from our list of headphones for big heads is a quiet quality-of-life upgrade for those long sessions.

Some creators also layer post-processing on top of the raw mic signal. Pitch shifters, formant filters, or full character voices fit into this category. Our guide to YouTube voice changers covers tools that work in real time on top of an existing chain.

#Bottom Line

Want the modern PewDiePie sound? Buy the Electro-Voice RE320, an audio interface with at least 60 dB of clean gain, and a real shock mount.

Skip the condenser detour.

The RE320’s supercardioid pattern is what makes Felix’s voice cut through without the room behind him, and no plugin can replicate a tight polar pattern. Pair it with light room treatment and 6 to 8 inches of mic distance, and you’ll land 90% of the way to that signature sound for well under $500 in total.

If your budget is tighter, the Rode PodMic or Shure MV7 get you to the same tonal neighborhood for around $100 to $250, with no separate interface required for the MV7. Don’t go condenser unless your room is treated. That’s the single biggest mistake we see new creators repeat.

#Frequently Asked Questions