Maono PM450 Review: Incredible Overall Value?

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Greetings mate and welcome aboard! Stuart Charles here, HomeStudioBasics.com helping YOU make sound decisions, so…

Today’s review will cover Maono’s StreamerWave USB Condenser Microphone. Dubbed the PM450, it’s a plug-and-play product with some noteworthy features.

Let’s dive in!

All specs, box contents, and pricing toward the end.

Build

Made of Zinc Alloy, the PM450’s build is rather exceptional and incredibly robust, but this is something I’ve come to expect out of Maono products.

Their PM500 was equally as splendid, and I’m ecstatic to report that I feel as though both will hold up extremely well over time.

The mic itself is rather tall, and very dummy thicc.

The middle houses a 3-in-1 smart knob, there’s a mute button on the top, and the RGB light control button appears on the side. This button contains a few different modes for your viewing pleasure:

Mode 1: RGB Loop – the colors above and below the microphone slowly change.
Mode 2: Monochromatic Breathing Mode – Monochromatic lights turn on and off with a breathing effect.
Mode 3: Steady Monochrome light mode – The light is always on in a fixed color.

The bottom contains a USB Type-C slot and comes with a long-ish cable. Just plug it in and you’re good to go. We’ll discuss how to record in a jiffy so hang tight.

A headphone jack also appears for live monitoring—more on that towards the end.

The 3-in-1 smart knob is arguably the PM450’s best attribute, featuring microphone gain mode, headphone volume mode, monitor mix, and a high pass filter mode.

Mode 1: Microphone Gain

When the microphone symbol lights up, turn the knob clockwise to increase the microphone gain, and turn it counterclockwise to decrease. The white indicator light will change as the gain increases and decreases.

Short press the smart knob to switch to “headphone volume mode” and the headphone indicator light will light up.

Mode 2: Headphone Volume

Turn the knob clockwise to increase the headphone volume, and turn it counterclockwise to decrease. The blue indicator light will change as the headphone volume increases and decreases.

Short press the smart knob again to switch to monitor mix mode, and a purple light will light up.

Mode 3: Monitor Mix

In this mode, rotating clockwise will change the monitoring signal, gradually switching from the microphone to the host device, and the purple light will move toward the headphones.

Conversely, rotating counterclockwise will change the monitoring signal from the host device. The device switches to the microphone and the purple light will move towards the microphone.

Mode 4: High Pass Filter

Press and hold the knob for more than 2 seconds to turn on or off this function. After turning it on, the high-pass indicator light under the knob will light up, and after turning it off, it will go out.

When in a certain mode and there is no operation for 3 seconds, the microphone level display shows up.

The level meter displays the signal’s peak level in green, orange, and red in real time based on the volume of sound captured by the microphone. A normal level is green, slight overload is orange, and severe overload shows red.

To ensure a good quality recording, adjust the microphone gain or your distance to verify that the signal is calibrated correctly.

Setup

Maono PM450 Review

I primarily use FL Studio and Reaper to record, but if you don’t want to pay for those, the free Audacity is still great and I still use it from time to time.

The setup is rather simple: Open Audacity, click the audio setup button and look for the PM500. Now you’re ready to record.

Maono Link

This software is available for both Windows 7 and later and macOS 10.14 or later.

Click here to download it.

Settings are synced in real time between the hardware and software, and the software provides recording, monitoring, and light adjustment features, including DSP effect parameters, audio processing, and so forth.

Sound

By now you’re probably wondering how it sounds.

I’ll let you be the judge:

Record Date: 02/2025
DAW/Sequencer: FL Studio
Pop Filter/Windscreen: Yes, I used the one provided.
Post dB Boost: Yes, 5dB
Mic Stand: Yes, provided in the package.
Shockmount: Yes, provided in the package.

Other modes coming soon!

Overall, I’m impressed with the clarity and tonality of the mic, but there are a few caveats I experienced.

One is that I had to boost the gain all the way up to get a decent recording level. I found this to be rather surprising and a bit disappointing.

Secondly, the provided windscreen only did an OK job of reducing plosives (notice you can still hear some), so you may want to invest in something else if you plan to purchase this product; whether that be a windscreen or traditional pop filter is up to you.

Third, you will experience some latency with the headphone jack, which is also rather disappointing.

I also don’t like how the 3-in-1 knob times out when adjusting modes, making it difficult to see which mode you’re on. It simply defaults back to the standard setting. This to me is a pretty big oversight. It’s also rather clicky and inconvenient to adjust when the mic is nested inside the shock mount, but this is somewhat of a minor nitpick.

I also heard the Maono Link app isn’t compatible with MacOS, so keep that in mind as well.

Overall, the frequency response here is quite good and I have very few complaints on that front. The sound is clear with a bit of radio broadcast warmth and a subtle presence boost in the mids, so a lot of people will enjoy it.

Final Verdict

Maono’s PM450 is a wonderfully built, good-sounding mic with loads of value in the package.

The only thing they didn’t do was record the damn song for you. xD

The additional software is a nice add-on, and it’s super simple to set up and use. Moreover, the 3-in-1 smart knob is pretty nifty, and the color choices only add to the appeal.

But…

Because of the issues mentioned, I’m still a bit torn on whether or not I can recommend it. To me, latency and gain are pretty important aspects and cannot be glossed over. Because of this, I’m going to spend some more time with it and update this article once I decide.

Maono PM450

Price: Check Amazon

In The Box

PM450 Microphone

USB Audio Cable

Pop Filter

Shockmount

User Manual

Mic Stand

Velcro Tie Wrap

Well, that’s about it for today my friend! I hope you’ve enjoyed this Maono PM450 Review and came away with some valuable insight.

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