Looking for a solution to connect an XLR microphone to your PC at an affordable price? Then FiFine's SC3 Audio Mixer may be just what you're looking for.
**The SC3 was reviewed using hardware provided and sent to us by FiFine, but in no way influenced the review.
The SC3 allows you to connect an XLR microphone to your PC - and FiFine offer an excellent variety of these, I recommend either the K688 or AmpliGame AM8T which are both fantastic dynamic microphones - and as well as microphone connectivity, the SC3 gives you access to a bunch of features to improve either your streaming or recording setup.
Looking at the device itself which comes in either Black or White (we were sent the black version for the review) it's a very modest size for a desktop mixer, which I personally welcome, as it's another thing to add to your desk, so minimising size without sacrifycing practicality is a great addition to the design choice.
Keeping with the theme of sacrifice, in order to keep a low price tag, the SC3 body is all plastic, and this makes it very lightweight, which isn't an issue in the grand scheme of things, but it does make it feel a little cheaper than I'd like.
Now at £56.99 I didn't expect it to feel like a £700 Mackie DLZ, but a little heft would have been a nice little surprising touch.
Still, once it's placed on a desk, I didn't suffer any movement when controlling the SC3, which I'll be honest I did expect - but it remained in place with no movement, even when controlling the faders.
Around the unit there are 8 buttons that all have different functions, we'll talk about the 4 main controls first, but there are another 4 to discuss after.
On the left hand side we have:
48V Phantom Power - for mics that require it like the Audio Technica AT2020
Electronic - which is an autotune feature for your voice, each press of the button once turned on, allows you to navigate through the different octives available. It's not exactly accurate, but it's a fun little feature.
Moving over to the right hand side there is:
An RGB button which allows you to switch between different colours and functions, whilst holding it will turn them off completely. If you're not a fan of RBG, I would still keep the lights on, as without them it's difficult to see what each button does, so just find a colour you like and stick with it.
The next button is a voice changer, with 6 different voice effects (male, female, robot, monster, baby and elder), they're all really fun additions, that in reality are just changing the pitch of your voice, but some good laughs can be had when talking to your friends on Discord.
Underneath both sides are another 4 Custom Buttons (2 on each side), and these allow you to record up to 15 seconds of custom audio to use. You simply hold the button down until it lights up white, then it will record whatever is coming through the inputs. You can then press these to play during your stream or team chats on Discord.
In the middle of the SC3 are four faders, these apply to your Mic input, Line In, Headphones and Line Out - and under each of these is a dedicated mute button for each.
Microphone is fairly self explanitory - this is your microphone, and the fader controls the gain level of your microphone, whilst the mute button will, well, mute it.
Line in allows you to connect a device via a 3.5mm jack to add music to your stream or recording, and using the fader gives you control over how loud it comes through to your viewers.
Headphones is for headphone monitoring, so if you need to hear yourself, you can connect your headphones to the SC3 and utilise this function that way.
Line out gives you the ability to send the mix to speakers or you could use it to send to a second PC if you have a duel-PC setup.
On the back of the device are 5 ports that align to each of the faders on the front:
An XLR port for your microphone (and a 3.5mm headset port if you are using a headset microphone), as well as a Dynamic or Condenser switch.
3.5mm Line Out
3.5mm Headphone
3.5mm Line In
Something that is worth pointing out, however, is if you were interested in something like TC Helicon's GoXLR, then do not be confused into thinking the SC3 is a cheaper version of a device like that.
For example, you can't control the actual audio of the game you're playing and team chat on say, Discord while you're recording or streaming - you can't control the actual audio of what is coming from your PC, nor does FiFine claim that you can.
As long as you are aware of these limitations, then you understand what the SC3 is.
Whilst the SC3 is named as a gaming mixer, I think it's better suited being aimed towards entry level content creators and streamers - and to be honest, even more veteran creators who are currently still using USB microphones and are looking to switch to an XLR microphone.
Setting up the SC3 is very easy, and as mentioned in my review of FiFine's AmpliGame AM8T, I think some dedicated software would go a long way in allowing the user to have a more customised experience when using a product like this.
I genuinely think FiFine are coming out with some of the best equipment at the moment, and their pricing is incredibly competitive, making it simple for content creators to get great sounding audio into their videos without breaking the bank.
Do I think they can do better than the SC3? 100% yes, and that isn't a negative against the little mixer - it's a great sign that this is only the beginning, and I think FiFine could create a more professional mixer/interface that could allow for more of that control content creators are crying out for.
The SC3 is a terrific little desktop mixer that allows you to not only connect an XLR microphone to your computer, but it also allows you to make your streams a little more personal - and for £56.99, it's hard to recommend a better value for money mixer than this.
Check out the FiFine SC3 at the below:
Comments