{"id":79,"date":"2026-07-09T06:15:13","date_gmt":"2026-07-09T06:15:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ssx3000.com\/blog\/?p=79"},"modified":"2026-07-24T16:50:56","modified_gmt":"2026-07-24T16:50:56","slug":"electro-voice-re20-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ssx3000.com\/blog\/electro-voice-re20-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Electro-Voice RE20 Review: An Honest Streamer&#8217;s GoXLR Verdict"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Electro-Voice RE20 review content is almost all written for podcasters: radio history, voice over charts, the eternal SM7B debate. I am not a podcaster. I use this mic to talk over game audio to a live Twitch chat, and I run it through a GoXLR, the exact pairing people keep asking about and almost nobody who owns it writes up.<\/p>\n<p>I stream as ssx3000 three days a week, wrapped around a full time job. On my <a href=\"https:\/\/ssx3000.com\/gear.html\">gear page<\/a> the RE20 note reads &#8220;The broadcast standard. This is what chat actually hears.&#8221; I have owned the RE20 since 2025, and I paid 430 dollars for it, which felt absurd at the time given I was buying a legendary broadcast mic to talk to a chat I could count on one hand.<\/p>\n<p>Quick disclosure before anything else. Some links below are Amazon affiliate links, so if you buy through them I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. I only link gear that actually sits on my desk. Here is the long term Electro-Voice RE20 review I could not find when I was shopping.<\/p>\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/ssx3000.com\/blog\/electro-voice-re20-review\/#The_Broadcast_Standard_Literally\" >The Broadcast Standard, Literally<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/ssx3000.com\/blog\/electro-voice-re20-review\/#Variable-D_Earns_Its_Keep\" >Variable-D Earns Its Keep<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/ssx3000.com\/blog\/electro-voice-re20-review\/#Pairing_the_RE20_With_a_GoXLR\" >Pairing the RE20 With a GoXLR<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/ssx3000.com\/blog\/electro-voice-re20-review\/#What_Nobody_Warns_You_About\" >What Nobody Warns You About<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/ssx3000.com\/blog\/electro-voice-re20-review\/#RE20_vs_SM7B_for_Streaming\" >RE20 vs SM7B for Streaming<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/ssx3000.com\/blog\/electro-voice-re20-review\/#Do_not_sleep_on_the_RE320\" >Do not sleep on the RE320<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/ssx3000.com\/blog\/electro-voice-re20-review\/#Who_Should_Not_Buy_the_RE20\" >Who Should Not Buy the RE20<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-8\" href=\"https:\/\/ssx3000.com\/blog\/electro-voice-re20-review\/#The_Electro-Voice_RE20_Review_Verdict\" >The Electro-Voice RE20 Review Verdict<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_Broadcast_Standard_Literally\"><\/span>The Broadcast Standard, Literally<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The RE20 is a cardioid dynamic broadcast microphone introduced in 1968, reportedly designed to chase condenser fidelity in a dynamic body. It became the standard voice mic of American radio, and by most accounts it picked up a TEC Awards Hall of Fame induction in 2015. Electro-Voice still markets it as the classic sound of FM radio voices.<\/p>\n<p>It has a second life in music too. John Bonham was an early adopter on drums, it is on Stevie Wonder&#8217;s Talking Book and Innervisions, and it played the radio mic in Frasier. That is a slightly absurd r\u00e9sum\u00e9 for a microphone whose main job on my desk is talking to Twitch chat about video games.<\/p>\n<p>The plain numbers: cardioid pickup, 45 Hz to 18 kHz response, balanced XLR output, a pop filter and an element shock mount both built inside the body, plus a switch that trims the low end if your room gets boomy. It weighs one pound ten ounces (737 grams) and runs over eight and a half inches long.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Variable-D_Earns_Its_Keep\"><\/span>Variable-D Earns Its Keep<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Here is the killer feature for streamers, and the part of this Electro-Voice RE20 review that matters most to a live broadcast. Normal cardioid mics get boomier the closer you get. The RE20 uses Variable-D, ports along the body that route sound to the rear of the element, so there is virtually no proximity effect boom. Your tone stays consistent whether your mouth is two inches from the grille or eight.<\/p>\n<p>Streaming is not voice over work. You lean back during gameplay, you turn to read chat, you flinch at jumpscares. On most mics that movement changes your sound. On the RE20 it does not, and that huge forgiving sweet spot is worth more on a live broadcast than any frequency chart.<\/p>\n<p>Two more wins. As a dynamic mic it is excellent at ignoring keyboard clatter, PC fans, and the echo of an untreated room. And the internal pop filter genuinely works. Plosives are not a fight on this mic.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Pairing_the_RE20_With_a_GoXLR\"><\/span>Pairing the RE20 With a GoXLR<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The pairing question is the reason this Electro-Voice RE20 review exists at all: does the RE20 need a Cloudlifter? On paper it is a quiet mic. The official sensitivity is 1.5 mV\/Pa, and low output dynamics need a lot of clean preamp gain. On a weak interface people bolt on a Cloudlifter or FetHead for roughly 25 extra decibels. On capable preamps, the RE20 is rarely named as a mic that needs one.<\/p>\n<p>The full size <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/dp\/B07JKNG4NV?tag=ssx300001-20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"sponsored noopener noreferrer\">TC-Helicon GoXLR<\/a> counts as capable. It uses Midas preamps, and community testing agrees it has enough clean gain for SM7B and RE20 class dynamics as long as your mic positioning is good. That matches my desk. My RE20 runs straight into the GoXLR, no Cloudlifter, no inline booster. On my GoXLR I run the RE20 at 35 on the gain, and I watch the meter, because pushing a hot input too far is the fast way to make a clean mic clip.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ssx3000.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/electro-voice-re20-goxlr-desk.png\" alt=\"Electro-Voice RE20 review desk setup: RE20 on a boom arm next to a GoXLR\" width=\"911\" height=\"1215\" \/><\/p>\n<p>One honest caveat. That is the full size GoXLR I own, not the Mini, which has a reputation for less headroom. I have not tested it, so I will not vouch for it.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_Nobody_Warns_You_About\"><\/span>What Nobody Warns You About<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>A few things I wish an Electro-Voice RE20 review had told me before I bought in. The weight is real. One pound ten ounces makes a flimsy boom arm sag and slowly nod toward your desk. The Rode PSA1 is the common pick, and even it draws complaints about creaky springs under this load. Budget for a sturdy arm.<\/p>\n<p>The box is stingy. You get the mic and a simple stand clamp, and that is it. The matching 309A shock mount is a separate purchase with a rough reputation: owners report stripped thumb screws and cracked plastic, and it is huge on camera. The shock mounting already built inside the mic body makes it easy to skip.<\/p>\n<p>It is also XLR only, and it is not cheap. As of July 2026 the street price sits around 450 dollars, often on sale near 400, against a list price of 609. Check the current price on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/dp\/B08P7QTZM5?tag=ssx300001-20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"sponsored noopener noreferrer\">Amazon<\/a>. If you do not already own an interface or a mixer, the real cost is mic plus preamp, and that math is where the honest USB mic comparison happens.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"RE20_vs_SM7B_for_Streaming\"><\/span>RE20 vs SM7B for Streaming<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>No Electro-Voice RE20 review is complete without the SM7B question. The Shure SM7B is the other mic in every streamer&#8217;s cart, and as of July 2026 it sits at 439 dollars, so price will not decide this. The SM7B is warmer, smoother, and darker. It looks sleeker on camera, and its yoke mount comes in the box, which solves the mounting question the RE20 makes you pay extra for.<\/p>\n<p>The RE20 is crisper and more neutral, and Variable-D means your tone does not wander when you move, where the SM7B rewards staying planted right on top of it. Both are gain hungry XLR dynamics, so the GoXLR math is the same either way. If you want your voice flattered, buy the SM7B. If you want your voice reproduced, buy the RE20.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Do_not_sleep_on_the_RE320\"><\/span>Do not sleep on the RE320<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Electro-Voice makes a cheaper sibling, the RE320, at around 265 dollars on promo (roughly 315 regular) as of July 2026. Same Variable-D concept, hotter output so it needs less gain, plus a switch that flips between a voice curve and a kick drum curve.<\/p>\n<p>The tradeoff is a brighter sound with a presence bump around 4 to 6 kHz that turns sibilant on some voices. If the RE20 price stings, the RE320 is a sane compromise, not a consolation prize.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Who_Should_Not_Buy_the_RE20\"><\/span>Who Should Not Buy the RE20<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>I like this mic enough to keep it forever, and I still think most streamers should not buy it. Be honest about which line you are standing in.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>You do not own an interface yet. XLR only means the mic is half the bill. A good USB mic gets you live for less total money.<\/li>\n<li>You are brand new. Consistency grows a channel and gear does not. Build <a href=\"https:\/\/ssx3000.com\/blog\/stream-schedule\/\">a stream schedule you can actually keep<\/a> first. The mic will still be here.<\/li>\n<li>You want a mic that disappears on camera. This is over eight inches of broadcast metal. If a minimal frame matters, the SM7B is the sleeker silhouette.<\/li>\n<li>Your boom arm is flimsy. At 737 grams the RE20 will find every weak spring you own. Fix the arm first, or you will fix it twice.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_Electro-Voice_RE20_Review_Verdict\"><\/span>The Electro-Voice RE20 Review Verdict<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The moment this audio upgrade proved its worth was hearing how much clearer I sound everywhere I talk now: in Discord, in meetings at work, and especially on stream, where I no longer fight clipping. That is the entire pitch. People forgive a soft webcam. They do not forgive audio that is hard to listen to, and your voice is the product three days a week, every week.<\/p>\n<p>Here is where the verdict lands. It is not the first thing a new streamer should buy, but it might be the last microphone you ever buy. Pair the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/dp\/B08P7QTZM5?tag=ssx300001-20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"sponsored noopener noreferrer\">RE20<\/a> with a capable preamp like the full size GoXLR, put it on an arm that respects the weight, and audio stops being a thing you think about.<\/p>\n<p>Gear that outlives trends is the same logic behind <a href=\"https:\/\/ssx3000.com\/blog\/streamer-website\/\">why I built a streamer website<\/a>: put money into pieces of your setup that compound instead of churn. If you want to hear the RE20 doing its job live, I am on <a href=\"https:\/\/twitch.tv\/ssx3000\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Twitch<\/a> Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. Come say hi, or just lurk. That is how everybody starts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Electro-Voice RE20 review content is almost all written for podcasters: radio history, voice over charts, the eternal SM7B debate. I am not a podcaster. I use this mic to talk over game audio to a live Twitch chat, and I run it through a GoXLR, the exact pairing people keep asking about and almost nobody [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":80,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-79","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-creator-life"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/ssx3000.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/blog-header-electro-voice-re20-review.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ssx3000.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ssx3000.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ssx3000.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ssx3000.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ssx3000.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/ssx3000.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":84,"href":"https:\/\/ssx3000.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79\/revisions\/84"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ssx3000.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/80"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ssx3000.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ssx3000.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ssx3000.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}