Just bought an AT4040...

andrushkiwt

andrushkiwt

Well-known member
It'll be here Sunday, says Amazon. Hope I like this thing. For every 20 awesome review/comments it had, there was one negative review. Was the same for the Rode NT series. I decided, "oh well, just pick one and get it over with!". So, I did. Anyone have this thing and what are your thoughts on it? I'll be using it for vocals only.
 
Give us a review once you've worked with it a bit. I'll be in the market for a new LDC for vocals myself.
 
Robus said:
Give us a review once you've worked with it a bit. I'll be in the market for a new LDC for vocals myself.
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I think my vocals sound good (most of the time), but my review capability will be limited to "sounds good. i like the sound". lol. just not enough experience for something detailed and in-depth. Ill give it a shot, though, for ya Ray
 
I have had one for years but I truthfully haven't used it much. The few times I have gone through a bunch of mics with a decent singer they usually pass on it but I'm not sure why.

Mine is not bright, which I think is good. Seems a little slow on transients when compared to other LDCs, which can be good. Hmm I think I'll pull it back out
 
I have one. It is OK but I am not in love with it. The best application is male vocalists IMO. It is very good for that. I tried it for a female once and it was just too dark, I used an SM58 instead.

I have also used it on guitar amps and as a drum overhead. I once used it on a guitar amp with some distance as a sort of room mic. That was a cool effect.

The pad and bass roll off are handy.

This is not a mic I would describe as having great clarity. It has some personality. It is somewhat dark.
 
ibleedburgundy said:
I have one. It is OK but I am not in love with it. The best application is male vocalists IMO. It is very good for that. I tried it for a female once and it was just too dark, I used an SM58 instead.

I have also used it on guitar amps and as a drum overhead. I once used it on a guitar amp with some distance as a sort of room mic. That was a cool effect.

The pad and bass roll off are handy.

This is not a mic I would describe as having great clarity. It has some personality. It is somewhat dark.
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Well, it'll be used for male vocals exactly. Still not here yet...hope Amazon keeps their promise! So if I want a more personal, intimate, breathy sound for pop rock verses, I can expect to boost the highs w eq? I mean, most mics in my price range will require a high boost, so I guess that isn't uncommon. And deep mid cuts?
 
andrushkiwt said:
Well, it'll be used for male vocals exactly. Still not here yet...hope Amazon keeps their promise! So if I want a more personal, intimate, breathy sound for pop rock verses, I can expect to boost the highs w eq?
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I did precisely that recently. I ran it through a Joe Meek TwinQ with some boost around 3.5K I think. Some of the best vocals I have recorded. The compression was in the sweet spot - had a lot to do with it I think.

I mean, most mics in my price range will require a high boost, so I guess that isn't uncommon. And deep mid cuts?
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yeah that sounds about right.
 
ibleedburgundy said:
I did precisely that recently. I ran it through a Joe Meek TwinQ with some boost around 3.5K I think. Some of the best vocals I have recorded. The compression was in the sweet spot - had a lot to do with it I think.



yeah that sounds about right.
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a boost at 3.5k sounds like its bordering the top end of "harsh"-zone. hmm, no wonder it's described as "dark". Came in the mail yesterday, so Amazon kept their word :) Didn't get to do any vocals, but i'll post my next track in the clinic when it's ready. thanks for the input
 
Well, I've finally had a chance to record vocals with this thing. I did 10 takes for a new song that I'll (hopefully) post in a week or two. Unfortunately, I'm not thrilled with it at this point...though that might change.

I'm a tenor, so I have a strong upper mid quality to my "louder" parts. The choruses. Each take, from varying distances, was very harsh in the 2-4kHz area. Extremtly harsh. Ear piercing harsh. I'm in the process of EQ'ing those tracks to eliminate the instances of "throw headphones off", but when it's 2.44kHz AND 2.7 kHz AND 3.2KHz, etc., I'm worried it'll start sounding unnatural due to all the cuts in one small space. I'm going to try a compressor acting between 1kHz and 4kHz and see if that comes out better.

What a pain.
 
I wonder if something like that would work for my voice, which is low-mid focused and lacking in those presence frequencies.
 
i was liking it last night, hating it on the ride in to work, liking at work on my work buds. :facepalm:

i'll give it more time. I feel I shouldn't have to EQ something so much, or really zone in on those freq's with compression. but it really sounds good on my work buds... the song is still a very rough mix, so maybe once things are settled in more it'll be more clear how it's gonna work for me.
 
I have found that every new mic I have every purchased takes a while to get used to. Even though I don't own one the AT4040 is a very good mic, the reviews I have read suggest that it works better on some voices than others, it gets a good rap for acoustic guitars and pianos etc.

I would give it time.

Alan.
 
After a couple weeks with it, I'm finding I need to approach this mic differently. I have to really back off when singing louder sections, or else it resonates in the 700-1.5khz area. Of course, it could be my singing technique, room, and positioning, but the point is that I have to do SOMETHING differently. For processing, I need EQ cuts on louder sections in the above mentioned areas as well as compression zoned in on the same spot. EQ cuts, as usual. It has a lot of "body", I'm finding. Definitely isn't a "bright" mic.
 
yeah i was noticing recently my mics were better with this pre and maybe not so good with another pre, or this other application. finding the mic's personality can be tricky, then match it up and configure the channel-strip for optimum performance.
 
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