AT 4050 or AT 4040/4041

[question444]

Not sure what is a better option: the AT 4050 ($599) or the AT4040 w/ 4041 ($499). What would you get?

(I will be recording vocals and acoustic guitar)

 

[mixsit]

The 4040/4041 gets you a fairly bright LDC and fairly neutral sounding color pair that can do stereo/dual micing (for the guitar for example).
The 4050 is a solid work horse with the multi pattern (and tone) options going for it.
Either would be decent starting points to build from. With acustic guit' in the line up if you don't have other options I'd side with the stereo combo'.

 

[jaybriggs84]

The 4050 is great on just about anything, I have one and love it

 

[dualflip]

I have a 4040 and i totally love it, it captures very well the low-end, and the highs are very transparent. I use it on almost everything, however i prefer other type of mics for things such as acoustic guitar, but for vocals i love it. BTW check also the 4033 perhaps it will suit better for your needs. I have tried most of the AT mics and ill say they are all good, Audio Technica makes excelent products at very low price, if i could, i'd buy the entire 4000 series mics they are awesome.

 

[Ember]

personally i'm not a huge fan of a LDC on an acoustic guitar i'm very partial to an sdc. so if your recording vocals and acoustic i would go with the 4040/4041 combo. I have used the 4040's and they're great mics.

 

[Supercreep]

4050. I can't wait to add a second, I want to try spaced pair and M/S drum overheads.

 

[jnorman]

i have owned pairs of 4041s, 4051s, 4040s, and 4050s. the only one of those i did not particluarly care for was the 4040 - a tad bright for my taste - and this is typical of my experiences with single capsule LDCs - invariably, dual capsule LDCs offer a larger, more open sound (the neumann TLM103 (yuck) vs the U87 (ahhh) is a perfect example of this).

the 4041s are one of the best buys in SDCs on the market.

the 4051s are even better - simply superb, especially for the money, and they are currently my main SDCs (and i have owned DPA4011s, 4006s, schoeps cmc64s, km184s, m300s, etc, etc).

the AT4050 is one of the most solid affordable LDCs you can buy, and works on literally any source - i use them all the time both in the studio and as flanking mics (in omni) for chamber music. smooth, huge and open sound.

i highly recommend the AT4050, the AT4041s, and the AT4051s.

 

[tateros]

The high's on the 4050 sounds a little out of control for me. My nasally drone also makes the mic sound honky. As a side note, the Blue Baby Bottle is very smooth sounding & makes me sound like a Barry White that can't sing. Can you dig it?

 

[pohaku]

As might be expected, you really need to try these mics, especially on your voice. For example, the previous poster didn't care for the AT-4050's highs and thought the Blue Baby Bottle was smoother on his voice. For me, I find the AT-4050 relatively unhyped for my voice (which I like) and I find the the Baby Bottle too strident to use (tried one and gave it back). YMMV.

 

[tateros]

I find the the Baby Bottle too strident to use.

Wow. The only way I could see myself pulling off a strident sound on a Baby Bottle would be if I put a FAX machine up to it while it was trying to transmit.

 

[pohaku]

Yeah, that's why the OP should ideally try out the mics, and especially the vocal mics, to see what works best on his voice. I've got a tenor voice and it doesn't play well with some mics (of which the BB is one). With the exception of the Blue Bird which is more of an all around mic, I've found that the Blue mics I've tried each have a specific sound that works really well for some things/voices and not well for others. While they are undeniably well made quality mics, their application can be a bit idiosyncratic.

 

[MCI2424]

Not sure what is a better option: the AT 4050 ($599) or the AT4040 w/ 4041 ($499). What would you get?

(I will be recording vocals and acoustic guitar)

I would (and did) get the 4050. Like a Swiss Army Knife. Does alot and and covers plenty of ground.

 

[Dogbreath]

I've got a 4050 and have used it for vox, ac guitar and a room mic for drums. I think it's a great mic for the money. Haven't used the others so nothing to offer there.

Dive in...the waters fine.

 

[jarrydee]

Wow. The only way I could see myself pulling off a strident sound on a Baby Bottle would be if I put a FAX machine up to it while it was trying to transmit.

I love my bb..for a lot of things (female vox)

 

[Newbie-Doo]

I ordered an AT4050 last week (due in large part to the many positive comments on this site). I was originally going to get a 4040, but the extra money was available and I really wanted a studio quality multi-pattern mic. I should get it this afternoon. Found it online for $519 w/free delivery and MF price matched.

My other mics are cheapies; pair of mxl990's, an sm57, and a pair of MSH1's, so I'm really looking forward to working with the 4050.