AT825 Stereo mic

C

ckent

New member
Has anyone used the Audio-Technica AT825 stereo mic? Or its battery-powered cousin, the AT822?

Two questions:

1) Is it a decent-sounding mic? Note that its selling price, about $350 or so, is lower than a lot of the industry-standard single mics (SM81, AKG451, etc.). In other words, is it basically two "cheap" mics glued at the hip?

2) How's the stereo image when compared to two separate mics?

I already have several mic pairs I can use for stereo, but this integrated stereo mic might be a little easier to use in some cases.

TIA

Alan
 
I have that mic. Snobs will certainly blast it, but I think it performs wonderfully on a variety of things, namely drums, hand percusion and strummed guitar.

I bought it to do ambient recordings of anything making noise (bought it along with a hi-MD mini discs - uncompressed 16 bit recording on $7 1 gig discs for under $200. What a bargain!)

I give the AT825 thumbs up and recommend it thoroughly. I'll post a recent song I recorded with it..hang on...
 
Well, no go on the link you provided. I'll check it again later.

Thanks for your comments, though. Just what I was looking for.

If you got your AT825 for $200, that's what I want mine for. I have a tip on one offered (used) for $300 but that's only about $50 below the street price for a new unit. So I'll wait it out...

Alan
 
God it's my fucking host provider...you might have to try the link multiple times and eventually one will stick. I need to change the name server apparently...

and about the $200...that was for the mini disc, which was totally off topic. I paid $350 for the mic.
 
The link worked! The song is interesting, and I can't fault either the overall sound or the stereo field. Both your band and your microphones did a great job!

If you paid $350 for the mic, you got it for about the normal price. What I'm trying to figure out is whether it's worth dropping the money on the AT825 when I already have three pairs of mics that can do the same job, though not quite as efficiently.

BTW, have you tested the 825 to determine the matching on the two capsules?

Alan
 
I have one called 822. It's the little brother of the 825 I guess. This is first and foremost a radio/TV mic though although I'm sure it can handle other recording tasks as well. I've used it to record ambience and crowds and stuff like that. It's excellent for that type of work.
 
I haven't rigorously tested them, but I did record independently through them a bit to see if there was a easily noticible difference and I don't think there is. I hear you about the matched pair, but at the end of the day I like the xy mic for its "point and shoot" convenience.

I record at home between work days - at lunch times - whenever I've got free moments alone at home. I suspect a lot of home recordists are in this boat: when my girlfriend goes to see her mother on on saturday or something, I instantly think, "Sweet! I'll have two hours to record...". With a stereo mic, I can just set up and go and don't have to nearly as much about placement.

So I think the question is:

In the audiophile world, the AT825 is certainly bested by any number of combos, other mics, etc. However, life being what it is, I'll trade the sliver (and I mean sliver) of sound quality for the convenience of actually cutting to the chase and recording as much as my time will allow.
 
ANOTHER 822 OWNER. it was a mic developed back in the day when you needed a mic for the portable dats like the sony. i now use mine in my rehersal room to go direct to a sony cd burner for band rough copies. i think it works great on the cymbals.
 
I've owned an AT825 for about five years. It's not a bad mic, but it's nothing special either. I'd usually prefer to use a pair of some other small diaphragm condenser rather than to use the AT. But when I need to put up something that can capture stereo without a lot of fuss, it's served the purpose.

I bought mine on a close-out for $180. I had to make up my own cable for it, though. I just gave it away - literally - this morning, donating it to my local community radio station (I'm on staff there).
 
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