Differences between AT4040 and AT4033.

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franksquid

New member
I bought a new AT4033 on ebay for $240. :D I'm going to use it for acoustic guitar, guitar cabs and some vocals. I was going to get the AT4040 but I plan on getting an AT4050 in the future and I've read here that the 4040 and 4050 (in cartioid) sound very similar.

I have a few questions if y'all don't mind! I checked ATs website and searched here but cant find the answers. :confused:

The 4033 has a smaller diaphram and a differnt type of circutry then the 4040?

Was the 4040 developed to REPLACE the 4033?

Why does the 4033 cost MORE then the 4040?!


Thanks. :)
 
maskedman72 said:
i have 2 4033's and i use em for overheads,some vox,gtr cabs. good mic for the price imho.
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I've heard that they are great OHs. I'll try one and see if I like it compaired to my SM81s.
 
4033 / 4040

franksquid said:
I bought a new AT4033 on ebay for $240. :D I'm going to use it for acoustic guitar, guitar cabs and some vocals. I was going to get the AT4040 but I plan on getting an AT4050 in the future and I've read here that the 4040 and 4050 (in cartioid) sound very similar.
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I bought a 4040 first and loved it. Then I picked up a 4033 on ebay really cheap with intentions of reselling it. When I did an a/b comparrison, I decided I like the 4033 better. Even though it was a little grainy, it sounded better on my voice and I like my acoustic guitar through it too. The 4040 is a very nice mic and I do use it a lot so I'm keepin' both of them.
I think I read that AT brought out the 4040 to compete with the Chinese market in the $300 and under range. The surface mount circuitry is supposedly less expensive to manufacture.
 
The AT4033 was closed out of the market after the second edition version was made. Im not really sure why this happened. The AT4040 i believe was kind of there new age technology in cheap circuitry move. The mic was similiar to the AT4033 in that it could be sold in the same price range and performed close to it. Ive heard they dont sound anything alike though, but they wernt necessarily supposed to. Its just supposed to be a great sounding mic for a good value like the AT4033.

Then all of a sudden a few months later they rereleased the AT4033. Maybe out of demand? I dont know.

But the price could be from numerous things. Maybe part of the reason they had to close production on the AT4033 in the first place is because older technology was getting more expensive. It could have been getting harder to mass produce. Which would serve another reason to come out with AT4040 the AT4040 to try and keep a value great sounding mic for the same price. But then when they rereleased the AT4033 they had to raise the price to keep up with production costs? Seems logical to me but who knows if thats really the reason. Might just be because they think they can charge more for a classic.

The thing is there are so many on the used market now for around $200 or not many will buy them new. But they must have felt a need to keep it up.

I have a pair of AT4033s that ive had since the beginning of recording. I dont use them much anymore because i also have pair of AT4050s. But they are very handy to keep around. I love them on acoustic guitar. Maybe someday i will rediscover their color on something.

I have never heard AT4040 the AT4040 so i dont know how to compare. But i hear its not as harsh in the highs. The AT4033 can get kinda edgy at the top and nasaly in the mids for some voices. But for some it works great.

danny

danny
 
Thanks danny for that info!

I found a little more info digging around the site...

Milkfaj said:
I have 2x 4040s and they are great- i use them for drum overheads, vocals, and acoustic guitars. Ive never heard the 4033. But im looking at the info that came with my mics about the 40 series- notable differences are that the 4040 has a wider (20-20,000hz) frequency response than the 4033 (30-20,000), the 4040 is 5db less noisy, and is externaly polarized as opposed to the 4033, which has a fixed-charge back-plate condenser, which i assume accounts for the difference in noise.

Ill bet they sound pretty similar.
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Kevin DeSchwazi said:
The 4033 has a 5/8" diaphragm. Does that make it an SDC?
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Where did you find that spec? I've been considering one of these and didn't realize this about it. I think it might just make the MDC category.
 
Yup. It's a MDC with emobossed diaphragm. Similar, in many respects, to the Shure KSM-32, but with a big 'ol presence peak.

Guys, I gotta' tell you ... it's the balls on bass guitar, standup bass, kick, etc. Very tight bass response on that sucker.
 
skipwave said:
Where did you find that spec? I've been considering one of these and didn't realize this about it. I think it might just make the MDC category.
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I measured it!
Looking at the literature it doesn't refer to the size of the diaphragm at all which seems odd to me.

Decent mic for the money though.
 
I thought I answered this 4033 5/8" electret question about 3 years ago, or more. I guess we keep getting new people in all the time.
 
Harvey Gerst said:
I thought I answered this 4033 5/8" electret question about 3 years ago, or more. I guess we keep getting new people in all the time.
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Everybody has to discover America for themselves.....you were just on an early boat.
;)
 
Harvey Gerst said:
I thought I answered this 4033 5/8" electret question about 3 years ago, or more. I guess we keep getting new people in all the time.
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If I remember correctly, you weren't a huge fan of the mic on your listenings either. I know people reckon it's a great value mic, but I can't help thinking that for the money, it shouldn't really be an electret mic.

Having said that, I regularly use the AE3300 stage condenser with the same capsule, and that works great for most singers live.
 
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