Need help choosing a mic for home studio

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ztnap

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I've been reading some reviews on the following mics. But people say different things in different forums.

Here's the List im interested in.

Audio Technica
--------------
AT2020

MXL
----------
MXL 990
MXL770

pls help me decide
 
your first choice is best

The AT 2020 is the one and only mic that can do what it does.The reviews from pro recording engineers have all given it 5 stars the AT4040 a little more has a larger diaphragm and was used to record a U2 CD, the mic AT 2020 is now being purchases in bulk standard orders of 10 per studio, as the SPL level for a condenser is mind blowing and S/N is off the charts it beats many mics that cost 500.00 or more. I own several and I have a music biz and am a pro recording engineer and producer and recording artist.
as all engineers know the shure Sm57 was and still is the ultimate work horse mic and every studio has many of them, however when using a few or several sm 57's you get into problems, you can fix it if you know how to get in and do a small soldering Job, the AT 2020 is quickly out doing the sm57 the bulk studio sales say it all it is now the new multi task work horse.and for a MSRP of 99.00 you simply can not go wrong.I highly say go with it and you will be happy with all it can do as well as lay down excellent vox tracts so go get it.The MXL mikes are hot but nowhere as good, not even close, the M-audio Nova a 100.00 mick is nice, but a tad fragile and not for multi tasking and is M-audios intro level vox mic.
The At2020 also has a new product that is connected to your USB port around 130-150.00 so do you want to record direct to a PC you may consider the new USB AT 2020, but if you will be using it for many applications go with the standard AT2020.
hope this helped.
 
I have the AT2020. Bought it as a 'studio pak' with the AT2021 (?).

I'm not the most experienced person here.. and haven't worked with 100's of mics, but i do like it.

I find it a bit 'shrill' or 'tinny' at times.. but that could also be the (lack of) room treatment in my little cubby hole.

Probably not the 'best' mic out there, but bang for you buck, it think it's great. The XML mics always seem to have mixed reviews. I know a few people who had problems with them breaking down, not working, etc. I think it's probably the difference in quality control manufacturing in Japan (Audio Technica) vs China (XML)

Still a relative newb, so not much recorded yet .. but i recorded these using the AT2020 on voice.


http://www.norrisshepherd.com/Sidekick/Sidekick.html
 
I'm assuming you're going to use this mainly for instruments, since all three of the mics you list are good at that and not so good at vocals. If you want to record mostly vocals, there are much better choices than any of those three mics.

The AT2020 is a good choice as a general-purpose instrument mic. It has decent SPL handling and sounds pretty accurate, at least to my ears. I'd probably lean towards that over any of the Chinese SDCs (e.g. MXL) that I've used. If you want to mod them, the ATs seem to be pretty difficult to mod, while the Chinese mics tend to be much more amenable to that sort of thing. With the stock hardware, though, I'd go with the AT.
 
Thanks guys that cleared up lots of questions i had.

I guess i'll go for the AT2020..

The MXL 770 looks awesome and has a bass-roll off switch plus a 10db Pad

But its the quality that matters isn't it..

I've heard some very good reviews about the AT2020 so i'll go with that.


Cheers
 
I have been eyeballing that AT 220my self but
the MXL 770 is an excellent mic and the 990 S is also a good mic which features a -10dB pad and 150Hz low-cut switch.
you cant go wrong with the MXL mics I have several and they all serve me well.
You will probably want to get a few dynamic mics also... I would recommend the GLS Audio ES-57 for miking guitar, drums and VOX and ES 58 is a fantastic vocal mic. these two mics are exact clones of the Shure SM 57 and SM 58
you can check out the GLS mic's here
just thought I would add my .02
 
AT2020 Owner

I have a Digital Reference CRX-1, which is an AT2020 sold as a different brand in Guitar Centers. The mic and mount are very well built, sturdy metal construction that is built to last. I personally have never really enjoyed the sound I get from the mic for vocals. I find I get a smoother, fuller sound from an SM57. However, I would still recommend this mic as a good product for the money. The Large Diaphragm captures a ton of detail, and has potential for use in a variety of situations.
 
folkrock75 said:
I personally have never really enjoyed the sound I get from the mic for vocals. I find I get a smoother, fuller sound from an SM57. However, I would still recommend this mic as a good product for the money. The Large Diaphragm captures a ton of detail, and has potential for use in a variety of situations.
Click to expand...

If you mean the AT2020, it captures a lot of detail in part because it isn't a large diaphragm mic. It is generally considered a medium diaphragm. That's also a big part of why it isn't that great for voice.

I just notice that one of the early replies mentioned the AT2020 USB. I wouldn't suggest that mic to anybody on this board. It looks to be the same cheap leftover 10-year-old USB converter parts as all the other USB condensers. And since this one has no headphone output, monitoring isn't going to work well, if at all.

Basically, if you're recording a podcast, it might be acceptable, but for recording with any sort of backing tracks, you're setting yourself up for serious problems.
 
Concur, never go with USB mics. Its a dead end. Unless you want a dead end....
 
I might re-look at the 2020...I saw one at my pawn broker for $50...Im usually not a huge fan of Chinese mics but I do still use my SP C1 because its a good all arround mic.
I do use up to 8 SM57 mics at a time Ive never really had a problem with them.
 
All of the mics listed:

The MXL 990
The MXL 770
The AT2020...

...all end up being upgraded someday by everyone who ever owned one.

What does that tell you in the long run?
 
PhilGood said:
All of the mics listed:

The MXL 990
The MXL 770
The AT2020...

...all end up being upgraded someday by everyone who ever owned one.

What does that tell you in the long run?
Click to expand...

Orly?.......
 
lyric4him said:
The AT 2020 is the one and only mic that can do what it does.The reviews from pro recording engineers have all given it 5 stars the AT4040 a little more has a larger diaphragm and was used to record a U2 CD, the mic AT 2020 is now being purchases in bulk standard orders of 10 per studio, as the SPL level for a condenser is mind blowing and S/N is off the charts it beats many mics that cost 500.00 or more. I own several and I have a music biz and am a pro recording engineer and producer and recording artist.
as all engineers know the shure Sm57 was and still is the ultimate work horse mic and every studio has many of them, however when using a few or several sm 57's you get into problems, you can fix it if you know how to get in and do a small soldering Job, the AT 2020 is quickly out doing the sm57 the bulk studio sales say it all it is now the new multi task work horse.and for a MSRP of 99.00 you simply can not go wrong.I highly say go with it and you will be happy with all it can do as well as lay down excellent vox tracts so go get it.The MXL mikes are hot but nowhere as good, not even close, the M-audio Nova a 100.00 mick is nice, but a tad fragile and not for multi tasking and is M-audios intro level vox mic.
The At2020 also has a new product that is connected to your USB port around 130-150.00 so do you want to record direct to a PC you may consider the new USB AT 2020, but if you will be using it for many applications go with the standard AT2020.
hope this helped.
Click to expand...

Ugh this sounds like an infomercial and by a couple of replies it sounds like it worked. I'd report it, but I'd like to dissect it first. "the AT 2020 is quickly out doing the sm57 the bulk studio sales say it all it is now the new multi task work horse.and for a MSRP of 99.00 you simply can not go wrong." Do you have insider information on "bulk studio" sales for both Audio Technica and Shure? "The AT 2020 is the one and only mic that can do what it does." Yes, that can be said about any distinctly classified object in this world. "the mic AT 2020 is now being purchases in bulk standard orders of 10 per studio" Is this every studio in the world? Is it just the studios you have "insider info" on? "however when using a few or several sm 57's you get into problems" Sooo... if I use a "few" usually meaning 3, I'll run into issues. I'll make sure I don't use 3 sm57's. Now "several" actually means "more than two but fewer than many." So taking that into consideration - that REALLY eliminates using 3 sm57's. Unfortunately it also elimnates using two of them as well, also any amount up to "many." So what you are saying that is in order to not "get into problems" I need to use either just one sm57 or many sm57's.... On a side note - who pays MSRP or even mentions that when talking about the price? :D
 
Last edited:
Pretty sure it's been overlooked by those responding for a reason.

I.E. We're ignoring the rtard.


:cool:
 
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