MXL 990 Condenser Microphone with Shockmount | List Price: $199.99
Discount Price: $54.99
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Brand: MXL
Features: - 3/4" gold-sputtered diaphragm
- Attractive vintage body style with champagne finish
- 30Hz-20kHz frequency response
- 130dB maximum SPL
- Sensitivity: 15MV/pa
Cheap and really not all that bad. [Posted on 2007-12-14]
[review updated after more time spent with the mic]
Well, there's definitely some detail missing in the mids, but it has a generally pleasing "very fat" (aka muddy) tone. Makes a fair snare drum mic. Needs a bit of EQ for almost any practical application. I don't think I'd use it to track the vocals on anything, but it works. You'd be better off with a similarly-priced small-diaphragm condenser and a windscreen.
More than a year later [Posted on 2008-01-26]
I bought one of these over a year ago, and it's been in regular almost daily use since. Easily one of my favorite mics for recording voice and acoustic instruments. I have had absolutely no problems with it, it's solid and reliable.
The sound is perhaps slightly warm for close-up vocal work, so for that you might want to roll back the lows on your eq just a tiny bit. But I find that bit of warmth very pleasant for recording acoustic guitar, dulcimer, flute, etc. If you're miking an acoustic instrument from 3 ft or further away, then the sound is crisp and has enough low end to just be pleasant.
I have microphones that cost more, but for recording this one would be my favorite. Amazingly good sound for the price.
Best mic! [Posted on 2008-07-21]
Very good mic for live recording...don't let the price fool this is a really good mic.To hear a sound clip recorded by this mic go to [...] you will be impressed with the quality sound from this mic. Just buy it already!
Too muddy. For $50 more you can get so much better. [Posted on 2008-08-05]
I had this mic for one day, which was enough time for me to put it through its paces for my use: voice-over work. Unfortunately, this mic didn't have the presence I was looking for in a condenser microphone, and the mids were far too muddy. I couldn't EQ them out with my basic 4-channel audio board + phantom power. Garbage in = garbage out. I returned the mic to the store about 24 hours later.
Someone said in another review that you'll quickly grow out of the MXL 990 mic once you realize that it sounds like a cheap Chinese condenser mic. I totally agree with that.
Also, a condenser is really not a good choice for a podcast mic. They pick up far too much noise -- they are really meant to be used in studio applications with heavily treated rooms that have no background noise. If you use it in a normal room, you'll hear every tiny little sound along with your speech. I suggest you look at a decent Dynamic microphone. As far as super inexpensive, I've had good luck with the Audio Technica AT818II mic in Asia. In the US, it's actually more expensive, and is called the Audio Technica "Professional Unidirectional Microphone." You can find them here on Amazon for a song. I've been happy with the sound for my podcasts, and as a dynamic, they handle background noises much better.
A great (but a little expensive) mic for podcasts, probably the best, is the Shure SM7. You can read about that all over the web.
MXL yikes! [Posted on 2008-09-05]
I was really in the market for a less expensive condenser mic. A friend had one of these at his studio and I tried it out. Iwas really terrible. Sounded awlful. Very harsh. Acoustic guitar sound hollow and harsh - not good. Vocals were really unflattering. Tried a couple of different mic pres. Still bad news. You really hardly get what you pay for with this stuff.
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