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Published on 06/29/11 at 17:51The AT2020 is a solid medium diaphragm condenser microphone that very conveniently exudes a blatant "take me or leave me" vibe. The AT2020 has NO bells and whistles at all. It's fixed cardioid and lacks any sort of high-pass/low-cut filter or pad. Its sole merit is how it sounds.
And it sounds good. It's clearly a vocal microphone, so it does have a tailored frequency response that is very subtly flattering and musical, unlike the disgusting high-end exaggerations of the AT2020's competition. The only things that's objectively objectionable about the AT2020 is its self-noise figure of 20dB, which puts it up there with many tube microphones. A lot of the entry level microphones do have this same noise figure though, so it's not worse than the other entry-level condensers.
The strangeness of the 20-series seems to affect the AT2020 the worst, though; the sound does appear a bit narrow and contained. It lacks the enveloping sensation that the other condensers give you. However, it's far better than the piercing needle sound the AT2020's competition gives you.
The AT2020, as with the other 20-series microphones, is that it's RUGGED. It's not like you want to hammer a nail with it, like you can with an SM58; it's still a condenser, and fragile, but much less so than others.
OVERALL OPINION
The Audio-Technica AT2020 is a very solid microphone that is musically flattering and still very versatile. It's not a microphone I would buy right now, because of its big brother, the AT2035, offering slightly better sensitivity, a more flattering (in my opinion) frequency response, and a lower noise-figure, for just a bit more with a shockmount.
However, the Audio-Technica AT2020 is famous for a reason; it's a good microphone, and don't let those specs fool you; you are in for a treat when you first sing into the AT2020.
And it sounds good. It's clearly a vocal microphone, so it does have a tailored frequency response that is very subtly flattering and musical, unlike the disgusting high-end exaggerations of the AT2020's competition. The only things that's objectively objectionable about the AT2020 is its self-noise figure of 20dB, which puts it up there with many tube microphones. A lot of the entry level microphones do have this same noise figure though, so it's not worse than the other entry-level condensers.
The strangeness of the 20-series seems to affect the AT2020 the worst, though; the sound does appear a bit narrow and contained. It lacks the enveloping sensation that the other condensers give you. However, it's far better than the piercing needle sound the AT2020's competition gives you.
The AT2020, as with the other 20-series microphones, is that it's RUGGED. It's not like you want to hammer a nail with it, like you can with an SM58; it's still a condenser, and fragile, but much less so than others.
OVERALL OPINION
The Audio-Technica AT2020 is a very solid microphone that is musically flattering and still very versatile. It's not a microphone I would buy right now, because of its big brother, the AT2035, offering slightly better sensitivity, a more flattering (in my opinion) frequency response, and a lower noise-figure, for just a bit more with a shockmount.
However, the Audio-Technica AT2020 is famous for a reason; it's a good microphone, and don't let those specs fool you; you are in for a treat when you first sing into the AT2020.