SeriesAKG Perception

The Perception 220 is a fixed cardioid, large diaphragm FET condenser mic. It's frequency response ranges from 20-20,000Hz and is fairly flat. In theory, it could be a perfect vox microphone in a studio setting because of how flat the response is. Here is a picture of the graphed response: https://en.audiofanzine.com/condenser-microphone/akg/Perception-220/medias/pictures/a.play,m.923034.html It is also a nice overhead. I've only used it as a single overhead, but a matching pair would sound delicious because of where the peak sits on the high frequencies(somewhere between 10 and 11k). It's got a high pass filter or bass rolloff switch that will bring down the lows starting at about 300Hz. It also has a pad switch that brings it down -20dB which has lead to me experiment with it in live situations. It works great as a live overhead, room mic, and Bass Cab mic. It comes with a shock mount and a decent plastic carrying case. It is on sale for 150$ new. When I purchased it a few years back, I think it was closer to 200$. 150$ for this microphone is a steal. OVERALL OPINION My favorite thing about this mic is that I've yet to get tired of it. As a 150$ microphone, that is actually astounding! I also love that it gives so much freedom to E.Q. in post! Equally captured frequencies are incredibly helpful when doing a large mix! Where the highs are smoothly accented in the response, it is also able to capture very natural sounds. I love using it to record live acoustic sessions. Great for catching the dynamic of the room. This mic was recommended to me by a friend and fellow sound engineer years ago. I bought it as my first condenser. It still finds it's way into most of my studio projects somehow or another. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a new mic to add to their collection but especially to those who are new to the world of pro audio and in need of a first decent and decently priced condenser mic. It is all around trust worthy. Pros: - Price Point; It will pay for itself in one session. - Flat Frequency Response makes it very versatile. - Very smooth sound. - Great overhead. - Great Vocal mic(in a studio setting). - Great room mic. Cons: - DO NOT BOTHER trying to mic guitar cabs. - A little sensitive. Even for a condenser. - The High Pass filter cuts too much out and starts to affect the warmth of the sound. - Figuring out the proper time to use the pad versus volume or gain cuts can be tricky. It could just be me, though.

This is AKG's budget condenser. It comes with a shock mount, a low cut switch, and a DB decrease switch. AKG recommends it be used for vocals, guitars, and an in general instrument microphone. It's supposed to be quite versatile for studio and even live use. OVERALL OPINION I've owned this mic for years. It was one of my first condensers and I choose it for the value. I have used it in many situations so I will comment on each use individually. Vocals - The 200 is a very honest mic. If you are not a good singer, it will butcher your vocals. The 200 is almost accurate to a fault. Every little breath and tick comes through over the recording. I found it does better with vocals in a full mix than a 1 or 2 instrument recording. It seems to like female vocals better for some reason. If you want a transparent vocal mic that you can go back and edit to taste in your recording environment, this is a good mic. It doesn't have any "magic vocal sauce" though. At this price you aren't getting anything amazing. Acoustic guitar - It's okay. Not great. You are better off with an SM81 or something of that style. If you are really gifted at mixing, it's doable, but I could never get a good strum sound with this mic. Bass drum - Amazing. Put it in the sound hole, turn the DB cut on, and listen. Awesome kick sound. I've used it live too and it works great. In fact I swear by it for kick. My drummer wears in ear monitors to hear his kit and he loves how his kick sounds with this. Won't use anything else. Piano - If the piano is good, then I give it an A. With some pianos it's a dud. Just depends. There are better mics for this application but in a quick and dirty live environment it will do the job. I've abused this mic over the years and it keep on kicking. I think I would buy another if only for the kick drum use. I'm not a big fan of it on anything else. For certain voices it's great. Not so much on mine. For guitar and piano it's just so so.

The AKG Perception 170 Condenser microphone is sleek , stylish and more than affordable. It is a instrument microphone with a small diaphragm to give a clean and accurate sound. It does require phantom power and it has a cardioid polar pattern. I have been using this microphone for the last 3 years and it has always worked great with a number of different instruments tried out on it. At one point it was my first option to go with when someone would come to record an instrument track. OVERALL OPINION This microphone does have a -20 db roll of switch and it is actually great for an overhead drum microphone. That is the reason that I am thinking of purchasing two more of these. The recordings you can get with the Perception are very clean and warmth. The makes the sound much better than I expected to get for a microphone that cost less than 100 dollars online. There is also a Perception 100 and 200 that came out around the same time and they are pretty good too. I have used them and the 170 before and the only difference is the price. Most AKG microphones are very well made and they are very durable. The best part about this microphone is the -20 db roll off because it is a must have for a condenser microphone that records instruments. My least favorite thing about this microphone is that with it being a capsule microphone getting it to sit right in some setups gave me a headache. Working in a tight space trying to get this microphone to fit and still face the right way gave issues with it being so long. But you will not have any complaints with the recording quality of it. I highly recommend it and look forward to buying a few more of these soon for overhead.

The AKG Perception 100 is a large diaphragm condenser microphone that is on the low end of the spectrum as far as mics go that are made by AKG. The mic is designed for use in the recording studio and since it is a condenser microphone I would suggest only using it in the studio as that it what it is best for. The microphone has a cardioid polar pick up patter and advertises that it will pick up between 20 Hz and 20 KHz. OVERALL OPINION I've been using the AKG Perception 100 for about six months or so and while this isn't even close to a top end microphone, this is pretty good bang for your buck as this is a usable microphone at an incredibly low price. The mic has a decent sound quality, but unless you are in a home studio or simply doing demos, I don't think the sound quality is up to par for a professional. AKG is a fine maker of microphones, but since the price is so low and this is at the end of spectrum for AKG, it isn't the best made or sounding mic. For this reason, I would really only recommend the mic for low end home studios or project studios. This would also be a good choice for someone looking to get a single microphone to record ideas or if you are just looking to start up a rig. There are plenty of other microphones in this price range these days, so I would absolutely recommend trying out a few other microphones in the under $100 USD range if you are looking for a mic like this. The price is so cheap that even if you don't love the mic, you aren't risking all that much. All in all, this is nicely priced mic that doesn't sound half bad.

The perception 150 (now called the 170) is AKG's budget small diaphragm condenser mic which definitely seems aimed at the beginning engineer in the home studio. The mic looks fantastic with a shimmery metallic blue coating and a sleek design. It needs phantom power so owners will need to make sure they have preamps that can handle one and you're not just plugging this right into a computer. The mic is a cardioid pattern, and you can't change that. It tends to be very useful to have switchable patterns on small diaphragm condenser mics. People will often use this type of mic for middle to large distance miking, and being able to switch a mic into omni for a bigger sound is very useful in this instance. You will be stuck with cardioid pickup with this mic. It does come with a 20 dB pad which is nice, since this type of mic tends to be very easy to overload, especially if you are miking up a drum set or a really loud guitar amp. AKG does build their mics to be physically solid, so the capsule of this mic is pretty safe in its housing compared to some other companies' designs. OVERALL OPINION The sound quality of this mic should be the most important mic, but I think you can tell that this is where AKG saved their money to be able to sell this mic so cheap. It definitely sounds very thin and metallic. I never recorded anything with this mic without having to boost EQ between 150Hz and 300Hz to put a little body back into the mic. It's my opinion that you shouldn't have to automatically correct fundamental flaws in microphone's frequency pickup spectrum, so I really was not impressed with the sound of this mic. You will be hard pressed to find a small diaphragm mic this cheap that will sound any better though, so I guess in the value category it still does okay. I would recommend spending some more money on a nicer mic though, if you are going to spend money on a condenser like this at all.