All user reviews for the MXL 990

Vocals, instruments.
Cardioid condenser mic, super Pro quality.
Testing it is buying it.
Everything has been said already

OVERALL OPINION

Four months.

Yes, several, but for its price, it can give a good lesson to entry-level and high-end mics.
Pros: Everything. It comes with a suspension shock mount, plastic case and mic stand (useless except for podcasts).
Its new color: Champagne, although you can also find them in "Gold" secondhand.
Its versatility, a real all-purpose mic to have in your arsenal.
It remains one of my favorites, together with the AKG perception, which are budget-friendly.
Cons: None.
Certainly a good choice. It isn't sold new anymore, except in the United States, which is a pity for many. It's been reissued and is available again in Europe. You shouldn't pass up the opportunity, it's Pro quality for the same price of a B1 or Apex!

I've used it to record voice, horns and acoustic guitar. Is it the greatest mic ever? Possibly not but I believe it represents a substantial bang for the buck. I can only assume those who rate its sound extremely negatively either had a defective unit or didn't really know what they're doing or didn't take the time to work with it to get the most out of it. Here's some examples from things I've used it on. Non-treated room, differing degrees of processing. I think with further experimentation it can sound even better on the acoustic 6 string. http://www.fileden.com/files/2010/3/22/2800754//mxl_samples.mp3

This is a quality (for the price) condensor microphone. It has a 3/4" gold sputtered diaphram. The frequency response is 30Hz-20kHz, with a 130dB max SPL. Not to mention it comes with a shockmount, mic stand adapter, and a pretty sturdy case.

OVERALL OPINION

I've been using this mic for about a year or so. I'll admit that I wasn't really sure what to expect from a condensor mic that cost less and $100, but I love it. This mic is a great value for the price, and the sound is great.
I do alot of acoustic guitar recording along with vocals. The mic is great for my vocals and the gutiar both. When I use it I get a live performance feel from it. I really like that because the sound from the recording is exactly the sound I hear from my voice and my guitar.
When I record my guitar with it I use this mic at the 12th fret and the MXL 991 at the sound hole and I love what I get from it. Using this technique I get a stereo sound without having to record the track twice, makes recording alot easier.
I've uses other condensors, MXL, AKG, and others and to be honest for what I do I love this mic and really can't tell much of a difference from its performance compared to more expensive mics.
I'm really glad that I bought this mic, I couldn't have expected more from it. In fact, it far surpassed my expectations of it. It is my goto mic, even though I have access to much more expensive ones.
This mic is durable as well, after a show once I set the mic case on top of my car and forgot it. I drove off and the case fell on the road. My buddy picked it up for me and after all was said and done the mic was unharmed and still performed perfectly.
In short, buy this mic...you won't regret it!

This is a large diaphragm condenser microphone. I got this mic a few years ago as part of a $100 discount package of microphones. They are obviously very cheap and I'll tell you right off the bat that you get what you pay for. This has a standard XLR connection. It requires phantom power to use it. It is a cardioid pickup pattern. There isn't a pad or pickup pattern switch, so that gives it limited versatility. The grille is kind of thick, so that does help a bit with plosives if you want to record any vocals.

OVERALL OPINION

I've had this mic for a few years, and have only ever used it a handful of times when traveling so I didn't have to worry about something happening to a nicer mic. It really doesn't sound very good. The bass end sounds thin and under-represented, and the mid-highs are really overdone. Overall the sound is very harsh and unpleasant. The transients seem smeared as well. There is a lack of detail in the ultra-highs, which prevents this mic from sounding smooth. It sounds better than the mic built in to your laptop, but not by all that much. One saving grace of this mic is that it seems to be pretty sturdy. I dropped it off of a desk once and it still performed to the same standard it had before. Clearly this mic is aimed at a beginner's budget studio, and it sounds like it. It's very cheap though, so if you're a beginner just getting started out with recording you could go with this and then upgrade later. I wouldn't get it again, but might recommend it for someone brand new to recording due to the low price.

- What type of microphone? (live, recording, mixed...)
Recording.

- What technology? (electret, condenser...)
Condenser.

Comes in a plastic case with suspension.

OVERALL OPINION

- For how long have you been using it?
I tested this at home and compared it to an AKG C3000 and a Rode NT3.
Also used it on several recordings (vocals).

- What thing do you like most/least about it?
It's cheap, looks good, sound great, comes with suspension & case.
But it's chinese and probably not gold coated...don't think it'll last, but who knows?

- Did you try many other models before getting this one?
See above.

- What is your opinion about the value for the price?
This costs around 50 euros second hand. That's cheap by any standards.
Once you've used this, however, you'll think it's the best value mic on the planet. Possibly even by far!

- Knowing what you know now, would you make the same choice?...
I don't own this, it was lent to me.
But if there is one mic studio i would recommend to anyone, this is it. Without the slightest hesitation!

The best value mic i've ever tried, by far.

The MXL 990 is sort of a Medium diaphram condensor mic, and one of the only condensor mics that even exist in this price range (50 bucks or less) therefore anything it can do should impress you, and unless you spent 50 bucks expecting this to be your "go to" microphone then you won't be disapointed either. It can be quite useful in different applications, and is cheap enough for the home recording enthusiast to own a couple for stereo applications/experimenting/learning, which is something thats hard to do when you can only afford ONE of something.
Its fairly small and light, and comes with a shock mount thats a pain in the rear to use, but the microphone itself seems fairly sturdy (not as sure about the insides as I have read reviews where people have unknowingly destroyed them so maybe they are fairly fragile indeed). It also comes with a foam lined case, not bad at all for only 50 bucks.

OVERALL OPINION

If you have access to more expensive mics then you probably won't like the 990. Its fairly bright, very "live" sounding, and the high end came become brittle and harsh. Its fairly unforgiving of room acoustics, high frequency reflection especially. The smaller diaphram makes it less forgiving of proximity; i.e. like you can't move around too much when singing or playing in instrument in front of it.

I did not care at all for how it sounded on my acoustic guitar. It was harsh when I wanted warm, bright when I wanted full, crisp when I wanted "round". I never bothered to sing into it. I have used it for mic'ing up an electric guitar amp fron a couple feet away, and it suited this well in my opinion. The guitar I tracked came out very "live" sounding, fairly bright with definition and attack. This mic might be nice to have around for a slightly more bright sound that you want to cut through a mix. Basically, I say you should have a quality LDC first but if you can buy 2 of these, fool around with them in stereo, if you hate 'em sell them to someone online or keep them for rare moments you want a different sound.

The MXL 991 is about as cheap as decent condenser microphones come these days. I've use it a bunch in my small studio home set up, but never at a live performance. I've used it on vocals, acoustic guitars, and horns, among other things. The shape of the mic makes it extremely easy to sing into and to set up.

OVERALL OPINION

I've had this microphone for about 2 years now and while I'm not totally in love with the sound it produces, I am in love with the price. With microphones like this being as cheap as they are, its feasible for one to have a pretty decent microphone collection at a very nice price. I have a few other condenser microphones such as the Shure KSM27 and an Audio Technica, so this isn't my top microphone, but I love having it around when I need it. The sound quality isn't perfect, but its decent enough to make demos with and for when I need to set up a few condenser microphones. It comes off a bit thin for me. I do like the mid and low range frequency response on the mic though. It does look and feel a bit cheap though, which I guess it is. While if I could do it again I might spend a few more bucks on a better condenser, but for the price this really can't be beat.