AKG

The features have already been mentioned. It's ideal in pairs to record guitar, vocals (CK5 capsule), as drum room mic (CK1 & CK2), or as room mic (CK8 shotgun). OVERALL OPINION I have been using this AKG C451e pair with different capsules (CK1, CK2, CK5, CK8) for 14 years. I have never had an issue with them, no ugly surprises. I heard about the "dropout" problem after a while. I might be lucky, but I've never had a single problem. I use them mainly together with CK2 capsules for room takes or with the CK5 for vocals. The sound is huge. Neutral and warm at the same time. I use a lot of other mics. These are among the ones I use as reference. Treat yourself to some real sound!

The C1000s is a versatile XLR, condenser mic which can be used for in-studio recording or live performances. It has a frequency response of 50Hz to 20kHz. The polar pattern by default is cardioid, but it can be switched to hyper-cardioid by slipping on a polar adapter. It requires phantom power. A unique feature that it has is that it can be powered using a 9 Volt battery, which is what attracted me to it initially. This makes it very convenient when you're on the move or you don't want to spend extra money on an audio interface or mixer. I often carry it around when I'm travelling and don't want to carry an audio interface with me. The mic comes in a very nice, padded carrying case. It also comes with a polar adapter for hanging the polar pattern, a stand adapter for mounting the mic on a mic stand and a wind screen which you can slip on to avoid plosives or if you're using it in a windy environment. It's quite solid and sturdy. I've dropped it from a height of about 4 - 5 feet a couple of times and it's still intact. It's targeted towards the lower end of the market; home studios and the like. I bought mine for about $80 at a sale. OVERALL OPINION For studio use the overall performance of the mic is just decent. It's nothing special but it will produce acceptable results. It normally requires a bit of work and experimentation to get the best sound out of it. The bass and low-frequency response is rather on the poor side which is one of my biggest gripes with it. However, it captures the mid and high-end quite well so if I do use it in a mix it's for recording backing vocals and elements that remain in the background; elements that don't need bass. The signal of the mic is also quite low. I have to crank up the gain on my audio interface to get a signal that's loud enough to rival some of my other mics. Other than in the studio I use this mic with my video camera as a boom mic for capturing sound. In that area it performs quite well. It doesn't capture sounds that are too far away so the background noise is minimal. It stays focused on the sound source that is being captured. The wind screen is very handy in this scenario especially when recording outdoors. The only live environment I've used it in is at a few small, family and friends-type gatherings for speeches and the like. This is where it performs very well, providing sound that's clear. With this in mind it should perform quite well for podcasts and speech oriented work that doesn't need very high quality audio. Following are pros and cons of the mic: Pros: - Can be powered by a 9 Volt battery. Convenient when phantom power is not available via a mixer or audio interface. Also makes it handy for use on when mobile or away from your main studio setup. - Can be used for both studio recording and live performances - Produces good results in live environments, podcasts/voice-overs and as a boom mic for capturing sound when shooting video. Cons: - The biggest con is sound quality for studio use. While it often produces decent results it doesn't capture bass well. Given the chance to buy it again I probably wouldn't because I rarely use it in the studio, which is where I spend most of my time. It's a mic I use mostly to get out some quick ideas when I'm away from my main equipment or occasionally as a boom mic for video projects. I rarely use it in actual song mixes. It was my very first condenser mic at a time when I had no other recording equipment, so I was particularly captivated by the fact that it can be powered by a battery, which made it a cheaper option for me than buying another mic and a mixer/audio interface to power it. Over the years I've found better mics within the same price range so the AKG C1000s wouldn't be my first choice if I had the chance to go back and purchase my first mic. It will however produced acceptable results in many cases. It's a versatile mic. I can describe this mic as a jack of all trades but a master of none.

A. Best female vocal mic ever made. B. Best universal mic every made. C. One of the most used microphone in a pro environment made. This is the most universal mic used EVER. This mic can be used for any application. I have never had one application I could not use the 414 for. Let me explain more. I use it for room micing, vocals, and any and every other instrument known to man. If you look in any pro studio you will find a pair if not more of the AKG 414's. For female vocals I use this mic in conjunction with about every single pre amp there is. If you use are using it with an API, you will need to pad the mic down a bit. I use omni pattern for room micing and it sounds fantastic. I love this mic for room micing drums or horns as well as acoustic guitars and other instruments. It has a rich sound that is easy recognizable and is the industry standard when it comes to professional microphones. It is a very diverse mic and so you are not limited to using it on one item or one thing. I love the sound it give female singers and it one of the most widely used mic in the world for female singers. I have used these mics for over 25 years and never have they let me down. There are standard pads and patterns as well as the commonly used figure 8 that I use for backing vocals all the time. It is extremely flat sounding and that works so incredibly well on female vocalist that have a strong nasal voice. I also love the sound of the mic when running into any SUMMIT AUDIO pre amp. It has a real rich tone. I recently used it with my new UA AUDIO 610/1176 on the front and it was mind blowing. There is a rich sound that only the 414 can get you. There are just a few mics in professional rooms that all top engineers agree on and this mic is one of them. It is an industry standard. OVERALL OPINION GREAT SOUND a MUST HAVE for professional engineers. I pull it out every day. We now just keep it in the vocal booth at all times as if we are not feeling good about a mic or we are getting spikes from singers that sometimes just don't have any vocal technique we resort to the AKG 414 and most of the time our problems are solved. I can only say that I can't imagine not having this mic.

The Perception 420 is the nicest and most expensive mic in AKG's Perception line. The Perception mics are definitely aimed at the home studio market, but you will actually see the 420 pop up in a few pro studios here and there. This is the only one of the perception mics that I have owned that I still have. The others I all found to be lacking in the sound quality category so I sold them off. First of all this mic has a lot of nice features. It is a dual capsule condenser mic with a large diaphragm, which is going to get you a more full and round sound than one with a smaller diaphragm. The mic housing is a very attractive metallic blue with a silver mesh pop screen over the capsule. It comes with a nice aluminum hard case and a spider shock mount, so you won't have to go buy those necessary amenities elsewhere like you'd end up doing with cheaper mics. The mic comes with a 20 dB pad if the signal is clipping in the mic. One of the best features of this mic though is the fact that it can handle so much noise without clipping in the first place. I have recorded a guitar amp that was set extremely loud, probably over 140dB, and this mic was picking it up fine without even having to engage the pad. That is one of the best SPL handling sessions that I've seen from a mic at any price. The polar pattern on this mic is also switchable, which is fantastic for a $300 mic. You can go from cadioid to figure 8 to omni on this mic. There is also a low cut filter, which will cut out some of the rumble and bass noise on your signals that don't need it like vocals. This is one bad pitfall of this mic though, because I think it definitely takes out too much lows and cuts into the body of most sounds. OVERALL OPINION This mic is definitely the best of the perception series due to more features and increased sound quality. I think that this mic is actually a killer deal at only $300. I like to use this mic on my upright piano pointing at the sound board on the back, it sounds awesome. I have also used it on some vocalists over more expensive ones sometimes. It is a really great value mic, and offers a lot of features and decent sound. It's a good deal.

Product Features USB condenser microphone real plug-and-play device 24 Bit DA/AD Converter Professional-quality recordings Solid construction, studio quality diaphragm Integrated pop filter avoids plosives effectively Tripod table stand, swivel mount and USB cable Easy installation and compatibility with Windows 7 OVERALL OPINION AKG PERCEPTION 120 USB This is a new generation of studio condenser quality microphones,it doesn’t require any advanced installation,it can be easily handled and used properly to get the best sound possible. It is compatible with windows xp,vista,mac osx and windows 7. As far for the quality of the microphone it has a built-in 24 Bit DA/AD Converter that gives a nice and rich sound quality and a low noise. If you’re searching for a high quality mic without spending a lot of money, this is the right choice,you can use it to podcast and broadcast on youtube, you can use it anywhere due of his usb connection, it transposes the nice quality of the recording, it’s very sensitive regarding the timbre and the texture of the voice, without any doubts you can get a pretty rich sound in your own home using the AKG PERCEPTION 120 USB. AKG company is well-known for making high-quality microphones and being quite affordable,so the new PERCEPTION 120 USB takes the quality of the PERCEPTION 120 and adds something very useful, an usb connection that allows the plug and play feature. The microphone is designed and engineered in Vienna,Austria and is had the best studio-home quality on the market right now, a very balanced price/quality, and also a nice cardioid polar pattern with an -20 dB pad attenuation switch. I’ve been using this device for a while and all I can say is that you can get a near studio sound, the design is great and the tripod table stand is really helpful and you save a lot of time by using the feature of just plug and play, it really captures the small nuances that matter in terms of vocal recordings, so if you consider buying a pretty cheap mic with a good quality, akg perception 120 usb is the right choice.

I have used it for vocals, acoustic guitar, snare. It's a large-diaphragm condenser mic. I'm talking about the 414 eb p48. OVERALL OPINION I don't have it anymore, I sold it. It sounded too harsh. Nevertheless, I regret not having it anymore. It was the best for snares. Although the KM 84s that I use currently are also excellent. Finally, I think this mic isn't musical enough. Other sound engineers I've talked to about it think the same. Since it's no longer manufactured, it has obviously become mythical. For vocals, I prefer the NT2 and U87.

The AKG Perception 820 Tube is a microphone that is designed for use in the recording studio. I wouldn't recommend using this outside the studio at all since it is a tube mic and isn't made for any sort of wear and tear. This is a fragile microphone that should be treated well. The mic has three set polar pick up patterns including cardioid, omnidirectional, and figure eight. It also has six different pick up patterns that fall between each of this, which is very cool because it gives you something to experiment with. The 820 comes with a power supply and a special cable to hook up to it. OVERALL OPINION I haven't used the AKG Perception 820 Tube all that much, but I've used it a number of times in different situations and I can confidently say that this is a very good microphone. While this doesn't have the same warmth that a Neumann tube microphone or other high end tube mic will have, it still has a very warm sound and is good for a number of different applications. The first thing that I used the Perception 820 for was a grand acoustic piano. I used a pair of them to get a stereo picture of an acoustic piano and found that this microphone did a great job of doing this. I could hear everything quite clearly while at the same time there was a thick and warm feeling to it. The next time that I used the AKG Perception 820 Tube was for an acoustic guitar and then I used it one other time for vocals and I was definitely happy with the overall sounds that I was getting. I love having so many different pick up patterns as it makes the microphone extremely versatile. The price of this microphone is definitely reasonable for a tube microphone of this quality and in my opinion is a very good deal for a home studio owner looking to get a very nice sounding tube microphone at a budget price. The AKG Perception 820 Tube is the perfect in between tube microphone for those who can't afford a great deal of money but still want a very useful and versatile tube microphone.

The AKG C 430 is a small diaphragm condenser microphone that can be used for both recording and on the stage. I had only used this in the recording studio. Its small design makes it good for drum overheads and for capturing the high end in just about any setting. These are some of the smallest microphones I have seen, which can come in really handy when placing them as you can get it exactly where you want to put it. OVERALL OPINION These microphones were the first set of small diaphragm condensers that I bought for my project home studio. I got them about six or seven years ago and have seen upgraded to another pair of small diaphragm mics. I bought them to use when recording drums, to use as overheads mostly. I have also used them for acoustic guitars and hi hats. The main reason I bought these mics was because I was looking for a cheap set to get started with, and they did more than a good job for me. They are well built are have a really nice sound for such a cheap set of microphones. Since I bought these I have upgraded to a pair of Rode NT5s, which are a bit more expensive and more crisp sounding than these in my opinion. That being said, they are about double the price. You can also compare these to Neumann KM184 because they are similar mics in theory. Obviously the KM184s can't be touched by the C 430s, but they are priced exponentially higher and are made for a different audience. I would definitley recommend looking into these mics for those who are on a budget and want a cheap pair of small diaphragm condensers that will give you more bang for your buck than you think.

The AKG D12 VR is the most recent microphone that I have had a chance to use. It is brand new and has not been out for that long. It has 3 filter modes built into it and it is the perfect microphone for kick drums. If you like your kick to have a big hard hitting sound and still be recorded clean then this is the microphone to get. You can use this microphone in the studio or on stage and it will sound great either way. OVERALL OPINION The huge plus to this microphone is the 3 filter modes, one of them will add some more fullness and low end to your kick, another one will give you some cutting of mid range frequencies will the 3rd one is more for high end boost. You will have the only kick drum microphone you will ever need with the AKG D12. The AKG D12 VR is built to last you a long time, though I have only used it twice so far. I must say that I am really impressed with what AKG did with this microphone all while still making it affordable for the home musicians. The D12 VR is an active dynamic microphone with a cardioid polar pattern. The frequency range is 17 Hz to 17 kHz. It is by far the best kick drum microphone in this price range, I have heard a ton of kick microphones and none of them in this price range can even come close to what the D12 can do mainly because of the filters. If you are looking for full bass tones, and a punchy sound than the D12 VR will do it for you with no problem. After recording with this microphone I could see in the EQ in Pro Tools how punchy and warm it really was. We did not have to cut or pull back any frequencies, we really didn’t even have to EQ it at all. It was ready to cut through the mix as is.

The AKG D5 is a vocal microphone that can be used for our lead and backing vocals. It does a great job of not picking up much external noise from the rear and sides of the microphone. It is a super cardioid microphone with a frequency range of -70Hz to 20kHz. If you have a softer voice you wont have to worry about it with using the D5, it will still bring your voice to the for front with just a little EQ boosting when you mix and master your final track. If you have a deeper toned voice this is where the microphone could use some work, it will really over due your low tone and can make it muddy if you are not careful. It works so much better if you have a “lighter” voice or a female voice it sounds amazing. For the price of the D5 you really can not expect to get a better quality, most of its competitors will charge you almost double what the D5 cost to get the same level of quality. I have only used this microphone for recording purposes and never seen it used live. OVERALL OPINION My favorite part of the D5 is for the songs or vocals that are not punchy and are more mellow, it will still bring your voice out very clear (with a little EQ boost). But like I said it does need some work on a male voice that is deeper, you will have to do some cutting of the low frequencies in order for it to be clean. The value of this microphone is great for the price which is less than 100 dollars now. I have used a ton of microphones that are use for voice and this one does not stand out, but it doesn’t sound bad either. It is ok, if you only have about 100 dollars to spend for a vocal microphone for your home set up. This one should do the trick with no problems.

Capsule: One Inch Large Diaphragm Condenser Sensitivity: 20 mV/Pa (-34 dBV) Frequency Range: 20 to 20,000 Hz Equivalent noise level: 13 dB-A (IEC 60268-4) Polar Pattern: Cardioid Max. SPL: 136 / 156 dB SPL (0 / 20 dB Pad) Dynamic range: 123 / 143 dB-A (0 / 20 dB Pad) Low Cut Filter: 160 Hz, 6 dB/Octave, switchable Attenuation Pad: 20 dB, switchable Phantom Power: 12 to 52 V (IEC 61938) Patents: AT 395.225, DE 4.103.784, JP 2.815.488 Dimensions: 160 x 55 mm (6.3 x 2.2 in.) Net / Shipping Weight: 280 / 1450 g (0.62 / 3.22 lbs) Included Accessories: H 85 Shock Mount, W 214 Windscreen, Metal Carrying Case OVERALL OPINION I still remember buying my first 214. I believe it was my second AKG mic I ever bought, and at this time this was a pretty big purchase. Pretty funny considering these days I consider this to be a budget mic for people who can't afford a 414. Let me say up front I have since owned, used, and destroyed a few 414s. And i'm sure a lot of you reading this review want to know is the 214 sounds as good. To be honest, I don't think it's a fair comparison to begin with. But if you want the truth, I think they are scary close. Some people claim the 214 is in fact better, and i don't really agree or disagree with that. They are simply different. The 414 in any high pressure situation will beat the 214 senseless. But for some reason I tend to use my old 214 more? I think the 214 has a bit more of a natural sound overall, which in my opinion makes it a better vocal mic, unless of course you are dealing with the voice of Zeus or something. For instruments, the 214 works alright. I have used it for piano overhead and in rare instances as a drum overhead. It does well for those applications. For anything guitar I much prefer the 414. Sorry to burst some guy's bubble. But realistically, I think this mic is a seriously nice value. Anyone starting a home studio should probably get this mic as one of their first purchases. It's that good. As far as reliability, I can tell you I still have my original 214 I bought years ago, and it works fine. I've probably dropped it a few times and spilled a few things on it. For what it's worth I dropped a 414 a couple years back and it fell apart basically. Not working anymore. Go figure? The 214 gets my recommendation.

The AKG C 414 LTD is a limited edition version of the ever popular 414 condenser microphone. It was made throughout 2007 as a 60th anniversary edition of the microphone but is no longer made and most likely won't be made again unless they do a different anniversary edition. In terms of it's sound it's much like the more modern versions of the 414, but it has a unique look that helps to set it apart. For technical characteristics, it's got 5 different pick up patterns to choose from just like the other 414 mics, including cardioid, wide cardioid, omnidirectional, hypercardioid, and a figure eight pattern. It also has a frequency response ranging from 20 Hz to 20 kHz and a switchable pan and low cut options at 40 Hz, 80 Hz, and 160 Hz. OVERALL OPINION While I don't know if it's worth it to seek out this limited edition version of the AKG C 414, if you do come across one it's going to be as good as any out there. I recently had the chance to borrow one of these from a friend to use at my home studio to record percussion and it sounded amazing. I didn't have the chance to try this against any of the other various versions of the 414, but I've used a few different versions of them extensively and could tell pretty well that this was in the ball park as the others that I've tried. In general, the C 414 is one of the most versatile microphones in the game as it's useful for pretty much any application where you'd want to use a condenser mic. I'm not sure if the C 414 LTD will cost more on the used market since it's a limited edition version, but it probably will. I don't think it would be worth spending more on unless you're a collector of some sort. For those with a home studio on a budget or those who are just looking for any 414, I'd go with whatever you could get the cheapest and the C 414 LTD probably isn't it. Still, it's an amazing mic like any 414!