Today I recorded a little mic comparison (thanks, Jim, for allowing me to borrow your mics for this test). I have been using an MXL 990 Condenser microphone, mostly because it was recommended as a good basic microphone for voiceover. It does have a nice sound, it’s pretty sturdy, and is not expensive. Mine actually came “free” with the purchase of my preamp from Musicians Friend. I’m sure the price on the preamp was just bumped up a little so that they could say the mic was being thrown in for free — whatever. So, overall this has been a good microphone for the past 3 years. Now that I am moved into my new sound-proofed studio, the MXL’s flaws are a little more noticible. Again, it’s not bad, but there is definitely some low volume electrical noise on my recordings that is coming from the mic. Hence, the comparison test.
Audio engineer friend, Jim, recommended a couple of microphones and has allowed me to borrow two of them to pit against my MXL and against each other. Being put to the test we have the Rode NT2-A and the AKG C 3000-B.
Both the Rode and the AKG are noticeably quieter than the MXL during periods of silence. The overall sound may be a little richer with these two mics as well, although the sound quality of MXL isn’t bad. When I first tested the Rode and the AKG against each other, I set the filter switch on the AKG, and my voice sounded much “thinner” than with the Rode. I recorded a second test with the filter off and I have a hard time hearing much difference between the two. I have sent my samples to audio guru friend, Jim, for his professional opinion, which I will post along with some audio samples, for those who may be interested.
For now, my eBay watch list has both the AKG and the Rode in it. We’ll see what ends up being the better deal for me.
