As a podcaster, I could immediately tell the difference between the MXL 990 and my previous condenser mic. This one has such rich tones! It is sensitive, however, and the pop filter I bought with it really isn't filtering out my plosives. I have it pointed DOWN to reduce room noise and it works perfectly. I have it plugged into an audio interface before it goes into my laptop. Highly recommended, great mic for the price!
I work in radio and told my boss I spent 65$ on this 5 years ago. He couldn’t believe the quality! It’s an amazing mic...I have dropped it hit the wall with it and it still works like new! It’s 5 years old! I do voiceovers every day with it.
You don't get to beat the quality of the mic at this price point, I used a similar model 15 years ago for music recording, I use this now for doing podcasts.Very good build quality, just does not care about beer spit, cigarette smoke, wind, nothing, but like any mic if you bang it around it will die. you NEED a pop screen for this mic but just, go spend another 7 dollars and get one if youre an S Hisser or a P Popper, but I will always stand behind this. If I replace it, I will probably be spending 700+ dollars.
This Mic sounds great. Really rich tone, I feel like an NPR radio host with that nice bassy undertone. I have a Shure stage mic (ol' standby) and this MXL sounds many, many times better. Also works well for Acoustic guitar mic, just remember to point the MXL logo at the point of sound origin. It's also very nice looking, and has heavy aluminum construction. It looks plastic in the pictures but it's all a metallic-champagne colored aluminum that's very aesthetically pleasing. The spider-mount is a plus for live recording and vibration suppresion, and also looks really neat.
Make sure you have Phantom Power via XLR connection on your PA or mixer, this mic requires it.
If youre deciding between this and the AT-2020..get this, the response is amazing and rivals the AT-2020 and is good enough in the proper environment for voiceover work
Pros - Cheap, inexpensive, not terribly heavy, Sounds like a 200 dollar mic
Cons - Cheap components that dont look like they will last longer than a few years, but MXL sells more expensive mics if you want a better sound
Feature Product
- Midnight Special Edition - Purple and Black Chrome
- 3/4" gold-sputtered diaphragm Attractive vintage body style with champagne finish 30Hz-20kHz frequency response 130dB maximum SPL Sensitivity: 15MV/pa Equivalent noise: 20dB (A-weighted) Wired with Mogami cable
Description
Special Edition Midnight! The MXL 990 remains one of the industry's most ground-breaking microphones. The first high quality condenser microphone to come into reach of working musicians, the MXL 990 has a FET preamp and a large diaphragm for truly professional sound quality in both digital and analog recordings. This revolutionary condenser microphone continues to astound artists with its silky, high end and tight, solid low and midrange reproduction.
WOW! This mic just blew be away. I've worked with many other mics over the past 20 years in studio recording, and this one for studio voice work is outstanding and goes head-to-head with other mics in the recording industry. I've worked with Sterling Audio, Audio Technica, other MXL mics and several others, but this one is truly silky smooth with my voice. It has at least 15-20% more full audio dynamics than the Sterling Audio ST55 and the audio peaks are not blown out. The mid range audio dynamics are perfect, supported by outstanding bass frequencies which provides a true world-class audio recording. I keep the peaks at around -6 to -9 dB and the bulk of the audio below that. This MXL did not need a pre amp like the Sterling Audio does. I run all my audio directly through the Yamaha AG03 with the phantom power on and the mic is very quite, around -51dB. I can barely hear any noise, if any, in play back. I work in Adobe Audition on the PC and sometimes Audacity, yet Audition gives me a better audio output and sound quality with this mic. I also use Monster Cables Prolink Standard 100 mic XLR cables. Bottom line, I can't say enough about this mic. It's now my "go to" mic for all my voice over and audio narration work. I record over 2,000 audio files in any given year and the MXL 990 will help my, and any other voice, sound even better.
This little Monster packs a Big punch. It's the affordable version to the Neumann TLM-102.
This MXL 990 mic has a great, "Warm" tube amped sound on its recording. I used to Record countless Albums with my AKG Precision 120, but now, as of 2019, this is the Mic I've been recording my Sessions with, and Highly recommend it for any Professional Recording Studio, that just wants to add an additional Mic that clients may be familiar with.
-Felix Fingerz of Fingerz & Co.
I bought this way back in 2011 when I was upgrading my studio equipment and still have this mic to this day. I love the quality of it. It gives you a really smooth clear crispy sound. I'd highly recommend it for anyone who is a beginner or is just looking to do some basic recording. And is trying to achieve that super clean sound quality. This is the one!
Sooo...I went off Amazon and well....usic publications. Both say it performs equal to mics much more expensive. That's true. I got a Focusrite Solo, recording at 192 kHz @ 24bit is a very noticeable diff. Over my Blue Yeti. Yeti is still great and for a USB Mic, I'll always recommend. But...dang!!! XLR is awesome.
This is sold as the lower end of the MXL line, but it's much better than you'd expect. I have two other MXLs and a number of SM58s and just needed something for decent podcasts. This turned out to be a mic I wouldn't hesitate to use on stage!
It IS crisp, so know that going in, more so than a Shure SM58 and the sound field isn't quite as defined (wider) but it's a hot condenser and performs all the way through both guitar and vocal ranges effortlessly. Great diaphragm, you really hear real world what is going into it. The only negative was the pick up from the sides, even a little directly behind. But knowing that lets you arrange around it. It's not perfect, but it's closer than most people will ever need.