Side by Side Comparison of: MXL

This is a great starter mic, If your just starting up and looking for some thing real good and cheap, this is the mic to go with.

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!

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.

I use this to record demos and the quality comes out great. This is my first mic and I don't regret the purchase at all. I actually compared this to a more expensive and higher quality mic by recording with both and I couldn't tell the difference at all...maybe because my ear isn't trained that much to hear the subtle differences in mics but I couldn't hear anything different honestly. This works great for recording demos. Just clean up the sound with some reverb and EQ and you're in business.Update 6/15/12----------------This is an AWESOME mic for beginners, but I found that as my recording experience grew, I outgrew this mic and moved onto the Studio Projects B1 microphone and the difference is PHENOMENAL. I actually began recording a track with The MXL mic and finished it up with the Studio Projects B1 and you can hear the difference right away...now I'm having a hard time mixing the track because I have to find a way to reduce the brightness that the Studio Project mic has to match the muddiness of the MXL mic. I will keep this at five stars because this mic has been through so much with me...it's like your first pair of shoes...not the best but at the time they got you through thick and thin. If you're looking for a high quality mic for a low price then you better go to mars or something because it doesn't exist, however this is a great mic for beginners like I once was but the more you record and the more equipment you purchase the more you'll realize this mic's unfortunate flaws and will move onto something better.

I bought this mic for a school project because I needed to make a CD and needed a mic for vocals. This works great for that (just make sure to use a wind screen). Im also the sound tech for my choir class and in the past we have used individual Audix handheld microphones for each singer. However this year we are taking a different approach to mic the singers. We just had an all day gig to sing Christmas songs at all the elementary schools in my town. Ive had some bad luck in the past with using condenser mics for choirs and live sound mainly because of feedback being so easy to get. When setting up for the gig at the schools, I forgot to grab cables to run my EQ so I knew that it was just going to be a wreck. But I decided to give it a try anyway. All of our gigs for that day were in school gyms so that defiantly wasnt going to help with my feedback issues of the past. I used 3 of these mics for a choir of about 25 kids. Ran them into a 6 channel Peavey Mixing board and directly out to 2 QSC K10 active speakers that were used for mains. No EQ except for the 80Hz Cutoff option on the board. I placed the speakers about 10 feet in front of the mics and gave it a shot. To my surprise they didnt feedback AT ALL. Even with the terrible acoustics in the gyms. I was easily able to project the sound of the choir without feedback issues. I was even told by one of the school administrators to turn the volume down at one point. So basically what Im saying is that for the money, these mics are great for many different uses. Whether it is recording at home or micing a choir for a live gig. These mics sound great. We will be buying about 6 more for our spring show in our performing arts center just because they are so cheap.

This mic is definitely sufficient for normal recording, especially if you run it through a vocal effects processor. I plan to get the TC-Helicon VoiceLive 2 here at Amazon eventually (I really love the gender conversion that makes you sound like a good female voice) but right now I have the KORG EMX and ESX as well as the KORG Kaoscullator Pro, and this mic works great when connected to any of those (but of course connected to a phantom power source first, the patched to the Korg devices). The fact it comes in a nice durable case with foam padding impressed me right from he start. Then I hooked it up to the included shock mount and added a pop mic filter (VERY important you use a pop filter because condenser mics are sensitive to moisture from your mouth).The sound quality is far beyond anything I'm used to, but I must confess that I was one of those poor fools who didn't even know what XLR and "phantom power" was -- I only used mics with a USB connection or the 1/8" stereo plug, and they all sound terrible compared to an XLR microphone with 48v phantom power.And even the XLR cables themselves are a dream come true! -- I was always getting so angry with the normal 1/8" cables messing up and then you have to lick them and plug 'em back in, then spin them around to get the sound to work right. (Nobody told me there was another option!) But XLR cables make it impossible for any humming or hissing sounds or disconnections of any kind since they lock in place and never need any toying with. Now I use XLR cables for all my speakers too, and for all the patch connections between my mixers, amps, and musical devices, and it has made creating music so much more enjoyable! Now I don't have to fidget with those crappy 1/8" cables anymore, and there's never any hissing or annoying humming sounds to worry about. And of course I also realized that you can't just plug your music output right in to your computer's sound card and expect to get professional recording that way -- you have to use a box that converts the music to digital and sends it via USB port to the software, and the box should have XLR inputs for mics and 1/4" inputs as well. Only problem is Amazon has so many of those boxes, I can't decide which one to buy. I want the Lexicon since they are masters of high quality sound recording, but some of the bad reviews make me worry. With musical devices, sometimes you just end up with a unit that has manufacturing defects, and unfortunately those people post bad ratings and make it seem like the product itself is to blame.

Very pleased

This microphone delivers perfect quality audio for podcasting or voiceover work. As with any microphone, your surroundings affect the overall quality, but in my DIY VO Booth, this mic delivers every time!

I love this mic I have a song on iTunes and amazon that's I recorded on it search "Fat Meech" it's a good mic got it paired with a focusrite

As many of you stated before, I was extremely hesitant to buy a mic that was only around $80 but I decided to try it anyway.. let me tell you.. this is the best mic I have ever had! I've purchased more expensive mics in the past and nothing comes close to this one! Extremely clear and easy to use! I fully reccomend this product!!SIDE NOTE: The pop filter sucks however, so you might wanna invest in a better one. It's not very flexible

Great Product

This arrived very fast and is a very clear saounding mic. It is fantastic for home recording of vocals....It is a condenser Mic so it is not so great for recording a band

Great quality way better than my USB Blue Yeti in certain ways, only thing is the audio gets picked up too easily (background audio) unless I'm not using it right ? But for me that's how it is

Now I want to make this clear, the only thing keeping this from a perfect score is the screw. Let me explain. After an abusive 3 years the crappy metal of the screw that tightens the Mic's position turned to dust... simple 4$ fix at home depot. I forget the exact screw size but it was slightly smaller that standard. So with a tiny tiny bit of force I put the new screw in and boom...never break with high quality screw metal.PS: if you get this mic make sure the front of it is facing you. I had this confusion when all of the sudden the sound was s***. But after holding up the mic to a light i saw that this is not a all directional mic and there is a right side to talk in to. Boom fix

This microphone is simply the best for anyone looking to get started with audio recording. The price is right and it's durable enough to put up with improper handling such as small drops or rough plugging/unplugging. The sound quality is fantastic and can stand up to professional recordings. It is also very versatile and will record anything you want to record elegantly.The case itself is nice and sturdy and the shock mount is really cool looking, not to mention functional.Personally, I find myself having to turn the gain up all the way to properly record with it but that might have something to do with me damaging it rather than a factory defect.

If you are all about owning the best in the world-- go pay the price and buy the best.But I can say that for the home recording set up I have (1 or 2 mics into a digital recorder-- acoustic guitar and voice), this is a nice microphone.Upgrading from a dynamic mic, this takes some learning: for example there is a definite recognizable difference in just a 6 inch variation in instrument direction and I think a pop filter would be useful for voice not only for its obvious purpose but to standardize the distance from the mic, as this also has a noticeable effect with only a few inches difference in distance making quite a difference in the presence. A lot of the post-processing I was doing before is now no longer necessary-particularly the bass end has cleaned up a lot and is no longer muddy and the ability to get the songs to sound good on a wide variety playback equipment is much easier now.At its usual price around $100 it might be worth sorting through the others in that price range to see how it compares -- at the $49 price they were selling it for in the sale-- it was well worth just buying.

This mic is...ok. It sounds decent, as long as you have the supporting equipment. And that's the thing. You need a compressor(with gate), and a mixer, and a pre-amp. The main thing is that this is not a plug and play mic, nor is the audio exactly crystal clear. Still, for 60$, I'm pretty happy. My next mic will most likely be the Heil PR40 or the Shure SM7. You do pay for quality with equipment like this. But this is a serviceable option as a starter or backup. Also, starting with a condenser helps you train, as it will pick up mouth sounds that dynamics will ignore.

I bought the MXL990 to replace an old mic that frustrated me with it's hall effect whenever recording. The old mic was used in a sound proof studio with padding so I couldn't understand why this problem existed except for the fact that it was a low-end mic. After receiving the MXL990 I immediately hooked it up and heard a big difference. There was no hall effect and the mic meshed voice with beat effortlessly. I'm so glad I made the choice of purchasing this mic and for what it cost it was a heck of a deal. I would recommend the MXL990 to any aspiring artist looking to take the next step toward professional recording.

For the price, this mic is great. It's easy to set up, records beautifully, and it looks super professional. I use this with the Scarlett 2i2 interface, and for its price, it can't be beat. The only reason I gave it 4 stars rather than 5 is because the stand isn't very sturdy. It's made of metal and tightens nicely, but often tips at the slightest little nudge. That of course, is a very small price to pay for this mic. I seriously recommend.

 This kit fits my needs. I like the sound quality of the Mic and I am not experiencing echo problems or the mic picking up extraneous sounds. Since I recently purchased the mic, I am testing it in different scenarios, mostly singing and speaking since that is what I purchased it for, largely narration and voice over work.The pop filter is a good size and does the job. The mic stand could be more solid, it is intended for a lighter mic, and I think the seller should've bundled a mic stand that is more stable for a heavy mic. Not a deal breaker, just need to carefully tighten the boom and make sure you have balanced the mic.In lieu of posting just pictures, I recorded a little video with me singing comically (just messing around, no serious singing here) to show you the mic on the stand and allow you to hear the quality of the mic.The mic did pick up my keyboard playing, because the speakers were right below the mic. If you are recording in your home studio, I recommend laying the music track and then singing to the music as opposed to playing and singing together, unless, you have soundproofed the singer and mic from the musical instruments.

I have been using this mic with Alesis 4Ch USB Mixer into MacBook Pro for home recordings of songs and it has been a wonderful mic combo for me. Haven't been experiencing the hiss that some people have mentioned on several sights with this mic or the Alesis 4Ch USB Mixer. It's been a great addition in the first stage of building a home studio. sound, at times, can be a little thin - the only reason I gave it a 4* rating - but this may be the mixer as it has no Mid adjustment on it... or it could be my novice experience.

Bundle is nice assortment, with three caveats: the gooseneck on the pop filter isn't quite strong enough to hold up the weight of the filter, so it sags, the microphone is heavy enough that you have to crank the mike boom very tight to get it to hold, and the folded size of the mike stand is quite long, making it a bit awkward to pack.

You get what you pay for, and a little more I think. The stand is basic, and everything else is standard. For the price you pay, the mic is pretty decent. Definitely something great for beginners.

Seems Like an ok mic for its price, I've been recording on microphone with higher price than this one & yet i can't tell the different. But beware that you will need isolation & acoustic foam if you do not like the echos off the wall in your recordings.

This mic is cheap for a reason. Because it's really not that great. I don't mean that sarcastically I am telling you this as an experienced voice actor of over 23 years. Accomplished singers and voice actors know of something called self noise. Microphones produce that noise in the condenser from phantom power. Anyone that is involved specifically with vocals / voice work or singing needs to get a mic that really has low self noise. This mic does not. A good rule of thumb is if the advertisement for the microphone doesn't mention low self noise the mic likely doesn't have it. For those working out of the home studio spend at least $300 in soundproofing getting good acoustic foam bass traps for the corners to really soundproof your recording space. But that isn't enough! The other must have is a microphone that has low self noise. I happen to know for a fact this microphone has a high self noise rate. If you are someone looking to record audio books or medical narration for example that is a real problem considering those don't have music so you only hear voice and voice only. Obviously if you are purchasing this microphone to record musical instruments this is not that big of an issue for you. But if you are looking at using this for anything vocal voice do not buy it - spend the extra money and buy a $300 or more microphone that has low self noise - the lost jobs will total way more then the price difference.

First, I bought this mic as a donor. I stripped it bare and used the body and frame to build up a much nicer mic using a custom omni/cardoid capsule, a custom capsule mount, and a custom PCB I stuffed, soldered, etc. I built the mic for double duty as a recording and radio mic. The results are nothing short of awesome. I have a multi-thousand dollar quality mic with less than $500 in it including the c-note I dropped on this donor. The mic body and shock mount were professionally powder coated flat black to match my Heil boom (also purchased via Amazon) and the rest of my studio.... The champagne color is simply awful...Here's the not good part... The T-screw in the shock mount pivot point is super cheap pot metal and will not hold the mic position securely without twisting in half... mine did. AND the through hole side of the shock mount pivot snapped off even before that... also cheap casting...Now, I have a mic and no mount... and I refuse to rigid mount a condenser mic or hang it by the cord... That would be criminal.IF you purchase this mic, and it's decent enough for the money, DO NOT place ANY of the price on the utility of the shock mount... It is garbage.Now I have to go find a quality shock mount that will properly secure AND fit the MXL-990 body. And I can't finish testing and/or use the mic til I do.

This microphone is what I would consider an entry level microphone. For doing podcasting and making your youtube videos it is great. Of course a condenser mic is going to pic up much more background noise. That being said if you use audio editing software like audacity or Adobe you can remove that noise with ease. The construction is solid. That being said, please do not think this is a mic to use to break into the voice over biz.

Ive had this mic for some time now and it just plain works. I wouldn't call it a good studio mic but for general usage (dj or some vocals) it does it job.

i ordered this mic a few months back for my studio hobbyist pleasure. while the mic its self is prefect for my needs the shock mount needs some work the retention screw on the arm does not hold position at all after a few days it is useless

I bought this mic so that I could record narrations for projects for my audio production course. I agree with other reviews that state that the sound is a bit muddy, but that's easily corrected with EQ. It's a good beginner mic, just remember to buy a pop filter for it.

I hate the stand. It is not sturdy at all. The pop filter just doesn't bend correctly to cover the mic. I would purchase the mic separately with out this stand.

The high mids in this mic can make your vocals sound unnatural. Especially when applying a high pass filter. It has a great bass sound but not much more to offer after that, especially for "harsh" vocals in music. It is nice for beginners though. I will be returning it.

This microphone, while looking really nice, started out being really good sounding in my studio. It very quickly however developed a really harsh buzz, followed by complete cutting out (no voice transmission at all for a few seconds at a time, followed by a loud popping sound). Ultimately, I had to put it away and use my MXL 770 instead. I like the deeper, warmer sound of the 990, but it's too flaky to trust.

Cheap quality.

Purchased this microphone to record vocals. Sound quality isn't inherently bad, even when compared with more expensive house-hold names. It contains the normal characteristics of an inexpensive condenser microphone (i.e. bright high-end, however that is nothing that can not be controlled with the use of an equalizer). Where price reductions become truly apparent is in the build quality of the microphone. It only lasted 3 months before failing. You would be smart to avoid this microphone. As always, you get what you pay for. If you are looking to buy a usable condenser microphone, set your budget at $150 or more.

The arrival time of the product was fine but when we received it there were no instructions enclosed and we had to go online to figure out how to connect it to our laptop. There was also no cord to attach it to the laptop so we had to make another purchase which took a longer time for us to get to using the product we bought. When we finally had all of the parts the microphone didn't work and it was so disappointing for my daughter. I don't think the description of the item was detailed enough and was very misleading to someone purchasing this item. You need to be more specific when describing what is included with the microphone, especially when you think you will be able to use it as soon as you open it up. Would be wary of buying used again.

Too much hype here. Not as crisp and clear as some reviewers suggest.This microphone is an ok hobbyist tool. But it is anything but something to use for more than that.Notes:1) Emits a foul sharp odor that smells like burning plastic. Sometimes, makes me want to choke and cough.2) You have to direct your voice into the area above the label else it sounds "lost"3) Has a tinge of a deep, lower bass sound from it.4) For vocals, if you have to hit a loud note, it breaks up miserably. You have to back off the mic a good 12 inches to avoid this. And it sounds really horrible.Overall a decent microphone for the price. Well built, sturdy construction. Nice extra with the shock mount. But you get what you pay for.Update 1/2/13:Backing this down to 2 stars.The shock mount screws as they sit into the shock mount ring will no longer fit as they worse out. I can no longer use the mount with a mic stand because the outer ring wore out.

Does not have the sound that it should have.

Before I had this mic Ive always used USB microphones for studio recordings. I am by far more impressed with my old USB microphone than this condenser mic. I found the quality of this mic to be very muddy, it sounds like you threw a blanket over the mic after you listen to your recording. Ive been messing with this mic for 6 months now and I gave up on it. While recording I found I had to stand back about 5 feet from the mic for it to pick up a smooth clear voice, which is unacceptable if your a rapper. If I had one good thing to say about the the MXL 990 is that it sounds fantastic if your looking to record using an acoustic guitar. With that being said, if your serious about quality and clarity when it comes to singing or rapping, just keep looking. This mic I assume, would be better for podcasting. The MXL Studio1-USB mic is what I have used before and it has great clarity and sound.[...] If you want to hear the great sound of the MXL Studio1-USB mic. check out my youtube video/song using this song. Sounds super clean.

We can't get the microphone to work. I bought it for my son for Christmas who lives in another state. He called amazon and was told I have to call since I purchased it! He even went to Best Buy and talked to the Geek Squad to see if he needed additional equipment. We still dont' have it working!

Its very muddy like everybody else said do like i didnt and listen 2 them this mic is very clear but ima rapper and this mic did no good for me

I bought this mic, it did not work. I sent it back and got a replacement, it still did not work. That is all.