Audio Technica AT2040 Hypercardioid Dynamic Podcast Microphone

Very nice microphone. Needs a pre-amp but does not need a 48v phantom power. I use it for streaming and everyone noticed improved audio quality.

As an ex disc jocker for a local radio station, I bought this mike to do some voice tracking and some commercial announcements for them, so I was looking for a microphone with good clear audio and a nice frequency response. Hooking this through my Beringer mixer, it produced exactly what I needed, and my spots are regularly heard on the air.As an added benefit, it works very nicely witlh my amateur radio transceiver as well, producing great audio. Very pleased with the results.

This mic is Honestly one of the best Budget broadcast microphones you can get!The build quality is there! All metal aside from the mounting clip. The threaded adapter is plastic, but it works. The grill has no give, and it looks good!I would invest in some time in some EQ software to get the most out of this microphone, just like with any other. From personal experience the AT2040 only needs minimal adjustments to soften the mids (your core speaking voice), that being said your voice will be different. I am confident it will still need minimal adjustments, as I have listened to female speak into it as well and the higher pitch female voices sound great. A foam windscreen would help with this as well, and I personally recommend it just to keep the mic clean and the ease of cleaning.That being said it has some built in EQ with a high pass filter kicking in at 80hz, to try and keep the mic from picking up your real low thumps like steps on the floor or table bumps.It also has some of the most off axis projection I have seen on a mic, speaking 90 degrees off from the speaking surface I can barely hear myself.Now I do power this with the Elgato Wave XLR with Phantom Power off, since Dynamic mics don’t require it. BUT this mic needs some Serious gain to sound good, which is normal for Dynamic as well. I don’t use the Elgato software, but I’m around the 45 gain mark or so, my microphone volume from the elgato is set to 97 in my windows which is darn near max, but it is what it requires to get decent sound from it. If you see a review saying its quiet then question if their gain was set too low!The Rhode Podmic is its biggest contender in the budget category and you couldn’t go wrong with it either, but I digress as this is a review of the AT2040For $100 and minimal EQ adjustments this thing is a great deal!

Good mic for studio with a pleasant sound in mid range voice. The rejection of noise away from the front is impressive and will help depending on studio setup. Used as a guest mic when others are in the room and it does great at giving voice to the guest while not picking up the primary or other chatter around the room.

Going from a cheap mic to the AT2040 is a major jump. The quality is so much better than what I previously owned.

This mic is ultra tight cardiod. Off axis rejection is extreme. S/N is very good for a dynamic mic which always need more gain than a +48v condenser. The build is quite solid and a bit heavy, ( Why ?) It has no Lo cut or pad. It rolls off a little early and has no deep bottom, but mids are fine and reaches upward more than any hyper cardiod mic I've tried. It's not crisp, but is more bright than dark. It has NO proximity effect ! You can swallow it without getting boomy. Perfect for harmonica players ? My use is to isolate drum kit elements in a studio setting. I need 2 or 3 more. Unscrew the capsule guard and remove the front foam for a little more treble.

For just $99, this mic is an incredible value. Paired with a GoXLR, it excels in noisy environments by effectively cutting out background noise. If you have the option to toggle phantom power, I highly recommend experimenting with both settings to find your ideal sound profile, as each provides a unique tonal quality.

I originally saw a similar mic from some YouTuber and I decided to give it a try. It's pretty good. I did switch from a Rode mic to this just because I wanted something smaller and lighter.I'm not an audiophile so I can't give great comparisons, but as just a content creator, this gets the job done. Mic quality does sound slightly different between this and my previous Rode mic but I grew to like the audio coming from this one.