Audio-Technica AT2020 Cardioid Condenser Studio XLR Microphone, Ideal for Project/Home Studio Applications, Black | Project/Home Studio Applications, Black

The Audio-Technica AT2020 has been my trusted microphone for the past 10 years, and it continues to perform as flawlessly as the day I bought it. Here's my detailed breakdown: Build Quality & Durability Appearance: The microphone looks pristine, with no visible wear and tear despite a decade of use. Occasionally, I notice some dust accumulation since I only use it weekly, but this is minor. Durability: I’ve never needed to repair any part of this mic—it's built to last. Performance & Sound Quality Consistency: The sound quality has remained totally consistent over time. Popping Sounds: While it does pick up popping like any other mic, it seems to handle and disperse them better than others in this price range. Sensitivity: It’s a highly sensitive mic, which can be both a pro and a con depending on your setup. Without software filters, it picks up ambient noise easily, but with proper settings, it’s fantastic. Noise Issues: Occasionally, I’ve encountered noise and interference, though I believe this was due to a faulty cable rather than the microphone itself. Usage & Versatility Applications: I’ve used the AT2020 for voice acting, Twitch streaming, YouTube videos, voice calls, and music recording. It performs exceptionally in all scenarios. Studio vs. Untreated Spaces: While it excels in a studio setting, it holds its own in untreated spaces when paired with good software. Programs like Voicemod help resolve minor environmental issues effectively. Comparison to Others: I haven’t done a direct comparison, but based on my experience, it competes with microphones 2–3 times its price. Ease of Use Setup: The AT2020 is truly plug-and-play. Setting up the microphone stand will likely take you more time than getting the mic ready to use. Sensitivity Learning Curve: Initially, the mic's sensitivity posed some challenges, but once I learned how to properly adjust my preamp settings, it became a non-issue. Design & Value Design: The sleek design is aesthetically pleasing and practical. My only critique would be that the groove for the mic stand could be a bit more pronounced for a more secure latch. Value: This microphone is an outstanding value. It cost nearly double when I purchased it compared to today’s price, and I would still recommend it even at the higher cost. Longevity & Overall Impressions Longevity: When I purchased this mic, I knew it would be a long-term investment. Still, I’m impressed to realize it’s been 10 years, and I can easily see myself using it for another decade. Recommendation: For beginners, this is an ideal microphone. Even experienced users might appreciate its quality, although higher-end options are available for those who want premium features. Final Thoughts The Audio-Technica AT2020 is the definition of reliability and value. It’s affordable, durable, and delivers professional-quality results across a wide range of applications. Whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned creator, this microphone is an investment you won’t regret. Rating: 5/5 Stars

This is a professional studio microphone that's easy to use and provides high quality sound. Mounting is easy to a standard microphone stand and the pickup from close to further away is excellent. These have been used for a church play and in a home studio and during Zoom meetings. Do note, a 48 volt phantom power is required, so a pre-amp may be needed, depending on your setup for compatibility. The AT202 functions well and is compatible with any amplifier system. Great for home or professional use.

IM SO SORRY BUT THIS IS MY NEW FAVORITE MIC EVER UNLESS I UPGRADE because this mic is so POWERFUL and I mean this mic could pick up the sounds of ants talking. I've never been exposed to such a powerful mic. Yes like they said YOU GOTTA TURN YOUR GAIN UP but once you get that to the level you want THERE IS NOTHING THIS MIC WONT PICK UP. I could leave this mic laying in the livingroom and still hear everything its picking up from the bedroom even if a bug walked across the bed this mic is sure to pick up that frequency. I've used this mic to PROFESSIONALLY RECORD MY OWN MUSIC and the way it makes me sound is so great its pleasing to my ears and CRYSTAL CLEAR. I love the power of this mic and I highly recommend it and will be purchasing another to have as a BACK UP. Just make sure when you are using it to turn on your PHANTOM POWER. This mic requires 48V or what most know as PHANTOM POWER to work correctly as stated. So other then that this is a great product and if you dont get it your missing out. I think everyone doing something professionally should have at least this mic. ENJOY

Before I plugged this mike in, I thought I would probably describe it as "crisp". After using it awhile, the words I have for it are "neutral" and "transparent". I suppose I could also say it is "sensitive" and "open". I know that I'm sounding like a bad wine critic, but there is a degree of experience that cannot be transferred through response graphs. There are other condenser mics available for lower prices. AT is a brand name known for value & adequate quality. I prefer to go with the known than to risk a less expensive brand. Another reviewer mentioned that he dropped one of these and it survived, which is unexpected for this type of mic. Downsides: * I remember when mics in this price range came with a padded metal box. You should save the foam padding & perhaps the cardboard box, and create safe storage for it. * Requires phantom power. I'm not sure what "Fixed-charge back plate, permanently polarized condenser" means.; it does have an output without the 48VDC, but it sounds much better when powered. * This mic will pick up every audible sound, so you need to be careful about what's going on in your environment. * Due to the appearance of this front-address mic, people will assume that they should speak into the end of it rather than the front. * If you want a vintage sound, you should get a tube preamp. As I said, I consider this mic's sound to be largely uncolored. * It doesn't say "Neumann" on it. Anywhere. I recommend this for use in controlled environments such as the home studio. On the road, you should probably be looking at a dynamic mic. Same if you don't have a mixer with phantom power. For professional use, you might want to give up a little more cash. For podcasters, perhaps a USB mic.

I will have two reviews on here, the "Basic Review For Beginners" and the "Audiophile Review." I will also have a section after the basic review that talks about the required equipment you need/should buy/obtain and hopefully already have (unlikely) to properly utilize the microphone. -Basic Review For Beginners- The AT2020 (XLR) Cardioid Condenser Microphones is perfect for beginners and newbies! The AT2020 is a good starter microphone but perhaps not the best, but it will still give you your money's worth, not to mention Audio Technica is an internationally trusted brand. For the use by beginners, amateurs, and 'some' semi-professionals (not really recommended for that last category) who are looking for a budget microphone for use in making music, podcasting, and voicovers it is a good condenser microphone. Also, if you get this, it's a sensitive piece of technology. Be careful with it and do your research, trust me. -Equipment Information- You will need/have to buy additional equipment to use this. Now this is not the company trying to screw you over (except not providing you with an XLR cable, that's just rude). Buying any XLR Microphone requires that you buy equipment to go with it so it can properly function. You are entering the peripheral of the world of professional recording, congratulations, it's expensive. The equipment needed is as follows, assuming you have a computer, you better have a computer... 1. Three-Pin XLR to XLR balanced cable. This is usually the standard (most common) XLR cable used and found. One end will plug into your mic and the other must plug into our next item... 2. USB Audio Interface and/or dedicated mic preamp MUST HAVE 48V PHANTOM POWER FOR MIC TO OPERATE. The XLR plugs into this and then the interface plugs into your computer via USB. Most interfaces already have 48V switchable phantom power so don't let this disuade you from purchasing this mic. I recommend doing a little research on interfaces before making a final purchase. 3. Mic Stand - You need somewhere to put your mic, period. Make sure you get a stand with the right size grooves or whatever that term is. Recommended/You Really Should Buy This Equipment: (If you're using this mic and you want the best possible sound and/or you're doing it semiprofessionally, I highly recommend buying the following) 1. Pop Filter/Windscreen - This prevents something called "plosives" from distorting or peaking your audio, it makes it sound better. Certain consonants seem to be picked up by the mic very easily and create an uneven listening experience so pop filters can almost completely fix this. Almost any different brand pop filter would do, they're very generic, common, and inexpensive. When I mention pop filter, in that I also mean windscreen. They do the same thing with the tiniest of already minor differences. I've seen these things referred to as pop filter, windscreen, recording shield, sound absorbing foam cover, foam mic cover, acoustic filter, pop screen, pop shield, mic screen. Any of those and/or any combination of any of those words and you've found it. They all do the same thing with very minor differences. If you really wanna know the specifics, google. 2. Headphones - I would get studio headphones for mixing because most headphones have enhancement features that change the sound while studio headphones provide an accurate representation of the sound, being designed to have a flat frequency response. The headphones I use are Beyerdynamic DT 770 Studio 80 Ohm which is the exact same as the DT 770 Pro 80 Ohm except the Studio says "Studio" on the side instead of "Pro." I wanted to feel special, leave me alone. Also, the Audio Technica ATH-M40x are really good. Now! For those of you curious about how the AT2020 compares in the ears of an audiophile, listen up... -Audiophile Review- • Condenser microphones by nature are more sensitive, but on the spectrum of condenser microphones the AT2020 is on the less sensitive end. • It can handle loud sounds without distorting. • The self noise (the noise the microphone makes by simply operating) is a little too loud in my opinion. It's 20 dB(A) which is on the louder side of professional condenser mics. Most are around 15-19 dB(A) I would say and that's pretty good. For some reason that one extra dba kills me. But I'm an audiophile and I notice things like that. • This isn't an audio thing but it's durable and that's nice. Now don't go throwing it against a wall or intentionally dropping it for that will most likely break it. • Only use it in a studio and/or controlled and/or low noise environment. It's not meant to be a stage microphone meaning not live performances. This isn't a critique but a tidbit of information. • It's quite sensitive to handling noise, so try not to touch it while recording. Buy a shock mount to reduce noise from the floor! • Please god soundtreat and soundproof your rooms, there is a difference. • It struggles with plosives and you could move the mic further away to combat this, but you would need the mic closer to combat the high self noise but that would make plosives worse, so this is paradoxical... Pop filter I guess but even then pop filter only reduces the plosives so much. Don't get me wrong, pop filters can get rid of (my personal guesstimate based on experience being) around 80-85% which is good. • Mic struggles with sibilant sounds but that's a little complicated for me to explain so... Google. • Has very midrange audio specs so you do you. OVERALL: Not bad... If you're willing to shell out a little more money for something better because you want to go professional, and you're 100% sure, then go ahead. But if you're unsure and this is you dipping your toe in the water, go ahead and buy the AT2020. It's pretty good for a beginner mic. Just please don't buy USB mics, those make me sad. Self noise is my biggest personal complaint. Plosives really aren't that bad though there are others that say different, I disagree, just get a pop filter. Pop filters or windscreens should just be mandatory requirements for owning a mic. Also, it's interesting how they don't provide you with an XLR cable, it's kind of just a common courtesy, one they don't extend. Overall, not bad.

Not super educated on ALL the DIFFERENT mics out there, but this is perfect for recording in my apartment with simple hardware and limited DAW accessories. It sounds great, and will clearly last me a while with my personal use. For this price, i don't think you can find a better microphone. It taks 48V Phantom power, so you do need to know a little about what you're doing to get it hot and 2 minutes of YouTube will teach you how.

I purchased this mic to get into the XLR microphone game and to get away from using USB microphones since USB microphones tend to cause a lot more white noise due to them picking up the vibrations from the computer itself and the motherboard sounds. Electricity sure can be wild. My first impression is wow, this made a massive difference. The sound is much clearer, much more precise, and much cleaner. I have used XLR microphones in the past but this Audio Technica mic is absolutely an amazing, "Bang for Buck," purchase. The mic could easily be sold in much higher price ranges even with it only supporting the cardioid listening pattern. While recording with this mic for voiceover and acting it has worked phenomenally and far outperforms my Yeti microphones. It has also been amazing for use in things like Discord for gaming and my friends have certainly noticed the difference as well between this mic and the Yeti mic. While there are differences between the USB mic and the XLR mic there is a HUGE difference between this mic and a headset mic. This microphone is a vast improvement over the headset I was using, the Astro A50 for gaming and allows for much more versatility and comfort when gaming, especially when combined with a Scarlett Digital Audio Interface or an Aokeo Boom Arm. I would strongly recommend this microphone to anyone who is wanting to get into voice acting or voiceover work as this is an amazing microphone when paired with the right peripherals for doing so. I would also recommend this microphone for anyone that is wanting to upgrade their sound quality when talking to their friends in Discord or that is wanting to use this microphone for streaming as it will look amazing on a stream and it will sound even better than it looks!

Firstly, the audio technica AT2020 is a great mic based off of you're needs for a microphone. Also you should be informed that I am not just some random person buying a microphone I actually co run a sound company with my friend for a couple years now and we have used almost all of the most popular microphones on the market from the Shure sm58 and 57 to the blue snowball and Samsung meteor.If you're looking for a nice one person recording session microphone then it will serve the purpose however know that this microphone doesn't have a cardioid pattern and thereby picks up every extra noise in the background unless you have it surrounded in sound foam (Which I would always suggest having in any kind of recording environment). So that means if you're searching for a microphone which you can use for interviews or podcasts and only want to use one mic then this will be great for that. It has a great sound quality and picks up most noises and pitches well. However if you are say trying to start a YouTube gaming channel then this is won't be great unless you are using it correctly for your environment. Also know that if your not running sound foam around this thing and using it while at your desk then it will pick up every single key press to chair squeak in the room more than likely unless you set it to only pick up very loud noises. Also know that if you try strapping this into a anti-vibration mount for a boom arm or something it barely makes it. I got the Newman boom arm to go with this to attach to my desk and I barely squeezed it into it without removing the padding which makes it ant vibration,even extending it using pliers almost and it will leave a ring if you get it in and try to take it out afterwards. Just leave this review knowing it's a great microphone currently but it has it's better purposes unless you utilize it accordingly to your needs by adjusting your environments to it.

Bundan önce Behringer C-1 kullanıyordum, harfleri çok sert alıyordu ve bass frekansları çok yüksekti, sürekli EQ'da lowcut yapmak zorunda kalıyordum. Bu mikrofonun frekansları daha yumuşak ve net olarak sesi alıyor. EQ olarak çok az ayar yapmaya ihtiyaç duyuluyor. Düşünmeden alabilirsiniz. Vokal ve enstrüman kayıtları için daha üzeri pahalı mikrofonlar sınıfına giriyor.

高音質でとても気に入ってます。 歌のレコーディング、通話、配信などの用途がありますが よく調べて選ぶことを進めます。 1. 歌のレコーディング 向いている点 ・コンデンサーマイクで感度が高く、繊細な音を拾える ・低価格帯としては解像度が高く、ボーカル録音に十分 ・自宅録音や宅録用途に最適 向いていない点 ・スタジオ用高級マイクに比べるとハイエンド感や豊かさがやや劣る ・ダイナミックレンジや低域の迫力は上位モデルに比べると控えめ ・ノイズ対策やポップガード必須（「ポップノイズ」「息の音」を拾いやすい） 2. 配信・実況・ゲームボイス 向いている点 ・クリアで明瞭な音声を拾える ・USBではなくXLR接続（AT2020はXLRモデル）が基本なので、オーディオインターフェイスを通せば高品質 ・配信・実況のマイクとしては十分に使える 向いていない点 ・USBモデルではない場合、オーディオインターフェイスが必須 ・周囲の環境音も拾いやすいので、防音環境がないと「生活音」や「PCファン音」を拾う ・ダイナミックマイクに比べるとデスク上での距離管理がシビア ・本体にミューとボタンはない まとめ：静かな環境なら配信に適している。カジュアルなデスク環境だと少し扱いに注意。 通話（Zoom、Teams、discordなど） 向いている点 ・音質はかなり良く、声がクリアに伝わる 向いていない点 ・コンデンサーマイクなので距離や環境ノイズに敏感 ・通常のヘッドセットやUSBマイクに比べて手軽さがない ・オーディオインターフェイスが必要なので設定が面倒 まとめ：音質重視の通話ならOK。ただし「簡単・即接続」を求めるならヘッドセットやUSBマイクの方が向く。 非常に高感度で微細な音を拾えるのが良い点ですが逆に短所にもなりえます。 後、スタンドやアームと合わせるとデスクスペースをかなりとるので 人によってはストレスに感じることもあると思います。 悪い評価みたいになってしまいましたが、物自体はとても気に入っているので★5です！ 人によっては合わないかもなので注意として書いておきました！

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Das Audio-Technica AT2020 Mikrofon hat mich wirklich überrascht, wie klar und natürlich es für den Preis klingt. Die stimme kommt knackig durch, ohne hart zu klingen, und es fängt ein schönes Maß an Details, sowohl für das Sprechen als auch für die Aufnahme von leichter Musik ein. Das kardioide Muster konzentriert sich gut auf die Stimme und reduziert gleichzeitig Hintergrundgeräusche, was es ideal für Streaming, Voiceovers oder Podcasts macht. Die Verarbeitungsqualität fühlt sich auch solide und zuverlässig an. Nur beachten: Es ist ein XLR-Mikrofon, also benötigt man eine Audioschnittstelle oder einen Mixer, um es zu verwenden. Insgesamt ein ausgezeichnetes Einsteiger-Kondensatormikrofon, das über seinem Preispunkt schlägt.

Antes de comprar, pesquisei. Agora, usando, posso atestar que o microfone da AT é tudo aquilo que as resenhas diziam. Eu ainda não tinha ouvido minha voz desse jeito! Muito bom, a um custo acessível.