MXL 990 Condenser Microphone Review

March 3rd, 2008 Posted in Audio, Reviews |

Having worked in both a recording studio and radio stations, I’ve been around my fair share of microphones. Microphones are usually in the “you get what you pay for” category, but there are a few exceptions.

The obvious are the Shure SM57 and SM58, the industry standards for workhorse microphones. You know you’re always getting quality at a low price with those, but there are others out there that offer good sound at a reasonable price.

Working in radio, I found myself doing a lot of work from home, particularly voice over work. I had an SM58 and used that for remotes and live voice work, but I needed something for my home studio that would give me my best chance of getting the quality sound I could get at the station.

In the studios at the radio stations, the usual suspects were the Shure SM7B and the Electro-Voice RE20, both great voice microphones. These were the mics I was trying to duplicate at a lower cost. The first one I got was the Behringer B1. Not a terrible microphone, but if you have less than perfect acoustics in the room you’re recording in, this mic will bring out the worst in the room. I got by for a while on this mic, but I had to do so much cleaning up of my work that it eventually wasn’t worth it anymore.

The next mic I tried was the MXL 990. At somewhere like $60, it was a bit skeptical of it’s ability. I had used an MXL at the radio station once or twice in one of the production studios and was impressed, so I gave this one a shot. I made a good call. The MXL 990 is a very quality microphone.

The MXL 990 has great warmth and depth, which was what I was looking for in a voice over microphone. I was a bit worried that this mic would do the same thing as the Behringer with my questionable acoustics, but alas, it handled the room noise much better. It is a naturally quiet microphone and handled everything I asked of it quite well. I’ve even recorded guitars with it with good results.

This microphone will never be confused with a Neumann, but it gets the job done. If you are looking for something better than what they have at Radio Shack, and want something versatile, this may be you’re microphone. I would recommend this microphone for the home radio worker (like me), as well as the podcaster. If you have decent acoustics and do voice work on a regular basis, this microphone will suit you well.

I would rank the MXL 990 as one of the top microphones under $300 that isn’t a Shure SM57 or SM 58. The fact that you can get it for less than $60 is just a bonus. If you’re on a budget and are looking for a good microphone, I can safely recommend the MXL 990. Once your budget goes up, so do your options, but this is a very serviceable microphone. When you combine the overall quality of this microphone with it’s miniature price tag, you get a product everyone who records should have. At the very least, even if you have a bunch of expensive pro equipment, you should throw an MXL 990 into your arsenal because it’s quality is so much higher than it’s price tag.

This microphone is recommended by ThingsThatIKnow.com

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