Audio-Technica 4050/CM5

I??ve been making music for +25 years. My recording experience is average. I??ve tried out from 4 Track Tape recorders, over PC (Cakewalk, Cubase, etc) to finally end up as a full Mac User and Logic Pro. I finally manage to do decent demos that sound pretty good (compared to all that old crap I was experiencing with, but hey... learning by doing, right?)
My hardware is far from being what I call professional (at least compared to professional studios with all the stuff that costs millions). In fact I dont use that much gear:
Mac PPC 1,8 GHz Dual with 3,5 Gb RAM
EDIROL FA-66 Firewire Interface
Logic Pro 6

I have had the Mike for about 7 years. I use it with a Mindprint En-Voice Preamp and sometimes a Boss SX-700 effect.

I have used the Mike for singing live and recording voice such as acoustic Guitars (6 and 12 string) and had wonderful results. It has a great sound quality and I wouldnt trade it for any other mike (I??d rather just add another one to the collection if needed)

So far, I really would praise to the maximum, if only it wouldnt have broken down a few months ago for no reason (at least, I dont remember dropping it or anything that would have caused the problem, the mike also still looks like new)
I took it to the shop and it had to be sent away to Leeds (UK) for repair. After 5 weeks I got it back with a bill of ???250.- (approx $340.-) !!!!!

For a mike that costs about $600.-, thats a horrendous amount of money, but what could I do... maybe it shows, how much I love it ;-) Hopefully it never dies on me again...

therefore my rating will be much lower than it may deserve... too bad...

I have over 10 years recording experience.
I work freelance at two local professional studios as well as my project studio.
I record to DAW ProTools and Digital Performer through Mackie 824's.

The 4050 is a multipattern large diaphram condensor mic. I have used the mic on just about everything. Vocals, acoustic guitar, guitar amp, drums, etc. This is a great mic that is extremely versatile. With multi-patterns, a pad, and a LF rolloff, the mic has some nice built in features. I would recommend this mic in your collection in a heartbeat. If you want a mic that tends to not colour the sound, this does a great job. True the shockmount lacks a little. Try using this mic on a guitar cabinet or combo amp. Does a great job for rock guitar!

Making music for 20+ years all including recording experience.
Using Cubase SX, ADATS, Nuendo ++
Monitor of Mackie 824 with 20/20 sub and Toa 265me.

Large diaphram condenser. A co-writer owns this mic and we used it in my studio for 7 years before upgrading.

This is a very respectable mic, but we haven't used it since 2000.
I can definitely tell the difference between it and the U87 and I even like a CAD E200 a little better. I've used it to record to analog tape, ADATs, and DAWs and it has performed adequately for vocals - Never used it on any other source.

When we were using it, there was not a huge selection of sub $1,000.00 mics. Now there are so many it's not such an easy choice. It's unfair to compare it to mics like the u87 which are close to $3K.

So...I'll just say for the time we used it, we had no complaints and as a used mic at a good price it would not be a bad choice for those financially disadvantaged musicians that we all appear to be.

10 Years, record to Vegas Audio

The AT4050/CM5 is a very good multi-pattern, large-diaphragm condenser mic. It is a must for any studio. It could act as your main LDC or an addition to an already extensive collection. I would say the only thing I don't like about the mic is the shock mount. It's very flimsy and placing the mic inside of it can sometimes be a difficult process. As frail as the shock mount is, the mic itself is very rugged. I've used them in the studio and on remote productions. The 4050/CM5 is to LDC's what the SM-57 is to dynamic mics; A durable, yet versatile work-horse that sounds great on anything.