Audio-Technica AT2020

i have been making music now for 21 years, i have played in recording studio's as well as own my own personal studio. i purchased a tascam 2488mkii (which rocks) and this mic for portable recordabilty.

bang for buck this is a good mic. the atk 2020 stands out most in this area. in my project studio it works great and is a nice work horse. i placed it in front of my jc-120 and boss metalizer pedal and cranked it up. the mic took all i could give it distortion free. the mic however is very boomy and it really shows on acoustic guitar. you really have to cut the eq when using it acoustically. as far as construction i think it is built extremely well. as for vocals it does it's job. i would buy another one of these if this was lost or stolen.

I've been in bands for 25+ years and have been to several studio's. Hated the pressure and final results, so I'm a DIY recording ever since.
I use a simple DAW. PC AMD 1800+, 1GB memory, Terratec 6Fire, 2x 40GB HD's.

I use home-stereo stuff for listening/reference.

I've two AT2020 condenser mics and have used the to record everything on my bands demo CD.
It's a cheap mic, but it does a good job. It's capable of handling high SPL's. I have used two Behringer MIC-100 tube pre-amps.
Drums were recorded w/2 AT2020 mic Recorderman technique.
All vocal parts were recorded with the AT2020's as well as tambourines and several guitar parts.
Listen to the recordings on: myspace/weissmullertheband

Professional studio engineer, producer and session player. more than 30 years of professional experience.

This definitely offers the best bang for the buck as for build quality, versatility, professional performance and initial cost. It's built every bit as well as AT's top of the line mics like the 4050 and 4047 (which I've used), and is better built than any other mic in it's price range - period (and I've tried all of the cheapos like this). And to point out something to the guy that gave this a crappy review (lower down this web page), it shows how a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing.

Here are the correct facts about this mic's frequency response:
- it has superior low frequency response compared to the 2021 due to the open grill design, large resonant internal body, and other design choices. It is intentionally designed to sound different from the 2021 and every 2020 I've used has this same response. The low frequencies are NOT hyped at all, and in fact roll off slightly below 200 hz, but acoustic guitar creates a different interaction with a mic's proximity effect and the 2020 happens to capture a lot of lows on acoustic guitar unless you keep it at least 12" away from the instrument. This is by design and it is not a flaw at all, just learn to use the mic properly.
- this mic is not built in china, it's built in audio technica's own manufacturing plant elsewhere in the orient. It has no parts made in the same chinese factories as mics by apex, mxl, behringer, studio projects, etc etc the list goes on. This mic is built in the same factory as the 4047, the 4050, and the 4060, and is tested by the same people as those mics are QAd by. Any engineer that tells you differently is wrong, and any engineer that tells you they don't use high end AT mics hasn't got much experience.
- this mic has an incredibly flat frequency response, it isn't scooped at all, the only thing that is slightly non-linear in it's response (besides the very standard low frequency response) is the slight (3db) rise above around 7 or 8 khz (that frequency might be a speck off, I'm running from memory here). And it's more subtle than most mics in the sub-$500 price range. This mic does not have any problems with it's response in the c, d, and e range of an guitar, however many guitars have uneven responses, and many more guitarists have even more uneven playing techniques, and most importantly, many rooms have terrible responses, so it's most likely the room, followed by the player, followed by the guitar. Also, not every mic works with every guitar/guitarist. You have to experiment.

To summarize, this is an incredibly mic value and even despite it's price it's used in pro studios for recording acoustic guitar, just buy one and learn how to use it. Great mic. Wonderful value.

project studio, Sonar producer FW-1884, BAS 20/20, Studio Projects VTB1, guitars, bass, electronic drums, synths

Using for vocals. Great for the $$. For what I am doing its fine. Knocks the socks of the SM57 I was using. The VTB1 is a great value tube mic pre that makes it work - very much an essential part of the package. Very sensitive and low noise. Don't have any experience with anything better at this price point.

I'm a novice producer with a only about 3 years experience making basically demos and independent releases in the Philippines. I use basically a computer and a USB mixer.

I use it primarily for vocals, acoustic guitars, and on occassion, the ambient drum sounds. originally wanted a Rode but they're not available in my country. Also wanted an M-Audio, but when I saw this at a local store, for hte price, and the reivew, it wasn't so bad.

I love hte fact that it's very simple and cheap. When I say cheap, I don't mean crass, I mean inexpensive. It's produces a good quality sound for it's price. If ever I'll be in the market for a new one, I'll probably buy the same one and/or the AT 2021.
I recommend this to people who are on a budget but want to get the most from their money.

5 years experience......Lot of Stock

Great mic condenser .....Good construction for the price the sound is great..Use it with an sm 57 to mic my mesa and It sounds great! for acoustic guitar and vocal it's sound Good too !...Not a Rode nt But It SOUnd Really great for the price !

Making music for 10 years. Recording to DAW through a Mackie preamp.

Condenser mic for vocals/instruments, basic-all around project studio mic.
Overall impressions: irregular frequency response, scooped midrange. The mic is made in China where CONSISTENT quality is still a problem. Not that the mic is bad, may sound good on vocals, but I feel it highly depends on the particular mic you get. I also own a AT2021 which uses the same capsule and if you put them to record brown or pink noise, you see that the 2020's bottom below 200Hz goes 6 dB higher than the other capsule. This explained to me why on acoustic guitar it tended to sound boomy even at distances where the proximity effect should not be an issue. The next thing a studio engineer told me when listening to some recordings is the scooped midrange. C, D, E on second string definitely come out weaker than they should, giving guitar sound an eerie quality. Not a good mic overall.

I've been play guitar for 20 years and recording in my studio for 10 years

Condenser Mic, cardioid.
I'm using for overall (drums) and acoustic guitar recording ( not yet for vocals - I use my AT3035 )
It's a quite microphone, good construction and a poor paint. there's no pad attenuation or LC. It's a basic mic.
In my sessions ( digi 001 + focusrite and presonus pre ) sounds open, low noise and no colors, seems flat enought for differents situations in studio. Low price for the good quality, it's a good choice for my projects.