Audio-Technica AT4047/SV

Been recording for oh so many years!! and would consider myself to be pretty competent in recording and production. I have a lot of gear in my studio which is recorded onto logic via various pre's and translates through a RME FF400.

This is a microphone that kinda took me by surprise. I bought it used for less than half the price new (having read up a little about them) and found it to be in top class condition therefore I feel I can give an accurate outline as to how it performs. I bought the at4047 with the view to using it as a vocal mic and also to do some acoustic guitar although I have a wide variety of instruments lying around and quite a few mics. I will now cut to the chase and say that regarding microphones I've had a love hate relationship with many but gladly I have found this little fella which sounds as classy as it looks. This one has character, warmth and charm which for my liking is a very worthy contender to some of the far more expensive mics I have used in pro studios over the years. I paid ??270 for this used and it is probably the best ??270 I've ever spent. If you're looking for a multi purpose cardioid mic that doesn't give you those nasty esses and pops but is equally at home in front of a wide variety of acoustic sources then this will serve you not just well but extremely well. Do yourself a favour and add this to your collection......or if you are looking for your 1st good microphone you should spend your hard earned cash on one of these as it's price (even new) is well worth it. I got a total bargain and the grin is hard to get rid of.

I'm 25, played guitar since 16, recording and songwriting since 20, mainly PC DAW but occasionally I'll pull out the 4-track tascam casette recorder. listening on KRK V6 II studio monitors and also klipsch promedia cheap PC speakers, echo audiofire conversion

I love audio-technica microphones and own a lot of them. I started out with the 3035, then got a 4033, then the 4047, and now a second 4047. I listened to the sound samples on audio technica's website, and the 47 stood out to me as a striking vocal microphone, compared to the others in the AT 40 series line. internet browsing showed me that many people think the same thing. I've heard of people loving it on outside kick and bass amp (Bob Weston of Shellac and the Burn To Shine Chicago DVD), guitar amp, piano, male and female vocals...in other words, pretty much everything...so, with my great experience with AT so far, I thought I'd give it a try

my main use for the 4047 is on my voice, through a Universal Audio 610 mic preamp. sounds great, I am fully satisfied and not wishing for more expensive mics. Plenty of detail and "warmth" at the same time. It also sounds great on my sister.

I have also tried it on drum overhead with a Sytek preamp, where it provided excellent depth and midrange richness on drums. The floor tom and kick drum just boom and punch like crazy with nice mellow cymbal sound. I'm glad I have two of them now! Reminds me of mellon collie and the infinite sadness...thick and dark. you might want something a little crisper. I haven't tried it in a mix.

I have also used it on guitar amps with good results, but not extensively enough to have a clear description of what to expect. I mainly stick to an MD421 for amps these days.

I am so pleased with my Peluso CEMC6 microphones that I haven't tried the 47 on acoutsic guitar, but I've heard some great sound clips from other people of this mic on acoustic

The predominant characteristics of this microphone are a nice full low and midrange feeling with a smooth/silky top end, overall a "rich" sound. I've heard someone say that it's a little "thin" compared to a vintage Neumann, but hey, what do you expect for this money! that's kind of an audio-technica trait in general, a little thin-ness.

Looking forward to trying it on bass when I get the chance. makes a nice room mic too. great for the money (another AT staple)

Singer/songwriter. Have recorded in some very nice pro studios
and have my own home studio.

Price is not always the defining factor. I've recorded vocals with a
Sony C800G which blew me away, but, the 4047 gave me a warm vibe
that was perfect for my voice at about $6,000 less money,,,and also blew me away! This mic's creamy. It's perfect for male vocals. It
sounds big on me and my voice isn't really huge, it just sounds
larger than life. It sounds great matched with a tube pre or solid
state. I own a Gefell UM900 and a Brauner Phantom C as well, both
very nice mics. You wouldn't think the 4047 would hold a candle
to them. WRONG! It has that "something" that I haven't really found
in another mic, and for many songs it's the go to mic. It's also
VERY quiet. You will not hear noise with this thing. I found myself
adding EQ around 6-7k, and maybe some air. But the stop end is silky so you won't have any problems with it being edgy. If you're looking for warm chocolate darkness, this is it! Nobody will tell you you're vocal hurts their ears! The only real downside is that I think it does have a sweet spot that's a bit narrow. But when you stay in that pocket, it's golden. I've also used it on Piano and it gave me what I was looking for...rich and full. I was actually surprised to see the other posts that talk about using it for heavier music and how much they like it for that. For me it's the perfect acoustic music mic for vocals and piano...maybe not so much for acoustic guitar. I bought a pair of them about 7 years ago and I wouldn't think of selling these babys!

I have been involved with Recording Studio Production for the past 35 years. In my opinion, The Audio Technica AT4047/SV is a tremendous sounding vocal tracking microphone, especially for it's price price of $549. It was designed after the the Neumann U47 FET, which produces a full sound on vocals without a the over hyped treble response, found in most of today's microphones. The AT4047/SV is a transformer coupled microphone which holds it's own against other transformed mics costing much-much more. This is by far,the best Audio Technica Vocal mic on the market !!

I've been a semi-pro home recording engineer for almost 20 years. I currently record onto a Roland 2400cd. Preamps include an Art digital mpa, (2) aphex 107, Bellari, and a slammin' Jon Mernyk designed preamp. I listen through Event monitors in an auralex treated basement. Other mics in my locker include at4033, Studio Projects C3 & T3, sm 57, Oktava (2) mc012 & (2) 219, (2)Audix D6, Rode NT4 (xy), cheap Superlux, sm 57, seinhesser 504, Stpehen Paul designed small diaphram

4047- my best mic. I love Hard rock/heavy guitar sounds like Sevendust, Korn, Vai, Buckethead, Zakk, Satriani. This mic is flat out awesome in this area. I put it right up 1" from the grill and receive a slammin' sound with very little work on mic placement. It gives the combination of clarity and bruteness that is so hard to find in distorted guitars. Sometimes I'll pair it up with a 57, or borrow a buddy's royer 121. Most often it sounds best by itself, as I like to multitrack rhythm guitars. It is awesome for detuned guitars. This mic was the basis for recent Korn discs- it sounds great on guitars, bass cabs, kick drum.

I've recently discovered that I like it better on vocals than my tube Studio Projects T3. It has a low end presence combined with a clarity on the top end (without that shrilly cheap feel that my 4033 gives).

I can't believe how cheap I got it (used), I'll buy another one at market price in a heartbeat.

If you love heavy guitars and are depressed about how much or how brittle a royer 121 is, and you're tired of the 57 sound (always a fallback acceeptable tone) you simply must find try the 4047.

I never wrote a review but feel compelled to after spending the last 3 years recording on this AT.

Stranded on a desert island? This is the mic!

I've been recording music in some form or another for about eight years, usually with the lower-end of pro equipment (budget limitations, after all). I record to DAT (field) and Pro Tools (studio). I monitor through a Mackie 1402, Hafler (main) and Mackie (subwoofer) power amps, and custom-made speakers. The speakers have Eton woofers, Dynaudio tweeters, and premium crossover components. The sub uses an NHT long-throw 12" woofer. The system is properly EQ'd.

The Audio Technica 4047/SV is a large-diaphragm, cardioid condenser microphone. It's right about the middle of the Audio Technica large-diaphragm price scale at $500 average street price.

I've used this microphone on several instruments. It's done piano, female vocals, male narration, and classical guitar. I will elaborate on its performance in each category.

Piano: Excellent. It was paired with an AT-4050, and produced a beautiful piano sound. The instrument was a 7' Steinway grand.

Female vocals: Excellent. I used it with a DBX 386 tube preamp, fed via digital output to my Pro Tools Digi-002. This produced a very clean and smooth vocal chain. The vocalist was alto, with a quiet, breathy, very musical voice. The microphone's response at about 1' was just about right. The low-frequency boost and proximity effect, however, make me think it would work better and a slightly longer distance.

Male narration: Good. The low-frequency emphasis lent a boomy sound to the narrator. This was partly due to bad acoustics making it necessary to be right on the microphone. But the detail made it sound less like a recording of a person, and more like an actual person standing there and talking.

Classical Guitar: Acceptable. The high-frequency rolloff of the mic, coupled with the duller sound of a nylon-string guitar, left me wanting more in the top end. However, the sound (as always) was very smooth and clean. I later used a pair of AT-4033 on guitar, which I liked much better.

The 4047 was alone in my consideration simply because I used one before I owned it (on piano). I decided that was a sound I wanted to take home with me, so I bought the microphone. It's the best mic in my closet, and is fantastic for a variety of uses.

I highly recommend this microphone for general studio use; particularly for use on female vocals. The low-frequency presence and slight upper-mid boost make alto vocals (think Diana Krall) simply glow, particularly when paired with a good preamp. Its low noise and high SPL handling are major attributes, as well. This microphone is not very well suited to applications requiring a sparkling high-end; it simply does not produce that. By the same token, many "sparkly" microphones sound harsh on top; this mic certainly does not.

I award a 9. This microphone is better than its price dictates, and thus I consider it a good value. The construction is typical Japanese excellence. It is not a 10, because the slightly dulled highs preclude it from certain uses, making it more of a character mic than an all-purpose studio mic.

I've been recording for nearly 20 years in semi-pro and pro environments. I currently run my own production company and recording studio (www.imagimotion.com) and have tons of gear, both high end and prosumer level. I've worked with independents and professional engineers tracking on everything from cassette, 8 track half inch analog tape, 24 track 2 inch analog tape, ADATs, multitrack DAWs and live 2-track mixing to digital. I currently run a hybrid setup using 24 tracks of DAW (Cubase, Sonar and ProTools) to an outbaord console with tons of outbaord gear. I have a serious arsenal of mics (AKG, Audio Technica, Studio Projects, Sennheiser, Shure, etc), and I monitor on a number of different speakers, with my Mackie HR824s being the main ones, and M-Audio SP5Bs for near-field spot checks. I also use Mackie SRM450s for PA level reference.

This mic is a FET condenser mic that has a fixed cardioid pattern. It is by far the most versatile mic I have ever used. There isn't anything I've used this on that didn't sound fantastic. And the frequency response of this mic is pretty flat, so what you print to tape is pretty darn close to what you hear in the room. I agree with the previous reviewer about female vocals. This mic really excels on female rock vocals. The sound is full and present, but not thin at all. Very nice and warm, and it sits so nicely in the mix. Same thing for male vocals. I also used this to mic a djembe and acoustic guitar, and the sound was nothing short of magic. The real secret sauce use of this mic, however, is on electric guitar cabinet micing. I often use it as a close mic in addition to a Shure SM-57. The 57 gets all the low mids, but the 4047 really gets the uppermids and presence that just cuts through a mix like you would not believe. Since these mics have an SPL rating of 137 dB, they can handle extremely loud sound sources without threat of overload or damage to the capsule. That makes them ideal for cabinet micing and even drum overheads.

I have yet to find an applicaiton for this mic that I did not feel yielded a great sound. I have recommended this mic to several of my friends and clients, and I even had an engineer at Different Fur in San Francisco where several hits by Santana and Primus were recorded over the years comment on how fantastic this mic sounded, and we were A/Bing it with a vintage Neumann U-67 for vocal tracking. He loved this mic for room micing a guitar cabinet as well and was highly impressed with the sound it provided. Don't just take my word for it, look at any review by any engineer with a reputation in the business that uses this mic. You will not be disappointed with it at all. I liked it so much, I actually bought another one so that I could use the pair for drum overhead micing.

Overall it's a very clean and pristine sounding mic that is very lively and has a smooth sound response. Couple it with a nice tube preamp, and it really shines with that characteristic warm tube sheen we've heard on so many records. I would not hesitate to use this mic on anything.

Recording/Mixing/Editing for 11 years. Started with adat 11 years ago, and now working only on HD. Worked as sound engineer for 3 years in a professional studio. For listening i use a pair handmade monitors (Dynaudio and Morel components, pro grade phase correted crossovers, room corrected) and my lovely sennheiser Hd600.
MicPre used for this review is my Focusrite ISA 110.

I have to give a 9 here.
It's a cardioid only mike with output transformer. It's not a hyped mike (not so bright), and it can be used for brass, female vocals, bass. It has a very powerful lowend, and doesn't sound so boomy. I think is suited best for rock/rap/hip hop female vox (the only way i use it since my current production are funk/hip/hop).
I'm used to rent several pro and semi-pro mikes (no mike sounds good with any source) but i bought this one cause it's one of my favourite and costs a little.
Sometime i also use a neumann U87 (which sounds better on male vox and on instruments in general but NOT for the 'black' female sound in which the 4047 excels imho). It's quite fat (distorted?) and can cut in a mix very very well. I have used many others semi-pro mike (akg, rode, studio projects) and in this price range, i haven't found anything else that sound so good.
It's a speciality mike (not 100% versatile) with a lot of character, but i love it and highly recommend it.