MXL 990/991 Recording Kit

Blue sky 2.1 system played back from a digidesign 002 rack

Ok picked up this mic set because of the price.it is true what you pay for is what you get.I can see why alot of people think they sound good cause like others say it's best for acoustic guitars when paired together the 990 is the the large diaphram condenser that let's face it is very boomy(bottom end driven).the 991 is really where it's at.it does a fine job of collecting the highs of an acoustic guitar/piano but sizzles out when you throw really high frequency instruments(ex.cymbals).I think the best application would be an acousic guitar with a 990 about 10 to 12 inches away from the sound hole and the 991 at the 10-12 fret also about 10-12 inches away those two mics mixed together right will get you a real nice recording if you have a decent preamp and good cables

I have been playing music for over 2 decades. I have little recording experience. I am recording using a Marantz SuperScope which kicks ass by the way. I listen with whatever.

I think this mic sounds good. I know alot of people talk trash about them but for the money, I can work with this sound.

I took it out of the box, hooked it up to a cheap SS preamp for phantom power and then to the SuperScope. I used the 991 with the mic approx 16 or more inches (give or take) from the 12th fret and recorded this.

http://www.badassmail.com/mic_test.mp3.

I didn't EQ this or anything. This is direct with no tweaking whatsoever.

Playing acoustic guitar for 16+ years

Record as a hobby

I use a digi 001

The 990 is okay if you get it in the right position, but just okay at best. The 991 is excellent for acoustic guitar. I use a Larivee for open tunings and a Seagull for standard. I point the 991 at the twelth fret and it sounds amazing. Put it close for finger picking 6 inches and a bit farther for strumming 8 - 12 and it does an awesome job. I also use an Art tube pre-amp. You can also adjust the angle to get a more bassy or trebily sound. The price of the package is worth the 991.

I toured in several popular rock bands during the 70's and 80's, was owner and producer of a professional recording studio during the 90's and currently work as an audio designer for film and television. I first started recording in the early 70's bouncing tracks back and forth from one Akai reel to reel to another...it's been a long road and along the way I've listened to many a microphone through most analog and digital formats in a variety of environments. I currently work with mostly Class A equipment.

First the MXL 991. I don't think I'd ever use this mic in a music recording environment unless all my Neumanns, Gefells, Senneheisers, AKGs, Oktavas and AT4033s suddenly disappeared....not fair evaluation but a matter of fact. However...this microphone has become my prime choice against all others in a film location dialog recording application. The frequency pattern and and pick up range are superb in isolating and enhancing dialog. The top end sizzle adds spark and the high end and low end cutoffs dilute the surrounding ambient. Excellent for this application and the mic has given me a track record of quality results.

I tried the MXL 990 on narration but didn't really see the point. I've seen it praised for use on floor toms and personally I'd love to try it on a kick drum with pop filter. I've always loved the sound of drum micing with large condensers but was terrified that my U47 or U89 might get damaged. This seems like a low cost low risk solution that could deliver acceptable results.

I'm 20 years old. I've been making music for over a decade, and I've been working as a Pro Audio Professional Sales consultant with a major Audio Dsitributor. I am running $30,000 in software that specializes in the Entire Steinberg and Waves catalogue. I use a quad-pack of daisy chained Inspires into a Spectral CB1100. I listen on Beyerdynamic DT770's and Dynaudio BM5a's.

I'm not impressed at all. Someone told me that this pack is an amazing value. I really should have gone with the AT2041 recording package for 50 bucks more... that comes with REAL mics.

The 990 sounds okay as long as I'm tweaking the bejesus out of it with my channel strips. It doesn't sound all that natural and it's rather noisy, even for the price.

The 991 sounds like an MXL604 with the last little bit of life squeezed out of it. I don't like it much.

The handling noise on both of these mics are horrific, even when they're on shocks.

I'm going to either return them for the MXL604 and a GT55, or an AT2041 recording pack.

I've been around for 7 years in production and recording of both acoustic, electric and digital instruments. I record straight onto a hard drive using Logic/Sonar & PRO TOOLS. My main setup is the EMU 1820m, with MACKIE 824 Monitors, in a professionally designed sound studio.

The 990 is a cardiod pattern condenser mic, as well as the 991. I bought at Guitar Center as a recording kit. I tried using both mics - one at a time on the same placement (about 3" away from fret 12 on the acoustic guitar - a Gibson Acoustic/Electric Mini Jumbo cutaway guitar). All in all I beleive they both delivered sound that is as close to what the human ear would here when the guitar is played. (I trust that a good mic should be able to do this without adding any color to the sound). For this price and quality, I don't think any other mics can compare.

i play a parker mojo fly guitar through a fender twin reverb, i also sing and play trumpet on a scholarship at ucsb.

I record with a korg d16 (amazing, highly recommend....around 420$ on ebay)

990 is highly over-rated. Some people who are inexperieced might be innitially very impressed with this mic....but its so-so. you get what you pay for in this case. its an all around "ok" mic. vocals are ok, acoustic guitar is ok, but what really kills this mic is its boomyness. itl pic up any sound in a room, and make awkward farting sounds at higher volumes. I hate this mic alone on acoustic guitar. Paired with its brother the 991 it can be saved. (Piano also sounds fantastic with these two paired, but either one on its own will give you aural cancer). You can just forget micing guitar cabs with these. they arnt suited for it. even soft low level playing sounds disgusting. These are acoustic oriented mics. I will say that i LOVE the sound of my 1965 martin with the 991. When recording on a Korg d16 with reverb, its amazzzzzing. My music theory teacher thought i went to a studio to get it done! You can add the 990 successfully, but i prefer without. However the 991 sounds awful on vocals. So applications for these mics are limited at best.

So, moral of the story is, for acoustic instruments either pair the two together, or throw out the 990 and keep the 991. I wouldnt give vocals on either of these the time of day. So heres what you do. So if your like me and on a budget but need a host of mics to fit your different needs get: a mxl 909 for vocals, a 991 for acoustic guitar (optional 990), and a sennheiser 609 (not the SE) for guitar cabs, and as many shure sm57 as you can with the money you have left for drums. with ebay you can make this happen for pretty cheap and still get professional sound.

ive been a musician for many years, and i got into recording about 3 years ago...ive gone from recording with a mic into my stereo, to a boss br1180, to a roland vs2400 which is what i have now.....i listen through mackie hr624's which are great moniters for mid to hight frequencies, but i will eventually have to add a sub for my more serious mixing and recording projects.....i also master through an old RCA stereo reciever and a pair of custom built stereo speakers.....ive recorded in my home studio, as well and several real deal high tech studios with every great piece of equipment you could ever dream of

there are two mics in this kit....a small diaphram and large diaphram condenser.....so far i have used teh mics on guitar amp, vocals, and acoustic guitar.....ive been itchin for some new mics, but because i a complete music junkie, and i live in a small apt i couldnt see spending the kind of money on what i really wantd right now....id much rather buy nice guitars...anyway...i was reading up on these guys, and i heard so many good things so i had to check them out....well im glad i did.....for the price, they are comprable to the more expensive mics that i own....now im not saying they are the same, but they work excellent, and have a sound all their own....first the 990 whick i think is the big guy....this mike has a very clear open sound that really sizzles on the highs...i think it would be good for female vocals, and it worked really nice on my guitar amp....kinda opened it up a little as opposed to a 57..u do have to experiment with placement though...i cant wait to try it on some drums and see what kind of results i get...now the 991 is really a special little mike....i tried it on acoustric guitar today and i got the best sound i have ever gotten from just a miced acoustic....it didnt color the sound at all....my acoustic sounds ratty and fuzzy, and the mic picked it up jsut like it sounds to my ear....i swear through my moniters it sounded like my guitar was playing itself....absolutely wonderful.....i was even happier because i recently recorded with a singer i work with in a really really nice studio and did teh same recoring with a U87....well i know its hard to believe but this sounded better......anyway...i will be adding another set of these to my collection very soon....i cant wait to do some stereo micing with these, and im sure i will love the results....for the price no one should go without these mics

Here's the gear I've been testing these mics on/with: Using an Akai DPS 16 @ 48khz 24 bit with a Joe Meek Q3 preamp, and an ART Tube PAC (retubed with JJs). I've recorded the Yamaha F-310 acoustic guitar, Fender Hot Rod Deluxe w/ various guitars, Premeir 4 peice Jazz kit, and vocals with these mics, to put them through the paces. Ok, on to the good stuff...

First stop, acoustic guitar. I used these mics in a stereo pair to record, each about 1' away from the guitar... the 991 at the 22nd fret and the 990 behind and pointing at the sound hole. Right out of the box, no eq, no compression, no artificial additives or preservatives... these mics sounded absolutely wonderful together. The 991 is a very bright mic, not neutral, and certainly not flat... some people are not going to like this. Me, I found it added exactly what I would have had to add in eq later, so it was perfect (it's always better to have it there to begin with, eh?). The 990, on the other hand, is smooth and neutral... these two mics could not have made a better pair for recording acoustic guitar. Truly fantastic.

On to the Fender Hot Rod Deluxe... The 991's bright nature puts it out of the running here. I've tried it from a lot of different angles and depths, and its character, for me, just doesn't work on electric guitar. The 990, on the other hand, can and does do a wonderful job of capturing electric guitar. As it shows elsewhere, the 990 has a very smooth and neutral sound (with a presence peak, of course), which I've found to be very effective in micing a guitar amp. I have to point out here that the mic has no -10 or -20 db pad, and though I haven't drove it to clip yet, the possibility certainly exists with the 'cranked amp' style of playing.

For drums I used the 991 on the snare, and 990 on the kick drum. For the 990, a 10 or 20 db pad would have definitely been useful here too. After some tinkering, eqing, and compression, it did manage to bring out a very nice kick drum sound. The 991, again, immediately added its own character to the snare. Very bright, accurate, and airy. This might not be for everyone, those used to having an sm57 on the snare will note a distinct lack of "smooth". The sm57 is it's own legend though, and a very different mic from this one.

On vocals, both of these mics have proved useful. The 990 has a wide pickup pattern, so watch that room noise. Both of these mics, without a doubt, needed a pop filter in front of them, especially the 991. As you can guess, they performed here as they did in all the other environments... the 990 smooth and neutral, the 991 bright and lively.

At $99, I have no problem at all recommending this set of mics. Value wise, I've rarely if ever ran across anything with as high a price/performance ratio. This is an excellent set of mics for the home studio, add a little diversity if you've already got a closet full of microphones, or as a perfect starting point for home recording. That said, please keep in mind two things:

Good mic + bad preamp = passable sound at best

Quality control on inexpensive mics such as these is *generally* not up to par. Don't be afraid to try these out and take them back if you've got a bum pair.

This set is definitely worth your time.

Been playing music for 3 years -- guitar, keyboards

Just began recording about a month ago. Using Audacity, Tracktion and Sound Forge to record to my PC via a Behringer 802 mixer and TurtleBeach Santa Cruz soundcard.

Listening equipment is my harman/kardon computer speakers (ouch!) and cheap headphones (double-ouch!).

MXL 990 (vocal) and MXL 991 (instrument) condenser mics.

Using the 990 (with home-made pop filter) for vocals and the 991 to record acoustic guitar. This is my first entry into quality mics, I had previously been using el cheapo Radio Shack dynamic mics ($15/ea. and AWFUL). Saw this package on sale at Guitar Center and after reading many positive reviews online took the plunge. The improvement over my previous setup was unbelievable -- clear recordings that captured every nuance of the performance. I have no experience with other mics, so I can't comment on how these would compare, but I'd suggest that these would be an excellent choice for beginners to intermediate. And for the price, you really can't go wrong. I was also considering the Shure SM57 as an all around mic but decided on the MXL instead.