MXL 990

i have made music since i was 11 punk rock tunes on a 6 string guitar with 4 strings about 17 years, i have recorded in small and large studios ...adat and multitrack....this review is for this mic in my home studio....i have other condenser mics made in japan..this is made in china...very good@

its a condenser mic needs phantom power i use a peavey mixer or presonus ....this mic sounds very authentic with my martin hd 28 ...it also sounds really good with my les paul and piano..with vocals you need to tweek a bit...pretty good mic for $ i use my audio technica for vocals and a shure sm57 for everything vocals and guitar....if i only had 3 mics it would be mxl for insteruments audio technica for vocals and a shure sm 57 for everything above...its a good all around mic for the price i am looking into a mxl v67g for vocals ..i bought this mic because of price i think its a good condenser mic all around..

Been "at it" for a long time now. Using DAW/PC for home brew music.

Not sure why people insist on calling it a "large Diaphragm" condensor. It's medium at best.

Got this as a gift from my wife (bless her heart), in a two-fer pack with an MXL991. The MXL991, a pencil type condensor, actuall has a better sound.

I use this for vocals, with a pop-shield about 6-8" away. Gives a nice proximity effect, and captures all the various frequencies. Haven't tried it yet on other people's voices, but it works fine for mine.

Definitely a great mic to have in your arsenal. Cheap, cheerful, and quite sensitive. I push it through a Behringer MIC100 pre-amp, and then into a Behringer mixer. Crisp, clean, and quite cool.

I've been doing home recording in one way shape or form for about eight years now. Started out with a Tascam Portastudio, then moved to a Roland VS880EX, then computer-based recording with Cubase SX3 and Cakewalk. I've been playing mostly guitar for over 20 years and have done some demo production work for myself and others. I've got a pretty good knowledge of this stuff even though my budget isn't very large. I primarily monitor either through good headphones or through my computer speakers with subwoofer, but I have Alesis monitors on order as well. I run the mics through a Mackie 1202 VLZ, which has excellent pre-amps and routing. If you're building a basic home studio on limited budget, pick-up one of these boards. It's like having an audio Swiss Army knife that can be used for almost anything. You can pick these up for a song now. My A/D converter / computer interface has built-in phantom power, but the sound is leagues better through the Mackie. Preamps are important!

This is a medium diaphragm cardioid condensor mic without pad, switchable patterns, etc. Feature-wise, it's rather basic. It came with a pretty nice shock mount as well as a mic stand adapter. All of this came in a cheap but functional plastic "hardcase". The mic (and mounts) are nicely finished and fairly sturdy. Frankly, I was suprised at the build quality of the mic given that it costs about as much as your average dynamic mic. I bought two of these at once and one of the metal grills was dented. Straightened it out easily though.
I'm using this mic mostly for vocals and acoustic guitar, and soon on drum kits as overheads. I think the sound of this mic for vocals. I keep about 1-1/2 - 2 feet from the mic. It has nice details in the highs, a fairly flat mid-range and good bass. Sensitivity is excellent. I've managed to get decent acoustic guitar sounds with this as well, though I suspect I will have to pick-up a pencil condensor to do this better. I'll still have to experiment with placement on for this application. I've not liked this for mic-ing my guitar amp though. It captures good detail in this application, but my Shure SM57 gets more weight in its sound, which is what I'm going for.
The quality and versatility of this mic for the miniscule price is ridiculous. For the price of an average dynamic mic, you can work with a true condensor mic which has sensitivity and range which a dynamic mic just can't match. This mic is an incredible bargain, and anyone with a tight budget who records in a home studio (or elsewhere for that matter) should pick up at least one of these mics. The only negative I've had is that I was overloading the amp initially because I was mic-ing too close (having been used to working only with dynamic mics) but that was easy to get over once I improved my technique. Overall, an excellent mic for the money and once which has served me well. Highly recommended.

I recently started some home recordings with this setup: Apple Imac G5, Presonus Firebox, Behringer 8 channel mixer, and well of course the Marshall 990. I use this mic for everything, but mainly vox, percussion. This is my only mic currently. I do realize my recording chain is weak and that no mic would sound too well in this set-up.

Its cardiod Condensor with no -10 pad. I like this mic vox the best. For the most part I have a really hard time getting a decent sound out of it. It is often to trebly on percussion (tambourines, shakers) and too boxy on vocals. I spend a good amount of time adjusting the eq. I wouldn't buy this mic again, I would probably go for one the KEL HM-1 or HM-4's. I you are somewhat serious on recording, do yourself a favor and save up for something better. But I do realize you get what you pay for... I was just to hasty in my journey to recording

i have only been recording for 6 years or so. i run a small studio in oakland, ca.

i use a daw and i have a lot of behringer gear. my main board is a behrniger mx9000. i run it all through adobe auditoin 1.5.

this mic is actually a good mic. i used it on vocals for a while (until i upgraded to a mxl v69). what i found out this mic is really godd for is as an amp mic. i like to blend it with a good old shure 57. the two mics properly blended make for one sweet sound.

it was ok on vocals but the high end lacked. that was why i upgraded. it sounded very muddy, but still better than any other mic in the under 200 price range.

I've been making recordings for 15 years or so. I use old school technology - a Tascam 8 Track and a Tascam mixer. My band has done full length Cd's with this equipment (www.thehuntclub.net). I record on this alanog equipment and then mixdown to a CD recorder. This works for us and this equipment is dirt cheap on Ebay these days.

This is a condensor mike and I use this for vocals and acoustic guitar. I run thru a cheap tube preamp or sometimes thru a Joe Meek preamp to warm it up. This mike picks up everything. Make sure you use a wind screen when doing vocals. I really like the vocal results - I can't compare to expensive microphones, but we've done a ton of recording and the final products sound really good. This is my favorite vocal mike to use. My others are the Shure Beta 58 which is excellent fo live applications, but I prefer this large condensor for studio.

Been in bands, DJ'd, home recording enthusiast since 1984. 21 years. Play keyboard, guitar, bass, percussion. Been in a few 8 and 16 track studios. Right now I have a very simple Mac G4, Garageband, M-Audio Firewire Solo, Sure SM-57, MXL 990, M-Audio Oxy8 USB keyboard. I have lousy AKG K-55 headphones...like they say, you get what you pay for.

Basic condenser mike, no switching of any kind, cardoid pattern. Needs phantom power.

This is my new workhorse mike. I record using Garageband in a Chicago apartment. Eclectic mix of music styles from folkiecountryhiphopfunkmetal to popbubblegumgaragefuzz to ambientskyisfallingnoise. Varieties of placement.

No did not consider any other mikes in it's price range. I chose it because it's very cheap, cheaper than my Shure SM-57, yet much higher quality of sound. I've read glowing reviews on it all over the net. A few caveats, no features, but a great, tremendous value.

I've used it for miking my Fender Blues Junior amp with a Strat, miking my Epiphone acoustic, miking bongoes, vocals, ambient urban street noise, banging on radiators (my neighbors HATE me), random wierdness.

It only falls short in lack of features. AND can be a bit harsh and sylibant on highs.

Then again, IT'S $59 DOLLARS!

Yes, if you're a hobbist, part-time musician, home recordist, whatever, this is worth it.

Benn playing Electric and acoustic Guitar for about 8 years or so, started keyboards and Digital recording 3 years ago.
I have a basic setup in my home, recording to a dedicated DAW trough a Behringer board->ST Audio DSP24 VALUE+

My instruments are a '93 Gibson 'The Paul', Blade Texas Std, Ibanez PF10 Acoustic. Roland JX-305 Synth.

Well, you've already read the specs I guess, so I'll go ahead:
I was mainly looking for a cheap condenser to record my Acoustic guitar, as I had tried different acoustic pickup systems (Shadow+other soundhole PU's) without getting any pleasing results.
I also tried my SM57/58 to get the job done, but wasn't impressed.
Since I had read some favourable test reviews and got some positive answers in differnet forums, I just bought it. Since this is my first condenser I can certainly not give a quality review, but after the first 'Wow' factor I'm now very pleased with the overall sound of this mic. Placed appr.10-15cm from the guitar, directed to the junction of the fretboard/body (excuse my poor english), the output is punchy, clear and not aggrssive. I usually still put some extra EQ on the recorded sound, as I can mimic different characters/moods.
Also used it on vocals on occasion, getting a decent job done as well, but less impressed than with my ac. guitar (prolly voice dependant).
Overall I'd recommend this mic as a 'budget buy' to anyone starting into condensers. If it got broken/lost/stolen, I'd buy it again in a second.

I record all sorts of stuff. I don't have the best studio, but my recordings sound good and people like them.

I like this mic on my vocals. That's about it. I've used it on other people voices and it hasn't worked once. On my voice, it sounds great.

It has a weird frequency response which reminds me more of a dynamic than a condenser - I consider that a compliment.

I use it all of the time for backing vox. It works great in that situation, I don't know why. I'd buy it again in a second for that use alone.

It sounds like poop on everything else I've tried it on. Well, not quite like poop, but not that great. Actually, I used it on maracas once and liked it. I forgot about that. So, let's say that it might be an okay percussion mic. Not drums though. Never, ever drums.

Specs are documented elsewhere - this is a Chinese-made large diaphram condenser with cardioid pattern. My band was at the vocal stage of a demo project and I thought we might try one of the new value-priced mics. I bought it used on Ebay for virtually nothing, but was curious because of reviews here and elsewhere.

I've used it predominantly on vocals (with amazing results) and also on guitar cabs and was very happy. I was really surprised that there was very little or no EQing required no matter what I put in on.

Sound was warm and pleasant, repeatable for punch-ins and an huge surprise to me. I intend to buy another just for back-up.

I did not give this a 10 because it looks like it was built pretty cheaply. I'd say a 9.5, though - you can't go wrong at this price!