greetings earthlings today i'm back with the second installment of the re-review series
today we are looking at a microphone that i originally reviewed in february of 2016
over half a decade ago that microphone being the audio technica at2020 if you are interested
in this microphone it will still cost you around 100 which is surprisingly unchanged over the
last five years fingers crossed like always i will throw some links down below for this review i have
the microphone connected directly to the focusrite 18i 22nd gen my gain is set at around one o'clock
i will not do any kind of post processing but i may have to boost it a little bit in post
so check the doobly-doo to see what i didily did now let's talk about what comes in the box which
i no longer have because i have been using this microphone for five years straight first off you
get this padded zippered storage pouch you'll of course get the microphone a firm microphone mount
a 5 8 to 3 8 inch microphone stand adapter this is not the exact one that came with it you can't
expect me to know which one that is and surprise surprise some documentation which i no longer have
either i pulled it off the internet it's amazing it's amazing why did i turn into jerry seinfeld
it's amazing you can download things on the internet hey jerry then as far as the build
quality i have zero complaints about this thing as i've said i have been using this for five years
straight and i have not treated it kindly and it is still in one piece and seems to be functioning
flawlessly it has an all metal body as well as a metal mesh grille which has no give to it
as you move around the microphone there are no switches or dials on the bottom you will find the
xlr port and if you are interested this microphone is made in china then as far as the specifications
this microphone has a cardioid polar pattern a frequency response of 20 hertz to 20 kilohertz
a sensitivity of around negative 37 db a self noise of 20 dba a max spl of 144 db an impedance
of 100 ohms and a phantom power requirement of 48 volts now i am spinning around the at2020 to 90
degrees so you can hear the off axis rejection and coloration we'll continue around the microphone to
180 degrees this is the rear of the mic continuing around to the second 90 degree angle here we
are and then rotating and ending at the front of the microphone now let's test how well this
microphone rejects plosives but if you watched my original review you know it is not very good
so please bring pizza pronto please bring pizza pronto please bring pizza pronto now i am right on
top of the microphone to accentuate that proximity effect and here is how it is sounding now i am
three inches off of the mic with it pointed at the corner of my mouth and here is how it is sounding
now i'm about one foot away from the microphone and here is how it sounds two feet away from the
microphone and about four feet away from the microphone boo now i am typing on a keyboard
with gatoron blue switches to see how much of my voice versus how much of the keyboard it picks up
and for you elite gaming folk now i am typing on the sad w keys all
here is how the microphone sounds in a well-treated room
and now the exposure is completely off but here is how the at2020
sounds in a completely untreated room
next i want to see how well the provided mount rejects shocks so i will go ahead and tap on
my desk to see how much of that noise it rejects and then i'll tap on the boom arm
and now to be incredibly annoying and thorough i am going to go ahead and tap
on the microphone to see if there are any kind of resonant frequencies
next i want to do a very quick comparison between the at2020 and a bunch of other microphones that
are available so we can see how this microphone stacks up against the competition both old and
new like always we will start on the microphone that we are reviewing this is the at2020 i am six
inches off of this my gain is set at one o'clock no post processing but check the lower third
and let's jump to the first mic first up we are on the neewer nw-700 this is a 20 to 30 dollar
xlr electric condenser microphone i am six inches off i had to decrease my gain to noon because
this is an incredibly hot mic also a very resonant mic yeah it doesn't sound good but 20 bucks
let's jump back to the at2020 and do some more comparisons we are back on the at2020 again
nothing has changed same distance same gain setting here is how it is sounding
let's jump to microphone 2. next we are on the mxl 990 which goes for around 75 i don't think
this has been on my channel in four or five years but here is how it is sounding gain at 12 o'clock
and six inches off check the lower third and let's jump back to the at2020 so you can hear how that
mic sounds before we do some more comparisons again we are back on the at2020 because i want
you to be able to hear this microphone here is how it is sounding let's jump to another mic
and compare it to that next we are on the mxl 770 which goes for a little bit more
this costs around 82 dollars this has a high pass filter and a pad neither of which are engaged gain
at 12 o'clock still six inches off and here is how it is sounding let's jump back to the at2020 and
do some more comparisons what a shocker we are back on the at2020 for a fourth time so you can
hear how this microphone sounds before we jump to another mic and let you hear how that sounds
let's do that all right now we are on the neat worker b which costs around ninety dollars this
is a cardioid only condenser microphone it has no filters no pads nothing on it very bare bones
very unique looking but 90 bucks so a little bit cheaper than the at2020 and here is how it sounds
same distance and gain at 12 o'clock check the lower third let's jump back to the 2020 and do
even more comparisons well alright alright alright we are back on the at2020 again
here is how it is sounding i am six inches off gain at one o'clock let's jump to another mic and
do that comparison next we are on what i believe is blue's answer to the at2020 the blue ember this
is a cardioid only condenser microphone which is very narrow very thin this costs around 100 i am
six inches off gain still at noon and here is how it is sounding get a feel for it listen to
the tone of my voice and let's jump back to the 2020 because we have even more mics to compare
it against again we are on the at2020 so you can hear how this sounds as a reminder this costs 100
xlr cardioid only condenser mic no switches no filters nothing and here is how it is sounding
now we are jumping up in price quite a bit this is the texone audio products stellar x2 this is
another cardioid only condenser mic this costs around 200. i am six inches off my gain is at 12
o'clock and here is how this is sounding compared to a microphone that is half its cost i think i
just popped the microphone i apologize for that even though i should apologize for the the review
i did six years ago five years ago because golly people are still mad about that one and rightfully
so let's jump back to the at2020 and do some more comparisons hey we are back on the at2020 again
because we have a lot of mics we have to compare it against i have acquired a lot since the last
time i did it look at the videos and the room is quite different because it is much more full
this is the at2020 let's jump to the next mic and do that comparison now we are on a one of my
all-time favorite mics this is the rode nt1 this costs around 270 dollars i am six inches off my
gain is still set at 12 o'clock and here is how it is sounding 270 bucks so almost three times more
expensive than the at2020 but pay attention to the top end of the microphone i think that's really
where you get the benefit it is so much smoother and so much more pleasing sounding and much more
balanced sounding to my ears but there you go road nt1 let's go back and do some more comparisons
couple more i believe again we are back on the at2020 because i want to give you a full picture
picture picture of how it sounds because you can picture sounds and picture isn't a thing
let's jump to the next mic now we are jumping up in price quite a bit we are on the shure
ksm 32 which costs 500 another cardioid only condenser microphone does have a filter and
a pad six inches off gain still at noon at 12 o'clock and here is how it is sounding
let's jump back to the at2020 and do another or one or two more comparisons i don't even know
and again we are back on the at2020 so you can really understand how this sounds if you
have not gotten enough of me talking i am sure you have because i have as well but here is how
this microphone sounds let's do another microphone comparison next we are jumping up again in price
quite a bit we are on the neumann tlm-103 hello neumann i'm never gonna stop making that joke
this microphone costs eleven hundred dollars i am six inches off gain at 12 o'clock listen to
the top end on this thing it is more boosted but it is smoother sounding you are paying quite a big
premium to get that softer top end or at least more pleasing and natural sounding boost to your
microphone but is it 11 times better you tell me in the comments down below let's jump back and
do one more comparison and by golly i hope this is the last microphone that we are comparing we
are back on the at2020 here is how it is sounding six inches off gain at one o'clock and we have one
last mic to compare it against everybody already knows what it's going to be ready for it three
two one you thought we were gonna go to it right there we didn't i wanted to keep you and lastly
we are on the microphone that you all knew this is the newman that the neumann u87 ai the joke became
reality there for a second this microphone costs 3 600 so 36 times more expensive than the at2020
i am six inches off on the cardioid polar pattern and here is how it is sounding let me know in the
comments down below which of these microphones was your favorite and let's jump to the music test
it's a shame i didn't review this mic in 2020 to save a bit of money on the mics i had to buy now
it's less about saving money and more about missing the opportunity to shut off my air
conditioner but also but also to make a is the 2020 still worth it in 2020 thumbnail
now what i'm i'm gonna have to wait another million years before i can do it again right
that's how math works okay looking back at this microphone five years later it is clear that the
competition has grown and the competition is incredibly steep and first up in terms of pros
the microphone is relatively affordable at the 100 price point and you are getting a pretty
good build quality for that price additionally i did find that the microphone's acoustics the
material used was pretty acoustically dead and that is great but then as far as cons
the microphone was absolutely horrendous in terms of plosive rejection the self noise of 20 dba is
pretty high maybe at a hundred dollars that's acceptable but still a bit higher than i would
like and also the polar pattern if you're in an untreated room tends to pick up a lot of sound
all the way around the mic and now as far as my overall thoughts and opinions of this microphone
on the electric guitar i found the low end to be a little bit uncontrolled
so you will need to be careful with the microphone placement and then the top band was quite sizzly
to my ears so on brighter sounding guitars i was not a fan of it then on the acoustic guitar i
found it to be lacking quite a bit of body it was a bit anemic sounding also it offered an
incredibly bright sound and when i really dug into the strings it got to be a bit
piercing and unpleasant to listen to next up for singing i definitely did not hate the microphone
and i think you can get some pretty usable sounds i found the top end to be relatively unsmooth
and a bit grainy but that's nothing too out of the ordinary at the 100 price point and if you do want
a little bit more warmth or low end you can get a little bit closer to the microphone to offset
that boost in the top and lastly for spoken word i do think that it offers a very clear sound you
can understand exactly what i am saying into it but at the same time i find it to be quite grainy
sounding or at least quite unsmooth and also i found it to have a little bit of sibilance issues
so on your s's can be a little bit piercing again i do find the mic to be a little bit lacking in
the low end leading to it sounding a bit top heavy and lopsided and if you want to fight that you
can get a little bit closer to the mic to engage that proximity effect to offset that boost in the
top end a little bit more as well and to wrap up would i recommend the at2020 or is the 2020 still
worth it in 2021 i guess it's just at the 100 price point this thing has so much competition
you have so many different options to pick from personally if i had to pick between the at2020
and the other 100 microphones i would probably be leaning towards the mxl style mics i just thought
they offered a bit more balanced and a little bit smoother sound but it is going to come down to
your personal preference because each of these mics does have its own character to it that is
just what i personally prefer and if you already have the at2020 you can make some very usable
sounding recordings and as i've learned over the last five years this thing is built to last you
can beat the hell out of this thing and it's going to keep on working and for a beginner microphone i
just think that's amazing that you can buy this thing for a hundred bucks and then use it for
at least half a decade that's a pretty good value proposition all right that is it for this episode
of the re-review let me know in the comments down below which of the microphones you liked the best
if you want a higher quality version of this recording of this review go to podcastage.com
let me know in the comments down below which microphone you would like me to re-review next
and if you see somebody commenting a microphone that you want to see re-reviewed go ahead and
give it a thumbs up to push it to the top so i can actually see which ones people want the most
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you