greetings earthlings today i'm back with a review of another affordable broadcast dynamic microphone
that microphone being the brand new audio technica at2040 which is a hypercardioid dynamic microphone
if you are interested in this mic it will only cost you around 100
like always i will throw some affiliate links in the description down below
for this review i have the microphone connected directly to the focusrite
i 22nd gen my gain is set at around 4 o'clock i'm recording at 24 bit 48 kilohertz
i will not do any kind of post processing but i may have to boost it a little bit in post
so check the dooblydoo to see what i diddly did and now let's talk about what comes in the box
but i'm taking it easy this week because after last week the doctor said i need a bacheotomy so
let's talk about what comes in the box what a shocker you are going to get the microphone
it comes with this already installed mount you'll also get a 5 8 to 3 8 inch microphone stand
adapter a padded storage pouch and a little bit of documentation then as far as the build quality
the microphone feels absolutely outstanding it has an all metal body which feels very robust
the metal mesh grille has no give to it at all as we move around the microphone there are no buttons
or switches the mounting system that is previously installed is made out of plastic in case that
matters to you on the rear of the microphone you will find the xlr port and this microphone
is made in taiwan then as far as the specs of this microphone it has a hyper cardioid polar pattern
it has a frequency response of 80 hertz to 16 kilohertz a sensitivity of around negative 53 db
and an impedance of 600 ohms now i am spinning around the at2040 to 90 degrees so you can
hear the off axis rejection and coloration will continue around to around 150 degrees
this should be the deadest area on the microphone continuing around to the rear of the mic then
continuing around the microphone to the second 90 degree area and then rotating and ending at the
front of the microphone now let's see how well the microphone does at rejecting plosives please bring
pizza pronto please bring pizza pronto please bring pizza pronto now i'm right on top of the
microphone to demonstrate the proximity effect on this thing now i'm about three inches away from
the mic with it pointed at the corner of my mouth and here is how it sounds about one foot away from
the microphone two feet away from the microphone and about four feet away from the microphone
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 gamers now i am typing on the sad w keys
here is how the microphone sounds in a well-treated room
and just so you can see the microphone there it is right
there and here is how the microphone sounds in a completely untreated room
next to see how well the microphone isolates itself i will go ahead and
tap on my desk to see how much of that noise it can reject and i'll tap on the boom arm
and now in order to be extremely annoying i will go ahead and tap
on the body of the microphone to see if there are any kind of resonant frequencies
now we're going to do a quick comparison between the 2040 and a bunch of other broadcast dynamic
microphones that are available on the market we're not doing all broadcast dynamics but
we're doing a fair number so grab some popcorn and buckle up because we're gonna be here for a while
like always we'll start on the mic that we're reviewing this is the 2040. three inches off gain
set at four o'clock and here is how it sounds let's jump to the first mic first up we are on
the zoom zdm1 this is an 80 microphone i am three inches off gain is still set at four o'clock make
sure to check the lower third to see how much i boost each of these microphones in post and let's
jump back to the audio technica and do some more comparisons again we're back on the audio technica
at2040 affordable broadcast dynamic microphone nothing has changed let's jump to the second mic
now we are on a handheld dynamic microphone but one of my favorites this is the se electronics
sev7 100 so the same price as the at2040 same distance same gain setting check the lower third
and let's do some more comparisons back again on the 2040 so you can hear how i sound in between
each and every one of these microphones here's how it sounds same distance same gain setting
next microphone now we are on an industry classic an industry standard the shure sm57
this is another 100 dynamic microphone this is an instrument dynamic microphone i am three inches
off again is still set at four o'clock check the lower third and here's how it compares
industry standard versus the new kid on the block does it stand up does it compare well
you tell me let's do some more of these at2040 again just very quickly so you can hear how i
sound on this before we jump to this next mic now we are on the audio technica's direct competitor
this is the rode pod mic another broadcast dynamic microphone that costs 100 i am three inches off of
this thing gain is still set at four o'clock and here is how it compares which one do you like the
sound of better the at2040 or the rode pod mic let me know in the comments down below and let's
jump back to the audio technica now all right we are back on the 2040 again are you surprised
you ought not be but here we are this is the fifth comparison let's jump to that fifth mic now i am
on another direct competitor to the audio technica this is the presonus pd70 another relatively
affordable broadcast dynamic mic this costs 130 dollars i am about three inches off the end of
this microphone's body or grill my gain is still set at four o'clock and here is how it compares
let's do more of these we're not done we're not even close to done we're not even half done
back to the audio technica here we are again on the at2040 three inches off gain set at four
o'clock and here's how it sounds let's jump to the next mic next i am on the sontronics podcast pro
this is a 150 dollar broadcast dynamic microphone i am three inches off my gain is still set at
four o'clock and check the lower third to see how much i boost each of these because
this is significantly hotter than the other so just so you know how much i'm boosting it
check the lower third let's do more comparisons here we are again at2040 here is how it sounds
nothing has changed let's do another comparison next we are on a very popular broadcast dynamic
microphone this is the rode pro caster this costs around 230 dollars and i am three inches off
my gain is set at four o'clock check the lower third i will have to boost this a bit more in post
and let's do more comparisons you wouldn't believe it but we're back on the audio technica
at2040 and nothing has changed can you believe it maybe you can't but it's true and here's how
it sounds let's jump to the next mic now we are on the 2040s big brother this is the bp40
which i believe is audio technica's flagship broadcast dynamic microphone i do not have the
filter engaged i am three inches off my gain is at four o'clock still and here is how it compares
let's jump back to the microphone oh this costs 350 bucks let's jump back to the 100 version and
do more tests all right we're getting near the end i think and i hope this is the at2040 again
three inches off gain set at four o'clock check the lower third to see how much i boost each of
these in post and let's jump to the next mic now i'm on the sm7b this costs four hundred dollars
i am about three inches away from the end of the capsule i am in flat mode i do not have the high
pass filter or the presence boost engaged and here is how it sounds i did increase my gain to
100 percent because this is a very quiet microphone check the lower third to see how
much i boosted it in post and let's jump back to the audio technica and do some more comparisons
all right here we are again on the audio technica at2040 we are getting very near the end you might
think what's more expensive than the sm7b well i have a couple more for you next we
are on the electro voice re20 another one of the most famous broadcast dynamic microphones
this costs around four hundred and fifty dollars i am three inches off my gain is at four o'clock
again and here is how this sounds let's jump back to the audio technica and we have a couple more
to go i bet you wouldn't believe that we have even more expensive microphones than the re20
but we do but we are currently on the at2040 i forgot what we were doing here's how it sounds
let's jump to the next microphone now we are on the neumann bcm705 this is neumann's only dynamic
microphone and this costs seven hundred dollars i am three inches off of this thing my gain is
set at around four o'clock and this is another very mid-forward-sounding broadcast dynamic
and there you go seven hundred dollars versus one hundred dollars do you hear six hundred
dollars better sound out of the neumann versus the at2040 you tell me let's jump back to the
audio technica and we have one more to go there's a 700 neumann broadcast dynamic mic that we just
compared it against that's right and we're not done yet you all know what this last microphone
is going to be enjoy it let's do it right now and here we are i knew what was going to happen
you knew it was going to happen and we are all thrilled that it is currently happening can you
tell by the tone of my voice and the look on my face we are on we're on the neumann u87ai
this is a 3600 multi-pattern condenser microphone 48 volts on gain at 11 o'clock cardioid mode
no high pass filter no no pads nothing engaged and here is how it sounds i'm never going to stop this
but let me know which of these microphones did you like the sound of the best do you think the
2040 stacks up against the competition well or do you think something else that i have demonstrated
outperforms it let me know in the comments down below and let's jump to the music test
broadcast dynamic microphones we all need them in our homes but i don't know what they are at all
let's find out yeah i'm still not not not quite sure what the definition of a broadcast dynamic
microphone is we do know that the definition of an idiot is right here though because i cannot speak
all right i am really glad that we're starting to see more and more microphones at this price
point that seem to be competing for the podcaster youtuber and streamer market and first up in terms
of pros i hate the fact that i am including this but i know it matters to a lot of people
it's a good-looking microphone so if you have a video component to your podcast or
you stream or you make youtube videos and you care about that it's a good-looking microphone
also in the grand scheme of things the microphone is pretty darn effective at plosive rejection
and when i used it in an untreated room it did a respectable job at rejecting unwanted room tone
but then as far as cons the provided microphone mount does not do a good job at shock absorption
so you will either need to be very careful with how you handle the boom arm or if you
bump your desk or you will need to invest additional money in a shock mount and also
i think the off-axis coloration on this thing is pretty terrible so if you anticipate having
any sound making it into the side of this microphone this that sound is going to be bad
just keep that in mind and now as far as my overall thoughts and opinions of this microphone
on the electric guitar if you are looking for a bunch of presents and high mids you're getting it
because that's what this microphone is dropping so if that's what you're trying to pick up more power
to you the low end is also controlled because the mic has essentially a 100hz high pass filter
but then when you get to the upper register of the guitar and just the top end in general
it did start to get a little bit piercing and unpleasant then on the acoustic guitar it seems
to lack any kind of heft or body or weight to it it just sounds a bit hollow down there i wasn't
a big fan of that and then when you get to the midsection it is over boosted and artificial
sounding and it really dominates the entire sound of the acoustic guitar you can't even focus on the
treble or air because it's just dominated by the midsection so i did not like it on the acoustic
next up for singing the low end actually seems to work really well on this thing because as
i mentioned it essentially has a 100hz high pass filter so you're not going to have any unnecessary
frequencies down there it's not going to sound muddy or boomy or anything like that but then
you get to the midsection and it starts to sound a bit nasally and also artificial and over-boosted
so for singing i was not the biggest fan of it for that application and lastly for spoken word the
microphone doesn't offer a very powerful low end so if that's something you're looking for you're
gonna have to look somewhere else but when we do compare it to other dynamic microphones it offers
a relatively open sound which was a bit shocking to me it sounds a bit more open in the top end
than i was expecting but simultaneously you're also starting to get this mid-forward sound that
comes across a touch artificial and to wrap up would i recommend the audio technica at2040 maybe
and kind of if you don't care how the microphone looks and you are focused solely on the sound i do
think there are better options at this price point mainly something like the se electronics sev7
i just think it sounds better that's my personal preference though however if you do care about the
look of the microphone and you want a mic that looks like a broadcast dynamic then i think you
have a couple of good options at this price point the at2040 the rodepod mic or the zoom zdm1 all
of which have quite different sound profiles to it so if you're looking for a more broadcasty dynamic
looking microphone at around 100 and you do prefer that more mid forward sound when you compare it
against the zdm one and the rode pod mic then i absolutely would recommend it because it does that
it does it well and it does it for an affordable price and that's gonna wrap up for today but like
always i want to pass the question off to you which of the microphones in this video was your
favorite do you think the at2040 did a good job do you think it's stealing the market around 100
bucks let me know in the comments down below if you found this video fun interesting or helpful
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