MXL 990 Condenser Microphone with Shockmount

by MXL

Product Features

• 3/4" gold-sputtered diaphragm Attractive vintage body style with champagne finish 30Hz-20kHz frequency response 130dB maximum SPL Sensitivity: 15MV/pa Equivalent noise: 20dB (A-weighted) Wired with Mogami cable

Product Details

• Shipping Weight: 3.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• ASIN: B0002GIRP2
• Item model number: MXL990
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (122 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #878 in Musical Instruments (See Top 100 in Musical Instruments)
  • #24 in Musical Instruments > Recording Equipment > Microphones > Condenser Microphones
• Date first available at Amazon.com: April 7, 2007

Product Description

The MXL 990 Condenser Microphone with Shock Mount has a silky, sweet high end while retaining tight, solid low and midrange reproduction. The 3/4" gold-sputtered diaphragm creates a professional sound suited for digital and analog recording. Attractive vintage body style with champagne finish. 30Hz-20kHz frequency response. 130dB maximum SPL. Includes custom shock mount, mic stand adapter, and case. Requires phantom power.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

126 of 131 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Good for the price but I find it a bit muddy February 28, 2005

By BassMan

It's hard to beat this mic on price. I have one and often use it for home recording projects, demos and such. It's a good inexpensive way to record vocals, but I find the sound a bit muddy, and often come back with eq to turn down some of the low-mid frequencies. Now there are a number of condensers coming out in this low price range, and I've tried a few of them and haven't yet found a cheap one I like any better than this. For finished products, I'd use a better mic if available, but this one will work with a bit of EQ and a careful ear.

The mic requires phantom power, so I got the Art Tube MP preamp to go with it. That preamp warms up the sound and really helps this mic out compared to the built-in mic pre-amps on my board.

51 of 54 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Great for the price, perfect for podcasting November 15, 2005

By Bob Barnacle

I have two of these because they're SO cheap and use them mainly at home if I have a musical idea. One of the reviewers above mentioned it was a bit muddy which I totally agree with. But it's incredibly cheap and fairly detailed for that amount of money. I'm curious how it will hold up over years of use. Anyway, this is probably the perfect "step-up" mic for podcasts if you are currently recording with your computer's built-in mic or a radio shack dynamic mic. I would choose this over the m-audio mics- it feels slightly more durable.

49 of 54 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Mic For the Price September 14, 2004

By latentaudio

I purchased this mic to record mandolin and acoustic guitar in my PC based home studio and couldn't be happier.

It accurately reproduces my Taylor acoustic guitar. When used in conjunction with an ART tube pre-amp, it actually enhances my low cost mandolin.

No regrets here!

64 of 76 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Mediocre Out of the Box, Great with Modifications October 13, 2007

By Michael Joly

The MXL 990 is one of many Chinese-manufactured condenser mics that suffer from two common problems - it is simultaneously ill-defined in the critical midrange and excessively harsh in the treble range. While the circuit used in the mic is quite clever and fairly well implemented, the sonic deficiencies lie within the condenser capsule and headbasket acoustics.

By and large, Chinese-manufactured mics use condenser capsules copied from classic Neumann designs. Unfortunately, these inexact copies fall short of delivering the magnificent midrange accuracy and smooth, sibilance-free top end Neumann capsules are known for. Most of the copied capsules deliver a sound that is often described as harsh, spitty, "eshy", sibilant or screechy. Poor headbasket acoustics compound the problems created by these capsules.

The MXL 990, like most microphones of its class, uses a multi-layer grille mesh headbasket. These multiple layers of mesh do protect the capsule from spittle and wind blasts - but at a cost. Multiple layer headbaskets have a very small percentage of open area in the grille. This means a great deal of sound is reflected back and forth between the capsule and headbasket. Cup your hands around your mouth or speak into a paper tube to get an exaggerated example of the standing wave artifacts caused by a restrictive headbasket.

What to do?

One of the great benefits of the MXL 990 and other similarly priced mics is low cost. With a very modest investment in the original microphone, it becomes an excellent platform for a microphone modification. The capsule can be upgraded and headbasket opened up....

With a suite of microphone modifications this mic, (as well as many other Chinese manufactured mics) can really become a solid performer that sounds much more like a professional tool. Read more ›

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars I love it December 28, 2011

By Drew Larck

Now I want everyone to understand right away, that I am in no way a professional audio recorder. I am just a guy who likes technology and music and wanted to try his hand at it.

I got this set for Christmas and I really like it. It took a little bit of extra buying in order to get it to work though. I ended up getting
Blue Microphones Icicle, to convert it to my laptop and give it the required 48v of Phantom Power
Musicians friend boom Stand
Nady Pop filter
and some XLR cables from the music store down the street

I knew I needed all of that going into it, so it wasnt a surprise, but if you didnt know, you do several things to start out.
Pop Filter (optional but recommended)
Stand
Source of Phantom Power
A way to convert XLR to USB or 3.5mm (If you are recording straight into a computer)
XLR Cables

As for the sound quality that it produces, I am thoroughly impressed! It sounds really good and clear and picks up good on my bass voice.
I like using it in order to record piano too.

So far I have not had any problems with it and I really like it. I would recommend this to anyone who is just starting recording and doesnt care to spend thousands of dollars to get the worlds most perfect condensor mic.
If anything bad does happen I will update this, but for now its great

If this is helpful, please hit the helpful button, it would be really appreciated :) Thanks

25 of 30 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Too muddy. For $50 more you can get so much better. August 5, 2008

By D. Fichtner

I had this mic for one day, which was enough time for me to put it through its paces for my use: voice-over work. Unfortunately, this mic didn't have the presence I was looking for in a condenser microphone, and the mids were far too muddy. I couldn't EQ them out with my basic 4-channel audio board + phantom power. Garbage in = garbage out. I returned the mic to the store about 24 hours later.

Someone said in another review that you'll quickly grow out of the MXL 990 mic once you realize that it sounds like a cheap Chinese condenser mic. I totally agree with that.

Also, a condenser is really not a good choice for a podcast mic. They pick up far too much noise -- they are really meant to be used in studio applications with heavily treated rooms that have no background noise. If you use it in a normal room, you'll hear every tiny little sound along with your speech. I suggest you look at a decent Dynamic microphone. As far as super inexpensive, I've had good luck with the Audio Technica AT818II mic in Asia. In the US, it's actually more expensive, and is called the Audio Technica "Professional Unidirectional Microphone." You can find them here on Amazon for a song. I've been happy with the sound for my podcasts, and as a dynamic, they handle background noises much better.

A great (but a little expensive) mic for podcasts, probably the best, is the Shure SM7. You can read about that all over the web.