Audio-Technica AT2040 Hypercardioid Dynamic Podcast Microphone

This mic is Honestly one of the best Budget broadcast microphones you can get! The build quality is there! All metal aside from the mounting clip. The threaded adapter is plastic, but it works. The grill has no give, and it looks good! I would invest in some time in some EQ software to get the most out of this microphone, just like with any other. From personal experience the AT2040 only needs minimal adjustments to soften the mids (your core speaking voice), that being said your voice will be different. I am confident it will still need minimal adjustments, as I have listened to female speak into it as well and the higher pitch female voices sound great. A foam windscreen would help with this as well, and I personally recommend it just to keep the mic clean and the ease of cleaning. That being said it has some built in EQ with a high pass filter kicking in at 80hz, to try and keep the mic from picking up your real low thumps like steps on the floor or table bumps. It also has some of the most off axis projection I have seen on a mic, speaking 90 degrees off from the speaking surface I can barely hear myself. Now I do power this with the Elgato Wave XLR with Phantom Power off, since Dynamic mics don’t require it. BUT this mic needs some Serious gain to sound good, which is normal for Dynamic as well. I don’t use the Elgato software, but I’m around the 45 gain mark or so, my microphone volume from the elgato is set to 97 in my windows which is darn near max, but it is what it requires to get decent sound from it. If you see a review saying its quiet then question if their gain was set too low! The Rhode Podmic is its biggest contender in the budget category and you couldn’t go wrong with it either, but I digress as this is a review of the AT2040 For $100 and minimal EQ adjustments this thing is a great deal!

It’s an upgrade from my old xlr mic. I use it with my elegato wave software to for some extra effects and it sounds clear and beautiful

So far so good! Haven't recorded any vocals with it yet, but everyone on discord says I sound great. Easy to install, mounts like most mics. Seems high quality and durable also. Highly recommend Audio Technica for all of your sound needs!

Having been podcasting with a variety of AT products in the past two years, I can honestly say that this mic is very good value for the money, with a few caveats. The at2040 is essentially a 1/4 of the cost of the BP40 but shares a similar look--since I'm never on video for my podcast, I don't really care about how the microphone looks. In terms of functionality, this mic doesn't require phantom power, which is neither here nor there, as I still require an audio interface to make the connection to the XLR cable work--and mine goes through a second-generation Scarlett Solo without a touch of feedback or hiss. Noise is controlled very well--there's no need for a pop filter although simply in terms of protecting the casing, you may want to use a foam head anyway, but if you unscrew the grate you'll find a pop-filter already included internally. I'm not sure how well it works for everybody else's voice but the at2040 rendered my vocals much more crisply and cleanly than the at2020. I will say that some post-production was definitely needed to add a boost to the final output (which is often the case for most mics anyway), but for podcasters, this is a very very good budget option for a dynamic mic that looks good and right out of the box helps to deliver a really nice, professional sound. (*Note* as of 9/19/21 I've ordered the Coda MB-1 to see if I can't get even better performance out of this mic, as I noted in a recent recording that at a very low level I could hear some audible hiss which may have been the fault of my laptop ports, but I will update this review if I see any difference is made) I've used the atr2100, the aforementioned at2020, and the Pro41 and this one beats them all. **NOTE** with the Coda MB-1 this mic is an amazing piece of hardware and a tremendous performer, and without it, it's still very good--but on my interface I was able to pot my gain down to 40% of max and get really clear results.

Fantastic mic for the money. Great build quality, sound, and longevity. I have thrown this mic through the ringer and it still sounds fantastic and looks great on camera.

this mic is good but only if ur background isn't too loud

I originally saw a similar mic from some YouTuber and I decided to give it a try. It's pretty good. I did switch from a Rode mic to this just because I wanted something smaller and lighter. I'm not an audiophile so I can't give great comparisons, but as just a content creator, this gets the job done. Mic quality does sound slightly different between this and my previous Rode mic but I grew to like the audio coming from this one.

This mic is ultra tight cardiod. Off axis rejection is extreme. S/N is very good for a dynamic mic which always need more gain than a +48v condenser. The build is quite solid and a bit heavy, ( Why ?) It has no Lo cut or pad. It rolls off a little early and has no deep bottom, but mids are fine and reaches upward more than any hyper cardiod mic I've tried. It's not crisp, but is more bright than dark. It has NO proximity effect ! You can swallow it without getting boomy. Perfect for harmonica players ? My use is to isolate drum kit elements in a studio setting. I need 2 or 3 more. Unscrew the capsule guard and remove the front foam for a little more treble.

A good dynamic mic overall. It has a bit of "radio" sound (a bump at about 3-4 kHz), but it is a podcast microphone - so suits the purpose perfectly. Its sound also works great with RNN noise reduction when used for voice. Integrated pop-filter works fine. Not as good as a dedicated one, but it does make a difference, I rather like it. Manufacturer claims it has internal shock mount, but I haven't noticed it. I have it mounted without any shock mount directly to a mic arm, and it picks up a lot of bumps on the table (like typing). The bumps are pretty low-pitched and I had mixed results with eliminating them with noise cancelling algorithms. RNN works good, but DeepFilterNet fails to eliminate low-frequency noise almost completely with this mic. For comparison - my condenser studio mic at comparable price works great with both. You can also use low-shelf filter to remove such noise - the bumps are really low in frequency and should be easy to isolate. Hypercardioid pattern of this mic is not as pronounced as I expected. Honestly, in pratice it is comparable with my cardiod large membrane condenser mic, which is a bit dissapointing. But lower overall sensitivity somewhat mitigates it. Build quality is excellent, it is very sturdy and pretty heavy. Not heavy enough to cause problems and mic arms compatibility issues, though. It is also pretty big, but because acoustic axle is along the longer dimension and not through the side - it doesn't bother me at all. Despite being quite large - it doesn't get in the way. In general - a solid mic for voice, but you might need a preamp or high post-processing gain depending on your audio interface or mixer.

Mükemmel

Da igual el micrófono que compres si no tienes una buena interfaz de sonido, no sonará como debe. Y este en mi opinión suena mejor que los clásicos que suelen tener los youtubers. Con una buena configuración suena espectacular

I do like this mic its great to be able to make songs and not have any of the background noise, I have found a way to get noise cancelling on this mic and I had to play with the mixer a little bit to get it setup properly but let me tell you something, it's definitely a contender for the shure sm7b. Trust me it's definitely worth every penny.

Amazing microphone with excellent sound quality and build. The AT2040 captures clear, rich audio and does a great job reducing background noise. It feels durable and is perfect for streaming, gaming, podcasts, and voice recording. Highly recommended!