MXL 770 Midnight Special Edition Condenser Microphone with Shock Mount

I have been using a Zoom H4N audio recorder for years and finally decided it was time for me to add a real mic to make the most of it. I'm not technically a professional recording engineer or musician but I do a lot of recording and audio editing. I sing in a local ensemble and produce very high quality YouTube videos for them as well. A large part of making professional YouTube videos is having good equipment. In addition, I sing and play the guitar and sometimes have need to record practice files for myself for memorization, record things for an audition or just record for fun! So far this mic has exceeded the expectations I had for it for the price! This is a really great mic that comes with a nice little accessories bundle including the shock mount, a nice hard case for both and some great resources and manuals to learn how to use it and get the most out of it. I found those to be very helpful and easy to read! At the end of the day though, the sound quality is really, really good, especially for what you pay! I'm really glad I took a chance on this. It will make you sound great if you're well prepared but don't think it's going to do you any studio magic favors. If you don't know your music or sing/play flat, that's exactly what this will record, haha! No, it does not come with software to edit what you record. I didn't expect it to but some people seem to be wondering about that. Here's how I use it and what I bought to go with it: - Audio 2000 3ft mic cable from H&F technologies - Samson MK 10 mic boom stand - Zoom H4N audio recorder (which I already had) If you're using a Zoom H4N here's what you need to do to connect it: - Plug your mic cable into input 1 and press input 1 (both 1 and 2 will light up but that's ok) - Provide phantom power to the mic by entering the menu options, scrolling to and selecting "Input" and then scrolling to and selecting "Phantom Power". This mic takes 48 so select that when asked if you want 24 or 48. - Enable both left and right channels (you have to do this if you want to hear what you record in both the left and right ears of a pair of headphones) by going back to the menu options and selecting "Input" and scroll to and select "Mono Mix" and turn it on. Ready to record and enjoy! I just record to an SD card on my Zoom H4N and pop that into my PC. I do the actual editing using Adobe Audition software which I like a lot. I hope this helps someone else who is looking for a solid mic to get good vocal, guitar, piano or ukulele (those are just the instruments I play) recordings on a budget or someone who is trying to connect a condenser mic to a Zoom H4N recorder! For the record I did NOT get this mic for free or at a discount. I paid full price for it.

I'll keep this review simple for my fellow musician/singers out there. Do not buy anything just because it has a trendy name or costs a lot - that doesn't always mean it's worth the money. I read the other reviews & thought since I can't afford a mic that cost 2,000 dollars but I still want a really good quality mic for what little money I do have to invest on gear, maybe I should give the MXL 770 mic a try. I bought 2 - one for recording instruments & one for vocals, if your p.c. or mac and/or interface needs fantom powered mics these have that. Like a good pair of shoes or a Porsche sports car it takes a while to gently break them in but once you do they fit like a glove or perform like an atomic clock - same thing goes for these mics. Be gentle, don't abuse them - in about a few sessions of practice you'll notice how freaking incredibly awesome they record. They're a lot like really good quality studio monitors, give them a few days to warm up & once they do you'll be like holy crap this is some great gear. After using these mics for a home studio recording I can honestly & personally tell you they are dang near perfect for what you need & for the price you'll regret buying anything else - trust these reviews like I did, these are outstanding microphones. They come in a great heavy duty protective case with handle, a shock guard that keeps the mic stable (plus looks cool as hell) the mics are heavy solid & look impressive, they look like mics that no one can afford, & they pick up the exact frequency range you need for them to with zero hiss or humming. Note they are not dynamic mics for live gigs, these are for recording only & in my opinion I got double my moneys worth.

Very very good recording quality, use it for calls and occasional podcast recordings

This isn't going to be your 5000 words in-detail review, just adding to the average of the mike and statistics. I'm not sure if the negative reviews labeling the case as flimsy are based on some older version, and if the ones complaining about noise and low levels are from reviewers who aren't used to working with non plug'n'play mikes or defective items, but I can't say I have any of those issues. TL;DR: You're probably looking at buying this because you heard that it's the only mic under 100$ you can get that comes with a shock mount and a case that sounds better than it costs. It's true. It comes with a serviceable shock mount, a good case, and the mike alone is excellent and easily comparable to 100$ ones without those accessories. Do expect to have to set up your environment to make it sound great: Welcome to the world of audio, where 200$ of padding your room and 70$ of gear and 2 hours of setting up positioning will yield immensely better results than spending 500$ on gear and sitting it on a wooden surface. Long version: For the price this is an outstanding deal, that's why people buy it, and it's true. Expect to have to have to set up your gear and find sweet spots and all, but that would hold true for mikes three times the price. Don't coil your cables, don't use unbalanced if you're 10 metres from the interface, or balanced if you have a 1m cable run in a non noisy environment. With a decent 2m unbalanced Swamp cable and a UR22 mkII the levels are perfectly fine, middle of the pack for more expensive equivalent models. I wonder if people complaining it's quiet are running it through an overly weak interface and using long balanced cables that can't push through. The pattern is pretty fat on the sides, so hang and angle the mic right if you don't want it to pick up a nearby window and you're doing podcasting, but the pick up is amazing; it's clean, has excellent range, and won't clip easy. It's a cardioid pattern, not a 22 degrees shotgun, you can basically record two people standing almost on its sides, expect the noise and ambient to also reflect that and operate it accordingly. The case is as good as it gets for a price range including a mic and shock mount (which is actually OK and perfectly serviceable but nothing more than that) costing what you'd often pay for just those accessories. The mike itself is of a really good build, easily comparable with middle-of-pack 120-150$ products and certainly on the top end of its price range. All in all it deserves its (good) reputation.

This is one of the most versatile mics I own. It's a given that it works well in a home studio as well as having a very good price-to-performance ratio, Read some of the other reviews for that. For me this is perfect for a drum kit overhead because the frequency range picks up toms, snare drum and cymbals with a great deal of clarity. It will also pick up the bass drum as an overhead, which makes it ideal for acoustic jazz or other acoustic genres. For louder music this overhead and a kick drum mic may be all you need. It also works well close micing smaller amps like my Roland KC-110 3-Channel 30-Watt Stereo Mixing Keyboard Amplifier , which has incredible tone, but does not project in larger and louder ensembles. In the case of the instrument micing I mentioned this works practically out of the box. The shock mount is steady and attenuates vibrations and ambient noise, and all you really need to do is plug it into any mixer that can provide phantom power. For vocals, especially when the singer has a sultry voice (think Julie London), this mic also excels. Actually, it matters not what the vocal range is, this mic will do an excellent job, but truly excels in the lower ranges. For vocal work I recommend running this mic through a PreSonus Tubepre Single-Channel Vacuum Tube Mic Pre , which will warm it up a little more and give you a lot more control over gain. It will also provide phantom power if your PA does not provide it. Read over the other reviews, which provide more specific and in-depth information about this mic. Like most of the others who own this mic I am very pleased with it and would be hard pressed to find a better one at three times the price.

I picked this up for $50 during a special, and even at the usual $70, this thing is a steal. I compared this to a couple of the other mics that you are likely to have come across in your search for a decent, affordable condenser (AT2020 and AKG P220, most notably, and a bit further up the list I have used a Rode nt1a a bit as well), and this thing is 100% up to the challenge or any sub-$200 mic you can throw at it. Bottom line: don't spend 10+ hours researching this like I did. It's not worth it. You can't go wrong with *any* of the most common "cheap" condensers people will point you to, but the MXL 770 usually has a considerable discount in comparison to the others, so it's the winner for me. If you can find the AT2020 for a comparable price, I'd probably prefer the AT2020 overall because I trust its build quality a little more, but not so much that I think it's worth the typical ~$20 premium. They're *very* close in quality, and you wouldn't be disappointed with either. I use this primarily for simple acoustic guitar and vocal recordings for putting together demos and practice tracks for live performances. Nothing too fancy. I have used dynamic mics in the past, but really wanted something that would give a bit more life to the vocals and capture the nuances - and mistakes - of my performances. This mic is fantastic for acoustic guitar, 9/10, and I would say it is very good, 8/10 for vocals. This is a small diaphragm condenser for ~$50. You can't expect miracles, and you won't find miracles without making a considerable jump in price, and honestly, that jump in price just isn't worth it unless making music is your bread and butter or you've just got money to burn. This $50 mic will catch 99% of what a $500 mic will, and for me, that's plenty good enough.

Nice mic

As others have commented, this microphone is versatile and amazing for the price! As a matter of fact, I'd venture to say this microphone compares very favorably with mics costing several times what I paid for the MXL 770. It is super-sensitive, and as such comes with the shock mount included. It also comes with a protective carry case. There are selector switches on it to select or bypass the high-pass filter and -10db attenuation (both features built-in to this microphone). By having these controls on the mic, you can set up different settings for each individual microphone if you're using more than one at your venue.Be sure to connect this to a recorder or mixer which provides the required 48volt phantom power. I use mine (I have 2 so far) connected to a Zoom H6 recorder. The mic is 'at home' recording large halls or small venues, as well as recording vocals (I strongly recommend adding a 'pop filter' to ensure clean sound and protect the microphone's electronics if you're planning to use this in front of a vocalist). The MXL 770 picks up in a standard cardioid pattern. The same company also makes the MXL 770x which, in addition to the features of this mic, also adds the ability to select the microphone's pickup patterns (cardioid, figure-of-eight, and omnidirectional) - but that model is a bit more expensive! Bottom line: I am totally delighted with this microphone. It performs excellently, and is offered at a price that didn't break my budget.