AKG Pro Audio C414 XLII Studio Grade Professional Large Diaphragm, Dual-Capsule, Vocal and Instrument Condenser Microphone with Rugged Aluminum Carrying Case. XLR Connector. Gray with Gold

hands down this is one of the best microphones i've ever owned. and in my opinion, it's priced pretty reasonably for the quality you get.

Sounds great! Highly recommend for people looking to upgrade their home studio but don't have the money for a higher price range just yet

Excellent Mic. I own many mics and they all have their own characteristics. The standout characteristic of this microphone is it's very low self-noise. At 50dB gain, in my "quiet" room, on a very quiet Liquid Channel preamp, I register ~ -110dBFS across the spectrum. This is sensational for my recordings of quiet sound effects and acoustic guitar. Particularly with an acoustic guitar, paired with a small diaphragm condenser mic, the sound is just beautiful. Quiet picking or a strum sustaining never gets caught up in the noise floor. I can crank the track all the way up in post and never hear more than room noise. Vocals are great on this mic, both speaking and singing. I do adjust EQ a bit in post to boost some of the high end, but it works out fine. It handles loud and quiet segments beautifully without distortion or large swings in volume. Some of my mics require much more adjustment of the singers distance during recording than this mic. And since the noise floor is so low, I can compress my tracks much better. It is expensive but it is a tough-built, all around mic with exceptional audio quality. Think of the price as relating to a lifetime of use, especially if you plan to make money recording with it. It will work so well for you, put up with abuse, and resell for a good price.

I recently purchased the AKG C414 microphone and I am extremely satisfied with this product. The sound quality is outstanding, capturing clear and detailed audio with impressive accuracy. The versatility of this microphone is exceptional, offering multiple polar patterns that make it suitable for various recording situations. The build quality is top-notch, with a sturdy and reliable design that ensures long-lasting performance. If you're looking for a high-quality microphone for professional use, I highly recommend the AKG C414. You won't be disappointed.

One of the first things to say is : this is a good mic , yes, but only when used by a pro singer or pro guitarist , & the correct monitoring system. otherwise u may be wondering that is the difference between this & the $200 mic u already have. This is something that a lot of people dont understand : if u are a good singer, u will sound amazing with this mic bcos it picks up many small details which are not obvious on cheaper mics. if its a bad singer, well... they may sound worse than on a $200 mic because this picks up all the flaws beautifully. same with acoustic guitars. if u are playing a guitar in the $4000 range(like my handcrafted model), this may be useful. but my other $500 guitar actually sounded better on one of my $200 mics. this is because the cheaper mic gives a lot of artificial high/low boost to make the guitar sound better than it is. but this c314 is more transparent, so a cheap guitar will sound ... cheap. When listened carefully through studio monitors, i could make out the small details which make the elder brother mic c414 famous. Admittedly, I have never used a c414 so no reference there , but my standalone opinion is that yes this c314 is a good mic. for now, i have to believe akg when they say both mics use the same condensor. pros : -yes this mic is quite transparent without any artificial massive eq boost -yes this mic is quite versatile, works well on many different instruments -the included polar patterns are useful. figure 8 is great for Mid-side recording, hypercardiod allows it to be used even on stage with live monitors. omni is ok, cardiod is clearly tight & focused. -nice little case is included along with mic clip & shock mount. cons :- As expected with large mics, this mic does not feel the best fit for super fast strummed guitars, because it may not respond to the fast transients. I added some transients later in post production which is not completely natural, but its a mix effect. u may want another small mic for this, anyway even the manual mentions to pair with a small mic for acoustic guitar. - the build & colors are not as high-end as i imagined from the photos. it does not look cheap either, but then its not going to turn heads. maybe akg decided to keep aesthetics simple for this price range, which may be a good practical decision.

If your looking for a professional high quality MIC to add to your collection or looking for your first professional MIC, this is it. Many are asking the question on what MIC do i buy, what pre-amp do i get etc.... I use this MIC with a PRO MPA II pre-amp made by ART. It sounds awesome. Its clear, clean and crisp. The MPA II has a low noise floor and works very well with this MIC. Any frequencies you don't like, you can cut them out during the mix phase. I do plan to buy another MIC pre because i want to have versatility in my studio but i assure you, this MIC is a smart buy that wont disappoint you. UPDATE!!! As i stated above, there is a low noise floor with the setup i have. After doing some recording, it dawned on me that i was using low quality MIC and patch cables from the pre-amp to the sound card. I purchased two Hosa pro series balanced TRS patch cables and a 15 ft MOGAMI gold analog reference cable. Doing so has given me virtually no noise at all in the recording. Cable quality matters, especially if you are a mix engineer and the details are important. I'm not endorsing these brands, merely sharing the results I've obtained with these purchases and this setup.

I wish I could write a long detailed review on how awesome this is! But I can tell there are plenty on here! But when I bought this I only saw a few tell me what I wanted to know! What kind of music they use it for! So I will tell you now that I use this for rap vocals, really any vocals! I can't tell you if it sounds warm tinny or any of that(amateur) but what I can say is that it sounds great! I highly recommend getting an acoustic shield with this if you don't have a treated/soundproofed studio! Which I will assume most of you don't, get it I was honestly unimpressed with how the mic sounded without the shield! That may be accompanied by the fact I was recording in an unfinished mini barn! But your not here to hear how you need an acoustic shield, bottom line you need this! All tho recording in your bedroom may be an issue due to the fact this thing will pick up a fly changing its mind in the next county!! So there is no reason to go spend $1000 on a mic when your environment can't accommodate it and honestly with this mic on the market its stupid to spend that much! Buy this now and happy recording!!

After bringing it to Brazil, we tried to use it with the proper XLR cable and a professional audio interface (with 48V phantom power), but there is no sound output from the microphone. We have tested different cables, inputs, and devices, but the issue remains the same. It seems that the microphone may have arrived defective or damaged during shipping. Could you please advise on the warranty procedure or replacement options for this unit?