Home > Consumer Reviews > Audio Technica AT2020 Side Address Cardiod Condensor Studio Mic

Let's face it...I'm just a hobby musician. A guy in his mid-30's who has tinkered with music most of his adult life. I've played both as a solo artist and with bands. I've also been fortunate enough to spend time in actual recording studios with true professionals. None of this qualifies me as an expert...but I do have a certain level of familiarity on the subject.

I purchased this mic to supplement my home studio. I was hoping to get a little better sound than my usual stable of dynamic mics provide. I think I got pretty lucky with this purchase - it's my understanding that in this particular price range, you shouldn't expect a whole lot. I mean, it's just a microphone, right?

What I will say is that I was certainly satisfied with my purchase. I've used this microphone in conjunction with a tube preamp on a handful of recordings with great success. I bought this with the intention of using it for vocals, but I've found that I actually prefer it to record my acoustic guitar - this microphone picks up all the sound that I'm looking for from my acoustic - it's the nice, mellow, and full bodied sound that I hear when I'm playing, but that I was never able to capture before. In terms of its originally intended use, I felt is was only a slight improvement over the SM58 that I typically used for vocals - however, I wouldn't put too much stock into my assessment, as vocals are not one of my strengths when it comes to music (let's face it, autotune was created for a reason, right?)

Granted - everyone is going to have different opinions of this product, and I happen to think it works great for those of us on a budget. In terms of value - it is a great product for a fantastic price. I liked this microphone so much, I plan on buying at least one more.

This mic has a great pick up and produces a clear sound. It is best to have 2 and record in stereo.

If you're considering this mic, go for it. For the money, you can't go wrong. My advice: (1) buy a pair if you're using this for recording drums; (2) buy a mic (or pair) in the 30 or 40 series by AT if you can afford it. Whatever you choose based on price range, these are great microphones. I use mine for overhead on drums and for mic'ing acoustic guitar. Fantastic.

Wow! This microphone is amazing. I see what people mean when they talk about condenser microphones being more fragile than normal dynamic microphones, but this isn't a piece of plastic, it's built well.

I paired it with the Behringer 502 5-input mixer, and it sounds great, totally professional quality. I just wanted something simple to begin home music projects, and this microphone's quality is more than enough for me.

It's very warm and highly sensitive. I don't even notice that it's side address, you can turn it up so that it picks up everything in the room.

I would have bought a stand for it as well, and a cheap pop filter. Otherwise, great deal for a mic of this quality.

Great mic, fantastic sound. all you need is a decent mixer. Great customer service, very fast shipping