Home > Consumer Reviews > Audio-Technica AT2020 USB Condenser USB Microphone

Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/RRJX2RJN2AHGB This is my video review of the AT2020 USB microphone from Audio-Technica. USB Microphones are made to be plugged in directly to a laptop or desktop. I connected this to a Vista 64 laptop during filming and did the voice over on a Macbook Pro.

Text review:
I give this product a 5 star rating. It is easy to use, high quality and very competitively priced. This is a great desktop mic to use for making podcasts or recording music.

I am not a musician so I am not able to speak to that aspect of the microphones ability. I did use it to make several voice over videos and it performed perfectly. Never a hick-up or any spurious noises heard at all.

I did not include specs into my video review because it would add to the file size and be too small to read here on Amazon's video player.

Regular readers of my reviews know I try to supply specs when necessary.

Here are the specs:
Element: Fixed-charge back plate permanently polarized condenser
Polar pattern: Cardioid
Frequency Response: 20Hz-16,000Hz
Power Requirements: USB power (+5VDC)
Bit depth: 16
Sample Rate: 44,000 kHz
Weight: 374g (13.2 oz)
Dimensions: 162.0 mm (6.38") long
52.0mm max body diameter (2.05")
Output connector: USB type
Accessories: Pivoting stand for 5/8"-27 threaded stands, 5/8"-27 to 3/8"-16 threaded adapter, soft protective pouch, tripod desk stand; 3.1m 10' USB cable

System Reqs: Mac OSX, USB 1.0 or 2.0 64MB RAM minimum. Windows XP Home or professional USB 1.0 or 2.0 64MB RAM minimum.

So for a great USB microphone I recommend this highly!

About the video: After uploading I noticed that Amazon's codec (video compressor) has made the video quality sub-par. I will try to reupload it again with a different codec.
Thank you for watching!

I was looking for the pre Amp for my microphone to do do voice over video and found this USB microphone from Audio technica. So I did not have to buy the preamp . Just plug it to the USB port then you go. It was very easy to use and noise floor very quiet, it does not record the fan noise from your computer or the background noise in the recording room, very happy with the purchase.

My review is not going to be too useful, but hopefully it will influence the mic's overall rating.

Pros:
- Great signal range!
Seems to capture everything I've thrown at it, including deep lows from vehicles and crisp highs from breaking glass. (Used for sound production)
- Decent noise floor...
Could be better, I ended up switching to the non-USB version and a mixer.
- Nice blue LED light...
It adds some character to the mic in the dark, although looks are not everything.
- Plug and play! No driver installation required. (Tested on XPSP3)

Cons:
Included stand picks up vibrations; I have replaced it with a better one after breaking it. It was an accident, I swear!

UPDATE (12/2/08):
Although this is a very convenient way to capture high quality audio, for a more serious solution, I would recommend going for the non-USB version with a mixer or mic preamp for better quality.

I've had this condenser microphone for about a month now and it has suited my purposes very well. I needed something to record podcasts with and do some voiceover work as well. I do my recording with Audacity, and the microphone was imediately recognized and easily installed as my primary microphone for Audacity. It is a very sensitive mic, and I had to build a small "porta-booth" ([...])to reduce the echo in the room where I record, but was able to get good clear recording after that. I recomend using a pop filter with this microphone to help reduce "S" & "P" sybillance. All in all, a very good microphone for the price.

I'm not an audio professional, but was just looking for a mic to record some radio internet broadcasts and voice overs for videos made on my Mac. I didn't want to spend a lot of money, but wanted a mic that would produce pretty good sound. I originally tried the Snowball by Blue. The Snowball claims that you don't need a preamp to get to a good sound level, but when I plugged it in, the sound level was so low, it was worthless. I then did some research and found that it needed a firmware update. But I could not find the update anywhere on the internet. I wound up returning it. Then I researched this AT 2020 USB. I received it, and it truly is plug and play on my Mac. I simply plugged it into my computer, adjusted the sound input level, and then it was smooth sailing to recording. The sound is nice and clear. And the price can't be beat. I would recommend this mic to anyone who doesn't necessarily need something that is high end, but want a good sound.