AKG Pro Audio C414XLS PAIR Studio Grade Professional Large Diaphragm, Dual Capsule, Multi-Pattern, Vocal & Instrument Condenser Microphone with Aluminum Carrying Case. XLR Connector. Gray with Gold.

A wonderful, low-noise, Austrian mic
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.

Great mic to add to the Collection
So let me preface this by saying the ONLY reason I gave this 4 stars instead of 5 is because I came from an (unmodded) MXL990s for years, and thought this would be a MASSIVE upgrade. It wasn’t. That being said, I absolutely love this microphone, and when I do get another one, I can’t see myself selling the 214. I just wanted to let everyone know that there are a lot of other upgrades that can be done in your signal chain, and to let you know that the microphone is only a small part of that. The highs can be a bit sibilant with this microphone, but that was something I was aware of beforehand, and something I kind of wanted. I’d say my style of singing is similar to that of Chris Martin, so having a mic that is a bit “bright” is something I was going for. I have mine paired with a Steinberg UR44, and it’s an extremely quiet setup. I think I need to tweak my settings a little though because unless i have the 0dB pad on, I’m not getting the best results when I’m 12-16″ away from the mic. Again, I think this is something I need to tweak in my setup, and not something directly related to the 214. Unfortunately, I have not gotten to try this on anything other than higher-register male vocals, but I have heard that it is a good mic for hip-hop, and will update my review (can I do that?) when I get a chance to record some rappers that I know.I was really tossed up between this and a used 414XLii, and I think I’m going to eventually scoop up the 414 as well. Some of my friends who work in studios told me I was dumb for thinking this could hold up against a C414, but I didn’t know if it wold justify the extra $300-400 for the 414. I guess if I could do it again, I probably would’ve gone for the 414, but hey I guess that’s life. I’m in no way unsatisfied with this purchase, but can definitely see myself upgrading sooner than if I had just gotten the 414 the first time. I don’t necessarily need the polar patterns, but the 414 is industry standard, and the 214 is still going to be seen as a “budget” model.If you’re on a budget, I would definitely recommend this mic, but if you can afford something a little more industry standard, I would definitely choose the latter.Again though, I still love this mic and don’t plan on parting with it even if I choose to upgrade.

Pretty good!
 

It’s always a bonus to have a factory matched pair of microphones for a realistic sound field without your recordings ‘leaning’ to one side, sonicly. The AKG 214 is a versatile single-pattern cardioid LDC, which is the little brother of the flagship 414 and it does impart some of that chewy goodness and clarity into the 214 at about a third of the price. I’ve used the 214s as drum OH, BG Vox, guitar amps, room, sax, violin and Main vocals, too. High pass filter and -20dB pad switches built into the all metal body. Superior build quality and a silky open-ness that AKG is noted for. Glad to have included in the kit, paired windscreens, shock mounts, solid mounts and stand adapters. Foam-lined case to protect your investment. AKG have been producing industry standard microphones since 1947, you can hear the difference experience makes.

Loved it from the moment I started tweaking with EQ. This thing gives you loads of playroom. It’s a pretty dark microphone in its natural flat out of the box tone but don’t let that fool you. Highly recommend for vocal work and even streaming with the right live processing.