Audio Technica AT2020 USB Plus Review / Test
Today I am reviewing Audio Technica AT2020USB+. This mic is not to be confused with the XLR Version (AT2020) or the prior iteration (AT2020USB). I do also want to note that this microphone is listed as compatible with Windows & Mac machines.
If you are interested in this microphone, it will set you back $150 on Amazon
What's In the Box
Microphone
USB Cable
Mic Mount
Desktop Mic Stand
5/8" to 3/8" Mic Stand Adapter
Padded Carrying Pouch
Documentation
1-Year Warranty
Performance / Features
The build quality on this microphone feels pretty nice. It has an all metal body, a metal grill, and some substantial weight to it. On the front of the microphone there is a blue LED light to indicate when the microphone is connected to the computer and receiving sufficient power. Directly beneath this are two new dials that were non existent on the prior model. The first dial controls the mix between the microphones audio and the computers audio. This will allow you to hear 100% of the mics zero latency monitoring, 100% of the computers audio output from your DAW, or any mix in between. The second dial is a simple headphone volume control. On the back of there is a single 3.5mm headphone port that allows you to plug in your headphones.
The built in audio interface offers a 16-bit bit depth and a sampling rate of 44.1/48kHz. When I tested the noise generated by the microphone, I didn't start to hear excessive noise until I got around 60% on my computer. Everything below that seemed to be fairly workable.
The frequency response of this mic is listed as 20Hz - 20kHz and it sounded great to me. I did not notice any frequencies missing or sticking out which is always a good thing. Due to the nice response, I thought that the electric guitar, acoustic guitar, and voice all sounded very nice and full on this mic. I do want to point out that the 2020USB+ also improved it's frequency response compared to the 2020USB. The prior version only had a freq response of 20Hz - 16kHz.
The polar pattern of this microphone is cardioid, but it seems a bit wider than most other cardioid mics I tested out. It picked up my voice fairly well all around the microphone and when I typed on my keyboard it picked up quite a bit of clicking.
Pros
Nice build quality
Good sound
Full frequency response
Plug and play
Zero latency monitoring
Cons
No microphone gain control
Wide cardioid polar pattern
Conclusion
Overall, I think this microphone sounds great. It has a nice full frequency response and it performed very well on the acoustic guitar, electric guitar, and voice. The polar pattern is a bit wider than I would prefer and that is why I placed this in the cons section, however, this is not necessarily a bad thing. The wide polar pattern just requires you have a room that is treated (if you don't want reverb), or it means you should want some reverb in your recordings.
Because of the polar pattern, I don't think this is a good option for gamers because it will most likely pick up a lot of keyboard noise and mouse clicking. This seems to be designed for musicians who are looking to demo out music, or podcasters who do have the ability to record in a treated room.
If you have any additional questions about this microphone, leave them in the comments on this site or on the youtube channel, and I will try to reply ASAP.
Buy the AT2020 USB+ (Affiliate Link)
Global: https://geni.us/at2020usbplus
