I must start off by saying that this was my first experience with these types of microphones, and what all goes into making them work. So, I've had this mic for 4 or 5 months now, its been on the air 3-3 and a half months. Little did I realize when I first started this journey that it would be as involved as it was, had I had ANY inkling of half of what was to come, I probably would have sold the mic and the boom long before.
So, I get this great deal on an AT2020, comes with a boom and a 12" riser for the boom support and rotation. Great, figured I could just get a new XLR cable plug it in and go...NOT gonna happen. Here we go, got the cable, but then I read you have to have a 48 volt phantom power supply..WTF??? What the..what the hell is a phantom power supply? Never heard of such a thing, I wonder, is it because its a phantom is why I've never heard of it before..who knew. OK, time to start shopping, figure a condenser mic, we have a music store in town...THEY should have such a thing as a "PHANTOM" power supply..ha..ha..giggle..giggle, phantom power supply..yea right. So, off to the music shop I go, get there start talking to the manager, told him with as straight a face as I could, that I needed something called a "PHANTOM" power supply. Yes sir, right over here, he says as he grabs one. I'll be damned..here I thought, well never mind. Its a power supply I told him..yep, supplies 48 volts for some mics to work. Then I told him all about this great deal and the Audio-Technica AT2020, its a good general purpose mic the manager of the music shop states. So...I actually do need this 48 volt power supply I asked..sure do he says, how much I ask, figuring yea..$20-$30, I'll grab one and I'll be one step closer to getting this mic on the air. These..are $60! Excuse me, did you just say$60, for a piece of plastic and a wall wort? Yea...OK, let me think about it.
Well, from that trip to my local music shop I learned 2 things, that there is actually something called a phantom power supply, and that crap from China is really, really expensive here in Vero Beach, Fl. OK, on to Amazon, Amazon dot com is great, you can get pretty much anything from Amazon. So, I look up, single channel 48 volt phantom power supplies. WHAT...YOU HAVE GOT TO BE JOKING! $53.00! NEVER MIND. On to Google, google is great, you can find darn near anything in the world on Google, so long as you word it right. So....I type in Single Channel 48 volt Phantom Power Supply. Next thing ya know there are about 250,000 different entries on phantom power supplies. The first ten or so showed where to buy them. I picked one, and started scrolling through it pages, until I found the search bar at the top of the page. Typed in phantom power supply, the page shifted from trumpets and trombones, to photos of all these different phantom power supplies. It was on the third or fourth page that I found one.
This little out of the way music shop in some town near Chicago, showed a photo of a single channel 48 volt phantom power supply for....$20..I'm sorry, $19.99, free shipping! SOLD..to the new guy in Vero Beach. Couple days later had the power supply, a friend was nice enough to make up a PTT button, I had nothing, and when it comes to soldering stuff like a PTT connection, when I'm done, you can't tell the switch from the solder, my hands shake terribly and any small, tiny stuff to be soldered doesn't always turn out well.
So, I have it all the mic, the boom riser was screwed into my parents old stereo that is now my operating position, the riser is in the boom set down onto the riser, the spider mount is attached to the boom, the mic is now attached to the XLR cable which is screwed into the phantom power supply, and the power supply is plugged in and on, time to plug in the mic to the radio, or in this case my MFJ-1260 microphone control center, lets see if it all works. Turn the rig on, get on frequency, key up the PTT button and....What do ya know...it works!
Wow, does it ever work, and works superbly, I get constant unsolicited great audio, sounds good what are you using type of comments. Only once did I say anything about the mic. that was on my morning net; The Treasure Coasters Net* on 7.153MHz. I told those on the net, hey guys, I'm trying out a new mic let me know what ya think. Not one bad report, everyone said I sounded better than I had in some time. Stronger, more natural, I was being heard in some places that before I was at or below their noise level. So, I say this, the Audio-Technica AT2020, is without a doubt excellence in its purest form! This from someone who has used Heil microphones for most of the last ten years.
Will I get another one? You betcha, I have been bitten by the microphone bug, there are other condenser microphones out there besides Audio-Technica, and there are several I have my eye on, and, at some point in time, i will try them. I have found mics other than Heil, Bob makes a great microphone no doubt, but there are other types of microphones and I for one want to try others. The Audio Technica has a wide dynamic range to it, construction seems to be rugged yet durable. The price on these, even on the open market isn't all that bad so it is ideal for someone who may have a home studio, or, like myself, makes a great addition to the ham shack. I still have and use, my Heil Pro-Set Plus, its great for when band conditions are lousy and you can't hear well. What I've been doing lately though, swing the mic up and out of the way, still using the headphones, I'll use the AT2020 to talk. Except when its my turn as net control for the net, then I switch to the Pro-Set Plus, makes things easier when writing names/call signs and other information. Thank you all so much for taking the time and reading my..review, I did go rather overboard and didn't mean to, just got carried away. I'm a firm believer in, if you like something tell people about it...that is what I am doing telling all y'all about this wonderful microphone from Audio-Technica. I pray everyone had a very Merry Christmas,and pray yet again that all y'all, have a healthy, happy, safe New Year. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all the readers, thank you again.
PS: Earlier in my review I put a star on;
The Treasure Coasters Net, we meet daily from 0800-0900 Eastern Standard/Eastern Daylight Time. Any one who is an advance class or Extra class, or their country allows voice transmission at this frequency, please do join us, just give us a try a few minutes of your time in the morning. We have a different net control station every day Sunday through Monday, I do Wednesday, we have a lot of very knowledgeable folks on the net. We do try and get local weather conditions, but with 20+ check ins each day sometimes e don't get everyone's weather condition. I have seen our net grow from 8 ten on a good day, that was a big net ten years ago. We now generally average 22-25 check ins every day. We may get 1 or 2 days a month when we get less than 20, but not many. My personal high was 32 check ins, that..is a big net, and NOW...I will say so long, have a great day. |