AKG C214

Great for vocals

Sound very good with vocals, voiceovers and guitar amps/acustic guitar

A C414 taylored for small home studios

First impression matter, and in that case it did not disappoint. The case is sturdy and looks good. You instantly know you enter the realm of serious microphones. Of course it does not have any patter selector like the iconic C414, but given I am using it in a small studio (with poorer acoustics) I'd have no use of Figure of eight, Hypercardioid or Omnidirectional patterns. It captures voices with great detail and has been a great update from my dynamic e935. For acoustic guitar, somehow I still (so far) manage better results by combining my e906 (yes e906!) with my e614. It is also a great room mike for my cajon. The mic is still made in EU. Overall a great purchase.

Best in this price range

A quality mic for vocals is essential. Whether you are a singer, a podcaster or an audible book creator, this mic is an all round winner in this price range.

Owning many large diaphragm budget mics, people often ask me if this is better than the Rode NT 2. For me, the AKG is better. It has a flatter, fuller, less toppy sound; for me, it has more quality and soul.

I often record vocal performances through multiple mics and this is usually the mic which sounds best. Cannot recommend it highly enough.

good for doublebass

For the price it's hard to go wrong with this mic.

It does catch a lot of room sound though (which you might want).

If i were to do it again i would go with the more expensive C414 to have more control over the directional characteristics.

Great and versatile Mic for wind instrument and vocals

I have purchase two C214s for some clarinet sonata recordings.

( mellow tone it gives (natural and just like what I hear myself real life). It has a boost in the high which is quite significant on my instrument (e.g. key clicks, sound of air getting into the clarinet is prominent) which is not very ideal but with a good interface and a bit of balancing on the high within the DAW it can be completely eliminated.

If you love the AKG sound, the high boost is very useful especially for vocals, guitars (can check out numerous vid on YouTube) and wind instruments going into effects - a lot of details (air sounds, overtones, slaps, key clicks) on articulations. ( all, brilliant mic, absolutely value for its price. Just a bit of work in the DAW, it'd be giving you as much as you get from a recording with 414s (I think you need very very proper headphones/speakers to tell the tiny differences even when comparing A/B). If planning to get 414s, why not go to a proper studio where you can do very serious stuff with a collection of AKG Neumann DPA Tele etc? ;)

The mic I was looking for

With this mic it's the first time I like my voice. Really versatile, it's really good to record acoustic guitar too! It's worth all the money I paid!

Really good microphone for elemantry level vocal&guitar recording.

Because of its a beginner level microphone, there is no pattern switches on it. Materials that used on this mic is really solid. Instead of buying this mic, you should add a few bucks and buy another akg products.

Fantastic purchase

There is not too much one needs to say other than great quality, great sound, simple to use and overall a superb microphone, especially for the price point. I use this in a professional studio environment and I mainly use it for recording vocals, I am totally pleased with the great results, no complaints! I will be looking to get the C414XLII next, I'm expecting amazing things based on this recent purchase! Great studio microphone, you wont be disappointed!

really is the best you can buy for this money

perfect for vocals and acoustic instruments. this is by far the best sounding mic I've tried in this price range

Great microphone but...

The microphone colors the high frequencies in its own way. This can be a serious disadvantage for professional recording.