AKG C414 XLII Stereo Set Reviews

A must to have

Good quality work horses, reference and a must have for every sound engineer.

Excelent Stereo Set

This is "must have" stereo set of microphones.

I like to record main vocal, acoustic Instruments, choir and overheads with AKG C414 XLII. I like most the mid frequencies which i get through this mic's and I'm very happy to own a pair of it.

These are the best mics I own, they are a proven classic and you can use it for almost everything. I use them a lot as over heads and also as room mics. Very very versatile!

AKG C414 XLII studio workhorse mic stereo set

Polyvalent, for sure. The many patterns adapt the mics to every situation. The interface (push buttons and leds) is very agreeable to use. Tremendous sensitivity.

They do feature a clear treble boost above 3kHz, which is exactly what makes them desirable on source that benefit from that. I adore them on vocals, as they give exactly what a vocal needs to cut through the mix, in a way that is not harsh at all. Yet, for the same reason, I don't like them on instruments that could already be a bit too clear to sit well in the mix. Violin gets easily harsh through them and you then need EQing, which always subtracts some of the good vibrations alongside the bad ones.

I could regret a little the variations in sound between the different patterns.

I could compare them to the Neumann TLM 107 which have a similar purpose. The TLM 107 are way more neutral, which might be, for some applications, more desirable, and for others, well less.