MXL USB 006 USB Cardioid Condenser Microphone

I don't have much experience with microphones, but this one captures good sound detail - amazingly so. Initially I was getting distortion on my recordings even on the lowest setting, till I realized my microphone volume in the windows sound panel was at 100%. Cranking this down to 25-50% fixed it. As I said, incredibly sensitive - never ran into that issue with my previous headset mic.It also captures more voice bass than real life, so you'll need to do some EQ in a program like Audacity to get proper sound. After a white noise removal and EQ you get a nice pristine recording. It's an affordable option for anyone who is interested in podcasting or any sort of amateur voice work.

I am pretty much blown away by this microphone. I'm recording voiceovers for on-screen tutorials for a software manufacturer, and I bought this to address some issues that were pointed out by the software company...namely a "hum" and sound quality issues.I scrambled to find a microphone, and found a Blue Microphones Yeti from the Apple Store because I was in a hurry and needed to record something quickly. I paid $149 for the Yeti, got it home, and tried it out. I was extremely disappointed in the quality...it was picking up a hum somewhere, and my voiceover sounded like I was talking in a tunnel. (Also found, of course, that the same microphone was $99 on Amazon!)So I did a little research later that night, and found a CNET article where a guy reviewed several brands, including the Marshall. He had recorded the same voiceover using five different microphones, and I had it narrowed down to the Marshall and another one. Since I needed it quickly, I bought this microphone and a stand that was recommended by Amazon. I got it about two hours ago, set it up, and recorded a couple of tests. I'm very happy with the sound. I'm even recording in a bedroom that backs up to a noisy street, and was concerned about the road noise. However, I cannot hear it on the recording at all. And there is NO hum.I'll get my pop filter on Monday...Marshall recommends using one for the clarity of the sound but also to protect the microphone. Of course, my test recording is without one...has a little bit of pop from my "p" sounds...but that's an issue I always have. I can tell that the Marshall is minimizing it, though.The Yeti is going back to the Apple Store. I feel like I sound like a pro now...perhaps I should embark on my second career as a voiceover artist!

On paper, this is a neat mic -- it truly does have a high-quality condenser element that records vocals with a rich, warm sound and works seamlessly via USB (though it should really call itself something more descriptive than "USB Audio Codec" to the connected computer). But as other reviewers have said, the MXL 006 USB has a problem with "self-noise," an ineradicable background noise, and combined with a few other design and packaging problems this made it a poor choice for me.The noise problems are actually several different sub-problems. First, the mic is very "hot" and hypersensitive, a design better suited to a studio environment than home use -- it takes a lot of work to quiet the mic down in a room that isn't acoustically deadened to studio standards. The dinky included tripod stand provides nearly no acoustic isolation, and picks up huge amounts of desk noise and hum from nearby electronics; the mic itself is not well isolated against handling noise or vibration. It's also very tippy and flimsy, and does a bad job holding the mic in place. This means that if you're using this for podcast recording, e.g., you'll want to get a shockmount and a boom mic stand immediately; and it's not a good choice for portable/field recording both because of this and because of the manufacturer's stern warnings inside the box about how fragile its condenser element apparently is.And despite its mild cardioid pickup pattern screening out some noise from the back (NB: it's a side-address configuration, which isn't obvious from the product listing), the mic actually picks up tons of background and room noise. Even close-miked for vocals and using the included windscreen/filter, a nearby computer keyboard or paper-shuffling can be heard easily -- you can even hear the speaker fidgeting, shifting in their clothes, and far too much chest noise. Sensitivity is nice, of course, but this mic does a terrible job rejecting unwanted noise and focusing on a single source.And once you work around all this, there's still a background hum, a self-noise which the mic keeps making under all circumstances rather than ever recording just "silence"/room tone. It's not loud, but it's always there, and it's a deal-breaker for me. Along with a couple other small problems (like the lack of headphone jack for monitoring) this is just too many noise problems for a simple USB mic to have. Although it's built on strong fundamentals, compared to the field recording-friendliness and durability of  Audio Technica's USB dynamic mics  or the simplicity of the  Blue Snowball  this MXL model just seems much too fiddly and noisy and finicky to recommend. Audio Technica's USB dynamic micsBlue Snowball

I used this to record an UTAU voicebank, because it was recommended over the more commonly used Blue Yetis and Snowballs. Managed to catch it on sale and got a great microphone with high quality recordings. Playing it back, it sounds exactly like my voice. I don't know how good it is at recording things that aren't vocals, but it works amazingly for what I need it too. Not to mention it's the only mic I can voice chat with, seeing as my laptop's built in mic is very quiet and...just terrible.

I have a digital home studio where I use a M-Audio Project Mix I/O with Protools 8 but I don't always feel like setting up my entire rig to record quick demos when they are fresh in my head. Enter MXL's Cardioid Condenser USB Mic. This mic simply plugs into the USB port on my Mac Pro and is instantly available for use in Garage Band or any other DAW that doesn't require specific hardware (i.e. Protools).My only complaint is that the input volume cannot be controlled via software. There is a switch on the mic itself for Low/Medium/High performance which works fine but I'd rather have complete control.Overall it's great for quick projects and demos.