MXL 840 Small-Diaphragm Instrument Microphone Pair

These mics sound great when they are working. The problem is that they will fail at some random time, like in the middle of an important recording session and ruin a otherwise good track. I used these very little in my home recording studio, they were never abused or ever removed from the original place they were installed into. After maybe half a dozen uses one of the mics started getting a popping sound, and then everything was distorted. So no, these are not good mics, and no I would not recommend them. Yes I am sure its the mic. I tried different cables and inputs on my recording interface.

I picked up a pair of MXL 840's about 6 months ago to serve as overheads for my drum kit in my home studio. The results have been surprisingly good using a modified Glyn Johns 4 mic set up. Sound wise, the MXL 840's are clean and clear with no muddiness, while at the same time not being harsh or brittle sounding. Now I'm not saying to throw out your $1,000 C414s, but the 840's do prove that you don't have to spend thousands to get a decent sound. I have also paired a single 840 with a Rode NT2a, a large diaphragm condenser, to record my acoustics with great results as well. Admittedly, I have since picked up a second NT2, so those will be my overhead pair, allowing me to use the 840s as spot mics for the hats, under the snare, a distance stereo pair, or anything else that needs a little something extra. At $150 for 2 condenser mics and 2 metal shock mounts, you really can't go wrong with these little guys.

The MXL 840 is an entry-level small diaphragm condenser microphone that works well as an instrument mic on acoustic guitar, auxiliary percussion, violin, drum overheads & potentially piano. They have a generally "bright" sound but are certainly not "brittle". In a pinch, it can even be used as a vocal mic if places 45 degrees off-axis from the vocalist -- keep it about 8" away from the vocalist's mouth & aim at the forehead. USE A POP FILTER! As an professional audio engineer & music producer, I own two stereo pairs of the MXL 840. They are not my go-to mics for instrumentation, but I find myself using them as spot mics in orchestral performances with good results. They come in a foam-padded box complete with shockmounts & extra suspension bands. The most important thing to keep in mind is that 99% of the time... YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR! If you are plugging this microphone directly into an interface without an outboard preamp, you can expect average sound quality, but it still is superior to a USB microphone. A good cable matters: Cheap cables = cheap sound. Drop some dollars on a XLR cable with quad-conductors & good shielding like Mogami or Live Wire Elite. Although these mics may not produce any award-winning recordings, they are perfect for beginning recordists that need to record stereo in good detail!

Hello, I have been through a handful of different Mics trying to find a good overhead fro recording drums. I wanted to get a pair of Octavas but just couldn't justify the expense for a home recording project. I bought these on impulse to try and see, .. well to my surprise these are a very good mic, and a great overhead. I also used them to record an acoustic guitar track and they where awesome. For the price, and nice pair of mics with shock mounts I think these are an awesome deal !!

I picked these up a couple weeks ago and up until yesterday I had only plugged one of the two in. upon plugging the second one in I found that it made a constant popping sound. I tried swapping the cables, using a different interface and 3 other mic's that I had laying around and the same mic always made the noise. these are definitely getting returned.

The phones were more than I expected from the box. I expected two microphones alone, but they also came with shockmounts. It has made a huge difference in the quality of sound coming through the microphones. We have used them for amplifying our church choir. The difference was noticed from the first use two ways. First, the recording was 100% better than with 2 microphones standing in front of the choir. (We record directly through the sound board). Second, the congregation could hear better (louder) and more clearly than before. This is such a bargain. And the staff at Guitar Center were so knowledgeable about what would work in our situation.