Audio-TechnicaATM410 Cardioid Dynamic Handheld Microphone

I compared this mic side by side with the industry standard Shure 58. I recorded the same vocal performance with the Shure on one track and the ATM410 on another. This allowed me to switch back and forth between the 2 mics to make a direct comparison. At least for recording purposes, I definitely prefer the Shure. It delivers a "fuller" sound, perhaps due to its wider frequency response. The ATM410 delivers a brighter high end sound and the vocals, marginally speaking, are crisper and tighter, but I prefer the fuller sound of the Shure as it was able to capture, I think, more "feeling" in the voice. When I compared the 2, it just seemed like parts were missing versus the Shure and I could even identify small vocalizations dropping out through the ATM410. In a live performance setting, these differences may not be noticed, and the ATM410 may be better suited to live versus recorded use.I also tested the sound pickup characteristics. The ATM410 is excellent at eliminating sounds from the sides and rear, even when tested close to the mic. The Shure is not as good in that respect.

I already own many AT stage and studio mics. These replaced the older ATM 41HE which were rugged and sounded awesome but had a little too much low end and usually needed bass filters to deal with it on loud stages. These are engineered with less bottom and sound great with very little eq. Try them in a pinch on percussion too.

Bought this mic. I've been told by someone in the pro audio industry that this is a very good mic, esp for the price. Did well on benchmark testing. Very plain looking black mic, no on-off switch like most pro audio mics. Didn't use except to try out briefly to make sure it works. Ended up returning it, when I realized what I really needed was a condensor, not this dynamic cardiod mic. Didn't realized though that they'd charge me 15% restocking fee to return, even though it was perfect, all packaging, nothing ripped. Had I known that, I would have just kept it.3 stars mainly to warn people about the 15% restocking.

By Brian RanzoniThe time to make some YouTube videos is dawning—and so the time has come for another of my epic narrative reviews. For audio takes I’d like something a little nicer than my cheapo Recoton brand microphones sold by the local Fred Meyers ten years ago. And no offense to my neighbor, who donated his awesome vintage ‘80s Kenwood stereo receiver and vinyl turntable to me, but the dinky little vintage mic that came with the bundle ain’t going to get the job done. Well, fortune shines on me folks. Amazon just happened to offer up the Audio-Technica ATM410 monaural microphone.The ATM410 came in a tidy, tight box. Easy to open and to reuse or recycle. The mic was amply protected by a gray foam cut-out and all listed parts were present. The instructions are a nice letter-size set of folding sheets. I also like the black bag that came with the set; it comfortably fits the mic, it’s included clip for stands, and the extra adaptor cable I bought. The bag has a pleather shell lockstitched all around, with a padded interior—a plus given the lack of padding in the many cheap velvet satchels that come with many of my portable electronics.Right out of the box the 410 lies hefty in the hand, like a blackjack. It looks as nice as it feels, sturdy and every bit as professional as advertised. There was no visible shipping or factory damage to any component upon inspection. I also noticed immediately that, true to a professional’s microphone, this guy uses the 3-pin XLR audio cable system--not your standard 1/8 or 1/4 inch stereo phono. Also, the instructions did not make it clear whether this is mono microphone rather than stereo. Mono tends to be implied as standard, and I found some other websites which identified it as a mono mike. Finally, don’t let that silly FCC Consumer warning on the product page trick you into thinking this is a wireless microphone… although it certainly did not come with any audio cable.The male port at the base accepts a female XLR3 jack. No external power supply is required for the ATM410, so don’t worry about picking up a phantom power supply. With the right adaptor, it will plug straight into a computer or recorder. Keep in mind there is also no power switch on the mike itself; once you have an open line to a speaker or a recording medium, that sucker will pick up everything it hears.For my test computers, I ordered a Hosa XVM-105F Microphone Cable, XLR3F to Right-Angle 3.5 mm TRS. This is a five-foot long adaptor. It plugs into the standard 3.5mm line-in jack on the rear panel of a desktop computer, or on the side of a laptop. That particular Hosa is also mono, fitting for a mono mike. Be notified though that it seems to be wired slightly differently: both the ATM410 and the Hosa output through pin 2 and ground through pin 1, but the wiring of pin 3 differs between the mic and the adaptor. The silver color of the Hosa adaptor also doesn’t match the color of the ATM410 and it fits a little too loosely inside the microphone’s connecting collar for my tastes. Otherwise it was affordable and well-rated online. The insulating sheath and the plug itself is the standard cheap job you’ll find on a lot of consumer mini-jack cables, so maybe don’t run it near the power cord of your computer or any other heavier lines in order to reduce the risk of signal noise.I tested the ATM410 and the XLR3F on two computers:> Custom Intel work PC using the older Intel Desktop Board DZ68BC.> Newer Dell Inspiron i3148-6840sLV 11.6-Inch Convertible Touchscreen Laptop.On both machines, the combo of mike and cable worked well. Not flawlessly—I got quite a bit of hiss on the line. Not sure if there was interference coming in at either end of the adaptor. It is tricky to isolate the cable from others on my office set up. The hiss wasn’t too noticeable over my Pioneer speakers, running off an Onkyo TX-SR608 with HDMI patch between the PC and the receiver. Once I converted test tracks to the compressed .WMA file format, and played them on my Galaxy phablet, the hiss was a lot worse. I’m guessing at this point a higher quality cable adaptor or a better job isolating the existing cable might work.I noticed immediately that the grille shielded vocal plosives well. My recordings tend to end up with a lot of “Puh” pushes of air as I speak. With that cheapo Recoton brand I resorted to silly stuff like holding up a paper towel on a coat hanger between the mic and the voice actor. Don’t knock it, it worked! The ATM410 though has plosive shielding out of the box and I prefer that. Even when I stuck the grille right up to my teeth the guy did a good job of dampening the burst of air.The mic does a good job of not picking up much background noise. That said, it is a sensitive pickup. Whenever I wasn’t speaking, the ATM410 was still able to catch tracks being played back over my system speakers at low volume. It also easily caught feedback when recording in speaker playthrough, although it remained low. The mic was over an arm’s length away from the speakers and held at various angles throughout the tests. On the other hand, it did not catch my case fans or the whiz of my video card and data disks; various industrial noises outside while recording on the laptop also did not make it onto the tracks. Turning my head away from the mic while speaking finally caused a sharp drop in volume. However, talking to the grille from the sides or tilting the mic only a short distance away produced clear recordings. Overall I would call this a good mic for avoiding studio noise.Recordings overall sounded pretty clear to me. No clipping and not a big bass bottom. I liked the fact that I could hold the microphone out about a foot and still get an audible, discernable speech recording. Albeit low volume. I don’t like a mic in my face when I’m recording at my little desk studio. However, I typically kept it about four to six inches which seemed to give me the ideal quality. Looking at the tracks on the Audacity open source recorder for Windows, the waves don’t start to peak and get cut off unless the mic is close to the voice actor or the actor is speaking loudly. There is no need to shout into this guy; you can get away with inside voices, as our mothers would say to use.No need to shout about the price either. I think for the current sale price of 80 bucks this is totally affordable and worth every penny.

I sing on the praise team at our very small rural church. We have some fairly old microphones, and we've been looking at replacing them.This mic is nice. It comes well packaged, which is a good thing with tech equipment of any sort. It includes the mic, a clip for attaching it to a stand, and adapter for that clip, and a nice little bag to carry it in. I do really like that, as one of the requirements for Amazon Vine is that this mic is my property, and I can't be giving it to the church. This way, I can easily bring it back and forth, which means I have it available for some of the video work my kids are starting to do as well.The mic feels good in the hand. More comfortable than my old one, though I can't put my finger on just why.The tech team told me that they had to adjust my sound on the board, as it was picking up different from our old mics. From my perspective, I was not hearing myself in the monitors at all initially, but once they played a little bit with the levels, my voice was coming through. From what I've been told, the experience in the sanctuary was similar. That's common sense though -- different mic will require adjustments to be made.

I have a Shure SM58A and the Audio Technica ATM410 is a near perfect match if your working with a lesser budget. Just because it's lower in cost does not mean it's lower in quality. Sound re-production is great through a PA and monitor system. There were no issues using the ATM410 as an acoustic guitar mic either. I found no feeback issues with either high sound or close sound, when used properly (cup the mic with your hands, that feedback's on you). The only difference between the ATM410 and SM58A is weight. The Shure mic in heavier. I've dropped that mic many of times and it keeps on ticking. The true test of the ATM410 will be it's long term use under "road" conditions. I wasn't about the throw it on the floor multiple times to find out.

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