Styled in a champagne finish, the MXL 990 ES is a large-diaphragm condenser mic made to give home-based producers, musicians, and vocalists a cool, vintage-looking mic that sounds good and sits comfortably below the triple-digit price point. Whereas the standard 990 includes a shockmount, stand adapter, and carrying case, the ES edition opts for a hard mount stand adapter.
Inside the vintage-style body are quality components—a 6-micron, gold-sputtered diaphragm and an FET preamp with a balanced output. These allow the MXL 990 to impart tight lows and mids along with sweet highs. The mic’s directional response helps reduce the background noise that plagues many home recordings. Unlike battery-powered miniature mics, the MXL 990 needs to be plugged into the XLR mic input of any audio interface, mixing board, or microphone preamp that can supply 48V phantom power.
For Singers and Working Musicians
With silky highs and solid lows and midrange, the MXL 990 offers the tonal performance needed to meet the standards of analog and digital recording systems. Equally capable for vocals and instruments like piano and acoustic guitar, the MXL 990 produces full-bandwidth tone and a healthy output level that requires less gain than typical dynamic microphones.
High Quality for Home Studios
Many home recording setups don’t have the acoustic treatment that professional studios utilize to absorb and disperse sound evenly. As a result, room ambience and background noise are problems commonly experienced at home. The MXL 990 has a cardioid polar pattern, which picks up very little sound behind the mic. This enables it to capture more of the sound in front of it and less of everything else.
Phantom Powered
As a condenser mic with a FET preamp, the MXL 990 requires phantom power to operate in any environment. So, it should be connected via an XLR cable (available separately) to a mixing board, a microphone preamp, or an audio interface that can send +48V phantom power.
Hard Mount Mic Stand Adapter
The ES edition of the 990 opts for the MT-001 hard mount mic stand adapter in place of the custom shockmount that comes with the standard 990. The MT-001 occupies less space than a shockmount, making it friendly for placement in tight spots such as between a snare and tom, or nearly touching a speaker cab’s grille.
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