Audio-Technica ATR2500-USB Cardioid Condenser USB Microphone (Discontinued)
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Manufacturer:
The Audio-Technica ATR2500-USB is a straightforward large diaphragm condenser mic that gets things done without any complication, and more importantly, it does so at a favorable price point.
It has a cardioid polar pattern, frequency response of 30Hz to 15kHz, and the analog to digital converter handles 16 bit quality with sample rates of either 44.1 kHZ or 48 kHZ, all of which are fed to your computer via USB.
While nothing about its feature set is out of the ordinary, it gets the job done reasonably well, however its ratings have fallen on many retail site over.the last 6 months.
Applications
Podcasting, voiceovers and recording music demos.
Features
It comes with a pivoting stand mount for 5/8"-27 threaded stands, tripod desk stand and a 1.8 m (5.9') mini USB cable. It has a headphone jack for zero latency monitoring and the headphone volume is controlled by pressing up and down buttons on the front of the mic.
Compatibility
Macintosh: Mac OS X; USB 1.0 or 2.0
Windows: XP/ Vista / Windows 7; USB 1.0 or 2.0
Although Windows 10 isn't included in the documentation I have seen reports that it does work with the latest Windows.
Specifications:
- Type: Condenser
- Polar Pattern: Cardioid
- Frequency Response: 30 Hz to 15 kHz
- Sampling Rate: 44.1 kHz / 48 kHz
- Bit Depth: 16 bits
- Maximum SPL: Not specified
- Power Requirements: 5V USB
Polar Pattern Chart
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Frequency Response Chart
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Pros
One of the most common sentiments in positive customer reviews is that the ATR2500-USB is "great value for the money". Although there are many positive reviews from musicians it seems to get its highest praise from podcasters and people doing voiceovers.
Cons
A number of expert reviewers said this is not suited for release quality music recordings other than recording demos - this sentiment was also reflected in some customer reviews. A number of owners had complaints about the lack of a gain control knob - you can only adjust the gain in your recording software. There were also a number of people who have reported that the desk stand it comes with is flimsy - there were also complaints about the build and quality of materials although others specifically stated that they thought it was well made.
Overall
While we have previously featured the ATR2500-USB in two of our recommended lists, its ratings have fallen. You can see which similar mics we now recommend in our guides:
