Audio-Technica ATR2500-USB Cardioid Condenser USB Microphone

When I first started by YouTube channel, I was using my average, run of the mill mic that came attached to my gaming headset. The quality in my earlier videos are very sub par. My voice isn't very clear, it sounds like I'm talking into a bottle, and it's very faded. So I decided to upgrade. I began researching good microphones that would give me good bang for my buck. I wasn't able to afford the top of the line Podcaster microphones, so I began looking at the Blue Snowball and the Yeti. It was while I was researching those that I happened to find a mic in the related section. A mic from some brand I'd never heard of before. And what was better, it was considerably cheaper than the Yeti. But I was curious; who was Audio Technica and why was this mic so much cheaper? So I did research. I listened to examples of each mic. Countless videos of people talking into each mic and letting me decided which one had the better quality. After watching all of this, I came to a decision. I bought the mic without a second though and had it shipped in 2 days. So that brings me to now. 10,000 views later and my video quality is outstanding. My voice is clear and crisp. The quality is unbeatable for the price. The set up was very straightforward (just plug it straight in to a USB port and you're good to go), and I've had zero complaints since then. Seriously, if you're looking for amazing quality at a low price, this is unbeatable. Audio Technica does an amazing job on all of their products. Zero complaints from me.

So here is the story, I needed a microphone because the mic on my headset was one: terrible to begin with, and two: Dead. This wasn't my first headset to have major issues so I decided that instead of replacing my headset with another one( the headphones still work), I got this to replace my microphone. I decided to invest in a good microphone and hearing about the quality of Audio-Technica products, I went ahead and bought the ATR2500. While some might find the $60-100 price range a bit much for a standalone mic it's far cheaper than most good professional or prosumer mics out there so price wise, I'd say this fits well enough. Upon unboxing it I noticed how durable it is with a full metal construction and overall rugged build quality; a far cry from the not so durable headset mics I've had to deal with for the past several years. Audio quality, even in my room with a fair amount of echo, is smooth and clear both to me and people online. The USB interface makes install simple and the mic is plug-and-play, so no need to fiddle with downloading drivers or anything like that. The cable itself is a good length though with my desk set up it comes a bit short though it isn't too bad. Unfortunately I'm not particularly fond of the included stand. It was a little confusing to get it attached to the microphone and even then it was a bit on the wobbly side until I grabbed a large flat-head screwdriver from my toolbox and firmly tightened the screw on the main joint. The LED power light is also way too bright in my opinion and if I was to look at it directly it'd hurt my eyes. It even illuminated my face blue to where I could notice looking at my webcam feed, even with very bright room lighting. This was remedied with a rather DIY solution of disassembling the microphone and putting some tape and paper between the housing and the LED on the circuit board and which made the light much softer and more bearable. After those issues were sorted the microphone now stands proudly on my desk waiting to listen. All in all I'm very happy with my microphone and plan on later buying a pair of cans from Audio-Technica to pair with it(when I have the money) since my headset continues to degrade but after a few months now, the microphone is still in tip top quality.

This is a very good entry level studio-type of microphone for beginners or people with a low budget like me. It produces great sound quality for the price and it's metal and looks like it is very sturdily made. Audio-Technica has always produced high quality audio equipment from what I've seen, and this microphone definitely lives up to the standard brought by the company. While the microphone is very sensitive and does pickup small details such as the buzz of a computer that is near the mic, it can be easily fixed within a program such as Audacity. No microphone will produce straight audio without ANY background noise unless you are in a professional recording studio, which if you have the money to book one or you own one, you definitely won't be using this microphone. With that being said, this microphone performs very well. Compared to similar microphones of the same price range such as the blue snowball, this one is better in my opinion. It has better background reduction than the snowball, and in my opinion it's a bit richer and picks up a deeper bass. I highly recommend this for anyone needing a good quality microphone on a tight budget. If you have the extra $40 though, go for the AT2020. It is better and only marginally more expensive. I bought this one because I was on a VERY tight budget (less than $80).

The sound quality is great! Much better than expected when considering the price. It works perfectly for our in-home studio where we record rap vocals. The voice, when played back, has a cool sound to it and deep voices sound very natural. The recording volumes are a bit low, so you will need to amplify your voice even if you yell into the mic. I don't see this as a problem considering the smoothness of the sound and amplifying the recording will simply raise the volume without distorting or taking away from the wound. If the mic were a "hot" mic, the sound would be distorted when you raised your voice, and your vocal levels would obviously be too loud. The problem with a hot mic is that, even with you turning the levels down, the sound quality would still bad and most likely distorted. This makes the mic's low noise pick-up, combined with the smoothness of sound, awesome for recording vocals. A bad thing I have to say about the mic is that it was difficult getting it to work with FL Studio; we tried to set up the mic to record, and after a couple of hours of messing with FL and the mic, we gave up and had to use Audacity instead, unfortunately. Another down side is the mic stand (which is the only other thing the mic comes with, besides the USB chord); the stand is not able to stand upright while supporting the weight of the mic and pop filter combined, consequently leading to everything falling over and the stand breaking. The mic was safe which says something about the durability and quality of which the mic is made. In conclusion, the mic is perfect for an in-home studio on a budget, but I would recommend buying a sturdier mic stand so you don't run the risk of breaking a wonderful mic.

If you are anything like me, you're probably a bit skeptical about buying this microphone. Don't be. NOTHING can beat the price to performance ration of this microphone whatsoever (Purchased at $47). If you're shoping in the "budget" line of microphones (Samson GO Mic, Blue Snowball, etc etc.) look no further you have found your match. The audio this microphone produces is crisp and clear. You may have to fiddle around with the gain settings as this mic is SUPER sensitive and picks up much of the background noise, but that's all fixable. Also, if you plan on putting your mouth up close to this thing (like 3/4 of a foot away), you may want to invest in a pop filter. Installation is quick and easy, as it is a Plug-N-Play, and automatically downloads the drivers for you. When you first install the mic, make sure to go to your audio settings and set your speakers/headphones as the primary listening device and the ATR 2500 as the primary recording device or your computer will try to play audio through the mic, which we all know won't happen. The mic has a very professional and expensive look to it, it features mostly an all-metal design except for the buttons on the front where there is plastic. Speaking of the buttons, there is NO gain knob, you have to adjust the gain through your computers settings, which is really not a big deal. It also features a headphone jack for instant monitoring, and a volume up and down to adjust the sounds coming out of the headphones jack. The tripod is a bit wonky and cheap feeling as it is mainly plastic and can barely support the microphone, but it gets the job done. All in all this is a GREAT microphone and I advise you to purchase one before they sell out. QUIT PROCRASTINATING. This mic's quality is on the level of Blue Yetis or even more. Pros: Great, expensive looking design. UNBEATABLE price to performance ratio. AMAZING sound quality. Easy to setup and use. Cons: No gain knob (not a big deal). Cheap Tripod.

The Audio-Technica ATR2500 is an amazing microphone. I primary use this mic in order to record vocal audio for instructional tutorials, and while playing games. THE GOOD • Audio quality. I am not an audiophile, but even I was able to tell a big difference. It is such a major step above the audio quality recorded from my C920 webcam. • Easy set up. You screw the mic into the stand. Plug the USB into the mic and computer. You are good to go. No real software set up or anything needed. THE BAD • The LED Light is bright. Really bright. Bright enough to a point where you could use this as a nightlight if you wanted to. I ended up cutting a small piece of a post-it note and scotch tape placing it over the light. This way I still know it’s on, but am not blinded. • The stand is okay. A lot of other reviewers have complaints about the “flimsy” stand, but I do not see so much wrong with it. If you find the right angle, and secure it then it should not tip over unless you really try to tip it over. I am also using a pop filter, so the weight of that might be helping it stay balanced. • It does pick up keyboard and mouse clicks pretty easily. This is to be expected as I place this mic on my desk right next to the keyboard. I am not taking stars away because of this, but it is a warning to others who plan to use the ATR2500 in a similar way. Overall, I highly recommend this thing.

It's a decent mic, but it has its flaws. For one, being a cardioid mic, it pics up a heck of a lot of background noise. Even with a windshield on it, there is still a very audible murmur in the background. Even after moving the mic further away from the noise source (a computer), it was still picking up the extra hum. I ended up having to use software to remove the extra noise. Also there is a small blue light on the front of the mic that turns on when the mic is powered. That little light burned out after only a month or so of use. The mic still works, but, to me, it very well might be a warning that the mic will die soon which I sincerely hope it doesn't. Minus the hum, the sound quality is alright. It's not an expensive mic so I wasn't expecting perfection. All in all, I would probably have shopped around a little more if I had known that the quality of the recordings would be at the level they currently are. As it is if a better option comes along at a good price, I will probably replace this mic.

When I first purchased the mic I had some doubts, but then I played with the mic for a little bit and it blew my mind. Thought it does pick up alot of background noise, but with the proper software that's no problem. This mic is great for vocals (rap, singing etc...) podcast, voice overs you name it. (I rap and I have couple of song on youtube that i recorded with this mic if you want to check out the audio quality you can click the link or copy and paste ----> '[...] It also has zero latency, which means you can hear yourself in realtime which is a plus. The mics build quality is absolutely excellent, but the stand that it comes with is a little cheap so you might want to pick up a alternate mic stand, but I rather have better sound quality than stand quality. This mic is great for beginners, if you're looking to pick up this mic for your home studio or you just want to do voice overs i recommend it. Its amazing and affordable. I rate this mic a 9.5/10 simply because the two buttons on the mic are kind of flimsy, i thought my mic broke but it was just the flimsy buttons, but the buttons shouldn't talk you out of buying this amazing mic

I did a bit of research before purchasing a microphone. I was looking into streaming on twitch, and wanted an affordable microphone. I was torn between this, the AT2020, and the Blue Yeti. This microphone was cost effective, AND sounds great. It is limited in functionality, but it does sound great out of the box. I use a pop filter and had an external mic stand to use with it. I haven't tested it with the mic stand it comes with as it does seem fairly cheap and I did have access to a microphone stand already. My recommendation would be to pickup an mic stand / control arm and a pop filter -- and you'll be good to go! Overall, for the price, this is an excellent entry level microphone for someone who's looking to get into podcasting, streaming, or recording external audio for videos of all sorts.

El producto me gustó tanto que acabo de pedir un segundo micrófono para poder grabar mis podcast con dos participantes. La calidad del audio es excelente. La voz se escucha muy clara y con buena presencia. En comparación con el micrófono AT2020 graba el sonido un poco más brilloso, mientras que el AT2020 en más cálido con bajos más profundos. El material del micrófono se siente de un aluminio robusto y resistente y tiene buen peso. Me parece que el ART2500 es ideal para grabaciones de podcast porque lo puedes conectar muy rápido mediante usb sin la necesidad de una interfaz de audio. Mientras que el AT2020 me parece más útil para grabación de canto en estudio. Yo lo uso en mi macbook pro 2017 y con logic pro 10.4.5. El dispositivo se detecta al instante. Pero como no se conecta a una interfaz de audio, debes regular el gain desde las opciones de sonido del sistema. Los botones de volumen del micrófono me parece que son para ajustar los monitores, pues tienen una conexión directa para audífonos. Lo único no tan bueno es la base que incluye, pues es de plástico y se siente algo frágil. De momento me ha funcionado bien, pero al transportarla hay que tener cuidado de no lastimarla. Si tu intención es utilizar este micrófono para tu podcast te lo recomiendo 100%.

SoundQuality is very neat. Firewire to USB makes it more stable than say a micro usb to usb cable. But i'd like it even Better if it was more directional

Honnêtement très satisfait de la qualité du son, après je vous recommande d'acheter une petite housse ou quoi pour couvrir les bruits de fond car le micro capte tout. 1 étoile en moins à cause de la lumière bleue lorsqu'il est allumé qui est trop forte et dont je n'ai pas trouvé le moyen d'éteindre. La nuit ça m'illumine la pièce à elle seule et si on se la prend dans les yeux elle est désagréable

Wonderful starting microphone for someone who's never had a condenser before. Sounds great; zero latency monitoring is very good to have. Gain control is from within the operating system, the buttons on the microphone only control monitoring level. Pair this with a decent pop filter and it sounds even better. The included stand is a little small and plastic-ey, sometimes feels like the mic will topple over sometimes. Other than the stand, this microphone is built amazingly well. Down the road it might be worth considering getting a shock mount and articulating arm. The USB functionality is well good enough for people who have basic needs. I found with Windows 10 that the built in headphone jack can act as a "Speaker" in windows sound, however even at volume 1 the sound is way too loud and drowns out monitoring which is at volume 100. It could just be with Windows 10 though, I haven't tried this microphone on any other computer. For this reason I have my soundcard as primary speaker out, with the headphone monitoring jack going to an external device so i can hear my speakers and voice monitoring at the same time.