European mics rule. Fact.

I don't care what anybody says, in my experience Chinese mics lack charracter and US made boutique mics are too fiddly and esoteric. If you want a mic to sit quiety and deliver day after day,m session after session, then trust your instincts (and generations of top engineers) and buy European.

I'm an AKG man. AKG and Milab. AKG, Milan and Beyer. AKG, Milan, Beyer and Coles. Every engineer I've ever worked with has had a pair of AKG C414's (of whatever vintage) and a couple of C451's in his toolkit, and you know what? They're usually the first mics on the stands at every session, and I mean EVERY session.

Now cheaper than ever before (thanks to our bulk purchasing power combined with my never ending badgering of AKG) there's no excuse not to join the army of professionals who rely upon AKG c414's for overheads, snare, acoustic guitars, ambience and pretty well every other source material under the sun. If your first choice don't cut it, slam up a C414 and get on with the session.

One of those things I can't live without. Two, in fact.

Eccentric 

• High sensitivity and extremely low self noise
• Five switchable polar patterns for placement and application flexibility
• Two-color LEDs provide quick visual indication of selected polar pattern and output overload
• Elastic capsule suspension greatly minimizes structurally-transmitted noise from chassis vibration
• H 85 professional shock mount/stand adapter, PF 80 external pop filter and W 414 X external windscreen.

A reference-quality microphone especially used for accurate, beautifully-detailed pickup of any acoustic instrument.

With the introduction of the NeXt Generation C 414 B-XL models, AKG sets new benchmarks for useful features, improved technical specifications, ease of use and available accessories. All of these improvements are answers to requests from ever-demanding recording studios, broadcast stations and concert engineers, but with the basic sonic character of the legendary C 414 unaltered.

Additional features:

• High sound pressure level capability and wide dynamic range
• Completely immune to electrostatic and electromagnetic interference from digital gear, computer monitors, etc. thanks to solid metal housing and transformerless output stage
• Three switchable bass cut filters and three pre-attenuation pads with LEDs for quick visual indication
• All switchable components operate in low impedance circuits for ultra-high reliability even in extremely humid conditions
• Optional R 414 remote control unit (under development) offers full control of all switchable parameters via standard microphone cable and 3-pin XLR-type connectors

Suitable for:
Strings
Recording
Concert hall
Brass

Also available in stereo pair C 414 B-XLS/ST.

Technical Specs