Review on Audio-Technica ATR2100x-USB Cardioid Dynamic Microphone: Unleashing Professional Sound Quality (ATR Series) by Orestes Roumeliotis

Its a traditional dynamic microphone (which is a very old style of microphone design, which is robust and relatively inexpensive to make well. They use the same dynamic proces as a speaker, only in the inverse so require sound to make sound and are based on a moving coil like in a speaker. This results in the facts that dynamic microphones have virtually no sound floor making this microphone more suited for low level recording for ASMR and ambient noise when it is attached to a suitable recorder. It also means that it succesfully rejects the vast majority of background noise, especially also due to its cardiod pattern.



Audio Technica is a well known brand, the quality of the microphone overall is good, it feels solid in the hand, although, the microphone does have some resonance when being handheld.



Being a Japanese brand the microphone tends towards having a relatively flat sound, with a slight boost in trebble. This makes it not the perfect microphone for people with high pitched voices that can tend towards being nasal or shrill.



When its connected by USB it tends to have a bit of an issue in that it seems to have a low pass filter. Maybe this is to reduce noise from the cheap inbuilt DAC at this price point? I don't know exactly but this microphone seems to work better when connected to recorders and audio interfaces.



It makes it a bit problematic, the microphone has enough to get started with (all be it leans on the colder side, especially when connected via USB). But to get the most out of it you need a recorder. It's marketed as being 192khz compatible (which is a very high recording quality) the vast majority of sound is still recording in 48khz (for music you would be listening to). In order to get the most out of 192khz you will definitely need an external recorder/audio interface such as a Zoom F3.



In that sense it is a very neutral microphone and maybe not the best microphone for people with a high pitched voice.