Review: Audio-Technica AT5040 Studio Vocal Microphone

LIVING LARGE

The day the AT5040 arrived I had a show at the Theatre Royal in Castlemaine and the support was my mate Archer Shepherd. Archer does a 1930s hobo sort of thing; solo, just voice and old acoustic guitar. He’s a regular performer at shows I do and he likes to use the single condenser mic technique popular with the bluegrass/americana scene. Archer knows I like to use him to test microphones. I know the AT5040 is designed as a studio mic but live shows are a great test of a microphones reach, colour, off-axis response and isolation. The first thing I noticed on firing it up was the combination of low noise and high output; for a moment I thought it was going to be too unstable, but quickly realised it was wide open and it was actually quite stable. It just needed much less gain than I expected and less low end than the amount that was flying at me — the bottom end of this mic is huge. Most condensers want to take off somewhere below 100Hz with big live PAs. PAs are often tuned for strong bass and the mics are pretty much omni-directional at low frequencies — the AT5040 was typical in wanting to take off around 50-60Hz in that room. It was easily fixed with a low-cut on the channel, which was all the EQ required.

Once the gain and the low end were sorted I ran up the PA. It went up to a good level in the front-of-house without becoming unstable… half the battle with these sorts of mics at live shows. Then I began to enjoy the tone. Full low-mids, easy-listening mids and transparent highs combined to create an immediately impressive sound. There was also something distinctive about the presence, particularly in the mid-range, that seemed to somehow magnify the sound. Archer sounded closer to the mic than he looked.

During sound check we did notice it’s got a fairly narrow address angle, especially in the vertical plane. Because he uses a single mic the height of the mic changes the balance between guitar and voice, we have a ‘normal’ position but found the AT5040 was quick to lose level if he got even slightly above the diaphragm, more so than other mics we use. I ended up angling the mic slightly upwards to stop him bending down to find the sound. It’s usually not possible, or practical, to use high-end studio mics on live stages given the relatively risky nature of live shows. But when they work it can be the best and purest sound you’ll hear through a PA. The AT5040 is too expensive to use as a live mic but on this occasion it was a treat to hear the quality it had to offer on the reasonably big stage. No-one spilt beer on it, and I left the show looking forward to trying it in the studio.

SAFE AND SOUND

The studio is its natural domain, and much safer. I spent a few pleasurable weeks using it on everything I could and because my customers often play acoustic/folky stuff I do lots of vocals and acoustic instruments. In a similar way to the live show some preparation was required before launching into recording with the AT5040. For vocals, first you need a pop shield… and maybe another because although the mesh grille looks cool, and lets you see the elements of the diaphragm, plosives get through quite easily and they are a big event.

Then there is the level; this thing puts out lots of it, easily enough to overload some of my preamps. The AT5040 delivers 56.2mV per pascal, which is very sensitive, and not really a surprise given its generous capture area. Combined with its ability to handle maximum SPL of 142dB SPL, you could have a possible output of around +26dBU. To give you an idea, maximum input level on an AMS Neve 1073DPA’s mic input is +6dBU. That said, you’re unlikely to hit those kinds of SPLs (you should be able to hit about 122dB SPL before overloading the Neve) and you’re not going to be shoving the AT5040 into a kick drum any time soon. But it’s something to keep in mind when choosing the right preamp to match the AT5040 — it’s hotter than most LDCs. So you may need an in-line pad… which makes you wonder why a mic with such a high output doesn’t have a pad built in.

Similarly, something to keep in mind is the bass response below 100Hz. It’s slightly boosted and deep, which is great in some situations but not when recording close-up vocals. Someone coughed during a recording and I was pushed back in my chair. The big bottom end plus some proximity effect, and no HPF, means some low-end filtering is going to be required at the desk. And finally, the mic has an on-axis sweet spot that might need to be explored to keep levels and proximity consistent. A large rectangular diaphragm made up of four rectangular elements cannot be expected to have the relatively even address characteristics of a circular diaphragm, and movement across the horizontal axis does not create as much change as in the vertical plane, but for best results this mic needs to be pointed at the source.

GET CRACKING

Despite having to consider those details, once you start recording, the AT5040 has a beautiful tone. It’s deep and thick, breathily warm and intimate on quiet sections, kind to harsh female vocals and it doesn’t emphasise sibilance. It’s definitely flattering. And because of the way it brings the voice forward, it’s happy with the source slightly further away than other mics. The impressions I’d gained from using it live remained, but using it in the studio — where it’s quiet and you can hear everything clearly — really highlighted the mic’s abilities. Its most impressive attribute is its presence or clarity. By presence I mean the ability to pull the sound in towards the mic, to get a sense that the voice was right in front of your face, all warm and real. I liked it on every voice I heard. If it was used in the same room with other mics I could always tell which it was by the sound, and it always sounded closer than the others. It’s true that different mics suit different voices but I’m sure this would get a useable-to-great result on any vocal.

The clarity on offer was perhaps more noticeable when using the AT5040 to record acoustic instruments. The mic is sometimes placed further from the source than for recording vocals but again the sound seemed drawn towards the mic. This combined with fast, detailed transients and pure, accurate mids resulted in a very natural sound. As with the vocals, you can be confident it can get a good sound from any instrument. In some ways the AT5040 gets better at greater distances. The sweet spot that is noticeable up close disappears with the mic further away from the source, while the strong and extended low frequency response keeps the sound full even when it gets a fair way from the source. And it’s almost eerily quiet. Cranking it up in the control room with the doors open and no-one in the studio I could hear my children playing outside and distant sheep (I live in the country) but no noise from the mic, just a wonderful sense of being in the space. I tried this with other mics in the room but they were all noisier and less natural.

The AT5040 is sold as a premium vocal mic, and it comes at a high price compared to other Audio-Technica products, but it’s on par with equivalent high-end products from other manufacturers. Fitting a HPF and a pad are the obvious suggestions for improvement. Like all Audio-Technica mics its build quality is very high and the AT5040 has the distinction of being hand-assembled and individually inspected. They ship with a signed frequency response plot for each microphone. The AT5040 will probably live in a nice studio somewhere but the supplied hard-shell case looks road-ready should travel beckon. This mic should find a place in high-end studios wanting a modern, technologically-advanced mic to offer customers, or AV with producers who would appreciate its reach and low noise… or it could be used as the one top-quality mic in a project or voiceover studio. Innovative, and very impressive.