AKG C411 L Microphone Review

By Harmon

The AKG C411 L is tailor-made for string instruments, picks up finger picking easily and faithfully, and doesn't require you to drill holes in your instruments. It also has suitably loud output capabilities.

It does need an external power source, and it loses its integrity when playing speed gets too high.

Very few mics are dedicated to stringed instruments but there are enough of them out there to give the AKG C411 L a little competition. Harman's small but powerful mic certainly outperforms a lot of the competition but it still has a few drawbacks of its own. The best pickers may find that the mic doesn't meet all their needs. But for the non-virtuoso, you can expect great performance time and again from the C411 L.

 AKG C411 L Microphone Review

By Harmon

Musicians and bands who have cut tracks know how difficult it can be to get just the right sound. Nowhere is this problem more apparent, though, than with string instruments. Fingerpickers in particular find it very hard to record the complex tones and notes that they create. And the more intricate the strings (violin, mandolin, etc.), the tougher it is to reproduce it faithfully through a mic. The AKG C411 L, however, attempts to make recording string instruments much easier.

The first thing you'll notice about the C411 L is that it is very small. This allows it to be placed very close to the bridge of any string instrument you're using so that it can pick up even the smallest note variations. The amount of rich tones you can get in this little condenser mic may even astonish seasoned recording veterans. The output is also very loud and earthy, helping the player to be sure that his or her noodling will come across exactly as it was meant to be heard.

The best part, though, is that the device clips onto the instrument, meaning that you won't have to drill holes into your pretty acoustic instrument. All in all, the C411 L is a very handy mic, though it does come with a couple drawbacks. For one, it requires phantom power, which means you'll need to buy a cable if you don't already have one. These cables can be a bit pricey, especially after you add in the cost of the mic. Also, the virtuoso players among us might notice that the mic doesn't pick up each and every note if the playing surpasses a certain level. For the vast majority of us, this problem doesn't apply. To the very few players who can play at blistering speeds, though, this might pose a problem. But players of that caliber will likely have better equipment to record with anyway.

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