Recording - February 2015 - 33

small 2 dB bump around 12 kHz, and
then the mic rolls slightly off.
To translate this into what we should
hear, the AT5045 has a solid low end
with the low-mid mud cleaned out, a natural middle, and an open uppermidrange presence boost. The high end
has some minor peaks but is far smoother
than many modern mics.
In use
Since I was sent a pair of the AT5045
mics, the first place I put them up was on
a drum kit. Consider this a spoiler, but
that was and is my favorite use of this
microphone. The complex sound of drum
overheads does well to highlight the narrow, even, and controlled sound of the
AT5045. It fits like a hand in a glove,
especially in multi-mic drum setups.

I highlight multi-mic drum setups because
the tailored lows and low mids keep the
mud of the floor tom and the boom of the
kick out of the way, leaving the kick and
tom mics to do their job nicely. Also, as an
upper mid-forward mic, it has a nice
rounded forward focus to the cymbals
rather than sizzle or brashness. Finally,
their capsule shape and tight off-axis rejection make them easy to position and aim.
For similar sonic reasons, they make
great percussion mics as well. It may
sound like I'm joking, but this is a very
nice mic for tambourines and shakers.
Record them about 4' back and you will
get a natural forward sound that sits perfectly in the mix but does not bite!
Moving from the kit to bass cabinet, onaxis about an inch off the speaker grille it
was more forward and defined rather
than big and boomy. I liked it as a secondary mic in tandem with a Shure Beta
52 or Audix D6 for added upper-mid definition. On distorted guitar cabinet I preferred it more at a 3' distance vs. right up

in the grille. At that distance it smoothed
out some of the high-mid honk and
ignored low-end buildup.
Although nowhere in the same league
as its vocal-dedicated sibling the AT5040,
the AT5045 makes a nice vocal mic as
well. In this application, its upper mid
boost pushes nicely through a mix. Here is
where I noticed its proximity effect; when
your lips are right up touching the included wind sleeve, you get a full-on Radio
Voice! This rolls off quickly to an even
response at distances greater than 2" or
so. I did notice that the AT5045 is very
prone to air blasts and plosives, as the
capsule is quite exposed. I would use a
standalone pop filter when tracking any sort of sung or spoken
voice.
On acoustic instruments like violin,
cello, and acoustic guitar, this mic
shines for its focused definition.
Again, it controls low-end buildup
while accenting the round tone of the
strings. Since its 12 kHz range is
defined yet controlled, this is not what
I would term a "sparkly" or "airy"
mic. I preferred it on a plucked
acoustic guitar more than an aggressively strummed one.
When I tracked acoustic guitar,
I did notice one small thing to be
aware of. The AT5045's polar
pattern tends more toward omni
response at 200 Hz and below;
its rear response is very dark, pillowy, and subject to plosives even
from 6" to 8" away. In other
words, if the mic is pointing down
by the 12th fret and anywhere
near the player's mouth or nose,
it can pick up breath blasts that
thump into the mix. To be fair, this
is not the first mic that displays
this behavior; my beloved
Neumann KM84s are notorious
for errant air blasts from the
extreme rear sides!
Conclusions
There are many things I like about the
AT5045. First and foremost, it stands on
its own with its own sound and area of
best use. It really is a great focused instrument mic. Its depth of field is nicely tight
and narrow and it has a tailored edge
that rounds and smooths sources just a
tad. I like it a lot on solo strings (both
bowed and plucked), it's an easy mic to
place in a mix, and it's one of the best
overhead mics I've ever tried in a multimiked drum setup. Keep it up, A-T... I
can't wait to see what the next 50 Series
mic brings us!
Price: $1399; AT5045P (pair), $2499
More from: Audio-Technica,
www.audio-technica.com
RECORDING February 2015

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Recording - February 2015

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