recordinghacks

MXL 2001

Cardioid Condenser Microphone

The MXL 2001 was one of the first inexpensive condenser microphones on the market. It mated a version of the Neumann K67 large-diaphragm capsule to a transformer-coupled amplifier circuit.

The K67-style capsule in this microphone has an outside diameter of 32mm. Dropping the size from Neumann’s original (34mm) was an intentional effort, to push the capsule’s resonant frequency higher in the audio spectrum.

The MXL 2001 circuit uses “negative feedback,” similar to the Neumann U87, to provide corrective EQ to the K67 capsule. The same circuit can be found in MXL’s V67/V67G microphone, and is similar to the original ADK A-51. However, our own test results show that this circuit is attenuating the capsule’s output by only ~1dB in the upper midrange (above 4kHz) and only ~2dB above 12kHz. See sidebar link.

The MXL 2001 shipped with a “ring mount” adapter. The MXL-56 shockmount is available separately.

In 2001, David Royer of Royer Labs created a tube mod for this microphone, swapping the stock FET preamp with a 5840-based tube circuit. A complete how-to article was published in TapeOp #25, with schematics and a parts list. Reprints are no longer available, but the article has been archived; see links in sidebar.

Permalink: MXL 2001

The mic was released in 1999.

Specifications

Frequency Response - CardioidClick Graph to Compare!

Pickup Patterns	Pads & Filters
Cardioid (15 mV/Pa; 30 - 20,000 Hz)

Capsule Dimensions	Impedance	SPL/Noise
Diaphragm diameter: 25mm Capsule diameter: 32mm	200 Ohms (Low)	Max SPL: 130 dB

Weight	Length	Max Diameter	Interface(s)
470g (16.58oz)	190mm (7.48'')	50mm (1.97'')	3-pin XLR male (1)

Power Specifications
Requires phantom power Phantom voltage: 48v

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