I was listening to MacBreak Weekly a few days ago when Alex Lindsay recommended the ATR2100-USB as his “pick of the week”. He accurately described the mic’s features and when I heard about its dual USB & XLR connectivity I knew I had to have it. I’ve been looking for a good mic that’s versatile enough to use in-studio and/or on the road. It was too late to ask for one for Christmas so I did what I often do, went to amazon.com and bought it for 40 bucks. Am I ever pleased!
I’ve been an Audio-Technica fan for quite some time. I don’t own a lot of their gear, but what I have performs well and the build quality is always very good. So, what do you get for forty dollars? Pretty much what you see in the picture. You get the mic, a plastic desktop tripod and stand, a six-foot mini-USB cable and a ten-foot XLR cable (not shown). The desktop stand is a little on the cheap side, but c'mon, the whole rig is just forty bucks! What isn't cheap is this mic. As mentioned, the fit and finish of the microphone is every bit as good as the $100 Shure SM58S. Since we're talking about the quasi-standard SM58 it makes sense to compare the ATR2100's performance as a standard XLR mic.
First I connected the mic to the Alesis io2 usb interface that serves as my full-time "audio in" for my Heil PR40. I set up the ATR2100 using the supplied desktop stand and slipped on a foam pop/wind screen. Since my Heil was already connected, I recorded a couple of paragraphs using both mics simultaneously on separate inputs in Logic Pro 10. This allowed for a perfect head-to-head comparison between the two. While the PR40 produced a smoother, richer sound, the ATR2100 provided a surprisingly warm, clean recording with better sensitivity than the $350 Heil. The ATR2100 also captured a bit more background noise than the PR40. No surprise there, but when I replaced the Heil with a SM58 it became nearly impossible to distinguish it from the AT. Now it's impossible to tell how durable the ATR2100 will be, but right now the $40 I spent on it appears to be a good value. Now lets talk about what makes this mic special. It is a very capable USB interface for use on the road. All you need to carry is the mic and a mini-USB cable and your MacBook, iPad, iPod Touch or iPhone become quite capable recording devices. I use the "Ear Pods" that came with my iPhone as "zero lag" monitors plugged into the ⅛" jack in the base of the mic. The volume of which is adjusted by a "rocker" switch right next to it. I also tried my Beats on-ear and Sony over-ear cans. The ATR2100 produces plenty of sound to drive them all.
Next I connected the ATR2100 to my iPad Air using Apple's Lightning-to-USB adapter. Like with all new USB hardware, I crossed my fingers the first time I tried this. iOS devices can be picky about what hardware they want to work with. But, as advertised, the ATR2100's blue LED lit up and it became the default mic on the iPad. The same happened with my iPhone 5. Simple.
Once upon a time you needed a $200 Zoom if you wanted a small, portable recording device for use with a good XLR mic. The ATR2100-USB lets you use your iOS device in that capacity and the results are every bit as good as the former. Plus, (if you’re like me and 650 million other people) you already have an iOS device in your pocket. The AT worked great with GarageBand, Voice Recorder, MicPro and well, every recording app I own plus a couple more I downloaded for the test. Based on my limited testing, I’d say you can pretty much “pick your poison” when it comes to your own workflow and the ATR2100 will do the job. At just $40 it’s hard to recommend anything else.