The AKG C214 is a large-diaphragm condenser microphone with a cardioid pickup pattern. With its present sound, voices and acoustic instruments come through particularly well in the mix. Its sound is naturally open and rich in detail. Thanks to its affordable price, it is also affordable for home and project studios.
The AKG C214 has a very wide dynamic range. On the one hand, it works very low-noise, from which especially quiet signals benefit. On the other hand, the sensitivity can be reduced by 20 dB for recording loud sound sources. On drums, it can thus also be used as an overhead microphone or as a snare microphone.
The cardioid characteristic attenuates sound from behind and to the side. This helps with recordings with high crosstalk from other sound sources, e.g. a live recording of an amplifier near a drum kit.
To compensate for the proximity effect, there is a switchable high-pass filter. It can also be used to remove low-frequency noise. The integrated capsule suspension effectively suppresses impact noise.
The housing is robust and suitable for stage use. Its special shape allows a guitar amp to be miked very close, for example, to give the sound even more fullness.
The AKG C214 comes in a metal case with matching spider mount and a windscreen.