AKG P420 review: Versatile and natural-sounding, at a great price

A great condenser microphone is a must-have for any producer, whether based in a professional studio or their bedroom. Condenser microphones can be used on pretty much anything, from vocals to acoustic guitar to percussion. AKG has been designing some of the best microphones, condenser and otherwise, for decades, and the AKG P420 is amongst its mid-range lineup for those who want an excellent microphone at a reasonable price.

Of course, the budget and mid-range condenser microphone market is incredibly competitive. Companies like Audio-Technica have dominated for years, offering high-quality, versatile condenser microphones for any price point. Can the AKG P420 do enough to compete over 10 years since its initial release?

AKG P420 review

AKG P420

The AKG P420 is well-built, neutral in sound, and highly versatile — and it should be top of your list in this price range.

Design

9

Features

9.5

Sound

8.5

Value

9

Pros

Durable build

Comes with nice hard case

Versatile switches

Great price

Cons

A bit heavy

9

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AKG P420 review: Design

Some mid-range microphones can feel cheap, but that’s certainly not the case with the AKG P420. The microphone feels premium and high quality, plus it has a strong build quality. It has an all-metal design that essentially means it should withstand most day-to-day abuse in any studio, and I quite like its black and silver color scheme.

On top of the microphone itself being durable, it comes with accessories to help ensure long-term durability. It has a nice hard carry case that includes space for the shock mount. It also comes with additional elastics for the shock mount in case you break one of the built-in ones.

The microphone is built for versatility and there are a number of controls built into it to help ensure that it’s useful in any situation. On the front is a switch that toggles between three different polar patterns, including figure 8, cardioid, and omnidirectional. I’m a big fan of these kinds of switches on budget and mid-range microphones, given the fact that most budget buyers aren’t going to be buying three or four different microphones, instead looking for one that can do everything for them.

On the back there are two other switches. There’s a 20dB attenuator that you can use when recording louder instruments, and there’s a low-cut filter that cuts content below 300Hz to help get rid of any unwanted rumble when recording higher-frequency instruments.

Generally speaking, the AKG P420 is well designed, durable, and has a versatile design that’s easy to understand.

AKG P420 review: Performance

The AKG P420 isn’t just about looks. As mentioned, there are plenty of low-end microphones out there now, including popular models from the likes of Audio-Technica. Thankfully, years after its initial release, the AKG P420 still sounds excellent and still makes a serious case for itself as the go-to condenser microphone in its price range.

To be clear, the microphone isn’t quite going to perform as well as much more expensive options, including AKG’s own C414. But it’s not supposed to compete with those microphones.

And despite the fact that it doesn’t quite compete with them, it still gets pretty close, especially given its price. One of the things I appreciated most about the P420 is how neutral it sounded. That’s particularly important in a microphone in this price range. Those on a budget want something that can be useful for all different situations, and while higher budget producers might look for microphones with more character, those particular microphones aren’t necessarily as versatile on all different kinds of instruments.

That’s not the case for the P420. It’s easy to record vocals, guitars, percussion, and anything else with the P420 and have a relatively neutral, relatively accurate recording that you can tweak down the road to sound how you want it.

I mostly used the microphone on an acoustic guitar and my sub-par vocals. I found that in both situations, it was able to record tracks with great clarity and detail. The low-cut filter was effective at cutting out any unwanted rumble when recording a vocal. The recordings were clean enough to make it easy to give them character in the mixing phase.

I’m not trying to argue that the P420 doesn’t have character of its own, but more that character isn’t quite the point of the microphone. Again, that’s a good thing. It gives you more options down the road, especially in situations where you’re recording many different instruments with the same microphone.

Verdict

Prior to this review I actually hadn’t used the AKG P420 and hadn’t really thought of AKG as a manufacturer of budget microphones, instead thinking more of higher-end options like the aforementioned C414. That’s perhaps a good thing for AKG, but I do think that budget producers should consider the P420 as their do-it-all microphone. In fact, I think the microphone could be the best combination of features and sound quality in this price range.