Comments on: UPDATED: The Audio Technica 813 Condensor Microphone c. 1977

By: mike

mike — Sun, 12 Nov 2023 18:02:59 +0000

IMHO most recorded music is seldom a single acoustic guitar with no other instrumentation or vocals and unprocessed, i.e no reverb,compression , eq therefore hyper critical evaluation of noise floor or minor, very minor, differences in “lows”, “mids” , “low mids” “highs” etc…is pretty irrelevant. A great song recorded with modest equipment is still going to “trump” a crappy or mediocre song recorded on the best equipment money can buy, the Porta Studio revolution of the 1990″s and the SM 57 proved that fact. In fact the cassette medium is roaring back with some labels only recording to and distributing music on cassette. There is something endearing about good music being recorded with less than overpriced, overhyped, “boutique” gear with supposed pedigree and gear snobbery.Steve Albini , Cesar Rojas, Kim Deal, Rob Pollard, The Grifters etc..have stated so publicly and they all made some damn fine records, IF GBV’s Bee Thousand would have been recorded with an 87 it would have been vastly inferior to the Lo Fi release consequently more expensive does not equate to ” Better”. One of the 90’s best records in any genre, The Lilys Better Won’T Make Your Life Better does equate to better won’t make your songs better. Is there anything in recording history more ridiculous than a Punk Band, Indie Band or Garage Rock Band recording with a 15K U-47 or even a 3k 87 ? Its just dumb and artistically it lacks any integrity. I own 2 of the original 813’s and in a mix with other instruments , music with balls not polite and dainty parlor music Ill stack them up against any U whatevers out there. My advice ? Don’t fall prey to the “BIG LIE” gear hype is really just proganda meant for gear companies and big shiny studios to get into your wallet. The key’s to a great recording ? # 1 THE SONG, #2 The performance # 3 Clean consistent power i.e Furman 2400 voltage regulator and noise filter # 4 The Room & # 5 Good cables, mic,patch all cables everything else ? Total Bullshit

By: Guillaume SImard

Guillaume SImard — Wed, 03 Aug 2022 16:02:28 +0000

Anyone has the schematics of the AT813A? I have an AT813 and want to mod it to be “phantom powerable”. Thanks!

By: Louis Camacho

Louis Camacho — Mon, 06 Sep 2021 04:42:01 +0000

In reply to Doug. How do you change the battery?

By: Bobby

Bobby — Sun, 28 Feb 2021 04:35:45 +0000

The mic from the advertisment is the AKG c414eb. NOT the u87.

By: Matt Scott

Matt Scott — Thu, 11 Jun 2020 17:41:00 +0000

I went to your site because I am about to inflict my old Audio Technica AT813 on my son, a budding musician. Now I find that these old mics aren’t so bad after all. I used mine to mic instruments, which it did fine. It does help that DI boxes came along in time to rescue mics without any decent preamp available so their signals are so faint it’s ridiculous. Having phantom power is really fine but isn’t available to the AT813. Keep a new AA battery handy. All hail to the DI box. I did read a post by ‘assfortress’ and I just about laughed my pancreas out my mouth at the beautious name. So funny and original. Way to go dude or dudette. This is ‘musicismymind.ca’

By: Doug

Doug — Mon, 01 Jul 2019 15:54:36 +0000

In reply to John "Redbeard" Coha. Does anyone have a schematic of an AT833A mic? I'd like to see what the difference is when compared to and AT833.

By: John "Redbeard" Coha

John "Redbeard" Coha — Wed, 23 May 2018 17:51:47 +0000

I bought three 813a mics and one 813R back in the 80s. I used them for sound reinforcement to amplify acoustic stringed instruments. I had lots of repeat customers, so they must have liked the sound of these microphones!

By: Russ Birch

Russ Birch — Thu, 22 Feb 2018 18:03:56 +0000

25 years ago I did a compilation album with 22 different acoustic guitar / vocalists. It was like a folk album to promote local “Open Mic” nights at a coffee house. I did the entire album with 3 AT813s. One on the singer, one on the 12th fret, and one near the player’s right knee pointing at the butt of the guitar. To this day, people tell me it’s one of the best sounding folk recordings they’ve heard. I am still impressed after all these years. Those mics make the guitar jump out of the mix really well, and the midrange punch of the vocals adds an undeniable realism to the tracks. I still own the mics and they hold their own against C451s and KM184s.. They are noisier, but they sound perfect on some guitars.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Thu, 18 May 2017 15:39:05 +0000

In reply to Guillaume Simard. No phantom on this one...just the battery.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Thu, 18 May 2017 15:37:03 +0000

Well now I am going to see if my mic is a AT- 813 or a AT 813a. If it is ATM a I will see if it makes a difference if I remove battery and run phantom or leave battery and run phantom…..perhaps the battery over rides the phantom? I have had these mics for years and consider them sm57s on steroids…..flatter high frequency response BUT very fragile and break easilly when they drop. Also they need to be cranked up almost to the max on my interface preamp to get a decent recording signal. They sound good on guitars voice drums and violin.