Inside the vintage-style body are quality components—a 6-micron, gold-sputtered diaphragm and an FET preamp with a balanced output. These allow the MXL 990 to impart tight lows and mids along with sweet highs. The mic's directional response helps reduce the background noise that plagues many home recordings. Unlike battery-powered miniature mics, the MXL 990 needs to be plugged into the XLR mic input of any audio interface, mixing board, or microphone preamp that can supply 48V phantom power.

For Singers and Working Musicians
With silky highs and solid lows and midrange, the MXL 990 offers the tonal performance needed to meet the standards of analog and digital recording systems. Equally capable for vocals and instruments like piano and acoustic guitar, the MXL 990 produces full-bandwidth tone and a healthy output level that requires less gain than typical dynamic microphones.
High Quality for Home Studios
Many home recording setups don't have the acoustic treatment that professional studios utilize to absorb and disperse sound evenly. As a result, room ambience and background noise are problems commonly experienced at home. The MXL 990 has a cardioid polar pattern, which picks up very little sound behind the mic. This enables it to capture more of the sound in front of it and less of everything else.
Phantom Powered
As a condenser mic with a FET preamp, the MXL 990 requires phantom power to operate in any environment. So, it should be connected via an XLR cable (available separately) to a mixing board, a microphone preamp, or an audio interface that can send +48V phantom power.
Shockmount and Stand Adapter
Two mounting options are included with the MXL 990. For the cleanest recordings, use the shockmount, which absorbs vibration noise. Switch to the mic stand adapter if you're positioning the mic in an extremely tight space where the shockmount wouldn't fit.

Features at a Glance
Side-address design with vintage body style
Condenser capsule with a 6-micron, gold-sputtered diaphragm
Cardioid polar pattern attenuates ambience and background noise
High sensitivity and full frequency response (30 Hz to 20 kHz)
FET preamp with balanced output
Internally wired with Mogami
XLR output connector
Requires 48V phantom power
Includes custom shockmount, mic stand adapter, and carrying case

MXL 990 Specs
Microphone
Primary Applications Studio Recording
Form Factor Large Diaphragm Mic / Stand/Boom Mount
Intended Sound Sources Vocals, Speech/Voice Over, Instrument
Sound Field Mono
Operating Principle Pressure Gradient
Capsule 1 x Condenser
Polar Pattern Cardioid
Orientation Side Address
Circuitry Solid-State
Pad None
High-Pass Filter None
Tone Adjustment None
Gain Adjustment None
Indicators None
On-Board Controls None
Windscreen None
Performance
Frequency Range 30 Hz to 20 kHz
Maximum SPL 130 dB SPL (.5% THD)
Impedance 200 Ohms
Sensitivity 15 mV/Pa
Signal-to-Noise Ratio 80 dB A-Weighted
Equivalent Noise Level 20 dB A-Weighted
Connectivity
Output Connectors (Analog) 1 x XLR 3-Pin Male (on Mic)
Headphone Connector None
Power
Bus Power None
Operating Voltage 48 V ± 4 V (Phantom Power)
Operating Current Consumption 3 mA
Physical
Color Silver
Mounting Mic Clip/Stand Adapter, Shockmount (Included)
Included Case Hard Case
Included Filters None
Dimensions ø: 2.36 x L: 5.11" / ø: 5.99 x L: 12.98 cm
Weight 1.2 lb / 0.5 kg