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Your cart is empty.This versatile addition to the Artist Series features a new multi-stage flat grille design for precise positioning close to the sound source. Equipped with a neodymium magnet for high-output performance, the ATM650 has a frequency response tailored for clear sound reproduction of guitar cabinets, snare and percussion. A-T"s innovative dual-wall floating construction banishes handling noise.
Boogie Boy
Reviewed in the United States on January 14, 2020
I have been recording for over two decades and I have a ton of expensive microphones and equipment. I bought the ATM650 microphone years ago as well as recently. It has all the good qualities of the sm57 and leaves the bad ones out. The mic has a more consistent whack than the phasey one with a sm57 and more detail without losing the rock n roll sound. It cuts through the mix without sounding harsh. The ATM650 has been around for a long time and it's a shame it's such a sleeper!
Person Man
Reviewed in the United States on August 7, 2019
Has a similar sound, but more isolation and better top end.
M. Grissinger
Reviewed in the United States on July 6, 2015
This is a really cool mic. It competes well against the SM57 with a little less "boxiness" the 57 is famous for, and more rejection. This helped us keep the high hats out of the snare a lot more than the 57.
Maine Writer
Reviewed in the United States on February 9, 2015
My use of the ATM650 is simple: recording live acoustic guitar performances. I have not used it in the studio for multi tracking, but might. The result? It sounds really good. Again, this is in (relatively) large spaces, but the sound is full and centered -- neither boomy nor tinny. That being said, it had to be kept fairly close to the source. Our initially tests should that a more distant placement -- say, six feet away -- let to an unwanted about of extraneous noise coming in. Not horrible, but distracting. I want noise at the beginning and the end of song, not the coughing or throat-clearing in the middle of a performance, or bar noises. I've not used the Shure SM-57, and so I can't make a direct comparison, but other reviewers have compared the ATM650 favorable to the far more expensive Shure. That confirms my independent experience. This is a microphone suited to a specific task that handles it nicely. Solidly built, with a nice heft in the hand. Keep it close -- no more than a couple of feet, but preferably closer -- and I think you'll really like the results.
Customer
Reviewed in the United States on January 27, 2015
This is a microphone optimized for isolating musical instruments in performance. The microphone is 6.5” long and weighs 10 oz. The sides and grille are black metal. The mic accepts a standard XLR female cable end for use in sound systems, mixer boards, and digital interfaces. The contacts for the XLR connector are gold plated for corrosion resistance. Internally, the magnet is neodymium, and the microphone is constructed with dual-floating walls to reduce handling noise. The hypercardioid response pattern makes the mic ideal for isolating instruments in performance situations or for live recordings. Included in the box are the mic in a tight-fitting foam receptacle, a padded zippered faux leather carrying case, a heavy-duty plastic microphone clip that will screw into standard 5/8” microphone stands, a plastic adapter to screw the clip into 3/8” stands, and an informational brochure in English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, German, and Italian. The mic was manufactured in China.This mic has a hefty feel to it, which speaks quality construction. The XLR connector has a good, snug fit, and the included clip keeps a secure hold on the mic. Most important is the microphone sound quality, which is excellent. Guitar through this mic is exceptionally warm and sweet—frequency response is true. Compared head-to-head with a Shure 57, this mic sounds sweeter and richer, especially with acoustic guitars. That makes sense since this mic covers higher frequencies than the Shure 57. You could use this microphone for vocals, but it really excels in sound isolation, so it's great for snare and percussion instruments. Yes, like other dynamic microphones, you may note some tendency for feedback, especially if you don't pay attention to placement with respect to monitors. The manufacturer notes that feedback can be “virtually eliminated” if you make sure the back of the mic is at least 45 degrees off axis with the speakers. This is about what I found—if I placed the mic directly in front of a speaker, I got a lot of feedback, but by moving off to the side about 45 degrees, feedback disappeared. Overall, this is a quality microphone that will be a great choice for instrumental amplification or recording, especially for acoustic guitars or percussion.
frankp93
Reviewed in the United States on January 25, 2015
The audio-technica ATM650 has comparable specs to the ubiquitous SM-57. Frequency response on the Shure skews a bit more towards the low-end - 40-15,000 Hz - while the ATM650 is rated 80-17,000 Hz. Hyper cardioid patterns, response graph, sensitivity and impedance are similar if not identical. They even weigh almost the same although the ATM650 is more top-heavy in a way free mic-holding vocalists (of which I'm not) would notice.Both are flat grill mics tailored for similar close-mic applications: guitar/bass amp cabinets, snare and Tom-Tom drums and vocals.I own an SM-57 and used it to A/B with the ATM650 using a bunch of amps including a Pignose, Fender Champ, Acoustic 134 (yeah, the Metheny amp - old, but still works great) Peavey Studio Pro 40 and a Behringer BXL450 bass amp.I used standard mic positioning techniques: close and straight into the cone, 45 degrees to trim high end, edge of the cone, a couple of feet away to gauge pickup of room ambience.The results mirror the specs: recording bass in the low range, the SM-57 revealed a bit more presence and definition at the bottom while the ATM650 brought out somewhat more sparkle on bright-sounding guitars including a faux Strat and an Ibanez Artist on the rear DiMarzio humbucker pickup (my hi-freq hearing isn't what it used to be and the difference here was subtle at best). Both mics captured comparable amounts of room noise and vibration.Mics for me are the single-most important part of the signal chain but, perhaps counterintuitively, their make and price don't always add up to a perfect fit. The hi-to-low fidelity ethos of what's acceptable to release `professionally' these days (and the very definition of those terms), combined with anything-goes guerilla recording techniques means any reasonable piece of gear can be just what's needed for the result you want.I've had the pleasure of using much fancier mics on projects but the SM-57 is still a workhorse standard engineers turn to and I wouldn't hesitate to use this ATM650 in its place.
Ciprian
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 14, 2015
Almost same specs as the worldwide classic celebrated Shure SM-57, very rugged construction and reassuring mic. It can take a lot of sound pressure, obviously and it's nice for someone that will want the SM-57 specs and 90% of its sound, but just something different
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