Testimonials

Yarron Katz is the rare person that understands and can compose film and game music from both musical and cinematic perspectives. I worked with him on 5 projects last year, and we’ll be doing more for sure.
Dragan Stiglic – SuperPrevis
I hired Sonic Brilliance to compose a single song to back my game trailer. The piece was so exceptional I just had to hire them for more tracks for our game. They are dangerously good!
Michael Rosen – TacticSoft
The audio in this game is surprisingly phenomenal. I actually logged onto the game one day just so I could play the music in the background while doing other things on my computer.
MMOCrunch
…the presentation at the Cannes Film festival would never have gone as well were it not for the powerful music to accompany our trailer.
Wonder World Pictures
Read more testimonials!

Audio Technica AT2021

Can a really small mic, give you a really big thrill?

Enter the Audio Technica AT2021.

Specifications:

Pickup: Small diaphragm condenser
Polar Pattern: Cardioid
Frequency Response: 30 to 20kHz
Maximum Input Sound Level: 145 dB SPL
Noise Level: 19dB SPL
Phantom Powered 48v

So how does it sound in practice?

Lacking bottom and very top heavy. That pretty much sums it up.

There is one area in which this mic shines for field recording. It’s lack of low end makes it exceptional at not picking up background rumble, traffic noise and the like while still having a cardioid pattern. It’s almost like a natural roll off filter. This makes it an excellent contender for recording voice in scenes where you want to capture some of the natural reverb. Not something I have much need for, but it should be strongly considered by film boom operators.

Apart from that, it’s not particularly apt for recording effects. Clearly this mic was made for instrumental recordings and should be considered as a studio mic.

It has much of the character of the AT2020 but without as much low end with (which is already a little lacking in the AT2020) and with a stronger and crispier treble pick up.

It’s top end isn’t very smooth. Recording birds for example does not give you a mellow immersing sound, but rather a shrill and piercing sound. This makes it not a great contender for outdoor ambiances. On the other end of the frequency spectrum, it’s ability to capture the fullness in close recording effects is unfortunately offset by it’s lack of low end.

It has shown some promise when for voice acting, so again it seems to have a place in the boom operator field.

But in summary this mic has very little to offer in the grand scale of things. It however is tiny and very sturdy so if you ever need a pocket mic or to record in tiny deep gaps, you may find it comes to the rescue.
That’s not to say this is a bad mic. It’s simply not a contender in the sound effects field.

Here’s a few samples. All sounds are without any enhancement.

http://sonicbrilliance.com/Music/AT2021/Budgee.mp3

A budgee. Distinct but the top end is not as smooth as you would like it.

AT2021-Vocal.mp3 (LINK)

Male Vocal. Clear but lacks authority generally making it better for female voices.

AT2021-Arcade.mp3 (LINK)

An arcade ambiance.

AT2021-Cutting-Blade.mp3 (LINK)

Close recording of an electric blade. Very thin sounding.

AT2021-Glass-Smash.mp3 (LINK)

This glass smash was recorded on a street with traffic in the background. It highlights it’s natural ability to eliminate background rumble.

Voice acting: * *
Close recording: *
Ambient recording: * *
Exceptional properties: Exceptional Natural HPF roll off for noisy environments.