“The Perception 820 changes the quality of a home recording to the mature sound of a vocal recorded in an expensive studio”

The latest addition to AKG’s hugely successful Perception line, the Perception 820 Tube, is reviewed in this month’s Play Music Pickup Magazine.

In contrast to many other affordable tube microphones, the Perception820 Tube delivers real tube sound quality thanks to the dual one-inch large diaphragm capsule and the sophisticated ECC 83 dual-triode circuitry.

The elegant remote control unit allows selection of 9 different pickup patterns and controls the switchable bass-cut filter and the attenuation pad. Moreover, a ground lift switch prevents unwanted hum if necessary.
It comes complete with a spider-type shock mount and a metal carrying case.

“Setting the Perception 820 to its standard cardioid mode the said vocalist let rip and to be honest the difference the Perception 820 made to his vocal timbre was a bit of a revelation! Gone was the slightly honky characteristic I was getting on louder notes whilst the very quiet singing developed some extra welly. Generally speaking, the sound was way more balanced than I had got from a big range of mics, condensers, dynamics and ribbons included. All in all it developed the mature sound of a vocal recorded in an expensive studio”.

“Using my own voice, the Perception definitely graces the sound with extra character; in fact, ‘flattering’ would be the best term I could think of, but it never sounds overdone”.

“Single note acoustic lines translated very well indeed and the sound actually gained some extra strength that other mics can’t provide. By the same token if you need a strummed acoustic part to fill things out but ultimately take a back seat the AKG will also oblige”.

“…when that valve can work its magic it sounds simply sublime. For the money the Perception 820 Tube could become an indispensable part of your mic armoury”.

To read the full review, pick up the November Issue of Play Music Pickup Magazine (Issue 80). The AKG Perception 820 is available now at £523.25.

For more information go to:

http://www.akg.com/site/products/powerslave,id,1127,nodeid,2,_language,EN,pid,1127.html