I agree with most of the previous reviews; Although I seem to have had better luck with their reliability than others, you could easily get mics that would perform better at a slightly higher price. Their polar pattern is VERY wide, much more than normal... so using them as drum overheads can terribly slur your nice stereo image unless you visualize splitting the kit's cymbals by halves of the kit and place the mics closer to those half's centers. They do work well for picking up body and attack of acoustic guitars and add lots of liveliness to the guitar if both are used in an xy setup at the 12th fret, at 90 degrees.

They do have a 3-year warranty through MXL. They're beginning to fall apart for me after two years of hard work, but MXL has given me an RA number to have them fixed/replaced. These mics would be great for a hobbyist on a low to medium budget.

-Note: I used these as drum overheads only- I just replaced these with NT-5's, so I finally have a chance to look back at them objectively. They honestly weren't bad microphones for the price. They had a decent SPL, built in pads and hi-pass filters. Their response, compared to the NT-5's, is comprised entirely of high-end (makes you wonder why that hi-pass is on there?). They would not be an adequate solution for the RecorderMan technique-close micing is a requirement. They could potentially be shrill if not eq'd correctly. Their included mic clips are hard plastic and pretty much useless; especially for drum overheads-I had to tape mine to the clip/stand. Overall, they're not bad. These are not going to be a go-to mic for any respectably stocked mic cabinet, but I used them on a few records and nobody complained. That ain't bad.

The MXL 993's by far exceeded my expectations especially after comparing them to 5 other pencil type and large condenser microphones. The were outstanding on acoustic guitar and other stringed instruments! The were also very good as drum overheads (after a small amount of eq) and worked well in the x-y position or as a spaced pair as long as they were not directly over the cymbals. In their price range they are unbeatable. You would have to spend 3X as much to get better results as drum overheads. They are my "go to" for recording acoustic guitar in which case I use just one. I would recommend a shock mounts instead of the mic clips that come with them. Very happy with the quality of these mics!

Well, I got these mics with a lot of expectations about how they would perform both in live sound and recording applications. I immediately tried them out through my lexicon lambda interface and was pretty happy with the sound. I used them record a ‘cello in a stereo setup and they were downright professional sounding. Everything was wonderful.

So I put the mics away for about a week or so, then took them out again to record a small choir. I hooked them up with the same equipment as before, and I heard the loud electronic buzz that earlier reviewers mentioned. The mics were totally unusable, and I was very disappointed. I checked my interface and computer by using other mics, and confirmed it was indeed the 993’s that were the problem. When I returned home, I took off the mic capsule (removable on the 993), looked for any obvious problem, and replaced the capsule. Imagine my surprise when I tried the mic again and it worked flawlessly. I did the same thing to the other 993, and it too worked again. I have since had to repeat this ritual once more to get the mics working again.

I am writing this review both for possible owners and current owners of the 993. This is how I got mine to work, and I hope it will work for you. As for MXL, they need to make sure their mics hold up their sound quality for the long term. When the mics were working correctly, they were great and got me many compliments from other musicians.

A friend brought these to my studio. I had very low expectations mostly because of the price. They sounded so good on my Martin D-18 I ended up buying my own pair. Very clear, clean and natural when recording as a stereo pair at the 12th fret and below the bridge. Better than my Crown mics that I've used and been satisfied with for years. Also-for an excellent, richer bass end sound on acoustic guitar, I use an MXL 993 at the bridge and an MXL 992 (which I also purchased after hearing) at the 12th fret! I record to an Alesis HD 24.