Audio-Technica ATR6550X — Condenser shotgun microphone for video recording

The ATR6550x is a shotgun condenser for video: interviews, events, documentaries and any shoot where the microphone has to stay out of the frame. Mounted on the camera shoe it points at the subject and leaves most of what happens to the sides out of the recording, which is what makes dialogue usable in a noisy room.

A switch on the body changes its behaviour. In Wide the capsule is cardioid, the right choice at short and medium distance; in Far it becomes supercardioid, tighter and more directional, for picking up sound from further away while rejecting traffic, ventilation, room reverberation and mechanical vibration.

The response runs from 70 Hz to 18 kHz with -56 dB in Wide and -45 dB in Far, and the 1 m fixed cable ends in a 3.5 mm minijack that plugs straight into a camera or a recorder. A single AA battery powers it, and the box includes the camera shoe mount, a stand clamp, a foam windscreen and that battery.

Technical specifications:

• Element: condenser
• Polar pattern: Wide: cardioid / Far: supercardioid
• Frequency response: 70–18,000 Hz
• Open-circuit sensitivity: Wide -56 dB, Far -45 dB
• Battery type: 1.5 V AA/UM3
• Switches: Far / Wide / Off
• Weight: 113 g without cable
• Cable: 1 m, permanently attached, 3.5 mm (1/8") minijack
• Included accessories: camera shoe mount, microphone stand clamp, foam windscreen, AA battery