Audio-Technica AT-822
A one-point X/Y stereo condenser built for the DAT era. Two closely matched cardioids in a single body, running off a AA cell.
Overview
The AT-822 is a one-point X/Y stereo condenser microphone. Audio-Technica built it for DAT and high-quality cassette recording, with television, FM, and field work also on the intended-uses list. Portable digital recording was arriving, and people needed a stereo mic they could sling in a bag and run from a battery instead of a phantom supply.
Inside the body sit a pair of wide-ranged, closely matched cardioid condenser elements. In an X/Y arrangement the two capsules are coincident, so the stereo image comes from level differences rather than time-of-arrival differences. That is why the mic is fully mono compatible. Sum the two channels and you don't get the phase weirdness that spaced-pair recordings can produce. Mono compatibility is the most-repeated claim in the period coverage, and it's why the AT-822 turns up in television and field-recording kits where a mono fold-down has to survive.
Sources don't quite agree on the pickup geometry. Audio-Technica's own literature describes the elements as delivering natural response across an arc of 170°, while retailer copy from the period advertises a 220° pickup field. Both describe the same X/Y capsule pair. Treat the coverage figure as approximate.
Powering is flexible in the way that mattered in 1992: the AT-822 runs on a standard 1.5V AA battery, and period retail listings also note phantom powering as an option. A switchable low-cut filter is built in — useful for knocking down handling noise and room rumble in field situations — and the package includes a windscreen and a camera shoe mount adapter.
Output is where the AT-822 differs from its sibling. Period retail copy describes it as having dual mini plug and stereo mini plug output cables, aimed at portable DATs and video cams. The more expensive AT825 is the same basic microphone with a dual XLR output cable instead. The AT-822 is the mini-plug version for consumer and prosumer portables, and the AT825 is the XLR version for gear that expects it.
Pricing at introduction landed around $299 net, per EQ-Magazine (January 1992, p.21), which described the mic as designed specifically for DAT and high-quality cassette recording and suited to a range of audio/video field applications. Retail listings from the same era show a list price of $399.00 with street pricing around $235.00, which suggests the mic was moving through mail-order channels. Recording-Engineer (January 1992, p.61) also carried the introduction, noting the mono-compatible design and the intended television, FM, and field-recording uses.
It takes one AA battery, and it comes with a low-cut switch, a windscreen, and a shoe mount. The connector set differs from the AT825, so check which one you're buying.
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