PD400X
microphone
$155
Used market: $120*
Specifications
6 of 7 values have a recorded sourceExpert Audio Engineering Commentary
Tonal Profile
Dynamic broadcast capsule with a converter, a touch strip and a 42 dB preamp in one body; the XLR output bypasses all of it.
Gain Staging Advice
42 dB of built-in gain against a -51 dBV/Pa capsule is enough for close speech but leaves nothing spare: on the XLR side the same capsule wants about 50-55 dB from an external preamp, which is inside the range of nearly any interface.
What the datasheet actually says
Quoted verbatim from the manufacturer’s own page, with the date we checked it. We state what is printed, not what anyone intended by it.
«Sensitivity XLR:-51dBV USB:-8.5dBFS/Pa(Max)»
One row, two scales that cannot be compared. -51 dBV is the capsule's output voltage per pascal and is what a preamp calculation needs. -8.5 dBFS/Pa is where 94 dB SPL lands on the converter's full-scale range at maximum gain, so it describes the built-in preamp and ADC rather than the microphone. Set side by side without a word of explanation, they read as if 42.5 dB separated two comparable numbers. They do not.
checked 8/5/2026«Capsule Type Dynamic Microphone ... Capsule Type XLR & USB-C»
The specification table has two rows named Capsule Type. The second one lists the connectors, not a capsule. The same duplication appears on the PD200X page.
checked 8/5/2026* Estimated with the depreciation fallback (~77% retained value). · checked on 8/5/2026