I actually owned a D202E (& it's sister the D222 and many others) back in the day when I had a trade deal with AKG and used to purchase "ex-conference rental" mics cheaply from their UK base in The Vale at Acton. It's a very fine mic with a crisp, non-bassy sound, working very well on drums such as snare as an alternative to the usual suspects.
The D202E differs from the D222 - The D202E has a frequency range from 20-20,000Hz, (rather than D222's 20-18,000Hz), & the D202E's 3-way bass roll-off switch offers slightly higher positions of: 0dB - 7dB & 20dB at 50Hz (as opposed to the D222's 0dB, 6dB & 12dB).
Further differences include a compensation coil to eliminate stray magnetic fields, but the D202E has the same SPL's handling of around 124dB as the D222.
A very unusual mic the D202E, because like the D222 it uses two transducers mounted in the body with a crossover. So you have one transducer handling the treble-end which is mounted center on the bass transducer's protection cap, and the second transducer for the bass, with the crossover frequency set at 500Hz... as AKG says in it's literature from the time, this is a similar system to a 2-way speaker with a tweeter & bass unit, and it really works!
This 2-transducer system means the D202E doesn't suffer from the usual dynamic-mic "proximity effect" (bass increases as you get the mic nearer the source), but despite the fact it has an internal shock suspension system and is claimed not to give handling noise, I found that due to the way they have designed this 2-way system it does sound a little weird when used "hand-held"... it's like you can almost hear the "metallic" hollow sound of the mic tube if it is "handled" audibly. Therefore I wouldn't use this except on a stand, even tho it is a "dynamic mic", but get this one on a stand over a snare or whatever & you are treated to a crisp clear sound with no emphasised bass, no matter how close you mic and no matter what the angle of the mic on the snare drum or whatever other source.
Another reason this mic is a real workhorse survivor is the pop-shield, which is not a usual foam-lined wire basket as found on most dynamic mics, but rather it is AKG's classic sintered bronze basket which not only rejects the tiniest dust & metal particles & even rain (outdoors) from getting onto the precious transducer system, but is so rugged you can drop a brick on and it wont dent (the brick might break tho, lol). This exclusive AKG sintered-bronze basket means that this baby can easily survive endless live gigs, even stage-invasions & general mic flinging antics etc.
Anyways, a classic old-skool mic, which incidently you may have seen on TV in the British Houses of Parliament where it is still used today. If you see one cheap get it cos this is now a vintage classic bit of kit!
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