The front of the microphone is flat-faced so it is easy to place flush and directly on and in front of a guitar amp's speaker. In my testing, I hung the DX-2 by its XLR mic cable--I looped the cable through the handle on the top of a Fender Vibrolux amp to position it exactly. Inside of the mic, the two capsules are side by side and close together for the best possible phase relationship.

Capsule 1 is a larger super-cardioid dynamic mic that, on its own, has a warm and big sound. Capsule 2 has a smaller cardioid capsule and on its own, has a more mid range focus with less bass.

The fun starts with the Crossfade mix control knob on the opposite side of the mic's body. I started with the Crossfade control set straight up (12noon) for 50% of capsule 1 and 50% of capsule 2. For a rhythm guitar part and the mic positioned inches away and just over the cone towards the surround and away from the dust cover, I could dial in exactly the sound so it was still heavy sounding but also had enough mid-range cut to mix well in the track.

Dialing in was easy: I simply had my guitar player (sitting right next to the amp and DX-2) just turn the knob for me then he played and I check the sound back in the control room. Too thick--more of capsule 2--too edgy, turn the Crossfade knob towards capsule 1.

The all-metal MXL DX-2 flat design also allows for optimal placement directly on guitar cabinets and it comes with a mic mount for stand use for other high SPL sources such as horns and drums.