MXL 990 Vs AT2020 Both at a Similar Price so How Do They Compare?

Both of these mics are a great buy. The audio Technica AT2020 has been around for a long time. Most people seem to feel that it sounds good but has slightly high self noise. As long as you are close, this is actually not a problem. The MXL 990 has an advertised noise figure that looks brilliant for the cost but when you see the documentation, there are two figures that don't match ....... -80dB or -20dBa. Normally, the dBa figure added to the dB figure should come to 94, but in this case, it's 100!! I suspect that the -20dBa is more accurate which brings it to the same exact level as the AT2020. So that always makes me wonder why so many reviewers haven't noticed the noise on the MXL but have on the AT ........ In reality, they are exactly the same with regards to the noise level. At least, that's what I find. Perhaps the MXL is a little more treble focused than the AT2020. Makes many think that there is more detail with the 990 but again, I don't think so. These two mics are quite similar in performance. The MXL has a nicer case and shockmount system, plus the fact that it is cheaper than the AT2020, so I guess that is probably the better buy, unless you don't like its sound!