CAD AUDIOE300S Large Diaphragm Multi Pattern Condenser Microphone

Great CAD sound.

Excellent sound quality with silky smooth highs. None of those peaky piercing highs of lesser microphones. Unbelievably low noise with plenty of output for more distant pickup. 20dB attenuator for closeup work. Nice consistent performance on continuously variable pickup patterns. Must use supplied isolation mount as microphone is sensitive to handling noise and microphone stand vibrations otherwise. Dream mic for a dream price.

Great mic at a great price which I bought directly from Amazon Canada not a 3d party company. It was $70 less expensive than other online stores including local ones. Easy to use and set up. I am extremely pleased with the quality recording of my acoustic guitar.

(+) First contact surprising : the heavyweight of this mic and the quality finish(+) Very thin protection grid for the diaphragm, to limit the classical resonances parasites in the treble. Very effective for the linearity but brings a little fragile if careless use.(+) Pad with 3 levels : 0/-10/-20 dB, for getting a Max SPL of 154 dB SPL (cool for recording drums)(+) High pass with 3 positions : Off / 75 / 150 Hz(+) Removable head with Omni or Cardio directivity(+) Extended bandwidth and very "flat" = can capture the mood of the play by the "vibrations" of the air of a piano playing in the very low frequencies like 30 Hz. A treat (if pre- amp follows ...)Nota : no EQUITEK circuit here, but a good studio mic for a budget price. Thanks CAD audio !

I bought this microphone just or one purpose: Tom miking.Prehistory:After having read raving critics about the CAD - mainly from US engineers at Gearslutz - I couldn't resist any longer and wantedto make my own picture.Since I'm located in Germany, having done a search for shopping resources over here quickly revealed: Nothing.No CAD M179 was available in Germany at that time, which seems to be strange because CAD produces in China.Anyway, I finally found it on Amazon.com in the U.S.Buying experience:Although I've always been a bit skeptical about customs, delays and whatever else can go wrong with oversea transports, I ordered the price reduced bundle of 3 units.To my greatest surprise, the package arrived quite fast (10 days, 2 of them in the customs), was safely packed and 100 % as described.Import tax was very low by the way, only 2.5% of the microphone price plus shipping (tax for Germany, other countries in the EU may vary).Packaging:The CAD comes in a very large, cube-like package, printed with the-more-the-better zillions of colors, mainly in purple, red and blue.One could say the carton design looks cheap, but as always, taste is a personal thing and in the end it's the content that counts, isn't it?Although not my piece of cake, I must admit that the microphone seems to be well protected by this giant package.Construction:The microphone is sturdy built, with a anodized metal surface while being surprisingly heavy.The capsule is placed safe inside the solid metal windscreen.Part of delivery is a ring clamp plus a professional shock mount - highly recommended to reduce vibrations when miking drums.The overall construction is very good, in my opinion even exceptional for the given price.The CAD M179 offers a pad switch, which is a must for drum miking or the capsule could tend to distort.Both, variable pattern wheel as well as the pad switch, are easy accessible in front of the mike.Overall impression: No bells and whistles, but a solid workhorse, built for pro's.Sound:The CAD offers a warm, natural sound, that perfectly fits for Toms, but also for clean Guitars and even background vocals.I personally wouldn't use it for Lead vocals, but what can you expect for the price.Of course, the CAD wasn't built to be a concurrence to Neumann and other high end brands. But it does its job extremely well.The main purpose for me was Tom-miking, so the following research is covering only my experience with Toms.Set to cardioid, surrounding sounds from back and side are successfully suppressed, quite important when dealing with bleeding HiHats or cymbals.The Toms immediately sounded really big, not to say huge, without messy crash sounds coming through.Although having used Sennheiser MKH-40 for Toms before (one costs 10 times the $$ of a M179 ...), the results were doubtless significantly better then ever!You can turn up the Tom tracks in your mix, really push them in breaks and the like, and at the same time your mix won't suffer of the typical cymbal bleeding as known from other microphones (like the MKH-40 or MD421).Amazing.In Short:Pros:* very good and sturdy crafted* exceptional good sounding results, specially with Toms* low priceCons:* heavy weight that demands for mic stands* typical microphone clamps will place the CAD more over the center of Toms, not at side, due to it's size. I can live with that, although your setup will be cluttered even more when using stands.Conclusion:I love this microphone! My dream of a perfect drum sound has become more true, day in and out.A clear recommendation: Buy it!