Let's talk about CAD mic's...

JASIII · Post by **JASIII** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 3:23 pm

The 179 can be a little sharp sounding to me, depends on the situation.

I've got the CAD Trion 7000 ribbon, it's decent. Very much like the other chinese ribbons, but looks very different. Sounds better to me than the Nady, less grainy, more creamy.

The CAD Trion 8000 toob mic I sent back due to noise issues came back in about a week, works great now, no noise. I think they just swapped out the power supply. Sounds very nice actually.

Wilkesin · Post by **Wilkesin** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 3:49 pm

I realize this is a CAD thread but at the price point you mentioned ($500) there is the multi-patterned and well loved AT 4050 to think about...

trodden · Post by **trodden** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 4:11 pm

Wilkesin wrote:I realize this is a CAD thread but at the price point you mentioned ($500) there is the multi-patterned and well loved AT 4050 to think about...

did you not realize this is a freakin CAD thread?

Mark Alan Miller · Post by **Mark Alan Miller** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 4:32 pm

Just an FYI - I just contacted CAD to see if they'd go over my E100s for me, bring 'em up to spec and all that. I do this with a lot of my mics from time to time, and they're the first comany to tell me "that's an outdated model, and we no longer service them at all." They then offered me (a yet-to-be-stated) major discount on the new E100 2 with a trade-in of an old E100. I asked what the discount would be, and am awaiting their response.
However, I really don't want to be rid of my original E100s...

Anyone use the new ones?

Anyone think it's a little odd to not even look at them before declining to service them?

getreel · Post by **getreel** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 4:52 pm

Whoa, cool thread. I just purchased the M179 after owning the M37 for 3 or 4 years. I have used my M37 on everything and it sounds great....so when I began looking for another LDC, a CAD mic was the natural choice. I also bought a Rode NT1. Hope it's decent. Reviews on that one are mixed at best. Anyway, the M37 is especially good on vocals and acoustic guitar. I often found I like it better than the MXL V69M on vocals. The V69 was not as smooth sounding as the M37. V69 has a funky weirdness in the upper mids comparatively.

trodden · Post by **trodden** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 5:01 pm

Mark Alan Miller wrote:Just an FYI - I just contacted CAD to see if they'd go over my E100s for me, bring 'em up to spec and all that. I do this with a lot of my mics from time to time, and they're the first comany to tell me "that's an outdated model, and we no longer service them at all." They then offered me (a yet-to-be-stated) major discount on the new E100 2 with a trade-in of an old E100. I asked what the discount would be, and am awaiting their response.
However, I really don't want to be rid of my original E100s...

Anyone use the new ones?

Anyone think it's a little odd to not even look at them before declining to service them?

yeah man, i went through the same thing about 6 months ago... i declined. I figured i'd find parts and try to fix mine myself. I kinda fixed it.. well its a long story, but now i have one working e100 again and that's all that matters.

lancebug · Post by **lancebug** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 5:07 pm

I like the pair of M179's I have on most things. They seem to produce good results easily even if they aren't the best choice on every source. One thing I haven't seen mentioned about them is how small they are and how easy it is to mount them etc... Maybe part of why I find it is easy to get good results from them is just that its easy to get them into the right spot. I definitely have a couple decent mics that don't get trotted out as much just cause their mounts are akward or they're to bulky, blah, blah, blah.... Also, I did drop one of my M179s on a concrete floor from a height of about 4 or 5 feet once and it seemed to have no effect on it (not even cosmetic).

joel hamilton · Post by **joel hamilton** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 6:37 pm

trodden wrote:
Mark Alan Miller wrote:Just an FYI - I just contacted CAD to see if they'd go over my E100s for me, bring 'em up to spec and all that. I do this with a lot of my mics from time to time, and they're the first comany to tell me "that's an outdated model, and we no longer service them at all." They then offered me (a yet-to-be-stated) major discount on the new E100 2 with a trade-in of an old E100. I asked what the discount would be, and am awaiting their response.
However, I really don't want to be rid of my original E100s...

Anyone use the new ones?

Anyone think it's a little odd to not even look at them before declining to service them?
yeah man, i went through the same thing about 6 months ago... i declined. I figured i'd find parts and try to fix mine myself. I kinda fixed it.. well its a long story, but now i have one working e100 again and that's all that matters.

It seems like they changed completely as a company a few years ago... I dont know really, but they used to be super cool and nice about service, and I keep hearing that they dont even want to talk about servicing the old stuff... Lame.
Those old E100's are classic.. that whole first line: the 100/200/300 are all pretty awesome in their own way.

Mark Alan Miller · Post by **Mark Alan Miller** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 7:57 pm

Well, I've got 3 of 'em, and schematics, so I'm gonna keep them, too, my E100s. (Thanks Joel & trodden, your feedback tipped the scales.)
I did a little soldering tonight and all three are passing audio. I think I just need to replace the NiCds in them - they all seem to 'fold' under high SPLs.

Best 'source' mic I've found for playing with the Antares Mic Modeller, BTW.

Still, can anyone compare and contrast the E100 and the E100 2?

RefD · Post by **RefD** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 8:05 pm

*waits for the other Patterson to chime in*

lancebug · Post by **lancebug** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 10:10 pm

Mark Alan Miller wrote:
Best 'source' mic I've found for playing with the Antares Mic Modeller, BTW.

Why would you ever use anything other than an sm57 with mic modeller? Its kind of like the t-shirt with the tuxedo silk screened on it, only you've silk screened it onto a nice polo shirt.

Mark Alan Miller · Post by **Mark Alan Miller** » Sat Jan 13, 2007 3:29 am

lancebug wrote:
Mark Alan Miller wrote:
Best 'source' mic I've found for playing with the Antares Mic Modeller, BTW.

Why would you ever use anything other than an sm57 with mic modeller? Its kind of like the t-shirt with the tuxedo silk screened on it, only you've silk screened it onto a nice polo shirt.

Nice metaphor!

The question I always had was "why would I use the mic modeller?"

I got one for really cheap as part of a special when helping a freind outfit his place, si I figured 'what the heck - why not?' - and in the rack it sat for a looong time, and every time I tried it I was unimpressed.

One day I was mixing a song that had what was originally a scratch acoustic track, but ended up being the keeper, recorded with an E100. Deathly boring sounding, and ill-fitting in the mix. EQ and/or compression weren't doing it. So I figured 'why not' and tried modelling the E100 into a 4038, and lo and behold... wow. I'm pretty familiar with what several Martins sound like on that mic, and this was right in the ballpark. The same as if I used a real 4038? I dunno, I didn't do a direct A/B comparison, but it was close enough that the sound was, well, great. Saved the mix, really. And good enough to let the unit stay in the rack.

I've tried a '57 as a source, and I think it doesn't work anywhere as well. (Interestingly, neither did a TLM 103.) E100s are really neutral and linear in the time-domain, and pretty flat response-wise, and I think that helps the unit do at least interesting and useful things.
(Although I did use it on every lead vocal on a mix of a home recording a client of mine did, recently, and she recorded her entire record with a single '58. And it did wonders for the vocal, too... hmmm.)

Another great trick? The source as 'bypass mic' on DI'd stuff.

Is it like owning all those mics? Not really, but with the right source it is a great tone shaping tool. And I was a compete skeptic for the longest time. What I originally thought was a tux shirt screened on a cheap t-shirt (and one that didn't fit, at that) is really more like a no-name brand tux shirt, that fits well enough to wear in public.

Why do i feel like I just confessed something?

Madguitrst · Post by **Madguitrst** » Sat Jan 13, 2007 6:34 am

They were definitely great for service way back when.

Excuse my fuzzy memory here, but it was a loooong time ago:
I had a blown capsule on a E-200 (thy use two capsule back to back) and they replaced it and went over the mic for some ridiculously low price (it was like $25 or so if I remember correctly).

Anyway, they were very easy to talk to on the phone, very helpful, very passionate about their mics and customers, very much what you want in a gear company.

I almost positive they didn't make their own capsule way back when but did put their mics together here in the US, therefore had parts, etc. (I could be wrong about this), HOWEVER, all of their mics are now completely Chinese made. I'm guessing to keep cost down they are now just rebranders and probably don't even have much of a service department, other than someone who can say, "the RMA number is", receive your faulty mics and send out new ones for broken ones. If you know/knew how much Chinese mics cost you know that it would be cheaper to replace mics than to have a competent tech spend an hour on one.

It's a shame. they made some pretty cool mics and were once a company you could call and talk a little shop with. I called not long ago about one of their newer products just to see what they had to say about the mic capsule and let's just say I think I know more about the mic design than their "service" guy.

getreel · Post by **getreel** » Sat Jan 13, 2007 8:45 am

all of their mics are now completely Chinese made

I don't think this is true. I am fairly positive I've seen that the M37, M177, and even the M179 are US made mics with the US made Optema capsules. The capsules are made in Ohio. I think the lower end stuff like the GX2200/2400 and the drums mics are probably Chinese made though. I may try to find where I have read this, but I don't remember right now.

getreel · Post by **getreel** » Sat Jan 13, 2007 8:48 am

OK I checked and on the Google cached copy of the old CAD site, I found a page that definitely says the M37 is US made.

http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:Qe ... =firefox-a

It's right under where the picture should be.

And Music 123 retailer states that the M179 is US made:

http://www.music123.com/CAD-M179-i99128.music

The dealer I bought my M179 had also stated that it was US made. This is how I originally got my info I pretty sure.

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