Anyone use a CAD M9?

[rileykill]

$300 for a tube mic seems pretty insane to me but I have heard that the CAD M9 is decent. I guess the tube warms things up sufficiently. I'm looking for something that can handle vocals and acoustic guitar. Anyone used one of these? Too good to be true?

 

[weezerman2002]

Rode NTK !!!

 

[warble2]

Maybe this will help you out a bit:
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/mar02/articles/cadm9.asp

I've read some decent reviews on many products at this site.

I'd tend to agree with the review in regards to what I heard when I tried the M9.

 

[rileykill]

Rode NTK !!!

Hmm ... that's a good suggestion for something close to the same price point. I don't suppose anyone has A/B'd them? I could really use the extra $230 or so on other equipment.

 

[rileykill]

Maybe this will help you out a bit:
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/mar02/articles/cadm9.asp

Thanks that did help ... similar to what I've been hearing from others.

 

[weezerman2002]

This even has a shock mount

http://cgi.ebay.com/RODE-NTK-TUBE-S...ryZ41466QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

[musical5]

It's an amazing mic. Buy one and get happy.

 

[dgatwood]

$300 for a tube mic seems pretty insane to me but I have heard that the CAD M9 is decent. I guess the tube warms things up sufficiently. I'm looking for something that can handle vocals and acoustic guitar. Anyone used one of these? Too good to be true?

As far as tube mics go, I've used the CAD M9, the ADK Generis GT-2, and the Karma K58. I like the ADK if I'm going for a smoky, breathy sound, while the M9 gives a rounder, smoother sound that I think sounds pretty universally good once it warms up.

Note: the CAD M9 sounds harsh before it warms up, and for a brief period while it is warming up, it sounds absolutely awful. You must wait for this mic to warm up if you want it to sound good.

About the NTK, it's one of those mics that people either love or hate. I've heard people saying both around here. The people who don't like them describe them as brittle, harsh, and/or hyped.

Considering the CAD costs about half what the NTK costs and is almost universally liked, I know which one I'd pick....

 

[homestudioguy]

I owned one and thought it was a good mic for $299.
I agree with the SOS article "The mic is slightly cleaner sounding than many all-valve mics, possibly because of the hybrid nature of the circuitry".
Very nice on acoustic guitar. Nice on vocal too!

 

[dgatwood]

I owned one and thought it was a good mic for $299.
I agree with the SOS article "The mic is slightly cleaner sounding than many all-valve mics, possibly because of the hybrid nature of the circuitry".
Very nice on acoustic guitar. Nice on vocal too!

I think that analysis is probably wrong. It's not a hybrid design in the same way as things like the toob mic pres. It doesn't have a FET path in parallel with the tube. As I understand it, the "hybrid" design is nothing more than using a FET as a balanced line driver instead of an output transformer. A transformer shouldn't be adding significant amounts of coloration unless it's a really lousy, cheap transformer. Thus, the hybrid nature shouldn't have much of an effect on how clean the sound is.

Using a FET output stage would result in less high frequency roll-off because you don't have loss in the transformer. It could possibly allow higher SPL handling without saturating the transformer, though other parts of the circuit would probably saturate much earlier, making that difference rather moot.

Just my $0.02.