notCardio said:
I know, this should be in the mic forum, but since you brought it up, what would the response of the 1C be tailored to? You're cutting 1-2K, what does that correspond to?
It was tailored to "approximately the flattest response I could get while having some low end and not having ridiculous peaks from 3-4kHz and totally sucking". It is boosted from 1-2kHz, not cut.
The cardioid was an interesting adventure. Early on people asked for a cardioid for the rear rejection. Also, people wanted a cheap mic to throw on toms. The omni capsules, even with the high SPLs I finally extracted, were never going to fit the bill.
Even so, I resisted the pleas because the specs on the cardioid capsules never looked appealing to me: low sensitivity, very non-flat response, high noise.
But then when the Karma mic was pending, it was advertised as cardioid, so I figured I ought to get off my duff and do one too.
When I finished it (after testing dozens of vent sizes and patterns), I looked around for something for it to do. Quickly I realized it wasn't a directional version of the omni mic, the response was too tailored. Then I noticed its response was kinda similar to a D112 or B52 (I didn't tune it for the 4kHz peak, but I could, I know how). It doesn't have the extreme SPL handling, but when I beat the crap out of my skins, it sounded pretty good. So I figured it is my version of a dynamic mic.
What I like about it is it brings out the richness of the first few overtones of the toms, but gets out of the way before the cymbals come in. But then I use Remo Fiberskyns, so what do I know

I have not had any feedback at all on the 1C, other than a few poor souls who really wanted 1Os and ordered 1Cs thinking they were similar. I think I did a bad job on the first version of the 1C copy, so I exchanged those quickly
And are there any plans for a cardioid tube?
No. It would sound different, first off, because the tube case size is larger, so the resonant peaks would change. I would have to experiment with drilling the much more expensive tube case, which is metal. Also the tube itself has limited SPL handling.
However I do have one more cardioid trick up my sleeve--it's my answer to my favorite mic of all time (I've already done my second favorite, the AT3060), the Green Bullet. It will be bandwidth limited response combined with a distortion circuit, all in a Neutrik connector. Oh yeah, it will be green, too

Who would want that? Well, me, for one
And thanks for that chart. I was one of those confused by all the models.
It confuses me too. I didn't plan the early days too well. I had no idea how popular these things would get
