CAD Equitek E100S Supercardioid Large Diaphragm Condenser Microphone

Comments about CAD Equitek E100S Supercardioid Large Diaphragm Condenser Microphone:

I am a professional voice talent who voices national commercials, corporate training videos, e-learning and more. I've used a number of microphones over the past decade, usually buying one out of curiosity or good reviews or friends' recommendations, and nearly all of them have come and gone. I didn't really NEED a new mic, but having heard so many outstanding things about the CAD E100S, and at such an affordable price, I thought I'd give it a go. If I wasn't thrilled with it, I figured I'd just do what I've done with the other ones; turn around and resell it.

That's not going to happen. This mic is golden. Everyone raves about the exceedingly low self-noise level, but what I wanted it for was how it makes my voice sound. I have a medium baritone voice and have tried the Rode NT1A, a couple of AT2020 mics, and for years have used a trusty old Electrovoice RE20 which seems a good fit for my voice. But the E100S has an added warmth, a golden tonality to it that - while subtle - is still noticeably warm and rich. I fell in love with it. Because it IS a condenser mike, it's a bit less forgiving of my ambient room noise than the dynamic RE20 is, but it's not a problem. One of the things you have to adjust to is that this mike is, indeed, super-sensitive, and running it through a Presonus BlueTube preamp, I have the gain set at about 25%, whereas previous condenser mikes have been set around the 40% gain level.

I've read also that this mike is outstanding for miking instruments and I'm curious to try it on some of my acoustic guitars to see how it sounds. Based on my experience so far, I'd expect nothing but crystal clean, rich, warm tones, and a very flat frequency response.

I simply don't know how you can do better than this mike for the price. Oh, and as an aside, I personally love the looks of the thing, and B&H shipped it free AND lightning fast. I'll never be selling this mike.

Comments about CAD Equitek E100S Supercardioid Large Diaphragm Condenser Microphone:

I'd read all the testimonials about this mic but just wasn't prepared for how good it was. If you are doing VO, you really should have one of these in the quiver. It's so quiet it takes a little getting used to, but once you apply good technique, this mic can be your best weapon. I paid VAT and Duty on this thing because it's by far, possibly the only mic in it's class at this price.

Comments about CAD Equitek E100S Supercardioid Large Diaphragm Condenser Microphone:

My first session with this mic was spoken word. With the first sentence I got goosebumps. The performer does not have a particularly deep voice but when I heard the first words out of his mouth and looked over, I expected to see James Earl Jones or John Facenda.

The mic captured a richness and clarity that I had not captured before recording the same voice through my Rode K2 or Shure SM7. Transients seemed clear and there wasn't much of the brittle high end common to some condensors.

Since then it has impressed me on male rock vocals and acoustic guitar, although one singer refused to let me set it up just because he couldn't get past the look of it. The customer is always right I guess. Oh well, his loss.

Comments about CAD Equitek E100S Supercardioid Large Diaphragm Condenser Microphone:

I use the cad e100s in my bedroom studio and it sounds great with vocals and guitar, and it sounds great as a drum overhead mic. It is dead silent when I plug it in and it does a great job picking up every little nuance from my acoustic guitar. The shock mount is awesome to mic up really close to guitar cabinets. The shock mount uses heavy duty rubber bands and it includes extra bands so if one of them happened to break (wich I don't think will happen anytime soon)you don't have to worry about not having a shock mount. Overall this a fantastic, versitile and well built mic that is pretty much great for anything you need to record. The only time I wouldn't use this mic is if I wanted to use it during a live show performance. Great Job CAD!

Comments about CAD Equitek E100S Supercardioid Large Diaphragm Condenser Microphone:

I use it for strings instruments.

Comments about CAD Equitek E100S Supercardioid Large Diaphragm Condenser Microphone:

Professional musician, woodwinds and strings. Love this thing! Bought two! Won't go wrong, like the top end better than my TLM 103's. Just very nice!

Comments about CAD Equitek E100S Supercardioid Large Diaphragm Condenser Microphone:

This mic is sick, and for 350 after mail in rebate you can't really say anything bad about it. I record rap vocals and it comes out nice.

Comments about CAD Equitek E100S Supercardioid Large Diaphragm Condenser Microphone:

I am in love with this microphone. Oh, I've fallen for other mikes in the past but this time it's the real thing!

When I first fired it up, I actually thought it was broken, as I was hearing all sorts of noise. Then I realized it was simply more sensitive than my other large diaphragm condensers, and needed less gain, as well. It is actually, as claimed, a very quiet mike. The hypercardioid pattern accentuates that but does make placement a tad more finicky -- once it's set up right, it gives a very focused sound.

Being such a clear and clean sort of mike, I expected it to sound, well, more clinical. Instead, it is quite pleasing on voice and, surprisingly, exhibited no sibilance problems. This is a great choice for voice over work, at least for me (i.e. a guy). I suspect it might sound a little thin on bass-heavy sources, which is not necessarily a bad thing.

Overall, I do not hesitate in the least to recommend the E100s. It is several steps above the Chinese-manufactured budget mikes (it's made in the USA) and easily rivals units that are twice its price. I'm seriously considering a second so I can use a stereo pair on location recording as well as in the studio. Of course, some of the factors that make it so attractive also make it a bit less versatile -- it is not a do-everything microphone but it really shines when it does fit the application.

Comments about CAD Equitek E100S Supercardioid Large Diaphragm Condenser Microphone:

For recording classical and baroque music it is good to have different microphones to experiment. The E100S has a sound quite unique, on the verge of perfection! For the price, I should have bought more than two!