CAD m179

[tINY]

Originally Posted by AnAverageJoe

Hey tiny, Hows it going? I was wondering can you tell me your thoughts on the M179?

I like to answer general questions like this in a public forum on GS.

I have had one for a little while. It's reasonably well made and does everything it ought to. I've used in on HH, male vox, bass cabinets and a few acoustic instruments. It's a good, variable pattern LDC.

By that, I mean :

low frequency response is really good. A lot of budget mics and more than a few more expensive mics don't have nearly as good a response below 100Hz. I haven't tried it on a kick drum yet, though.

Mid range is accurate - no funny stuff going on

The presesnce and high frequency is like most of the standard LDCs that aren't "bright". It's got a presence peak around 5kHz that is a bit subtile but tends to add clarity and a rising response above about 9kHz that gives things a bit of "air'. As you should expect, the directional charateristics above 5kHz aren't well controlled by the pattern knob - it gets beamy.

It takes a high SPL and doesn't get weird - like some cheaper chineese mics.

Also:

The continuously variable pattern control is nice - it does have detents for "repeatability" if that's important to you. The mid and low frequency control is really good (and sometimes a hyper cardioid, bordering on figure 8 is nice to keep a bit more snare out of the HH channel...).

It is very robust, and at it's not too expensive to replace. I can use it in places I would worry about other mics.

It draws a fair amount of current on phantom power, but it hasn't been a problem yet.

...and they look cool......




-tINY

[AnAverageJoe]

Originally Posted by tINY

I like to answer general questions like this in a public forum on GS.

I have had one for a little while. It's reasonably well made and does everything it ought to. I've used in on HH, male vox, bass cabinets and a few acoustic instruments. It's a good, variable pattern LDC.

By that, I mean :

low frequency response is really good. A lot of budget mics and more than a few more expensive mics don't have nearly as good a response below 100Hz. I haven't tried it on a kick drum yet, though.

Mid range is accurate - no funny stuff going on

The presesnce and high frequency is like most of the standard LDCs that aren't "bright". It's got a presence peak around 5kHz that is a bit subtile but tends to add clarity and a rising response above about 9kHz that gives things a bit of "air'. As you should expect, the directional charateristics above 5kHz aren't well controlled by the pattern knob - it gets beamy.

It takes a high SPL and doesn't get weird - like some cheaper chineese mics.

Also:

The continuously variable pattern control is nice - it does have detents for "repeatability" if that's important to you. The mid and low frequency control is really good (and sometimes a hyper cardioid, bordering on figure 8 is nice to keep a bit more snare out of the HH channel...).

It is very robust, and at it's not too expensive to replace. I can use it in places I would worry about other mics.

It draws a fair amount of current on phantom power, but it hasn't been a problem yet.

...and they look cool......




-tINY

Wow I Think I'm going to get one ASAP, Does anyone else have any thoughts on this Mic? Tiny Do you have any material recorded with the M179? If So I would Love to hear it

[Jon Harter]

Warhead always raves about them for toms.

Check out this link:
CAD M179

[tINY]

Originally Posted by AnAverageJoe

Wow I Think I'm going to get one ASAP, Does anyone else have any thoughts on this Mic? Tiny Do you have any material recorded with the M179? If So I would Love to hear it

Nothing I have access to right now.




-tINY

[AnAverageJoe]

Originally Posted by tINY

Nothing I have access to right now.




-tINY

Ok Thanks, DO you still use this Mic on recordings today?

[joelpatterson]

I have two of these -- they are my all-purpose take-with-me-everywhere-because-you-never-know-when-someone-will-surprise-you-with "Oh, yeah, we also have a violinist/marimba solo/sound effect playing from a boombox/whole additional extra choir we didn't mention on the phone!"

Anything you put it infront of, you will get good... and it also has the feature of being a spot mic, but also capturing an even, pleasing picture of everything in the room, so it's combination spot/room mic. That's not all that common, in my experience.

[Acoustic Cloud]

I love mine, it is the best all rounder I have. Warren has called it the "Poor mans BULS", I think that sums it up well. thumbsup

[warhead]

I can't resist posting in an M179 thread...sorry!

Amazing mic for under $200 (with shock and hard case mind you). I agree with the statement by Joel that it is always at least good, a workhorse mic that tends to compliment things less and deliver a fairly accurate sound more. Still, I don't find it boring.

On toms they just kill.

On outer kick they do a great job.

War

[r0ck1r0ck2]

beater side of kick.

[XLR2XLR]

Hi all this has got me interested, last time I heard a CAD mic was in a shop
6 years ago and I thought it was a little unnatural sounding, almost with a
HF notched boost somewhere, I have never looked at CAD ever since.

I might have a rethink.

I was in the market for a matched pair of NT1A's but I wonder would the
CADS do OK in an orchestral stereo situation?

And how about on grand piano.

Very interested to hear more about them.

[warhead]

I've used on an upright Kawai grand in the past year, the M179 did a good job in this position also. I've never used in an orchestral situation.

War

[The 3rd Flaw]

It seems as if these mics are great for drums - people using them on kicks, OHs and toms - What about snares?

Also, how do they rate with regard to the single pattern m177?

[warhead]

I'm not a huge fan of them on snare, it's toms and outer kick that they excel at capturing. They are beefy on OH! When I want that sound they rule.

War

[Jax]

While we're talking CAD, I still love my VX-2! Round, silky, rich and BIG sounding. I never need a bass DI when recording a bass rig.

I'll have to check out CAD's more recent offerings.

[warhead]

Jax, I have a pair of VX-2...

War

[Acoustic Cloud]

Is that the blue colored discoe'd one?

Gimme 5

[lowfreq33]

With CAD you have to take each mic on its own. The M179's are good, the KBM412 is great on kick. Their upper tier drum mics aren't bad either. Has anyone tried the Trion series yet?

[Empty Planet]

We were tracking vocals and one of these was already set up, so we gave it a go. Worked fine, but as we adjusted its position we found a little trick (probably just an old-school thing we rediscovered ).... If you use the thing in figure of 8, and place your hand on the far side of the mic, just about right up against the grill, you can get a pleasantly brighter, more-detailed sound. You have to be careful about the obvious comb filtering that can happen, but this was a case of "Does it sound better?" "Yes!" and after a few A/B comparisons we wound up tracking the vox that way. Substituted some paper for the hand for a more consistent sound. Final mix sounded great. Haven't played with this idea on other figure of 8 mics, but on that day, it worked great on the M179.


Cheers.

[Jax]

Originally Posted by warhead

Jax, I have a pair of VX-2...

War

I already knew that! You've mentioned it in past VX-2 threads. lol thumbsup

Such great mics!

[warhead]

Sometimes I just babble on about them...

War

[tINY]

Originally Posted by AnAverageJoe

Ok Thanks, DO you still use this Mic on recordings today?

Yeah, and for live work too. I'll try to get a rough mix where I used it. End of the month, I've gotta track a couple of songs for a christmas album with a lot of acoustic instruments - it'll probably get used there.



-tINY

[AnAverageJoe]

Originally Posted by joelpatterson

I have two of these -- they are my all-purpose take-with-me-everywhere-because-you-never-know-when-someone-will-surprise-you-with "Oh, yeah, we also have a violinist/marimba solo/sound effect playing from a boombox/whole additional extra choir we didn't mention on the phone!"

Anything you put it infront of, you will get good... and it also has the feature of being a spot mic, but also capturing an even, pleasing picture of everything in the room, so it's combination spot/room mic. That's not all that common, in my experience.

Sounds Like this Mic is Very Transparent

[AnAverageJoe]

Originally Posted by tINY

Yeah, and for live work too. I'll try to get a rough mix where I used it. End of the month, I've gotta track a couple of songs for a christmas album with a lot of acoustic instruments - it'll probably get used there.



-tINY

Ok Cool Just keep me posted

[AnAverageJoe]

Man I tried to find out how much the VX-2 was going for, but there no longer for sale

[Jimbo]

Originally Posted by AnAverageJoe

Man I tried to find out how much the VX-2 was going for, but there no longer for sale

Keep an eye on ebay. I just saw a pair (minty fresh) go for $750 BIN per mic. These had both caps and even the case was unscathed.

I was floored!

[XLR2XLR]

I own a pair of Studio projects B1's would a pair of CAD M179 be a useful set
of alternative microphones to complement the B1's which are quite bright sounding.

I was also looking at NT1A pair but want something maybe a little darker and smoother.

Am I looking in the right place with the M179 on a budget?

I am thinking, a little less bright vocals, maybe a budget pair on grand/upright piano
alternatives to overheads (normally B1's)

Thanks

[tINY]

If you want inexpensive mics that sound good and aren't bright, look at the Kel HM-1. I think they go for about $125.

The NT1-a sounds brighter to me than the spec plot would indicate. It has been stellar on a couple of singers, though....

The M179 is definately worth having in your closet.




-tINY

[XLR2XLR]

By the time I have got the KEL's into the UK they are nearly the price
of the M179 and less flexible (and noisier) I got the impression the
M179 was fairly neutral (sounded it on the female vox).

Thanks anyway.

[tINY]

It is fairly neutral, but I wouldn't call it dark at all.

For smooth, something like an SM7 or an RE20 is worth trying.



-tINY

[Acoustic Cloud]

SM-7 is so cool to have in even a small collection. I wish I still had mine! I'll get another, someday.

The 179 has no gain issues though, and thats pretty important for someone that may only have 1 other mic, like a 57 . If the 179 was only cardioid, it would not be as great a value, but it gots some features galore! The rolling pattern is really responsive, and small adjustments are noticed quite easily.

If I could get my 179 to mate with my Jolymod PE 219, it would squelch any other mic purchase in my lifetime.

To bad we cant raise mics like AKC puppies.