John legend using CAD mic, can this kind of mic can do something good for me

[laperlestudio]

I just saw a publicity of CAD mic in the recording, it was john legend they say he use CAD mic.
I know it's maybe only a lot of bucks given to John and then he go back to the neumann in the studio. Personnaly I love the voice of John, and the job made in the studio is good!
So for the moment I am starting to selling a few gear to buy a better condenser, is thinking something like the tlm 103, it's not so pricey and I rent one and for me it sound pretty natural and realy nice. So I'm asking here if there's other mic in this range of price and a little bit under that could work well for me. I'm basically recording voice, acoustic and electric guitar and piano. I got a firestudio working in logic (but that's not important). I will be searching for great preamp (better than my presonus) after I bought the mic.

Does anybody have some suggestion. And the thing with the CAD is that it's so cheap I can't believe it got the warmth and the softness in the high that I heard on john legend record.

thanks

[Sid Viscous]

No, his mic has magic fairy dust on it.

[laperlestudio]

your talking 'bout the tlm 103?

[Barnabas]

Which CAD mic are you referring to?

I have not used their studio mics, but their live vocal mics that I use are worth twice what they are selling for.

[laperlestudio]

I look at a few video about CAD mic, and the ribbon mic seem to be really loved for live gig on guitar, and all the handeld condenser to. I was looking at the ribbon, and the 2 tube condenser.

[fiddler59]

The one thing these endorsements never mention is the mic pre used as well as the eq and compression used. Many times these artists may use there stuff live but in the studio may be a different story all together. I have never used the CAD stuff but I have heard good things about The Trion 8000 LDC and the Trion 7000 ribbon.

David B

[Chrisc_o]

I think the ad was for a Trion 8000, IIRC. I am not familiar with Legend's stuf, but there are a lot of mics in the 800-1200 dollar range (ballpark TLM 103 price, considering the used market and Canadian exchange rate and duty) that could do a very good job for you. I really like my K2, Blue has some tasty offerings around that range, Studio Projects have a pretty solid rep for lower than that, the Sputnik is supposed to be quite good.....

What other mics have you tried?

OT: t'habites ou au Québec?

[erosconpollo]

I saw that he's using the M177 on his piano (live) and that is a rather nice mike -- as is the 179 -- especially for the price. I'm liking it on acoustic guitar and I can readily believe it sounds pretty good on piano as well.

[dviola]

I'm not particularly a fan....but john legend will sound like john legend through a walkie talkie.

That being said, CAD gets a lotta love

[88fingerz]

I had Mr. Legend in my studio right before he hit it big! I tracked him on a Rode NTK into a Vintech 1272 through a RNC into Pt Le via an RME ADI-8.

You can hear it hear http://www.RockgardenMusic.com

It's the Xmas song, first one on the "Music"/Clients link.

Only once did I have to tell him his pitch was slightly off...he was a good guy about it and got the job done fine!

[laperlestudio]

Originally Posted by Chrisc_o

I think the ad was for a Trion 8000, IIRC. I am not familiar with Legend's stuf, but there are a lot of mics in the 800-1200 dollar range (ballpark TLM 103 price, considering the used market and Canadian exchange rate and duty) that could do a very good job for you. I really like my K2, Blue has some tasty offerings around that range, Studio Projects have a pretty solid rep for lower than that, the Sputnik is supposed to be quite good.....

What other mics have you tried?

OT: t'habites ou au Québec?

For the moment I'm using apex 460, and audio-tech 3035, for me they sound both really thin and the 460 sound better for me, but not enough smooth mid an bass. I heard some really nice thing about the blue mic. I also tried 414, and ther tlm 103,

OT:j'habite près de montréal sur la rive sud

[laperlestudio]

Originally Posted by 88fingerz

I had Mr. Legend in my studio right before he hit it big! I tracked him on a Rode NTK into a Vintech 1272 through a RNC into Pt Le via an RME ADI-8.

You can hear it hear Rock Garden Music

It's the Xmas song, first one on the "Music"/Clients link.

Only once did I have to tell him his pitch was slightly off...he was a good guy about it and got the job done fine!

Sound good (expet the mp3 compression) vintech are nice pre, and I heard relly nice comment about the RNC, i'm looking for the comp maybe

[BudgetMC]

If you do a search on the CAD Trion 8000, you'll find a lot of discussion about it here. I don't have one, but I do have a GXL 3000 and a couple of E70's, and I've gotten good results out of them on a number of sources.

Killer bang for the buck, given that I got all three for less than US $70 each via Musicians Friend Stupid Deals.

[RBowlin]

I own the Trion 8000 and it's a good fit for my baritone voice. Nice clean highs, defined mids and decent lows. Having said that, I own the TLM 103 as well, and I find it to be much cleaner with better definition.

You'll find love for the Trion 8000 around here and love/hate for the TLM 103. Two totally different mics to me.

YMMV.

-Rich

[joelpatterson]

Originally Posted by RBowlin

You'll find love for the Trion 8000 around here ...

I put together a review of the Trion 8000 on The Site Which Shall Not Be Named (but its initials are Studio Auditions dot com) and the whole piece was one long extended riff about the comical absurdities surrounding John Legend's endorsement of that mic.

I came at it like a total innocent, floored by my reverence for Mr. L. and so on...

My own 8000 developed this annoying habit of sending a loud "BZZZZZZZZZ" through its output so I boxed it up and didn't even want to waste the postage sending it back to have it fixed.

Side note: the reviewer in a recent Electronic Musician plowed through *three* of the units and *four* power supplies due to spontanenous failures during the review process. You really got to read between the lines to get any humor out of a EM review, but I do believe the dry way the guy described these "issues" really said it all.

[uncle duncan]

If you're in Canada, why not send your 460 to Dave Thomas at Advanced Audio and have him put in the Peluso 367 capsule and trannie upgrade.? He did that to my first CAD Trion 8000, and it is one fat sounding mic now - comparable to a Peluso 2247LE, which uses the same capsule and costs, like, $1600. I would think the DT modded 460 would be a little smoother than a TLM 103, and it would sound great on a plain vanilla clean preamp, since the mojo from the tube and trannie is already there.

After sending my first Trion 8000 to DT for the mod, I got a CD project mastered, and the ME commented that his favorite vocal out of the 12 tracks was the one recorded with the stock Trion 8000. So, while waiting for DT to mod it, I got a second Trion 8000 and left it stock. It does have a certain charm to it, in that it's not particularly hyped, and the high end is quite silky. I've found the modded Trion with the Peluso capsule (same as the modded 460) to be useful on more singers, since it has the 'finished' sound - a little hyped, but still smooth. But every now and then, I get a singer who's voice is a little too present on the modded Trion, in which case the stock Trion is perfect.

Or the Shure SM7b is perfect - which reminds me, if you want a fat sounding mic, the SM7b is a studio standard. I guess the difference between the stock trion and the SM7b would be in the 6k range, where the SM7b takes a huge dip, but the trion stays relatively level. If you're prone to sibilance, the SM7b might be a better choice, but, even then, it's a crap shoot. I've got a female singer in here right now who's S's break up no matter what mic I try. It's rather frustrating.

If you do send your 460 to DT for the mod, make sure to keep track of your 40 day time limit for filing a Paypal claim. DT has been known to drop off the face of the earth from time to time, or come up with lame excuses for missing his deadlines, and you need to be able to file a claim if he leaves you hanging. But, I have heard that he does better with Canadian customers, so you might have nothing to worry about. Plus, the mic mod with the Peluso capsule is well worth the wait.

(The other Peluso capsule DT uses is the CK 12, which would be brighter, perhaps not what you're looking for.)

[laperlestudio]

I read the thread about the 460 mod's I am really looking at it, but I don't know when. I loved the sample with the mod but I've thinking it would be a really nice second mic. For the moment I'm searching for my #1!

[RBowlin]

Originally Posted by joelpatterson

I put together a review of the Trion 8000 on The Site Which Shall Not Be Named (but its initials are Studios Auditions dot com) and the whole piece was one long extended riff about the comical absurdities surrounding John Legend's endorsement of that mic.

I came at it like a total innocent, floored by my reverence for Mr. L. and so on...

My own 8000 developed this annoying habit of sending a loud "BZZZZZZZZZ" through its output so I boxed it up and didn't even want to waste the postage sending it back to have it fixed.

Side note: the reviewer in a recent Electronic Musician plowed through *three* of the units and *four* power supplies due to spontanenous failures during the review process. You really got to read between the lines to get any humor out of a EM review, but I do believe the dry way the guy described these "issues" really said it all.

I take it your opinion on the Trion 8000 remains the same from this thread: CAD TRION 6000 and 8000? where you loved up on the mic quite bit.

It's just the build quality that's lacking. I've read a number of other threads about build quality issues as well, so I've been treating my Trion 8000 very gently. So far it's performed very well. I am going to look into swapping tubes.

-Rich

[joelpatterson]

Originally Posted by RBowlin

I take it your opinion on the Trion 8000 remains ...

Oh yes indeed, when it worked it was spectacular: really massaged a lead vocal nicely. Quite an undertow of noise, like a vapor, but all that was easily lost in a dense rock mix.

It's the old CAD story-- fantastic, unbelieveable value... until the thing falls apart.

[Blast9]

Joel, your reviews are priceless! thumbsup

[CKK]

The tone is not in the mic, its in the performer.

That said, you should always try to match the mic with the singer (or amp used), without looking at the name of the mic, or the pricetag. I have had the best of singers unpacking their SM57 and "pick your brand" pre-amps when starting a recording session - and that combo just worked on their voices.

Maybe all you need is looking deeper into what mic and pre combo works the best for your needs. Dont underestimate the impact of a proper pre-amp.

[uncle duncan]

A funny thing happened today. We were shooting out mics for a CD project, and I remembered this thread, so here's the scoop. The singer is female, with a somewhat midrangey, strident voice - - in other words, not honey smooth like Diana Krall, not quite as piercing as a Dixie-Chicks-ish gal.

Mics were:

Charter Oaks 538b
Geffel MT71s
414eb
Oktava 319 joly mod
ADK Hamburg IIau
SM7b
Trion 8000
Dave Thomas mod with peluso 367 capsule
Dave Thomas mod with peluso ck-12 capsule

Preamps were the AEA TRP or DAV - both super clean - the DAV being a tad smoother (smeared) in the highs.

The winner for this particular singer was the CO 538b through the DAV. The Geffel and the DT mod with 367 capsule were tied for second-place with just a hair too much presence, the C-12 and the Trion tied for third. They were close, but in different ways. The Trion had a more interesting silky high end, the C-12 had a more interesting low-mid thing going on. The ADK and the SM7b were close. Actually, the ADK sounded a little more puffy and fat, but just too thick for this singer. The 319 and 414 were probably last, just because they highlighted the wrong parts of her voice - the low end with the 414, and the mids with the 319.

These are all great mics, and any one of them would have worked on her voice with a little EQ, but in this instance, the CO was the obvious choice - it had a certain magic combined with an honest naturalness that fit the track like a glove. (Looking at the response curve for the CO, it ain't natural, but it does work.)

In spite of my comments in the earlier thread, the Dave Thomas modded C-12 was actually a little warmer on her voice than the other DT mic with the 367 capsule. The 367 had more upper mids, giving the voice more presence, and in this setting with acoustic guitars, it sounded a little too bright. But when I compared our one song tracked with drums to a Bonnie Raitt tune from 'Silver Lining', Bonnie sounded like she was singing on a 367 type of mic, with a lot of upper mids and presence, so we may re-track the vocal on the drum song with the 367, just to make it easier to mix.

Now that the OP is totally confused, perhaps he should just get a Trion 8000, and then, depending on whether the Trion is too bright or too dull, send the 460 off for the DT mod, choosing the capsule replacement to best meet his needs.

[laperlestudio]

I'm glad to heard a comment about the differance between the two peluso capsule. Do I have to breakl my bank to do this mod's and is it possible to work welll with only the mod DT for a year in personnal project than after earning some money go with higher budget microphone. I do some rental but that's ain't really a good way to earn money for a mic when you think that it cost you like 120 bucks for a u89 for a week-end. I can keep that money for me and wait to have like a tlm103 or 49 that ain't a u89 but that it's mine!

[laperlestudio]

I just read a lot about the apex 460 mod by Dave thomas in vancouver, and I really start to consider this option, everybody love they're mods, even if they all wait too long to get those!

[Herman Munster]

Joel,
Does your friend Warren (who seems to really like CAD mics) know of your sentiments? He is quite the fan of CAD.... Truthfully, I could care less what John Legend says

[joelpatterson]

Originally Posted by Herman Munster

Joel,
Does your friend Warren (who seems to really like CAD mics) know of your sentiments? He is quite the fan of CAD.... Truthfully, I could care less what John Legend says

I tell Warren everything, don't worry....

[warhead]

Originally Posted by Herman Munster

Joel,
Does your friend Warren (who seems to really like CAD mics) know of your sentiments? He is quite the fan of CAD.... Truthfully, I could care less what John Legend says

Originally Posted by joelpatterson

I tell Warren everything, don't worry....

I have not had the experiences Joel has had, and honestly as far as repair and warranty work goes I find CAD to be a low maintenance issue for us (if we had lots of bad experiences we would not sell them...waste of our time!).

But yes, Joel tells me everything and what can I say...maybe his solar powered studio is bad for CAD mics!

I keed, I keed!

War

PS: I could care less about most endorsers also...

[wildpark]

solar power used over high quality batterys are same good as industry power

i worked with that everytime i stayd in latin america

Originally Posted by warhead

I have not had the experiences Joel has had, and honestly as far as repair and warranty work goes I find CAD to be a low maintenance issue for us (if we had lots of bad experiences we would not sell them...waste of our time!).

But yes, Joel tells me everything and what can I say...maybe his solar powered studio is bad for CAD mics!

I keed, I keed!

War

PS: I could care less about most endorsers also...

[joelpatterson]

Maybe my solar power is too good for 'em, I dunno....

[Herman Munster]

Good to see everyone is on the up and up! Again I say - Does anyone really care that John Legend endorses them?