CAD Introduces 3 New Mics, the "Trion" Series

[htieksppircs]

No, afraid not. Don't know if I'll ever get around to that, plus I have no other ribbon mics to compare it to. Can't miss for the money. Although $250 will make one or two credit card payments or buy a couple of rounds of groceries, it's still not much to pay for a decent mic.

[petsematary]

That ribbon looks really interesting. I've been looking for a ribbon to add to my collection (don't have one yet). For vox and speech mainly. Wonder if they have a European vendor?

[deve]

Anybody have more info on trion 7000? I am seriously considering getting a pair.

[joelpatterson]

I would love to write a review of this mic someday, but just first impressions?

NATURAL is the adjective that will stick to this mic like two-part epoxy. "Two ribbon" technology, it seems like such an obvious thing for the chronically low-output ribbon-style of mic. Not that the output is "louder" really, there's just more there--a more confident signal. When you listen to a mic that just let's you relax and hear what's there-- there's maybe to coin a phrase a "peaceful easy feeling" about it, and that's the CAD Trion 7000.

Now, if anyone wants to design the ad campaign, by my guest.

[lpkyer]

I'd be really curious to read a full review on the 6000 and the 8000

[Henchman]

Hows the CAd m177?
Especially compared to the Apex 435.

[joelpatterson]

Originally Posted by lpkyer

I'd be really curious to read a full review on the 6000 and the 8000

"Will Mr. Warren Dent please pick up the courtesy phone ... Mr. Warren Dent ...."

(Whispered: "This is going to nickel-and-dime me to death, but go ahead: I'll take one each of these at industry accomodation pricing and deliver a reveiw for the exciting new site... that's right, one complete review for each one... hey, what are old boy networks for?")

[lpkyer]

Originally Posted by joelpatterson

"Will Mr. Warren Dent please pick up the courtesy phone ... Mr. Warren Dent ...."

(Whispered: "This is going to nickel-and-dime me to death, but go ahead: I'll take one each of these at industry accomodation pricing and deliver a reveiw for the exciting new site... that's right, one complete review for each one... hey, what are old boy networks for?")

Maybe you send me a pair too so I can make a review in french !

[warhead]

Originally Posted by joelpatterson

"Will Mr. Warren Dent please pick up the courtesy phone ... Mr. Warren Dent ...."

(Whispered: "This is going to nickel-and-dime me to death, but go ahead: I'll take one each of these at industry accomodation pricing and deliver a reveiw for the exciting new site... that's right, one complete review for each one... hey, what are old boy networks for?")

Joel, drop me an email after the holiday here and let's arrange it.

War

[lpkyer]

yay for a review !!! If either of those turns out any better than say a TLM 103 to you, I'll buy it right away.

[joelpatterson]

Well, a deal's been struck. My eyes are still stinging from the smoke-filled room.

By the way--Warren's new site is going to be very, very hip, fun and informative and exciting, lots of cool pics and hands-on info you can use right away and insights into techniques and products and styles of production. A real over-view of the state of what's happening now. BE SURE TO CHECK IT OUT!

[lpkyer]

What new site exactly are you talking about?

[joelpatterson]

Warren's putting together a new site, I guess it's still kind of hush-hush... kind of magazine-ish about everything that's up lately with music and the technical world. Fun and maybe a little freewheeling!

I imagine there will be some fanfare when it officially happens...?

[BenJah]

Hi all,

Yesterday I did a mini shootout between the trion 8000, the apex valve mic and for referance, a AKG c414.

The mics were placed next to each other in the crook of a yamaha grand piano with the lid up in a purpose built studio live room. The yamaha was amazing btw. This is what I thought.

C414= Nice but dim... Very natural and unflatering. Had a convincing sence of space though. Overall , not that impressed.

Apex valve= NO BOTTOM END! Really pronounced mids and sizzly highs. Would sit well in a mix though.. Unusable for solo piano. Had a certain vintage/ lowfi sound that maybe useful.

Trion 8000 = WOW! To me this mic sounded fantastic. Open high's but with out been sizzley also really big and rich midrange.this may be impart to the tranny. This was definately the biggest sounding mic on this test. It sounded expensive.!

Overall..

I am buying a trion 8000 next week. No brainer.

[warhead]

Originally Posted by joelpatterson

Warren's putting together a new site, I guess it's still kind of hush-hush... kind of magazine-ish about everything that's up lately with music and the technical world. Fun and maybe a little freewheeling!

I imagine there will be some fanfare when it officially happens...?

Every studio in the world will have a reason to sign onto it, one huge reason and then tons of really good other reasons. Coming soon!

War

[warhead]

Originally Posted by BenJah

I am buying a trion 8000 next week. No brainer.

They did a good job with it, I found the top end to be especially pleasing on vocals and not sibilant. Really cool vibe up top.

War

[d. gauss]

anybody else got one? 6000 or 8000? opinions? thanks.

-d. gauss

[BenJah]

Ok, I now own the mic.

I did a vocal session on it last night and I'm very impressed. To me the low mids are very defined and polished sounding. I much prefer this mic to my tlm103 for vox. Also the hi end does seem to be fairly open.

I'd recommend this mic as a serious condensor for vox. But thats just me...

[CrankyRayHanky]

I have the 7000 on the way...I'll post impressions soon

[CrankyRayHanky]

I am blown away by the 7000. I've been tracking heavy gain guitars and I'm loving the sound. I have a couple of Stellar royer copies that are nowhere in this ballpark...looks like I'll unload them on Ebay.

I threw it dead center, up close and personal on my speaker and loved the sound immediately. If anyone's interested, I'll throw up a sample when I get it together.

If anyone's on the fence about this ribbon, I'm here to tip you over...very inspiring responsiveness

[Jungle Jazz]

While the Trion 7000 seems to be great for guitar amps, I was wondering if anyone has had a chance to use it on a variety of acoustic sources, especially in a jazz context. Trumpet? Sax? Drum overheads? Upright bass?

[awediohead]

Would just like to echo Jungle Jazz's question re the Trion 7000 on acoustic instruments - especially acoustic guitar?

Seems like a no brainer at the price for cabs - but I'm thinking of the Oktava ML 52/53 which at least I've heard and know sounds great on acoustic guitar.

cheers

[SadLuck]

Originally Posted by CrankyRayHanky

If anyone's interested, I'll throw up a sample when I get it together.

Yes! Samples please. I'm interested!

[SiliconAudio]

Originally Posted by d. gauss

anybody else got one? 6000 or 8000? opinions? thanks.

-d. gauss

I recently purchased the Trion 6000. I'm sorry to say, it sounds absolutely horrible. Very edgey on vocals, very high self-noise. I seriously don't like it. It sounds as bad as any cheap mic I've ever owned. If you're going to buy cheap chinese, the Studio Projects mics are much smoother and have way lower self noise.

[audiothings]

warren

can you give us an informal comparison between the m179 and the trion 6000? (i'm extremely familiar with the former).

thanks,

[Chrisc_o]

Quick Q for Trion 7000 owners:

how much gain in necessary for this mic? I am extremely interested in purchasing one for an upcoming classical project. So far my live string sounds have been ok but I am looking for something that will tame some of the highs at the source (let's just say that I am very familiar with the shortcomings of the violin I am about to track).

I don't have a wide selection of pres, but I do own an ART TPSII (I know, low end tube stuff, but it has some character, and variable input impedence) which I have heard can provide ample gain for ribbons, but I would like to have a first hand account of what to expect.

Thanks in advance.

[Joel_Thomas]

Originally Posted by Chrisc_o

Quick Q for Trion 7000 owners:

how much gain in necessary for this mic? I am extremely interested in purchasing one for an upcoming classical project. So far my live string sounds have been ok but I am looking for something that will tame some of the highs at the source (let's just say that I am very familiar with the shortcomings of the violin I am about to track).

I don't have a wide selection of pres, but I do own an ART TPSII (I know, low end tube stuff, but it has some character, and variable input impedence) which I have heard can provide ample gain for ribbons, but I would like to have a first hand account of what to expect.

Thanks in advance.

The CAD Trion ribbon are a dual ribbon design so you shouldn't have any trouble with gain. I run a Grace 801 on ribbons and the Trion requires about half the gain that say an Apex 210 requires. In my experience, the main thing I've had good results with the Trion ribbon is guitar cabs (...especially distorted tones) as well as a few bass tracks (...miked bass cab) here and there. The mic is kind of on the dark side of things. I thought it would work well on cymbal overheads since I love the Apex 210's in that use but the Trion was too dark. I sold the Apex's based on my first impression with the CAD's without trying them on overheads first. Big mistake. I recently bought the Apex 210's again. I've noticed that they're not putting that muffling material that most people refer to on this model that has to be removed. On my my originals you couldn't see through the mesh, on the recent batch - you can see daylight and the ribbon element through the mesh when held up to the light. I also noticed they're less "dark" than my previous one's (..probably due to the capsule thing). I also picked up an Apex 215 dual ribbon mic and to my ears it's indentical to the CAD Trion ribbon (..perhaps same manufacturer, different casing?). I ran them both through the same Grace 801 with indentical settings and their was absolutely no sonic different. The Apex 215 is a highly underated mic that is getting more and more respect. I've owned a Royer R121 which I sold and have no thoughts of buying back. I bought back the Apex which is crazy but I like that mic. To sum up, the Apex covers lot's of basses fairly well, is smooth sounding, etc. The CAD is fantastic for guitar cabs. So, I guess the answer to your question is that CAD may not be my first choice for the application your talking about. The mellow top end could be an issue but of course, I could be wrong. The Apex worked well on voice but the Trion came off a bit dark with not enough intelligability or "air". This may be the same case for the violin application. For some reason, the Trion just loves guitars. It does come off as a "one trick pony" but it is definetly a great trick...

[Chrisc_o]

Thanks for the reply. I was actually hoping that it would be on the dark side. The violin I will be tracking is a bit gritty and I am looking for something on the dark side to tame the highs a bit on the way in. I have used a K2, as well as an ECM8000 on this particular violin and the tracks have been clean, but the instrument itself has a bit of a shrieking high end (not too bad really, but I am kind of difficult ) and a bit of a flabby low end (as low as a violin CAN go!).

Sound post adjustment hasn't helped enough, nor has a change of string type.

I have been able to get it to sit in a mix just right as a background string type thing when layered, but we are lining up a solo session, so I am anxious to experiment with a fatter sound.

Versatility is still key, so the Apex may be the way to go, but will gain then be an issue? I guess there is only one way to be sure, but if anyone else has something to say it would be very helpful.

[IDOAUDIO]

For anyone that didn't know already, the 4 head designers for CAD, as well as many of the other folks there, left CAD and started their own company, called Equation Audio. CAD like many others, moved to china, and buy "off the shelf" items for most its lines. I used to like them, when they were still almost hand made- but the change to China is shown in the mics- both sound and quality. My thoughts would be to compair 2 of these new CAD mics and see if they are drasticly different. That seems to be my findings of late. I used to LOVE my CAD mics.

Again, I would wonder what the new mics sound like- mic to mic.

Tim

[leopold]

Originally Posted by CrankyRayHanky

I am blown away by the 7000. I've been tracking heavy gain guitars and I'm loving the sound. I have a couple of Stellar royer copies that are nowhere in this ballpark...looks like I'll unload them on Ebay.

I threw it dead center, up close and personal on my speaker and loved the sound immediately. If anyone's interested, I'll throw up a sample when I get it together.

If anyone's on the fe