Avantone CV-12 Tube mic

djbrough · 27th February 2007

Hey everybody,
This is a relatively new mic, and I'm thinking about purchasing it. I've only found one online review, and I'm interested to know what others who've heard the mic may think. Are there any comparisons? How would it stack up to an ADK Hamburg or some of teh other sub $1,000 mics?

BTW, the choice of three tubes is a nice touch.

Any input would be highly appreciated.

djbrough · 27th February 2007

Thanks for the review. It's good to hear that the owner is a stickler for quality. Do you own any other sub $1,000 mics that you could compare it to? I'm really interested in how it responds to voice and guitar. Is it "hyped" in any way? Are the lows full and meaty, or thin? Are the high's crisp and airy, or does it tend to roll off the highs a bit?

Let me know if I'm asking for too much detail, but none of the local vendors have that mic in stock. I can't go and check it out for myself yet.

Thanks again.

woomanmoomin · 27th February 2007

The valve selection thing is a nice touch, but if you know how to get hold of them (which isn't hard), you could give yourself the same selection, or a better one, with just about any mic that comes with any one of these valves as standard, just by getting a valve of each of the three sorts and experimenting. (For example, ADK TTs and CEs come with 6072A valves, but you can play with the tone by trying 12AT7s/ECC81s, and probably 12AX7s/ECC83s, or even 5751s, for that matter.) I don't know whether the stock valves are NOS or not, but I would definitely want them to be NOS. The Slovak valve or valves the mic comes with are probably current JJ/Tesla ones, which are pretty good, or NOS Tesla ones, which are generally better. I am not generally keen on Soviet valves, which are rarely among the best-constructed (although it depends on the valve family, etc.), so I would probably not be swayed by the valve selection bonus in this instance. Almost any of the American or Western-European NOS valves you could put in this mic would be better than the Russian ones IMO.

davey boy · 1st March 2007

Is this mic basically a clone of the apex460, Nady, Carvin etc. mics that all share the same design? Or, has it been upgraded in some way?

27th February 2007	#1
djbrough Gear addict Joined: Sep 2005 Location: Atlanta Posts: 398 Thread Starter	Avantone CV-12 Tube mic Hey everybody, This is a relatively new mic, and I'm thinking about purchasing it. I've only found one online review, and I'm interested to know what others who've heard the mic may think. Are there any comparisons? How would it stack up to an ADK Hamburg or some of teh other sub $1,000 mics? BTW, the choice of three tubes is a nice touch. Any input would be highly appreciated.

1st March 2007	#4
davey boy Lives for gear Joined: Nov 2002 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 549	Is this mic basically a clone of the apex460, Nady, Carvin etc. mics that all share the same design? Or, has it been upgraded in some way? __________________ Dave recordla.com www.myspace.com/dbwproductions Logic 9.1.5, DP 7.24, PT 9.3, Reaper 4, Apogee Symphony, professional studio great for songwriters and producers.

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27th February 2007	#3
woomanmoomin Lives for gear Joined: Jan 2007 Location: London, England Posts: 1,021	The valve selection thing is a nice touch, but if you know how to get hold of them (which isn't hard), you could give yourself the same selection, or a better one, with just about any mic that comes with any one of these valves as standard, just by getting a valve of each of the three sorts and experimenting. (For example, ADK TTs and CEs come with 6072A valves, but you can play with the tone by trying 12AT7s/ECC81s, and probably 12AX7s/ECC83s, or even 5751s, for that matter.) I don't know whether the stock valves are NOS or not, but I would definitely want them to be NOS. The Slovak valve or valves the mic comes with are probably current JJ/Tesla ones, which are pretty good, or NOS Tesla ones, which are generally better. I am not generally keen on Soviet valves, which are rarely among the best-constructed (although it depends on the valve family, etc.), so I would probably not be swayed by the valve selection bonus in this instance. Almost any of the American or Western-European NOS valves you could put in this mic would be better than the Russian ones IMO.