Roger's goal was to make the CM4 as close as possible to the CM3. So you can bet that it will be difficult to tell them apart if you ignre the output levele (2dBs) difference, IOW just by listening, not looking at meters or analyzers. But I can give a little hint. On top of the acoustics balance, which can be hard to judge, listen to the sub 100Hz region. The CM4 is a bit fuller there. Not a lot, it's a slightly more linear shelf, if that makes sense, compared to the CM3's. So you're listening to, including tolerances, a 1 to 2 dB max. difference. Needless to say, taking proximity effect into consideration, placement, distance, comparing them becomes a tricky game. I don't think the CM3 will be missed but the CM4 is a little bit different, yes. However slight position differences blur the differences with the CM3 to where, as mentioned before, you would only hear/measure the differences in a close A/B test. In real life recording scenarios, the differences are then negligible. I hope we can quickly move on to the merits of the CM4 proper rather than keep comparing the CM3 and CM4 trying to establish which is better... my opinion, for what it's worth, is that they're twins - born 2 minutes apart, but twins still
The bonus, apparently, is that the consistency of the new capsule design should save Roger some time manufacturing the CM4's. The CM3's have sometimes been "difficult" due to some capsule components. The next, oh... 6 to 12 months, will give him a good idea of what lies ahead for the coming years of production. This is really interesting for me as it might, with some luck, allow the return of a multi pattern model which has been impossible given the sometimes dramatic technical difficulties manufacturing CM3 capsules, maybe a SuperCardioid for which there is a growing demand. I think buyers are mostly blind to how much work goes into those little mics. Roger is working around the clock with great pride and dedication on CM, OM and X-MP models. So anything that saves him some time either for further R&D or for the occasional (rare) rest day, is more than welcome. All hail Roger Jönsson!