I have to admit it, I’m a gear snob. Not an outrageous snob (if it’s not Neve or Neumann it’s rubbish!) but if it’s chinese I generally consider it to be crap. I’ve had a bit of Behringer gear for non-critical applications and it’s generally fine. But I’ve tried some Chinese microphones and I find them generally pretty harsh and over hyped in the top end. Pretty bad. Recently I decided to add a tube mic to the collection, as a “character mic”. I looked at the Rode NTK (good mic – but I have plenty of Rode mics already) the AKG Solidtube and the CAD M9. After doing the usual forum trawl I thought I might take a punt on the CAD.
Anyway, it arrived yesterday and I eagerly set it up side by side with a Rode NT2-A and ran both channels through the FMR Really NIce Pre. First I recorded some acoustic guitar, and then some vocals. The CAD sounded a pretty nice, better than expected. Not hyped, and with a very similar tonal balance to the Rode, and just a hint of valve “fizz”. And a bit noisier, but not too bad. I can see myself using it fairly regularly. I must just have to re-think my gear snobbery!