Avantone CK-1 FET Pencil Condenser Microphone

As a muso on a budget have tried many of the cheaper condensers and in fact have way too many at home (AKG c1000s, Rode M3, Behringer B5, C2, AKG C3000B. While I can get a decent sound with a bit of eq out of most of them I have never fallen in love with any of them! Along comes this sweet sexy looking babe and suddenly I want to play all of my acoustics all the time all at once. This mic loves acoustic guitar and almost anything else! So I went out and bought a second. Of course, usually the hot girls bring some kind of trouble with them and this one is no exception. The sound is brilliant, the looks are awesome but the only imperfection is the manufacturing quality on the threads - this mic comes with 3 interchangeable diaphragms (cardoid, hyper cardoid, omni) and I would say you could easily strip the threads because they are so fine - a strange flaw in an otherwise solid, well built mic. I'll treat them both carefully but they will be earning their keep - that's for sure. It has a -10db pad (which I never use) and a low cut switch (useful if you don't have that on your pre-amp). So if you're looking for true love don't waste time on dating websites - just get one of these! LOL

For the price, this is a great microphone. I use it mainly in my home studio for recording foley and this does a great job, giving me nice crisp sounds. Being able to switch the head depending on what I am recording is very useful - with the hyper-cardioid one being the best for close foley recording. Comes in a nice box for keeping it safe in as well. Would definitely recommend if you are on a budget.

We bought this as an overhead mic for use in our small video production studio. Needing a hypercardioid mic we were slightly concerned at the cost of the suggested normal candidates. This was a bit of a punt but our tests today showed that at normal boom distant the sound was just a as good as a lav and possibly better on the lower end. Overall a good purchase and fantastic value for money.

Great value for money.Great microphone.