CAD Audio E100SX Large Diaphragm Supercardioid Condenser Microphone ,Black

Bought this mic brand new for $28 shipped because I had money from Amex cashback and it was on sale. Sweet! Everything worked as advertised. No self noise like some had mentioned. All patterns worked as expected. The overall sound is somewhat dark like there is a slight de-esser or a high pass filter running, the highs are not overly squashed but definitely noticeable compared to other condenser mics. But that's what they mean by its vintage sound signature. I don't mind it. It does have a fuller warmer sound which works well with my voice. Very happy with this purchase. Also the shockmount on the unit I received uses rubber connectors, not suspension bands, so it feels more sturdy.

I bought this microphone just or one purpose: Tom miking.Prehistory:After having read raving critics about the CAD - mainly from US engineers at Gearslutz - I couldn't resist any longer and wantedto make my own picture.Since I'm located in Germany, having done a search for shopping resources over here quickly revealed: Nothing.No CAD M179 was available in Germany at that time, which seems to be strange because CAD produces in China.Anyway, I finally found it on Amazon.com in the U.S.Buying experience:Although I've always been a bit skeptical about customs, delays and whatever else can go wrong with oversea transports, I ordered the price reduced bundle of 3 units.To my greatest surprise, the package arrived quite fast (10 days, 2 of them in the customs), was safely packed and 100 % as described.Import tax was very low by the way, only 2.5% of the microphone price plus shipping (tax for Germany, other countries in the EU may vary).Packaging:The CAD comes in a very large, cube-like package, printed with the-more-the-better zillions of colors, mainly in purple, red and blue.One could say the carton design looks cheap, but as always, taste is a personal thing and in the end it's the content that counts, isn't it?Although not my piece of cake, I must admit that the microphone seems to be well protected by this giant package.Construction:The microphone is sturdy built, with a anodized metal surface while being surprisingly heavy.The capsule is placed safe inside the solid metal windscreen.Part of delivery is a ring clamp plus a professional shock mount - highly recommended to reduce vibrations when miking drums.The overall construction is very good, in my opinion even exceptional for the given price.The CAD M179 offers a pad switch, which is a must for drum miking or the capsule could tend to distort.Both, variable pattern wheel as well as the pad switch, are easy accessible in front of the mike.Overall impression: No bells and whistles, but a solid workhorse, built for pro's.Sound:The CAD offers a warm, natural sound, that perfectly fits for Toms, but also for clean Guitars and even background vocals.I personally wouldn't use it for Lead vocals, but what can you expect for the price.Of course, the CAD wasn't built to be a concurrence to Neumann and other high end brands. But it does its job extremely well.The main purpose for me was Tom-miking, so the following research is covering only my experience with Toms.Set to cardioid, surrounding sounds from back and side are successfully suppressed, quite important when dealing with bleeding HiHats or cymbals.The Toms immediately sounded really big, not to say huge, without messy crash sounds coming through.Although having used Sennheiser MKH-40 for Toms before (one costs 10 times the $$ of a M179 ...), the results were doubtless significantly better then ever!You can turn up the Tom tracks in your mix, really push them in breaks and the like, and at the same time your mix won't suffer of the typical cymbal bleeding as known from other microphones (like the MKH-40 or MD421).Amazing.In Short:Pros:* very good and sturdy crafted* exceptional good sounding results, specially with Toms* low priceCons:* heavy weight that demands for mic stands* typical microphone clamps will place the CAD more over the center of Toms, not at side, due to it's size.I can live with that, although your setup will be cluttered even more when using stands.Conclusion:I love this microphone! My dream of a perfect drum sound has become more true, day in and out.A clear recommendation: Buy it!

This was bought for our church piano and it is great. Produces beautiful music on church PA system as well as live broadcasts.

UPDATED REVIEW: Nice mic. I love the sound. But, it needs, and should have come with, a pop filter.Be cautious! The pop filter Amazon advertises as a fit (the VP3 pop filter) does NOT fit!But, despite what is missing, this mic is clearly well made and sounds really great. Male and female voices are recorded so well without any high end noise. In fact, there is no self-noise. No hum. No crackly. Just clean sound.After using this mic for a few months and being very careful with it, I found that the mic is too heavy for the shock mount. So, if left in one position for too long, the mic sags due to the weight. The bolt finally gave and now the shock-mount is useless. It's VERY difficult getting in touch with the CAD service team. There doesn't seem to be any replacement options available for a shock mount. So, beware; great mic but the shock mount is fragile and there's no replacement options once it fails. The mic can mount on a stand, sideways, without a shock mount, but it could pick up floor rumble.

It’s hard to be disappointed when the sale price drops below $80, but here we are.The issue: I purchased it twice only to find both mics suffered from fatal self noise issues. This goes beyond the self noise the mic should demonstrate, indicating both were defective.There are two ways to look at this. One, we could focus on the tone, which I enjoyed. It’s a bit veiled and a little muddy in the lows, but the high pass switch really cleans that up. This would have been a fun mic to EQ, because I think it has a nice smoothness to it overall. But here’s the thing, the second point, the QA is, at best, questionable. If you get a working one, this is an incredible deal anywhere below $100. But can you trust that the mic will perform for a long time? I can’t answer that for you - personally, I’m not risking it again.My advice: if you buy this, test it a lot within your return window, don’t wait.

I was happy to see the cadmic on sale I immediately bought it but It has a slight problem with the grounding and can hear a little buzz. I double check with other mics and there was no buzz so I canceled the order but when I went to reorder another microphone they were all out of stock!! Next year 2025 I will be looking for this mic

I've watched MANY YouTube reviews about this microphone and have yet to see anyone come away with a less than outstanding opinion of this microphone. I don't have any experience with the earlier models of the E100 series, but this one is fantastic. Everything on it just sounds IMPORTANT. I use it for voiceover and podcasting and have managed to sell two other folks on it already. I wish they would include the CAD-branded foam windscreen with it (come on CAD, it's not expensive and it would make folks happy), but other than that I have no complaints. I got this on a stupid deal here on Amazon, like $60 out the door, but even at $99 or $120 it would be worth it. You won't regret buying this microphone.