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Author Topic: Avantone CK-1  (Read 34804 times)

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Offline blindman

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Re: Avantone CK-1
« Reply #30 on: April 12, 2007, 02:21:11 PM »
My CK-1's showed up yesterday... I got them from the link provided on an earlier reply from Pro Audio Solutions ... http://www.proaudiosolutions.com/product-p/avant-ck1.htm I see now the price jumped to the $149.00 price... I got mine at the $99.00. As far as service gos with P.A.S, I ordered mine on Easter and they shipped the next day, Monday. I got an email with a FedEx Ground tracking number that kept coming up as "No records found". I was in no hurry, so I waited till yesterday to call and got the owner who was as confused as I was becuase he was sure they went. He had to get with one of his guys who was out and would call me back... 5 minutes later FedEx delivers to the business next to me and they bring it over... I am opening the box to check them out when P.A.S. calls and we all had a good laugh. When the tracker was entered inmy email there was an extra digit added by mistake. But I give them A+ for quick ship and prompt personal service.

First impressions, was nice wood box, not great, nice... but who cares about the box? The mics have nice weight to them and the paint job is a nice touch. First thing I noticed was the pad/rolloff switches are NOT recessed. I thought mic makers figured that out in the 80's? Now I have to be aware every time I put them in a clip to check that the switches didn't get knocked. Then I take off the cap and it comes off easily, but I think the 3 threads on the barrel is cutting it a little too close... maybe one or two  more... but on taking all the caps on and off, I found regular care during the procedure would be fine... and the contacts on the barrel and caps look pretty good to me... the screen inside the barrel is clean and had no wrinkles or defects... i like it when things are like that.

The extra caps, omni & hypercard, come in a plastic container. One of mine had been opened...they used some cheap ass tape in China and it left a sticky residue on the plastic so when you opened the box it pulled the lining up with it. Normally this shit bothers me, when I buy something new I want to be the first person to breathe on it after it leaves the magical land of origin... but it was minor and the mic was fine, so it was not used (I hope) but just opened to look at maybe. The container for the caps has a lid that clicks on, I liked how Nakamichi did it... the case for the nak caps can be firmly held with two hands and the lid twisted off... for the Avantone box you have to try and get a fingernail under one side and try to pry the lid off... the caps are held tightly in place inside in their own little wells, even with that I  hate having sensitive equipment in a box that could slip or fly out of your hand when opening. Some may think this trivial and I must be an idiot if I can't open a box, but in the dark when you are tired and trying to rush you want things to be as easy as possible. I will try to find a padded box I can fit the caps in that can slip into my bag.

The SSM mic holder. The thing is heavy. Solid metal... the entire thing... except for the bands, of course. When people complain about import things being flimsy, Avantone comes out and gives you a solid mic holder that will break a toe if you drop it on yoru foot. I think this is a positive and a fault. Each SSM weighs .50 lbs. with mics that is .80lbs... each. I would like something sturdy, maybe a heavy grade plastic that wieghs half as much. But Kudos to Avantone for a well made mic holder. Oh, and they come with 4 bands on each side of the clip... I don't know if these are meant to be used or meant to be extras but that is how they ship them... I think 2 per side is enough and when I put the mic in with just 2 per side, they worked great. I will keep the extras as back-ups in case of lost or breakage.

How do the sound? I just got them, so I put my Peluso's on channels1&2 and the CK-1's on 3&4 of my R4... I have the busman mod + he added the noise floor mod when he had it in for service recently. I set the mics up next to each other and just played a little guitar and talked and yelled and I will stop short of saying singing beacuse it just can not be called that... The CK-1's are bright, but not annoying... I kept switching back and forth and when on the CK-1's I could hear this weird noise... at first I thought it was an electrical sound... so I switched cables and swapped the inputs with the peluso's... still there... I grabbed the mic to adjust it and the sound stopped... damn, I thought... some kind of ground issue... so I unplugged the R-4 and went on batteries... same   noise... I left my office to go do something for a minute and when I walked into the kitchen the noise I heard on the mics was getting louder! I stopped to listen...the damn ceiling fan over the kitchen table was on the slowest setting so it was making this weird low oscilating noise that I did not notice... that was it... I turned off the fan went back to my office and the sound is gone. That was with the Card caps... the hypercards were better at rejecting that noise from over 20 feet away in the next room!! but the hypercards sounded more matched to the Peluso's, and I say this about just listening to open air room noise and my guitar... and the omni's were fine but again, I won't know 100% till they are in a club recording loud music... and I will update as soon as I do.

So far I am happy with them and can't wait to test them out... If you are going to get them soon, I would call around and see if anyone will give you the $99 price...at $300 for a pair, I might just op to pay a little more to get the SP's C4's.

Pros:
      - mic + card/hypercard/omni cap + suspension mount for $99
      - SSM is heavy as shit.

Cons:
      - SSM is heavy as shit.
      - cheap box for caps that could easily be fumbled
      - non-recessed switches on body... come on, recessed ones can't be THAT much more... can they?

pics: (edit: I made the pics smaller... if you want to see larger images, you can find them here http://fecundswamp.peanutonastring.com/ck1/ )








« Last Edit: April 12, 2007, 09:59:22 PM by blindman »
Then: Nakamichi CM300/CP-1/2/4 + Soundboard -> Audio-Technica AT4462 -> Sony TC-D5M
Now: Avantone CK-40 + Avantone CK-1 (Busman MOD) -> BusR4 (T+NF Mods)
Backup/Stealth: Sennheiser MKE > CA-9100 > Tascam DR2D

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Re: Avantone CK-1
« Reply #31 on: April 12, 2007, 02:42:33 PM »
Thanks for the review!

Agree - the switches are the least inspiring feature - time will tell...I had to use my fingernail move the switch...It didn't seem like they could be easily bumped. They seem to have some "spring" to them - so they sort of sink into the body if you bump them - kinda wierd. When I put the mic in the shockmount, I used the back to guide it through to avoid putting the cap end/switches through the shock webbing...

I also thought the hypers sounded really nice...and I think the card has a bit wider pickup than what I was used to with my Apex 435 LD cards.

I am also impressed by the bass on these mics...seems nice and tight.

I've yet to run the omnis...

Offline blindman

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Re: Avantone CK-1
« Reply #32 on: April 12, 2007, 03:04:56 PM »
Thanks for the review!

Agree - the switches are the least inspiring feature - time will tell...I had to use my fingernail move the switch...It didn't seem like they could be easily bumped. They seem to have some "spring" to them - so they sort of sink into the body if you bump them - kinda wierd. When I put the mic in the shockmount, I used the back to guide it through to avoid putting the cap end/switches through the shock webbing...

Yes, they are springy... at first I was worried about pushing them in, then I wondered if they are suppose to do that??? If they were firm, they might break easier... the spring allows them to sorta get out of the way of things sliding past.

I mentioned it because while adjusting the mics I did accidently hit the rollof switch and then had to undo all my adjusting to get in there to reset it again.... and yes, push the mic in tail first when putting it in a shockmount....clips have the open part at the top to it should not be an issue.

I should also mention, I bought these mics because of a limited budget and all I wanted was a pair of omni's to use under my Peluso's. I have been looking for a long time and was resigned to holding my cash till I could get a pair of C4's... I really wanted a pair that had alternate caps so I didn't have a single purpose mic. I don't record very often anymore, but when I do I want to have a half decent pair of mics. It was finally listening to this post on the Archive that convinced me these mics would work fine for my needs.... and I knew that the price would begoing up soon, so I decided to jump while the jumping was good.

http://www.archive.org/details/jj2007-03-31.avantoneck1
Collection: JerryJosephandtheJackmormons
Band/Artist: Jerry Joseph and the Jackmormons
Date: March 31, 2007 (check for other copies)
Venue: Guliffty's
Location: New Cumberland, PA
Source: Avantone CK-1 cardioid/NOS > dbx386 tube preamp @ 16/44 > CO2 > JB3
Then: Nakamichi CM300/CP-1/2/4 + Soundboard -> Audio-Technica AT4462 -> Sony TC-D5M
Now: Avantone CK-40 + Avantone CK-1 (Busman MOD) -> BusR4 (T+NF Mods)
Backup/Stealth: Sennheiser MKE > CA-9100 > Tascam DR2D

Offline Rick

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Re: Avantone CK-1
« Reply #33 on: April 12, 2007, 03:19:06 PM »
I ran the omnis last Friday and I was really impressed.

http://www.archive.org/details/guster2007-04-06.flac16
Guster - 4/6/2007 Stubb's BBQ (Outdoors): Austin, TX
Source: Beyerdynamic MC930 > Lunatec V2 + Avantone CK-1 (omni) > Busman Tmod Edirol R-4 (24/44)

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Offline Javier Cinakowski

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Re: Avantone CK-1
« Reply #34 on: April 12, 2007, 03:21:22 PM »
Hey Rick, did you listen to the CK-1's by themselves?  Happen to have a clip of that?
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Offline Rick

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Re: Avantone CK-1
« Reply #35 on: April 12, 2007, 03:22:55 PM »
Hey Rick, did you listen to the CK-1's by themselves?  Happen to have a clip of that?

Yeah, I'll try post a clip somewhere
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Offline Rick

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Re: Avantone CK-1
« Reply #36 on: April 12, 2007, 03:36:29 PM »
http://www.zshare.net/download/ck1sample-flac.html

Guster
Stubb's BBQ (Outdoors): Austin, TX
April 6, 2007

Source:   Avantone CK-1 (omni) > Busman Tmod Edirol R-4 (24/44)
Mic Info: DFC, about 9 feet up @ FOH mixing board
Lineage:  Edirol R-4 > USB > WaveLab 5.0 (mixing) > SoundForge 8.0 (Editing/EQ'ing) > CDwave > FLAC

Sample: C'mon (30 second sample)

Notes: It was really windy at this show and to be honest the sound would have been
much better had it not. While there is no wind noise on the recording it does suffer
from the mics being blow around. Even Gordon, the sound guy, was complaining that the
PA mix suffered.
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Offline Shawn

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Re: Avantone CK-1
« Reply #37 on: April 12, 2007, 07:24:45 PM »
Also - looks like Avantone has a stereo mic in the works - CK-40 -

...link but - no details on site...yet.
http://emusician.com/show_rept/2007_winter_namm_report/
Quote
The Avantone CK-40 is a transformerless stereo FET mic ($499) with 1.25-inch diaphragms, Class A electronics, three patterns for each capsule (cardioid, figure-8, and omni), a -10 dB pad, and an 80 Hz rolloff switch.

based on the prices in the article I would expect the street price to actually be $499. It quotes mix cubes at $349 a pair which is the street price. It could be an interesting alternative to the lsd2.

Offline tenesejedd

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Re: Avantone CK-1
« Reply #38 on: April 15, 2007, 07:21:00 PM »
mrsoul,

are those your ck-1s i see in the Wanee pictures thread?  I am really interested in hearing your recordings with these mics. I just ordered a pair for myself yesterday.

Also, someone mentioned that the rubber bands on the shockmount looked a little flimsy. I am willing to bet that if one ever breaks, Avantone would replace it immediately. They seem like a very customer oriented company. If you haven't already, check out this thread. http://taperssection.com/index.php/topic,82944.0.html

Avantone CK-1>Busman T-Mod FR2-LE
Edirol R-1

I see you scissoring me with your eyes...

Offline majormidi

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Re: Avantone CK-1 - from Glen @ Avant Electronics
« Reply #39 on: April 16, 2007, 03:03:02 AM »
Hello guys,

I'm glen heffner - national-international sales manager with Avant Electronics and I received an email yesterday from one of your members.  Today, he wrote me back and suggested that I check the forum out and I'm glad that I did.  First of all, I want you to know that I don't do much in the way of live stereo recording since most of my recording was 24 track studio work and then on to digital workstations.  But I remember some of my favorite sessions were when we could convince bands to let us do a two-track recording session instead of a multi-track one.  It took much longer to set up since we would work with effects, eq (if necessary), compression and so on, but we got to "shape" the sound.  Of course, we used multiple mics but we had to deal with "bleeding" and it was much different from working a 24 track session. It was great fun!
         
When I was fortunate enough to to do remote 2 track recording, I almost always used a pair of Neuman U-64's which I loved.  I mostly recorded orchestra projects with just those mics, brought the 2 track masters back to the studio, dumped them onto the 24 track and then would often overdub a string quartet or additional instruments onto the tracks.  The 1st recording that I did was exactly as described above, (for the Miss Noth Carolina Beauty Contest), and I was absolutely scared to death as to how the mix would sound.  Back then, I mixed on JBL 4311's, but one of my assistants told me not to worry  because he had just the speakers to mix on.  So, he left, and in about 15 minutes he was back with a pair of JC Penny speakers.  I finally was able to speak and I said something like "are you crazy" and  his exact words were "these speakers sound just like myr Magnavox Color TV".  Well, we hooked them up, I mixed only with those speakers and about a week later, I heard the results and, (now, I'm going to brag), it sounded great on my RCA Color Television too.  I didn't have the advantage of Auratones or our own MixCubes of today...

Sorry, I didn't mean to invade your space with my stories.  But I did want to do is address the "O" rings in the SSM Shock Mount that comes with the CK-1 because there seems to be a  bit of confusion about them.  We actually sell the SSM Shock Mount seperately at a price of $29.99 and that is one of the nice additions that you get with the CK-1.  However, when you buy the SSM from a store, it is in a plastic, hanging wall display.  The same amount of "O" rings are attached to the SSM plus there are an additional 4 included, in case you lose them.  The reason that we have all the "O" rings on the SSM is because we felt that was the best place for them.  Actually, they are quite sturdy and should last a long time.  No, you most certainly don't need all of the rings on the CK-1 at one time although you will get the best isolation using all of them!   

A few more things I should mention is that I don't get to visit forums very often but I want ALL OF YOU to know that we, as a company, sincerely appreciate your comments, both positive and negative.  We really try to "catch" everything possible, but for example, the Cardioid cap was just a bigger cap.  It is usually the default capsule in studios, so we had a choice; either get a plastic case that would hold the Card but that would allow the smaller cap to bounce around.  So the biggest cap ended up on the CK-1 and we used the plastic case to hold the other two, which were the same size. 

FYI, all of our microphones, our MixCube monitors and studio accessories carry a 5 year warranty! (So don't worry about those "O" rings:-)  The only thing that isn't covered for 5 years in our line are the ribbons in our CR-14 Ribbon Mic, but that's because ribbons can be damaged in many different ways, (like not using a pop-filter when singing through it) and trying to warranty a ribbon mic to someone who doesn't understand ribbon mics would be a very expensive problem for any company. However, Avant Electronics will re-ribbon the mic at cost for our customers.

Last, but not least, I want to say that after reading through the messages in this group; it is really apparent to me that you guys are very knowledgeable.  I was also very impressed with the recording(s) that I heard that a couple of you were getting from "less than perfect" sound systems and still you made it sound really good.  Honestly, I'm excited "tapers", (I guess that's an appropriate term), are considering using our mics.  As a sales manager, I'm excited to discover this area that I had not even considered before.   But now that I'm aware, I will make sure that we, Avant Electronics, will "take note" of what you guys do.  You all sound like great people and it feels good to get my eyes opened further.  For this, I thank you all.

Oh, if you made it all the way down to here, I want to let you know that the gentleman who first contacted me has a link with my original response to him at: http://taperssection.com/index.php/topic,82944.0.html
where our Stereo CK-40 microphone is mentioned.  I'm going to attempt to put a picture of it up there for you along with some data.  It lists for $599 but sounded fantastic at the "Nashville Shootout".  The special secret is that we also have another Stereo Mic called the CK-33 that wasn't even introduced at NAMM.  The main difference is that it is a 32mm Capsule vs. a 35 mm and it is Cardioid only.  It will retail for $399  They look almost idential with the exception of silver switches on the CK-40.  Anyway, I'm going to attempt to put up some information on the page link.

Again, I appreciate ALL of your comments and you can bet that we will be pro-active to in our mic design work going forward now that we see what you guys do!

-glen heffner
national-international sales manager
Avant Electronics
www.avantelectronics.com
« Last Edit: April 16, 2007, 02:32:28 PM by majormidi »

Offline OOK

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Re: Avantone CK-1
« Reply #40 on: April 16, 2007, 08:58:13 AM »
Hey Glen  let me be the first to welcome you to our board.   We look forward to all of your products and are grateful that you have come across our little community as a result of one of our members.  We as a community are always looking for good quality mics at a good price and when we stumble across a mic such as the CK1 we spread the news through out our community.  I am sure you will find many a beginer and seasoned taper begin to start to use your companies mics.  Further more you will find no shortage of tech talk here and I would expect some questions regarding your products to start flying now that you have discovered our board so please check back on a regular basis.  Again welcome!

Ps.  I am excited to see the info about the CK40 and the CK33.  I am personally looking for some LD mics and have been sitting on the fence.  The CK40 might just knock me off that fence.  I am still not sure if I want to go LD stereo or individual LD's....
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Offline mrsoul

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Re: Avantone CK-1
« Reply #41 on: April 16, 2007, 10:39:41 AM »
Here's some more fluffing of the CK-1's.  Listen to Derek and Susan from the Wanee with the cards in XY preamped by the Beacktek DXA-10.  Not bad at all.  The split omnis I did with Nickel Creek on Friday turned out incredible. 

I can't believe how good these mics sound with a good system in front...

Derek and Susan LMA Wanee 2007


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Offline majormidi

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Re: Avantone CK-1
« Reply #42 on: April 16, 2007, 04:41:25 PM »
Hi "O" and thank you for the Welcome! 

One never knows how he'll be addressed when he comes in and in most cases gets perceived as "another manufacturer with products to sale" more than anything else.  As I've said, in my case; I got an email  question from a guy named Christos and when he told me what he was doing, I realized that I had not even given consideration to a great area of recording!  The following day, he gave me the link in a 2nd email and I just realized that this was something that I was interested in as a engineer and musician. 

I'm in here because I found the talk interesting and the people really "knowing their stuff".  In addition, I got to hear our CK-1's on live recordings in a lot of different ways.  That was just something that would take weeks for me to personally setup.  So this place is just a great "hang".

Like I said, I don't get out much, but I want all of you to know that we're the most approachable company in the business.  Test us.  Christos did and I believe I answered him really quickly.  It all boils down to respect and I've got lots of it for the people that I've "listened to" and heard record in here.

peace out,
-glen
Avant Electronics
« Last Edit: April 16, 2007, 05:08:27 PM by majormidi »

Offline Ryan Sims

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Re: Avantone CK-1
« Reply #43 on: April 16, 2007, 05:07:24 PM »
Welcome Glen.

This is truly a great place filled with smart, smart folks, pretty much all of whom place very high value on retailers who are straight.  So thank you so much for that.  I look forward to hearing more about your products (especially those stereo mics.)
Ryan (minus sign) Sims dot com
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Offline bgalizio

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Re: Avantone CK-1
« Reply #44 on: April 16, 2007, 05:08:39 PM »
As I've said, in my case; I got an email  question from a guy named Christos and when he told me what he was doing, I realized that I had not even given consideration to a great area of recording! 

We're a small, but demanding group. I'm sure everyone here will appreciate your input and your being here for questions, etc.

Welcome!

 

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