Got my Avantone CK-40 stereo mic a few days ago. These have been backordered for months. It's a Chinese LDC. They supposedly QC the hell out of these mics and reportedly upgrade switches and wire in the process. Got it for $522 delivered. Competitors include the Studio Projects LSD2, the Audio Technica AT4050ST, the Busman BSCS-L, and the Peluso P. I think the Busman is the only mic that comes in at the same price, at least right now.
The Avantone has 35 mm diaphragms. Each capsule has three patterns (omni [why?
], card, figure eight). The top capsule rotates to allow for X-Y, M-S and Blumlein. The thing is a beast at 11" tall and two pounds. Hard to keep it upright even though the shockmount they provide is decent. The mic has self-noise of 17 dB, which is quite respectable.
I monkeyed around with M-S using my stereo system as a source. The SD722 allows you to hear the on-the-fly matrix mix in phones and it is a really convenient feature. Also psyched to try Blumlein in the right room.
Not sure what the maiden voyage will be--probably the jazz quintet I play with and a benefit show scheduled in October. Planning on recording some music at the local university too. I'll post a clip then....
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Addendum 10-15-11
An admittedly low-fi (128kb MP3) sample from last night (jazz quintet I play with). Terrible room: picture window behind drummer, framed glass photos on the wall, half-wall in the way. Recorded M-S (my first time), and it sounded better than I expected. M-S is pretty amazing to play with too! Mic was about 8 feet in front of the band, 5 feet high.
Topic: Avantone CK-40 arrives (now with M-S sample) (Read 2007 times)