AvantonePro CV-12 Large-diaphragm Tube Condenser Microphone

Fantastic and unbeatable for this price, it should cost at least 3-4 times of what you get out of it. I've had countless condensers (no tube) and they were all better than dynamic for vocals, but this is a step up from say an AT 4033 or Rhodes NT1A for sure. No sibilance to speak of, warm overall Charakter, I am making this my #1 vocal mike for my home studio. I am running this through a tube mic preamp (Behringer) and it's phenomenal. Build quality is first class and I can't imagine what more I would want in a vocal mic. Uncolored, no extreme high boost, just warm feelings here.

My first tube mic, so I don't have much to compare it to. This was an upgrade to my MXL990 to say the least. I can't detect any appreciable noise from it, and the vain side of me loves the look of the mic. The CV-12 seems a little hyped in the mids/upper mids and really picks up hard consonants like 'K' and hard 'G' sounds. I'm sure that my mic positioning and technique need some work so it's hard to blame the mic. Otherwise, it sounds great on vocals and acoustic guitars. I might get brave one day and try swapping out the stock tube for something a little more musical sounding. This mic also uses a very common Chinese design and if you're a modder, you can find all sorts of ways to modify this mic to suit your needs.The packaging and presentation of the mic is impressive. It comes in an aluminum suitcase with a formed foam rubber interior that tightly hugs all of the accessories. The provided shock mount is solid and sturdy, and the mic itself has it's own wooden hinged box. The provided 9-pin cable is nice and long, and should accommodate just about any mic position in a home studio.The only knock I have is the way that the shockmount attaches to the mic. It has 2 thumbscrews that secure it in place, and it took a little household lubricant to let them move easily enough to actually be loosened/tightened by hand. Otherwise I have to keep a screwdriver handy every time I want to put away the mic. This is my first semi-pro mic, so maybe this is standard for mics in this price range.Also, the mic itself is pretty heavy. I'd recommend getting a nice, sturdy, heavy-based mic stand or else you could end up tipping the whole thing over pretty easily since it's top-heavy. I've already had a couple of close calls with my cheapo mic stands.

The increase in signal gain alone is worth the price of admission. On top of it, the microphone does real well for male vocals (like my own) with strong mids. I was particularly impressed with the level of detail that the mic picks up. Small intonations, softening of the voice, etc. is picked up by this microphone. Very happy; one of the best additions to my mic cabinet.IMPORTANT: As shipped, the unit I received contains a shock mount that will not fit standard American mic stands/boom stands. Rather it is fitted with a European thread piece for a smaller mount. You do not need to buy an adaptor. Rather, you have to remove the European insert piece yourself (a large head standard screwdriver should to the trick fine). Once you remove the European mount, the shock mount will fit American mic stands.

So far so good I haven't perfected the recording yet I rated 4 star Cuz I've purchased $150 mics that sound great, its great recording quality but I still find my self preferring older recorded vocals compared to this mic so far as I mentioned I never had an interface I used to use a mixer I'm still figuring this out! I have heard great things about this mic so I purchased!

It's hard to find a female 3P adapter to my sound card for its male 7P cable. Can't even test its tone.

It is the best Mic for under $1500 for real. A bit gainy and scratchy compared to the U87 but worth the money for how cheap it is. I bought a small compressor shortly after receiving this mic and it takes care of a lot of that. However, mine was definitely a send back. Had the re-inspection label in it and everything. The carrying case was dented and the tube box was scratched coming straight out of the package. Everything worked right so I saw no need to send it back for something so minor. I have tried a lot of lower cost mics and this one is the best for sure. Still, Ill stick with my U87 for mine, but I found the extra gain and thinner highs is excellent for female vocals. Even more so than the U87 I think. One thing Im going to say about it for a new consumer. That polarize switch that comes with the tube box. I'm not sure how valid that is. It seems more to me that all that "switch" does is turn the tube hotter or colder, making the sound thinner (hot) or thicker (cold). Just my opinion though as I am not a specialist.

Sounds nice. Seller should include an actual user manual rather than just a spec sheet.

I really feel bad having to write this. Bought the mic with high hopes. In the Caribbean it's hard to get good stuff locally so we have to pay high cost and long delivery times. I have been getting a loud hiss from day one. Because I believed in the reviews and all the hype I tried it in all the ways I could manage. I hooked it up with the apogee duet the tascam us 2000 the finally m-audio 610 thinking that it must be the fault of the interface. It turns out that the mic is defective or the power supply. Bought it in February 2013. I ordered and had to wait on the interfaces as well as for a new mic to try and isolate the problem. I swapped it out with a Sterlin audio 50 dollar mic and guess what it worked perfect.My real problem is though that when I went onto amazon to fill in the return info I was was shocked to see that I had to return the item within two days. Well amazon that's impossible as I live in Trinidad and it would not get to me in the return window. Nobody can fix it here and it costs a fortune to get it back to the states to fix. Now I basically wasted 500us and will probably have to double that to get it sorted. The thing is the customer service is lacking. Hope nobody else had my experience.