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Avant Electronics CR-14 Microphone
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January 31, 2007
Product Price
$249
$249
Product Features
Dual, Low-Mass Ribbon element for superb sensitivity
Dual, Low-Mass Ribbon element for superb sensitivity
Blitzkriegingly loud 148 dB SPL capacity
No need for phantom power
Looks cool and distinctive, feels rock solid
Product Specs
DUAL RIBBON / 35mm x 5mm / 2 microns thick
DUAL RIBBON / 35mm x 5mm / 2 microns thick
POLAR PATTERN Figure-8
FREQUENCY RESPONSE 40Hz to 15kHz +/- 3dB
SENSITIVITY -50 dBv +/- 2dB Re. (0dB=1V/Pa)
POWER REQUIREMENTS none
OUTPUT IMPEDANCE <=600 Ohms
RECOMMENDED LOAD IMPEDANCE 3000 Ohms
WEIGHT 16 oz. (496 g)
First Impressions
Sharp- looking dual ribbon mic with lush, low-mid response, ideal for vocals and much, much more.
Say you want a microphone that will capture sound accurately, a full field of some big space. A dynamic only hears what's right in front of it, it's kinda deaf to the larger picture. A condensor can do what you want by taking the sound and boosting it way, way up, but the problem there is that even silence will have a sound. A traditional ribbon is far more textured because it really is dancing to the movement in the air--but you need to boost that signal so much yourself, there you got yer noise again! A dual ribbon mic is such an obvious solution--I wonder why I didn't think of it myself. You do need a healthy bit of gain, but the signal is stunningly clean and confident. And anyway, once a clean, confident signal is digitized, you can crank the #@*& out of it and be perfectly fine. Far better a clean low signal than a pumping, staticy one, no question.
We had a Packard Bell home stereo system when I was little, the size of a good-sized coffee table. Rich, dark walnut burnished to a sheen. Elegance was all a part of music. This Avant CR-14 carries along this tradition. A graceful design, the bottom third a pastel burgundy, the top a matte black grille, all encompassed by a gleaming steel band. It looks great just sitting on a counter. The shockmount is a brilliant feat of user-friendly engineering: a pressure-clasp that holds the mic very firmly, hung on a web of elastics that themselves are entwined in their hooks--very unlikely to pop off their moorings.
Sharp- looking dual ribbon mic with lush, low-mid response, ideal for vocals and much, much more.
Say you want a microphone that will capture sound accurately, a full field of some big space. A dynamic only hears what's right in front of it, it's kinda deaf to the larger picture. A condensor can do what you want by taking the sound and boosting it way, way up, but the problem there is that even silence will have a sound. A traditional ribbon is far more textured because it really is dancing to the movement in the air--but you need to boost that signal so much yourself, there you got yer noise again! A dual ribbon mic is such an obvious solution--I wonder why I didn't think of it myself. You do need a healthy bit of gain, but the signal is stunningly clean and confident. And anyway, once a clean, confident signal is digitized, you can crank the #@*& out of it and be perfectly fine. Far better a clean low signal than a pumping, staticy one, no question.
We had a Packard Bell home stereo system when I was little, the size of a good-sized coffee table. Rich, dark walnut burnished to a sheen. Elegance was all a part of music. This Avant CR-14 carries along this tradition. A graceful design, the bottom third a pastel burgundy, the top a matte black grille, all encompassed by a gleaming steel band. It looks great just sitting on a counter. The shockmount is a brilliant feat of user-friendly engineering: a pressure-clasp that holds the mic very firmly, hung on a web of elastics that themselves are entwined in their hooks--very unlikely to pop off their moorings.
In Use
Speaking of shockmounts, let me go on a little rant. Some shockmounts of yore bore the trace of bitterness and resentment, from a design standpoint. It was as if the delicately teetering elastics and awkward connectors were there to punish you for the audacity of hoping for shock-protection. Or else the "shockmount" was as bolted as the cables to a suspension bridge--no "thump-proofing" at all. This shockmount is totally different, from the form-fitted padded holder inside to its generously large thumbscrew, plenty big enough to get a good grip on. Are these trivial things? They don't directly affect the sound, but they make a huge difference in just basic usability and quality of life, so I say no, not at all trivial! Okay, enough.
I used this mic in conjunction with a CAD Trion 7000, and the casual observer could be forgiven the impression that the dual ribbon elements are identical, at least looking through the screens. Both have a noticeably strong proximity effect. Side by side, the 7000 will seem the "drier" and more clinically telling of the two, the CR-14 will by contrast enrich low mid information and warm-up the highs--the highs evaporate, sorta. The back side is a different breed of animal, more pronounced and penetrating than the front side, more extended like hitting the "loud" button on a car stereo--maybe a little more condenser like. I'd call the difference something like the difference between a calm, accurate landscape (the front) to a landscape where there are animated features in a way that there aren't in real life (exaggerated? a tad pitchy?), but then that's showbiz. There is less bass response on the back. These differences are in truth on the subtle side, and they don't change the essential promise and deliverance of ribbon technology: truly real sound, very sensitive and revealing, crisp but not overly brightened, relaxing to the ears.
The lows and near-lows of the CR-14 are broad-shouldered. For singers especially, the CR-14 massages and handles these ranges with care, and artfully omits the breathiness and distracting hisses. On all "close" things with a lot to give (saxophones, hand percussion, guitar cabs) the CR-14 will shine, lending a meatiness and measure of muscle to sledgehammer it all home. Acoustic guitars are dense, thick and midrange heavy, not a lot of separation with strummed chords as the mids tend to meld together, and not overly glittering-- "strong" is another way to characterize it. In all cases, watch out for the proximity effect, you have about the last 12 inches to the mic to tailor this from softly enhancing the lows to ball-bustingly blasting them.
I used this as a room mic in a cathedral for a chorus/orchestra presentation, and the track soloed sounded like a movie soundtrack, the melody lines of the instruments and singers twisting into a woven whole, with the clinks of the glockenspiel towering over all. With its null (side) facing the stage, well off to the side of the action, all it was getting was the echoing of the hall, and getting it terrifically, and once again: wonderful to listen to, smooth, silken, interesting. Even a single solo voice came through articulately-- and this is the echo of the voice only, mind you. Applause is supposed to sound like rain, I always thought, but it doesn't, it sounds like tiny soldiers, marching on a gravel path, and they're eating crackers. They're clumpy sounds in clapping, it's not just snaps. And as the last clap fades, you hear the slap of the last palm. In classic ribbon-mic fashion, the whole top end gets smoothified. The crack of the kettle drum doesn't assault, it just clobbers, but in a fisted glove. The top end is never harsh.
Speaking of shockmounts, let me go on a little rant. Some shockmounts of yore bore the trace of bitterness and resentment, from a design standpoint. It was as if the delicately teetering elastics and awkward connectors were there to punish you for the audacity of hoping for shock-protection. Or else the "shockmount" was as bolted as the cables to a suspension bridge--no "thump-proofing" at all. This shockmount is totally different, from the form-fitted padded holder inside to its generously large thumbscrew, plenty big enough to get a good grip on. Are these trivial things? They don't directly affect the sound, but they make a huge difference in just basic usability and quality of life, so I say no, not at all trivial! Okay, enough.
I used this mic in conjunction with a CAD Trion 7000, and the casual observer could be forgiven the impression that the dual ribbon elements are identical, at least looking through the screens. Both have a noticeably strong proximity effect. Side by side, the 7000 will seem the "drier" and more clinically telling of the two, the CR-14 will by contrast enrich low mid information and warm-up the highs--the highs evaporate, sorta. The back side is a different breed of animal, more pronounced and penetrating than the front side, more extended like hitting the "loud" button on a car stereo--maybe a little more condenser like. I'd call the difference something like the difference between a calm, accurate landscape (the front) to a landscape where there are animated features in a way that there aren't in real life (exaggerated? a tad pitchy?), but then that's showbiz. There is less bass response on the back. These differences are in truth on the subtle side, and they don't change the essential promise and deliverance of ribbon technology: truly real sound, very sensitive and revealing, crisp but not overly brightened, relaxing to the ears.
The lows and near-lows of the CR-14 are broad-shouldered. For singers especially, the CR-14 massages and handles these ranges with care, and artfully omits the breathiness and distracting hisses. On all "close" things with a lot to give (saxophones, hand percussion, guitar cabs) the CR-14 will shine, lending a meatiness and measure of muscle to sledgehammer it all home. Acoustic guitars are dense, thick and midrange heavy, not a lot of separation with strummed chords as the mids tend to meld together, and not overly glittering-- "strong" is another way to characterize it. In all cases, watch out for the proximity effect, you have about the last 12 inches to the mic to tailor this from softly enhancing the lows to ball-bustingly blasting them.
I used this as a room mic in a cathedral for a chorus/orchestra presentation, and the track soloed sounded like a movie soundtrack, the melody lines of the instruments and singers twisting into a woven whole, with the clinks of the glockenspiel towering over all. With its null (side) facing the stage, well off to the side of the action, all it was getting was the echoing of the hall, and getting it terrifically, and once again: wonderful to listen to, smooth, silken, interesting. Even a single solo voice came through articulately-- and this is the echo of the voice only, mind you. Applause is supposed to sound like rain, I always thought, but it doesn't, it sounds like tiny soldiers, marching on a gravel path, and they're eating crackers. They're clumpy sounds in clapping, it's not just snaps. And as the last clap fades, you hear the slap of the last palm. In classic ribbon-mic fashion, the whole top end gets smoothified. The crack of the kettle drum doesn't assault, it just clobbers, but in a fisted glove. The top end is never harsh.
PROS
Sweet, warming sound in a classy package
Sweet, warming sound in a classy package
Great variety of applications
Built to last
CONS
Midrange response can be very dense
Midrange response can be very dense
Conclusion
It's a little thing, but the wooden box with the velvet lining that this mic ships in is by far the nicest you will see in this price range. I can't help but think the care and thoughtfulness this demonstrates is indicative of their whole approach to creating this splendid little dual ribbon mic. It's not going too far to call it a work of art.
It's a little thing, but the wooden box with the velvet lining that this mic ships in is by far the nicest you will see in this price range. I can't help but think the care and thoughtfulness this demonstrates is indicative of their whole approach to creating this splendid little dual ribbon mic. It's not going too far to call it a work of art.
Buy the
Avant Electronics CR-14 Ribbon Microphone
at Front End Audio