Avantone Capsule Mic

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pmk396

Well-known member
Somebody on this forum recommended the Avantone CK-1 mic as a good low budget mic (less than £200) that would work for recording audio (dialog) in an indoor enviroment. Has anybody else had much experience using this mic and, if so, how does it perform?

PS. If I were to get this mic, I plan to use it with the H4n.
 
I just received my CK-1 last week. So far, I've used it to record some Foley and sound fx. I haven't tried it on dialog other than to play with it a little. There is a high end peak, but I didn't notice any brittleness. I know more in a few weeks.
 
Using the CK-1 with the H4n without a mixer will not work well. the CK-1 as 3db less sensitivity than the Rode NTG-3 and we know the problems with pairing the NTG-3 and the H4n. I have a PSC Alphamix in front of my Tascam 680 and in doing some sound effects recording, has more than enough for subtle sounds.

Also, the boosted highs are easily tamed with eq and doesn't fall apart the way it doesn when trying to tame the highs on some of the more brittle sounding chinese mics.
 
gpforet, just wondering how the avantone working out for you as a hyper? better than the oktava mk012? thx
 
I am really digging the CK-1. I've used it with the hyper capsule for location dialog indoors, and used a pair with the cardioid caps for ambience. It doesn't have alot of gain, and without a mixer in front of it might be a little weak driving something like the H4n directly, but with my Alphamix between the mic and my DR-680, I have no complaints. And I agree that there's a bit of a high end boost, but I keep a softie on it, and like the previous poster, have not found it to sound brittle like some of the chinese capsules. I can't compare it directly to the mk012 but I have not experienced any handling noise when using it with it's included shockmount, or my rycote lyre system. Can't beat it for the price.
 
gpforet, thanks for the info. So the shockmount that comes with it is sufficient? What do you use for sound protection just the softie? Seems like it requires fewer other items to make it work well like the Octava which requires a nice mount, bbg, and a windjammer. Thanks so much, this may be the find I was hoping for.
 
Since I'm only using it indoors for dialog, I'm really using the softie more to tame the highs a bit. When I'm using it outdoors for ambience, I put a softie on each. Regarding the shockmount, it still requires good, smooth booming technique, but I have not found it to be prone to handling noise at all. For the price, I really like this mic.
 
gpforet, thanks so much for your willingness to share info. I hate to ask, but do you have any samples? I know it is a big request. I found this sample http://vimeo.com/7615453.

But he really had to clean it up it seemed like. but I think like you were saying a zoom h4n is not ideal to record on, which is what he recorded on. Trying to find a decent hyper for shorts and indie features.

Thanks and I'll leave you alone now!
 
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