Recent mic purchase

[TLK]

Recently discovered the Line Audio CM4 mic made in Sweden. Bought a pair and found them to be very impressive and they sound great !
They can be purchased thru a few distributors in Europe. Listing of them on the web site. About $ 320.00 US
Check em out... Line Audio Design - Made in Sweden

 

[soliloqueen]

this mic is a masterpiece. everyone should own at least one. since this is one of his favorite mics of all time IIRC, countdown to kingkorg in 3...

 

[kingkorg]

this mic is a masterpiece. everyone should own at least one. since this is one of his favorite mics of all time IIRC, countdown to kingkorg in 3...

Yes, my desert island mic. Convenient enough to have in pocket at all times, just in case you need one.

The price though is not right, it's about 120$. 320$ for a pair maybe?

 

[soliloqueen]

i will say, it's not great in a small booth. if you have walls on the left and right, it will mess with the vent function something fierce

 

[k brown]

That being the result of it being a subcardioid, not a full card.

I highly recommend making a diffraction ring like I detailed in this post:
https://groupdiy.com/threads/cool-use-for-primo-em200-204.78994/#post-1057966
It makes it much more directional (esp at high frequencies), and greatly expands the applicability of the mic.

Though my post shows my using the Primo EM200, that is the capsule that is modified for use in the CM4, so the change in response and polar pattern will be essentially the same, but the sound quality will of course be better,, due the optimizations of the capsule done by LA.

 

[Murdock]

Yep, I have the “older” CM3 which is an awesome microphone! Don’t know how much they differ from the new CM4. It seems the newer ones are more cardioid than the CM3 which are more of a sub cardioid.
Not that it is a problem but I will definitely try K Browns advise with the diffraction ring. Thanks for that!

These are really bargains of the century... I paid even less as I bought two of them used for like 150,- euros.

 

[kingkorg]

Note on cardioid - sub-cardioid thing.

Roger from Line Audio seems to be extremely precise, empirically driven guy. Hence he has published CM4 has wider cardioid pattern. CM4 is not sub-cardioid really, it is one "notch" towards sub-cardioid compared to ideal cardioid.

This is very subjective thing, pattern varies widely from low to high frequencies on any mic, so it will heavily depend on placement, source etc. Pattern graphs help somewhat, but don't seem to be standardized so you never really know. Critical 180° frequencies are often avoided on purpose. Also this will depend on distance.

What i find great on CM4 is that off axis sound is very balanced and smooth at all angles, and you don't get hyped 180° high midrange bump. Here's example of c800g. Note the 7K bump at 180°.

C800 is really a hypercardioid approximately from 4-11k.

 

[k brown]

FWIW, there are exhaustive threads on Gearspace about CM3 and CM4.

But yes, I stand corrected; the CM3 was closer to being subcardioid. The CM4 is between card and subcard.