Avantone Pro CK-40 Stereo Large-Diaphragm Condenser Microphone

I bought this microphone as a way to record large percussion instruments where close-miking isn't possible. I'm really happy with it. The noise is minimal; I have to turn the input volume and the monitor nearly all the way up before hearing noise. There are many possible patterns, though this doesn't quite compare to the stereo image you'd get with an actual stereo pair.Three years after purchase the upper cartridge developed some noise and the response suffered. I sent it back to Avantone for service. They repaired it for free with a very quick turnaround (during the Covid shutdown, even!). It's now sounding as good as ever.Beautifully designed from a great company. If I need them, I'll be buying mics from Avantone in the future.

Great stereo mic, the paterns are easy to setup and very realistic. The blumlein?. patern gives a sense of space while the MS allows the stereo image to be manipulated latter. The sound is uncolored and sits in the mix very nicely. I have experimented with the capsules set in the same plane and feeding one to a high level with compression, the other one lower with no compression. The sesult were a clear signal at al levels. The only criticism was, I wish they spend less money on the display case and some on the way the two sapsules mate. When you rotate them there is a very unpleasant metal on metal on metal feel and sound. A mic of this price and quality should have included a smooth rotating system. Great mic, I recomend it highly

Use it for drum overheads, beautiful mic and amazing sound.

I bought this as a more affordable option for stereo recording, primarily for classical acoustic guitar. Having explored the option of buying matched pairs (e.g. Rode, Shure), Neumann TLM 102 etc I decided to take the plunge with this, as I really wanted to experiment with M/S setup on a modest budget. I couldn't find many reviews but what I did find was relatively favourable, and I'd found a good price.On first use, I was a bit worried as there was a shocking amount of electrical noise; I auditioned it against my cheap as chips SE2000 and found it was definitely an issue with my mic/new cables so at this point was quite worried. The 12 pin to 2x XLR doesn't look particularly well constructed, and the cable itself is not of the highest quality so I wonder if that was something to do with it. The mic itself incidentally looks quite impressive and seems sturdy enough, and the whole package comes in a nice flight case.Having said all of the above I persevered, and after fiddling with some of the switches (pattern, low cut) the noise seems to have more or less gone (static build up perhaps?!!). While I'm not 100% convinced, I've made some excellent MS recordings recently and the sound of the mic itself is actually fine. I'm not one to go on about the nerdy stuff and whether it sounds so and so at the top end or whatever but it sounds ok to me with cardoid/figure8 setup. It's potentially very versatile which is great.My conclusion is this IF I don't have any more noise problems, this is a fantastic value option vs two mics if you need to record in stereo - of course it would also be fine for mono work (vocals and such). I think I'll look into getting a replacement 12 pin XLR (NB. the one in the box is super long) and see if I can get a better splitter box as the stock one is less than convincing.In summary this potentially a very useful addition to a home studio (one assumes commercial studios will invest in the more expensive options), at great value. I'll be using this a lot, so it's likely I'll update this review in future - there's not a lot of info on this mic online right now so hopefully this will be helpful.