VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

Ed Fisher · Posted: Mon Aug 26, 2013 9:08 am Post subject: MY CAD E100S STORY

I first heard of the E100s from George Whittam on his and Dan's EWABS weekly show. So, quite naturally I was curious.

I picked one up from ebay last week. Reputable dealer (at least according to his feedback). When it arrived I immediately saw that one side of the elastic supports was broken. (it has it's own built in shock mount).

So, not to be deterred, I secured it with one of my daughter's "elastic hair ties" as I was determined to try it out.

What I heard was quite illuminating. "DON'T BUY THIS MIC. YOU WILL HATE IT. NO...this mic is definitely NOT FOR YOU."

It has both a -10 pad switch and a "Hi-pass" built right on the Mic itself. THEN...after expressing my displeasure to the seller that the support is broken..I discovered that when I switched on the mic's built in "Hi-Pass" that the noise floor jumped 10db and sounded like rushing leaves.

Well...this is no good. So this is a DEFINITELY DEFECTIVE RETURN TO SENDER. (supposed to be "as new" but wasn't new. you gotta love ebay sometimes) But, from what I've learned and HEARD WITH MY OWN EARS (and some have compared the E100s to the legendary Sennheiser 416) ....I can see now that my (also ebay used) 416 no doubt...needs to have some SERIOUS service/repair work done to it.

I mean...HOLY CRAP.

(What that funny looking, cheap little American made mic can do is...pretty amazing.)

NO...the E100S is DEFINITELY NOT FOR YOU.

STAY AWAY.

(would I lie?)

Scott Pollak · Posted: Mon Aug 26, 2013 11:26 am Post subject:

As we should all know now, one man's pleasure may be another man's poison.

I absolutely love, love LOVE my CAD E100S. I bought it new, for about $350, from (of all places) B&H Video in NYC. Was delivered pristine in that awesome wood box it comes in, and the sound quality is heavenly. I only wish I used it more often. I still gravitate to my RE20 for long-form stuff since it's a bit more forgiving of ambient noises.

I would suggest that you not condemn the 100s based on this one experience. If you have no desire to try another one, I certainly understand. But you really SHOULD order a new one from B&H after you return this one and give 'er another try. And if you still don't like it, B&H is very good about returns.

As for me, I've gone through a number of mikes that I've been disappointed with and then turned around and resold, the Rode NT1A, the AT2035 and most recently an RE-320.

But I will never, EVER get rid of my CAD E100S.
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Scott R. Pollak
Clients include Pandora, NPR Atlanta, Wells Fargo, Cisco, Humana, Publix, UPS, AT&T, HP, Xerox and more.

www.voicebyscott.com

Bish · Posted: Mon Aug 26, 2013 12:28 pm Post subject:

Actually... I detected a bucketful of irony in the original post... maybe because I'm predisposed to laud the e100s in terms maybe even more glowing that Scott's.

I mean... who wants to encourage everyone to use a secret weapon? Because it then stops being, well... a secret!

If I've totally misread and you actually got a duff 'un from ebay... well... that'll learn ya! Wink

_________________
Bish a.k.a. Bish
Smoke me a kipper... I'll be back for breakfast.
I will not feed the trolls... I will not feed the trolls... I will not feed the trolls... I will not feed the trolls.

Ed Fisher · Posted: Mon Aug 26, 2013 1:19 pm Post subject:

chuckweis · Contributor IV Joined: 27 Feb 2008 Posts: 136

Just picked one up myself and haven't had a ton of time to use it, but I likes what I've heard so far. Running it through a Warm Audio Tone Beast (set mainly to a a "vintage" vibe), and it's seems to be a pretty sweet little mic.

What I REALLY noticed, compared to my NTK, is that their claim of how quiet a mic it is in terms of self noise is spot on. Also don't have as much mouth noise at the end of sentences as w/the Rode.

Jacob Ekstroem · Posted: Mon Aug 26, 2013 5:55 pm Post subject:

Andy · Posted: Mon Aug 26, 2013 5:58 pm Post subject:

I bought mine where Scott did, at B&H. And it was and is a super mic but not forgiving at all with regards to ambient noises and the like. I sound great on it but wanted to try something new. I just got back from a week in St. Maarten and found my new Lewitt LCT 640 waiting.

I like it but I have to get used to it. Took a good bit of playing to find the sweet spots and settings but overall it's very cool and sounds good as far as I can tell.

chuckweis · Contributor IV Joined: 27 Feb 2008 Posts: 136

Lance Blair · M&M Joined: 03 Jun 2007 Posts: 2281 Location: Atlanta

Yes. DO NOT BUY THIS MIC. IT IS HORRIBLE!!! Wink

If I was going to design a microphone for VO, I'd make it

Supercardioid like a 416

No sibilance on the high end

Lowest Self Noise in its class

Built in HPF and -10db Pad

And make it in the US and sell it for around $400 - $500

Oh wait, somebody already did that.

I did some studio consulting for a new Atlanta talent (he's really good) and I brought my CAD for him to test. He heard one sentence of it and immediately clicked "BUY" on the B&H site.

I am very intrigued by the Lewitt mics though - but I'm set. No more GAS!!

Agree that it can be sterile on a clean preamp. I like running mine with the Focusrite ISA One that has a noticeable (and nice) Lundahl transformer on it.

Okay...I really want an Avalon V5. Next year...
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Skype: globalvoiceover
and now, http://lanceblairvo.com the blog is there now too!

bransom · DC Joined: 06 Nov 2008 Posts: 650 Location: St. Louis, MO

Here's my CAD E100S story:

I bought one a couple months ago, hooked it up, and immediately fell in love. Great sounding mic, and it works really well with my voice. I was a very happy camper.

Then, after a few weeks – just over a month – it started getting a little noisier. And then a little noisier. And then still noisier to the point that I couldn't use it any more.

Since it was over 30 days since I got it (45 days, maybe), I went to the CAD website, found the Service email address and sent a message asking what I should do. The email bounced back with "Diagnostic-Code: smtp; 550 #5.1.0 Address rejected." I then sent another email to their Support email and got the same server rejection. So I got on the phone and called.

Their auto attendant software, when I chose Support, thanked me for calling, told me no one was available, and promptly hung up on me. Exclamation

I called back and chose Sales. Again, no one was available and the auto attendant asked me to leave a message for "Operator." This was, by the way, a week day during regular business hours. Now I'm wondering if they're still in business.

I emailed Warren at ZenPro, where I got the mic, to see if he could help. He emailed his sales contact on my behalf and I got a response. They sent a shipping tag and I shipped the mic back on 8/1. As of now, CAD still have no E100S's in stock, and so I continue to wait for a replacement.

I hope this all eventually has a happy ending. Meanwhile, it's something to be aware of if you're considering this mic.
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Bob Ransom
"I really need a pithy quote here."

Rob Ellis · M&M Joined: 01 Aug 2006 Posts: 2385 Location: Detroit

I had a CAD E100s....liked it but it was a little much for me....personal taste.
Though in some ways I preferred it to the TLM 103.

As far as quality and performance, it worked flawlessly but I only had it for about a month FWIW

Ed Fisher · Posted: Tue Aug 27, 2013 8:16 am Post subject:

When I sent an inquiry to service@cadaudio.com

It was responded to by this guy.

Perhaps, if you have a problem a direct email to him would get a faster response. (I have no way of knowing if this will really help. But, it might be worth a try.)

John Web
jweb@cadaudio.com
Director, Inside Sales
CAD Audio LLC
6573 Cochran Rd, Bldg I
Solon, OH 44139
PH: 800-762-9266 ext 232
FAX: 440-484-3218
www.cadaudio.com

bransom · DC Joined: 06 Nov 2008 Posts: 650 Location: St. Louis, MO

He's the guy who eventually got in contact and who arranged for the return shipping label. Last I heard, he was hoping to have a replacement mic to send me by the end of the month.
_________________
Bob Ransom
"I really need a pithy quote here."

Lance Blair · M&M Joined: 03 Jun 2007 Posts: 2281 Location: Atlanta

Booo! I'm sorry you're going through that. They are not known for their customer service, that's for sure. Perhaps their QC has been caught off guard with the success they're having with this mic. I hope you get it resolved soon!
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Skype: globalvoiceover
and now, http://lanceblairvo.com the blog is there now too!

Bish · Posted: Tue Aug 27, 2013 8:54 am Post subject:

I would really like to be a fly on the wall at some of their internal meetings... you plod away for years with a nice little business that has a reasonable name for itself and steady sales figures... I have no idea about the initial projected sales of the e100s, but this recent wave of discovery and approval must have caught them completely off-guard! I'm not surprised at their lack of "preparedness".

One of the things (rightly or wrongly) that makes this little gem so appealing is the fact that it's made domestically... but it's also something that makes it hard to react to market spikes and unexpected success. Their production facility is probably overwhelmed and there are decisions to be made about increasing capacity and production. How quickly can a US manufacturing machine react... and how flexible can they be?

My fear is that they'll try to meet demand by outsourcing "overseas" and it'll become something other than what it is now. It's an interesting dilemma.
_________________
Bish a.k.a. Bish
Smoke me a kipper... I'll be back for breakfast.
I will not feed the trolls... I will not feed the trolls... I will not feed the trolls... I will not feed the trolls.