Avantone Pro CK-1 Small-diaphragm Condenser Microphone Reviews

Everything I expected, quiet, detailed and versatile.

This mic works very nicely for acoustic guitars, steel-string and nylon, both. It has a fairly flat response, not interfering with the natural acoustic sound. I think it's a good mic for the price, comparable to more expensive mics in the $300-400 range.

I have all kinds of mics in my locker but this little puppy takes on many tasks from CYMBALS TO VOICE. highly recommend it. I own neumans, beyers and the CK1 has a very smooth top en nd a thick bottom almost sounds like a large diaphragm mic.

I've recently made a permanent shift from steel string to nylon string guitars. I've always had great luck and gotten great plugged in sound out of my steel strings using top sensitive transducers and a good external preamp. I tried the same pickup and preamp on a couple of nylon string guitars and I really didn't like what I was hearing. I traded for another preamp and then bought another preamp all to no avail.

Last week in rehearsals for a concert I gave up on the pickup and tried this little Avantone CK-1 plugged into a full range amplifier. I used the hypercardioid capsule aimed at about the 14th fret and the sound was stunning on both a concert classical and a less expensive factory classical that I've modded into a baritone.

I also tried out an Audio-Technical AT3035 that I've used for demos and video. The CK-1 kicked its butt in the live application. By a lot.

I got great gain before feedback with the CK-1, tight bottom, EQ'd a bit of boxiness out of the mids, added a skosh of highs around 7k to get some detail and added just a touch of reverb. It was stunning.

As someone who presents two and three-guitar concerts this really simplifies things for me. It greatly reduces the amount of gear I have to haul and maintain. It makes sound checks really easy.

This mic is billed as a drum mic and I'm sure it does that well.

But it's also wonderful for live nylon string guitar. And I'll be looking for other ways I can use this mic in the future.

You can spend a lot of money for high quality or in the case of the Avantone pro CK-1 you can save a lot of money and still get the high quality. I set up a pair of CK-1s on a acoustic guitar at the 14th fret and was blown away by the play back.IT sounded like i had spent many thousands to mike this fine guitar and make it shine..There is no way you can go wrong with a pair of Avantone Pro CK-1 Small-diaphragm Condenser Microphones for recording any acoustic instrument.A good looking mike with a wooden case,shock mount, and 3 capsules to fit any need you come across I wish I could give it a 10.

Yes, the price was right, whats more I loved that its a USA manufacturer. The specs and reviews all said the CK-1was great on Drum overheads, I bout this for my studio to mic Hi Hats, great choice clear and accurate. I also tried it on a snare and found it to be very nice. Every serious recording guy should own a couple of these.

I use AKG and Shure Mics. Happy with the models I have. When I used this to record my acoustic, I was blown away at how rich my guitar sounds through this mic. Great value. Great sound.

I had another nice brand of microphone for my percussionist and it was fine until I wanted to test the CK1 before a gig. Same eq and everything and all of a sudden I heard a crispness I didn't know I was missing. I did my research and it paid off! Great product, great price and especially great customer service. Randy A, thanks for everything.

They sound amazing for Drums Overheads in XY and on Acoustic Guitars.

I went on a shopping spree and bought a bunch of new mics like the sm7b for vocals and guitar, the d112 for bass and kick drum, the e604's for toms. Out of all those mics I was most impressed with the CK-1's. if you need overhead mics but don't have a lot these are perfect. I hope to upgrade though because they still aren't top quality. but for $150 each they sound incredible. They look better in person than they do in the picture.

I had purchased an Avantone CV-12 about a year and a half ago and it's been an outstanding mic, so when I started getting serious about recording room sound instruments, especially my classical guitar, I bought a couple of these and paired them with a Great River MP-500NV and a Shadow Hills Mono Gama. These Avantone CK-1 mics catch all the details of the guitar, and along with pre's, make both of my classical guitars sound incredible. One of the guitars is a high end Takamine and the other is a cheap Austrian brand, and they both sound stunning. I can't believe how good the cheap one sounds. It always this nasally character that I thought would shine on a recording, and sure enough what was in my head about that guitar came out finally with a great set of mics.

So I had a chance to record some drums with my brother this last weekend and the experience was so good that I had to write about these mics. We've both been playing for about 30 yrs and toured regionally together when we were in college. We play all the time still, in bands and recording. He's a mechanical engineer by trade (meticulous to the core) and has a great Yamaha Custom Series birch kit. He also has a Shure PGDMK6-XLR drum mic kit. We were pretty happy with the overhead sound from the Shures, but tried the Avantone's out of curiosity, and what a difference. Same pre's (Great River and Shadow Hills). These CK-1's had a warm, rounded low end and a sheen in the high end that was so different than the Shure's, which seemed a little harsh in focus with no high end shimmer and no detailed lows. That's when I really felt the power of the CK-1's. They made the drums sound like what you hear on records.

I have spoken directly with the owner of Avantone, and he was on the phone with me for almost an hour, incredibly friendly, driven, excited about his product. I also have the Avantone cube. I'm a big fan of this company.

Skeptical when I first saw this mic with all of the "extras". I was looking for a decent pair of mics for the choir and this one seemed to be the ticket. I was sold by the reviews but missed using for Christmas a couple of years ago waiting for them to arrive. The first use was on mandolin, then a violin, aux percussion then eventually the Easter choir presentation. I had a pair of Crown CM700's and two CK1's and the ability to pick up with clarity went hands down to the Avantones. They are built solid, look great, have an awesome shock mount (which I plan to pick up more of for use with the Crowns and possibly our SM81's). Some of the reviews have mentioned some manufacturing related issues. I had a couple as well. The grille on the Cardiod capsule came off but a dot of SuperGlue took care of that just fine. One of the mics seems not to have the groove for the female XLR connector machined out sufficiently. Some of our mic cables just can't be used with that particular mic. It's probably something that I could fix with a small dremel bit but we have enough cables that work fine so I've never even messed with it. All in all Avantone still has a rock solid product for the price. It makes me want to consider some of the other mics in their line.

I haven't done any A/B tests against KM84s, but I have been very happy with recordings of piano and string section. The omni capsules in particular give a smooth and pleasing sound from close micing as well as back a bit for a roomier sound. The capsules are a bit tricky to change (very narrow threads), but all 3 sound great in their own way.

We're a simple group with fiddle, guitar & cello. The cello is fabulously rich acoustically, but has always sounded muddy in live sound and recording. I should say, however, that our options for mics heretofore has been very limited.

Well, the CK-1 with the hyper-cardiod capsule is wonderful. It feels solid, it performs well, with that capsule it picks up very little of the other instruments...it's well priced...in short, no complaints. [That summation may sound modest, but it's the thing I seek the most in sound equipment.]

My band uses this as a mono live-in-the-room mic to record rehearsals, and it does a great job. The drums are especially nice. For $150 you can't beat it.

You have got to be kidding me. Try these mics out for drum over heads, or put when up for hi hats. They sound amazing! At this cost I am going back for more.

This mic package is nothing short of amazing at this price point! I've used a lot of mics over the past 35 years or so and I know what a good mic sounds like, believe me. The Avantone Ck-1 sounds wonderful on everything I've used it on. Although it is bit on the bright side, it never sounds harsh or edgy like so many inexpensive SDC mics do. It has a silky smooth top end balanced with a nice meaty midrange and solid bottom end. It compares favorably to my Shure SM 81's (a bit brighter) and, while it isn't a Neumann KM 184 or (my favorite) the vintage KM 84, it is not far! Plus, it comes with three capsules, omni, cardioid and hypercardioid. Haven't had a change to use the omni for anything yet but the other two sound great on acoustic guitars, mandolins and other acoustic stringed instruments. Even used it with the hyper capsule for some VO recording and it did quite well, considering it is really an instrument mic. The main thing about this mic is how clean and quiet it is. It's built with very high quality capacitors and it really is evident in the sound of the mic. And the overall build quality is excellent...built like a tank! Comes with a very nice shockmount and in a wooden case too. Highly recommended.

I've done a lot of indoor location recording the past 7 years. That said, I retired both of my high end shotguns from indoor recording and ordered a matched set of these puppies, after trying my friends set one tday "on a dare".

Simply the cleanest top end, and the best on-mic filtering I've ever seen indoors. Clear, crisp, great definition, good body and dynamics, along with a very controllable field [with 3 very different heads] and a bass pad that all but eliminates any low end dirt.

I have another friend with a set of similar Russian made mics [you know which ones] and they sounded like mud next to these.

For the money, the best mic you can buy in my opinion, bar none.

I have been able to A/B the CK1 with other pencils 10x's the price range on Drums, Guitar, and Choirs. All I could say was WOW. 3 capsules, 10db pad, and HPF, all for $150. This mic packs a lot of punch into an affordable platform that meets, if not exceeds, the abilities of the more expensive pencils out there.

It's a year later or so. These little pencil mics are tough as nails, and work well in a number of settings. They just were used as drum overheads at a live show and sounded great. The kick drum was miced with an AKG D112. Unfortunately, the drummer has a vintage Slingerland kit with no pillow in the bass drum and no vent. Cue up odd ringing sounds. The rest of his kit has similar issues, but the CK-1 handled it without ringing or other shenanigans. The cardiod capsules were on the mics for that purpose.

More typically, I use them as drum overhead for recording purposes. They pick up everything, so you have to keep the preamps at a fairly low level. For real recording engineers, this is probably obvious, but for a purely self taught basement guy like me, it was a surprise to find that you have to dial things back well below clipping to keep away from an overpowering hot sound and harshness. Dial them back, and you get what you want. Not a lot of color, and that's good.

Ribbons are my thing for vocals, and a large condenser or direct sound better for the upright bass, but these are perfect for drum overheads. I'll keep using the pair I have for a very long time.

I've used KM184s, Røde NT5s, Oktavas, Schoeps… and they are all outstanding microphones. But none of them, except maybe the NT5, approaches the value of this package. I bought a pair, and was pleasantly surprised at how controlled the high end is. Used with my grand piano, a Kawai, which is in need of some regulation and has a somewhat strident high end, it somehow is able to maintain control and not sound brittle, as others have noted. This mic deals with the upper mid-range (2-5K) so deftly that they are useful where the others are not. I also used these in a live performance setting as ensemble mics for seven Dan Tranh zithers, and they did an outstanding job at catching all the nuances of those delicate instruments.

The build quality is acceptable, if not outstanding, but nothing that causes me concern. In regards to the customer who complained about the plastic case for the other two capsules, I also had the same problem, until I realized that the capsules are supposed to be placed in the case with the capsule facing up. For whatever reason, if placed upside down, they become very difficult to remove. I don't use that case anyway. They are secure in the wood case without it.

These are not Neumanns or Schoeps microphones, but I would hesitate to say that they are a lesser microphone. It's has it's uses in the professional's toolbox. And for anybody wanting a first pencil mic or set, these are unquestionably worth your time. You won't have to sell them in the future when you can afford more expensive mics. These are worth hanging onto. Highly recommended. If you've read my review of the NT5, I would say the same thing. If forced to choose between them, I would have to cut them in half length-wise and weld them together. Or as Radio once said, "BOTH!"

I bought this mic to use on hi-hat, but so far I have used it on acoustic guitar, cello, and for room ambiance. At this low price, I was a little wary of the CK-1. However, it is worth every penny and probably more! It sounds and looks great. The wooden case is nice, too. The only thing that keeps my rating below a 5.0 is the fact that two of the three capsules included in the case had something smeared on the outsides of them. It took a little effort to get them clean. The sound was not affected; that was just odd to me.

OK, so this is not a huge amount of money to pay for a small diaphragm condenser. I have other pencils, but I was really curious if the comments that I've read elsewhere on the web really matched what this mic is all about. The other selling point for me was an omni capsule, which I was lacking in my mic cab.

I first tried it in cardioid mode and was really pleasantly surprised by the definition and clarity of this mic. It does everything a small diaphram condenser is supposed to do and really causes you to take notice of how well it performs. This is going to be my go-to mic for about anything that I can throw at it, especially instruments with high top end potential like fiddle or mandolin. It actually seems to add a bit more presence in the upper mids that has the effect of smoothing out any tendancy toward edginess on these instruments.

My next experiment was changing to the omni capsule, wrapping the body in foam and tucking between the bridge feet of my upright bass facing upward toward the fingerboard. The resulting recording has sold me totally on this method and justifies the purchase of this mic for this use alone. This trumps my medium or large diaphram miking methods hands-down.

Three capsules to choose from certainly gives this mic a competitive edge over the competition.

Visually it is a stunning piece of kit and demands that you pay attention to it. If I were a budget-priced condenser and I didn't sound this good I certainly wouldn't draw attention to myself. The CK-1 has no problems living up t o it's racey appearance.

If the mic wasn't enough, the shock mount is a perfect match. It works great, and it's so beautiful you'll want to leave it out on the coffee table.

Nothing's perfect in this world, so I have to find SOMETHING to complain about. Two things; The tiny switches on the mic body do not instill confidence in their use, and the small plastic holder for the mic caps is a little too snug to allow one of them to slide in and out easily. I can live with that, the switches don't get used that often and I tend to keep the cardiod capsule on most of the time.

Although I purchased not really expecting this mic to meet the hype, its all true. I'm going to get another to use as a stereo pair. They won't be a matched set, but who's going to notice when these sound so lovely by themselves!

The CK-1 is my 'go to' for acoustic guitars in the studio. It is crisp but not spitty, full but not muddy and overall sets the acoustic perfectly in a mix almost all the time. I use it as a single sdc aimed at the junction of neck and body. Rarely do I have to pull out 200hz but when I do, what's left is still a real acoustic gt. Those same tonal characteristics work great on hi hat. 4 stars only because I had to get the cardioid capsule replaced early on but the replacement has been solid for 4 plus years. I prefer this mic over my AT4051 for acoustic.

Bought a pair of these a while back (2016) but never wrote a review. One of my CK-1's sometimes has some noise which I suspect is because of a loose metal screen under the capsule because if I take off the capsule and screw it back on the noise usually goes away! So perhaps quality control missed it?
The mics are pretty hot. There seems to be a bit of a mid or low-mid boost that doesn't help piano (at least the specific Yamaha C2 I've tried it on, which sounds a bit woolly to begin with).
Experimenting with the Omni capsules I did find that there is a bit more bass captured with them. Haven't really tried the Hypercardioid much.
We've used them on choir, strings, and classical guitar, but I'm too much of a novice to be able to comment critically on the sound....sorry. Sounds fine is all I can say!
To summarize, the multiple capsules, pad, and hi-pass filter, plus quasi-posh wooden boxes (careful with the locks as they can open easily and let the mics loose....) means that it is a very good value.
If you're an amateur like me or running a budget studio I'm sure you can put these to good use.

These are very bright mics. They pick up everything, including handling noise, so it's good that they come with a solid shock mount. I bought two for use as drum overheads. They work for that purpose very well, especially with the cardioid capsule. The reviews that say the different capsules sound different are correct. I'm not sure how to explain how they sound, since sounds are not words, but there is a noticeable difference in sound.

I bought two of these, and they are the third and fourth Avantone mics in my closet. The other two are a CV-12 large tube condenser and a CR-14 ribbon. They all have very distinct characters, with the ribbon being the darkest and smoothest, and these being the brightest and most aggressive. They are all sensitive mics, so the shock mounts are important. Of all of them, I would say these are the least versatile, since they aren't well suited to vocals. For acoustic instruments, like my upright bass, they sound very good. Wrap one in foam and put it under the tailpiece of the bass, and it works well, for example. I expect they would do well for micing a violin or cello. I'm not as sure that they would be as good on a shiny sounding instrument like a trumpet.

Their reaction speed is good, which means they pick up the cymbals well and react well to the crack of a snare drum. I'm still thinking about whether I like them enough to skip micing the toms separately or not. Bass drums or bass guitar are not the best application to use these in.

As you can tell from reading this review, I have become a fairly loyal user of Avantone mics. I have others for different purposes, but my experience with all of them has let me to look to see if there's an Avantone mic made for the purpose I have in mind when considering another mic. I never, ever give a 5 star review, since nothing is perfect. These pencil mics are very good at what they do, especially considering the price. Plus, they look really nice and come in wood boxes that are protective and make them easy to store when not being used.

Used this on hihats in the studio, it was so clear and bright sounding. Haven't heard as much of it as I would like on other instruments, but on hihats, it's a boss.

First off, these mics do not come in stereo pairs, meaning that they do not test to see if two microphones have similar characters electronically but to be honest, unless you're going for orchestra recordings, I don't think that matters all too much. The company states "we set a much tighter tolerance level on all of our microphones including how closely they sound to each other. We’ve actually measured less than 1 dB between CK-1’s, so I honestly don’t think that you will even notice a difference between any two." And I can hear that between the two. Also, if you're going to record orchestras you would probably want to have the high-shelf microphone.
Second, the presentation of the microphones can be a little deceiving, the pictures make the box look like it's foam padding, but when touching the inner case, it is not plush, it's really just a wood cut out with a nice velvet covering. The top, although, is foam'd. The additional capsules (Omni, Cardiod, and Hyper Cardiod) come in a plastic case, the one problem I have is that they fit a little too snug, I have to wait or shake the capsules out, which heightens my fear of dropping them. Other than that, I appreciate them not having the capsules roll around at their free will. The shockmount clips are made of real metal, are super heavy and easy to adjust. This allows me to relax whenever I have them up, knowing they will not fall out onto the floor.
Third, I believe, that the sound was clean enough, but still had character, and with the pad and lo-cut switches and capsules could be tailored to any instrument. The Omni capsule yielded more high end and a soft bottom end warmth, which I preferred in front of a soft acoustic guitar, bringing out the transients. The hyper cardiod has a low mid growl to it, which I enjoyed a couple steps back from a rock n' roll guitar amp. and the cardiod was nice as overheads on a drum kit (one mic above the snare and one mic past the floor tom) which helped keep the snare crack.
Lastly, the microphone looks and feel rugged enough, I've yet to crack inside to see the internal electronic construction. The manual it comes with isn't very good, which is why I am writing this review. I was hesitant when buying these mics for that reason, but for $150 per microphone, I figured I'd dive off, I was greeted by deep waters and I am diving deeper and deeper.

I really like how these sound on cymbals. With the hyper cardiod capsule the cymbals sounded less harsh then typical lower end mics.

3 capsules, 10db attenuator switch, low cut switch, shock mount and a great sounding mike. Can't be beat for the price.

Knowing these were lower end mics, I wasn't expecting much. So the CK-1 sort of delivers in that area. Nothing to see here.

Can't see how anyone could used them for overheads unless you know you have a matched pair, which mine definitely are not. One is *significantly* different from the other, even when testing with same cable, preamp channel, settings, etc. It's like having two different models of mic. This is problematic for me because I don't like having to look at the serial number to remember which mic is hotter, or has specific characteristics. That adds some cognitive load to the proceedings, and tells me this mic can't be relied upon.

My main reason for getting these was to use them as instrument mics when recording two people playing guitar/uke. So I wanted them for the hypercard pattern, and the variety of capsules was a nice bonus. As hypercards, these work well with good isolation.

The capsules themselves are stored in a separate little box, which is poorly designed. Epic fail here as you either need pliers to extract the capsules, or you need to smack the box to get the capsules out (possibly damaging the capsules).

So, as they say, you get what you pay for. Maybe they will grow on me with more use, but so far they are quirky.

I bought a couple of these to use as a general-purpose stereo pair, reading that they punched above their weight and loving the three included, interchangeable capsules!

My experience was a little less than I'd hoped. The sound was perfectly adequate though I didn't really get to put them through their paces. The first mic arrived and I was able to change the capsules around and everything was hunky-dory. The second mic I was not able to get either of the two additional capsules to fit on. They would start to screw down and then would begin to seize up and just not feel right. It would then take much MORE effort to remove the errant capsule. Thanks to Sweetwater for making it right and sending a replacement mic for the second one. However, the replacement ALSO had the same problem! I went back to the first mic that had worked great on the first day and found that I now couldn't remove the capsule I'd left on from the first day!

Thanks again to Sweetwater for taking them back. I'm glad for the trial period and am now considering the much more expensive mics that I probably should have just started with.

I think, though, that if you happen to get a good, mechanically sound one (or more) of these you'll be very happy! Again, not having put these through their paces, but the limited testing I did do gave me no warning signs of impending harshness, high self-noise, popping, crackling, loose connexions, &c (all things that I've dealt with on other "budget" mics!). Honestly, for the money, just having a single capsule is still a great deal, but if Avantone is going to sell them with the interchangeables then they gotta work! Or keep the WD-40 handy. ;)

I think that for this price you really can't go wrong with this mic. However, compared to the KM184 there is a huge difference in quality and clarity. The CK-1 is responsive on acoustic guitars but seems to have an increased mid-range that is not found in the KM184s. I do feel like the construction is a bit weak and some part seems to be rattling around inside the mic. The capsules are not very easy to change but do sound very different from each other once you do switch them.

The mic clip that it comes with is very sturdy and secure.

I bought this mic to take on the road so that I can record ideas when not in my studio. I think it's perfect for that application.

Good for the money -but I exchanged my first one because it died very soon after purchase. The first one also sounded much different in the high end. This second mic also is the noisiest mic I have - it is definitely nice on certain things, though. It would be 4 or 5 stars if not for the noise issues...

This microphone, when working, sounds great. I use the omnidirectional cap. However I have 2 issues with it:

1) It attracts dust into the components easily, causing a scratchy sound until all dust is blown out of it thoroughly.

2) Sometimes there is no sound and I have to unplug/replug the cable and unscrew/rescrew the top part a few times until it works again.

Unfortunately my 30 day window to return has passed (it has been 3 months). I have only used this mic once per week and always put it back in its nice wooden box immediately after each use. I also use a foam windscreen cover to keep out dust but that still doesn't do the trick.

I returned two of these mics because I was hearing lots of static as soon as I turned on my phantom power. There may have been something in my signal chain that caused this noise but I do not hear the same noise with my Blue Spark mic or my new Rhode matched Pair M5 mics. The interface that I'm using is a native instruments komplete audio 6. I replaced the CK-1 with the Rhode matched Pair M5 and like these mics much better, both as a stereo setup and as a single mic.

Returned two with defects. Poor construction . Difficult to screw on and off capsules. Loose pins/screws that hold inner electronics.

Sweetwater very responsive however . I decided on something else ,

Sound was good when they worked but just can"t get past the poor poor workmanship.

These mics are attractive because of the price and capsule options but they are not reliable, and after several months they become entirely unusable. There is a ton of static in my recordings with these microphones, it almost sounds like wind. The noise usually happens when turning on phantom power, sometimes it goes away but it usually doesn't, and if it does it'll start up randomly again.

These mics are not matched, even though I was told when I bought them that they would be. The two microphones sound completely different and have very different levels.

I returned them for replacement 3 months after purchasing, and now they've just crapped out again. I want to return them in exchange for different mic, but Sweetwater's policy prohibits that.

Do not buy these.