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Verified Purchaser zZounds has verified that this reviewer purchased this specific product from us.

I needed a second LDC to contrast my Rode NTK and the CK7 was the perfect fit. The NTK is loaded with character and big on proximity and the CK7 is very natural with almost no proximity effect at all. It is well built and looks better in person than in the photos. It is a bit gain hungry. I use an Audient id22 and push my preamp between 2 and 3 o'clock. That could just be an Audient thing and nothing to do with the mic but it's a non issue as long as your preamps are clean and quiet. My CK7 was perfect out of the box and is still working as well now as it did when I first bought it. I think it's been a year. The shock mount is fine as are the included cases. The flight case is a bit flimsy, not really a flight case, but it's great for the car. Avantone customer service is top shelf as is ZZOUNDS, so I'm sure if you have a problem, these two companies will make it right. Overall, the CK7 is my mic of choice for Acoustic guitar, BG vocals and some lead vox. It also performed quite well against my guitar amp. The NTK will remain as my primary lead vocal mic, but I knew that already. Very Good Mic!

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Verified Purchaser zZounds has verified that this reviewer purchased this specific product from us.

A quote taken from the Avantone website: "We do 100% Inspection of our mics right here in the USA. Most of our competition skips over this entirely or at best run "spot-checks". This takes us extra time but we want to do it. We care!" Oh really? They care? So why is my new mic defective? The pattern switch is momentary in the cardioid position and there is noticeable background noise. There is no way that this mic was checked/tested, or inspected (properly) as claimed, unless it actually was, but these inspections are, realistically ... worthless Avantone bunk. I am sure a non-defective mic will be a great performer, as expected, until it goes bad. I fully expect that my RMA replacement will be short lived also. This mic gets a 5 star Wow Factor rating for the dubious Avantone claim, as quoted above. Wow, was I ever fooled.

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