Customer Reviews

CAD U37 USB Studio Condenser Recording Microphone

5 star:		(27)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I had been researching USB Microphones for a long time and was nervous to make a selection, incase I ended up with a lemon. Well I just heard about this microphone a couple of weeks ago and read up on CAD Microphones. I took the plunge and bought this little beauty. It is made of a plastic casing, but don't let that put you off - this is obviously the trade off in getting a good quality USB for under $100. It's the inside heart of the microphone which makes it a great mic. Yes it is sensitive in picking up background noise, but I don't mind. I love that this mic has the ability to pick up a full texture of sound in the room. I also like that it records with very low background hiss, which is a big problem with integrated mics in laptops.
One important thing to remember with any USB mic is to know how to open up it's settings on your computer. When I first connected the U37 to my computer, it defaulted its input sound level to practically zero. It is in this setting that I have learnt to control the sensitivity of the microphone.
9/10 for this microphone. You won't be disappointed. Peace Out :)

I've had enough of people posting bad reviews that simply don't read instructions or don't know how to use the equipment they have. This Mic has settings that will allow you to hear a whisper in the next room, or you can turn down the sensitivity and you will be able to scream into the mic from a foot away and barely be able to hear yourself when wearing headphones. Do you want ambience? You got it. Don't need it, it's gone. You have total control of that. These people that are saying you can't use it for music because of terrible latency, don't know what they are talking about, if they can't figure out how to use an asio driver, then I certainly don't want to hear their music. Get you a good asio driver
I use ASIO4ALL. No Latency problems over here. How in the world do so many people with the same equipment have such varied results. Somebody doesn't know what they are doing.

The CAD U37 is a great mic for the money, but you have to be willing to tolerate its desire to capture ambient noise. If you're around a noisy computer, for example, it will capture that sound. If you are in an echo-prone room, it will pick up any echos. You might like this for multiple people to be gathered around a single mic and speak or play an acoustic number, but if you want something akin to an isolated sound where your voice and only your voice is registered amid a din of activity, you'll be disappointed.

I have not fiddled very much with the two settings on the microphone. I have kept the buttons facing to the left (if you are looking at the CAD logo (facing up) on the microphone).

The CAD u37 isn't as great as I thought it would be. The mic is very noisy and picks up way to much ambient noise. The other problem is with Logic Pro 9, it had way too much latency to be useful. I actually had to activate low latency mode and set my buffer size much lower than with any other usb audio device I've used, and sometimes it would still have latency. I am fairly disappointed as I had hoped it would be plug and play. I did like the quality of the microphone, maybe not the warmest microphone but has a lot of clarity to it which is nice. I would recommend this for podcasts or something where the timing of the recording is not critical. Another problem with USB mics is that they cannot be upgraded. If you are serious about getting nice semi-professional quality from microphones, I would suggest getting an actual xlr condenser with an audio input device with a phantom power supply like the line 6 ux2. Would probably be a better investment for you seeing as all you would have to do to upgrade is just purchase a better condenser. Will be returning this product.

I have had this product for over 2 months now and I use it for everything.
Live vlogging, I even use it to record music. Or to simply talk to relatives over Skype.

I do recommend if you are going to be recording song vocals (As I do) to first get some kind of booth to isolate The vocals so you will hear a more crisp sound. A closet with the walls covered with blankets will do the trick.

Make sure you are on (-10) and the bottom switch on (__). You should be about a foot and a half away from the microphone.

Also. I have found wrapping the microphone in paper towels (about 3 layers) will work for filtering "Pop" sounds.

Right click the volume icon in your system tray and click on Open Volume Control. If Microphone isn't displayed click Options from the menu and Properties. Then check the checkbox for Microphone. And then adjust the "Capture" volume. I put it between the bottom and second line. This is a very sensitive microphone which is often perceived as "bad" quality as you can see from some of the reviews.

Really great mic, not just for the price. Overall 9.75/10. Email me if you need some help using your product I would not mind helping! WestonCarlisle@yahoo(dot)com Replace (dot) with a (.)

This worked right out of the box (Win XP) with more than enough gain to drive my applications (Skype and Audio Studio). I tried a similar Behringer mic and after much fiddling, on-line research and wasted time - I returned it. This CADu37 does not have as elegant a case and grill design as the Behringer or the M-Audio mics in this class, but it works very well and is half the price of M-Audio.

I did extensive research on new microphones for PC use. I wanted something i can primarily use to pre-record webinars, but also skype calls. First, this mic was in people-proof packaging. Everyone hates that. Next, it came with 2 strange accessories that are supposed to be stands, I think. No instructions. Nothing. You figure it out. One stand flew out of the packaging and across the room when I was attempting to liberate it from its plastic prison. No damage to it though. Mic feels great in the hand, but sound quality always 100% of the time has high background noise - sounds like street "roar" or white background noise (all windows were closed and no noise was coming from outside. the room was completely quiet except for my voice). I changed the bass/noise reduction setting and it had NO EFFECT. Just to be sure it was not my imagination, I tested it with a Creative mic/headset combo i've been using for 2 years. The sound quality of the Creative headset was only slightly, slightly less than this CAD mic. Not enough to warrant keeping the CAD mic. I could suppress noise made with the Creative headset with my audio/video editing software, but the noise would not suppress when the recording was done by the CAD mic. I don't know where it's picking up this background white noise but it is s 100% unacceptable. And while they're at it, fix the packaging problem and consider including - wait for it - instructions - so your customers actually know how to use your products. Back it goes.

I am a rapper/singer, DRAKE TYPE musician. I've used a CAD Condenser Mic that required the whole mixer, audio card, setup. Ten years later there is now all-in-one USB Technology. This was a Plug and Play, along with my Adobe Audition Recording Software. Only thing i'm unhappy about is, not being able to hear myself through my headphones, while recording, but the quality is amazing and makes up for that flaw. Maybe there is a way to set it up better, but for now i'm happy, with results. Amazing Vocals.

all the people who had problems with ambient noise obviously didnt deselect the AG7 box in the settings for the mic, that GREATLY reduces sensitivity, if your looking for somethin useful and worth the money, buy this mic

This mic is a great deal and good quality for the price. I am able to make clear recordings of acoustic guitar and vocals at the same time without picking up any empty static. I have absolutely no complaints.