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CAD Audio Trion 7000

Bidirectional Ribbon Microphone

The Trion 7000 is a dual-ribbon dynamic microphone. The ribbons are corrugated aluminum measuring 1.5'' in length and 0.15'' in width, mounted parallel about 5/8'' apart. The design intent of using two ribbons is to increase sensitivity, although multiple reviewers have commented on the extremely low output of the mic.

The ribbon motors are housed within a mesh grille. The mic provides no other screening or blast filtering, which likely has the benefit of reducing unwanted resonance but does expose the ribbon elements to contamination. The use of a pop filter when tracking vocals is recommended.

The frequency response is slightly elevated from 40Hz to 100Hz, flat through 4000Hz, and rolls off through 15,000Hz; this contour likely results is a somewhat dark sound, with the subtle high end that is characteristic of most ribbon mics.

Although not intended, early runs of the Trion 7000 exhibited a difference in frequency response between the front and back side of the ribbons. CAD’s VP of Engineering commented at the time (March 2007):

Kelly Statham

The Trion 7000 has minor differences between front and back, mostly in the 8-15KHz region. This difference will be reduced in the next production run.

ProAudioReview

According to the spec sheets, the 7000 is about 16 dB less sensitive than its condenser brethren [the Trion 6000 and 8000], but in practice (with a 500 ohm load) I found that its output was about 20 dB lower. This is a mic that needs a lot of gain unless you’re using it on an amplified guitar or some other loud source.

With shockmount, the mic weighs 1.5 lbs, and likely requires a heavy-duty stand.

Ships in a metal case with an elastic shockmount.

The CAD Audio Trion 7000 is also known as: Trion7000, 7000.

Specifications

Frequency Response - BidirectionalClick Graph to Compare!

Pickup Patterns	Pads & Filters
Bidirectional (2.2 mV/Pa; 25 - 9,000 Hz)

Ribbon Construction	Impedance	SPL/Noise
dual 3.8mm aluminum ribbons	940 Ohms (Low)

Weight	Length	Max Diameter	Interface(s)
n/a	n/a	n/a	3-pin XLR male (1)

Power Specifications

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