Independent producer/engineer Sterling Winfield has a notable track record that includes Pantera, Hellyeah, Damageplan, Mercyful Hate, King Diamond, Hatebreed and other metal bands over his successful career.
In fact, Winfield has worked as engineer and producer with Pantera on a variety recordings with a career highlight that includes credit as co-producer and engineer for their Grammy-nominated, certified Gold record, Reinventing the Steel.
Recently in New Zealand to produce an album from local heavyweights Legacy of Disorder, Sterling was looking for a multi-purpose vocal mic that would cover a wide range of softer to aggressive sounds and the engineer/owner at Wellington’s STL Audio studios handed him a CAD Audio M9.
First turned on to CAD Trion 8000 mics at Nomad studios in Carrollton, Texas, Winfield was more than willing to check out the M9, not the most obvious choice for hard-driving metal vocals.
“I tried the M9 and it turned out really well because I normally don’t use a large diaphragm condenser microphone on both the softer and more aggressive vocals. It had everything I needed: a nice smooth high end and it could take a punch in terms of proximity effect, which is surprising for a tube mic.
“The M9 really holds its own,” Sterling continues. “Other tube mics just don’t have that kind of proximity effect, but for some of these heavy metal vocals, I really need that ‘in your face’ impact when the vocalist crowds the mic, or for low vocal and whisper tracks when I’m texturing something. I could crank the gain on the preamp and the vocalist could really get in there and eat the mic, and it wasn’t too boom-ey with a really nice low-end presence.
Summing up, Winfield says, “The M9 has the versatility to handle more jobs than your typical tube microphone. Simply put, it has everything in one package that I need for a successful recording session. It has the dynamic range to take a punch, and can be used in close proximity to what you’re recording without overdriving it like most tube mics. Add the unbeatable price, and you have a winner in your toolbox any day of the week. CAD has the tools I need for the extreme sounds I create.”
