If you don’t want to spend around $1000 for a new TLM 103 or a MKH 416 microphone for voice over, one of your best bets is the CAD E100s. It’s well under $500, super-cardioid, and has the best self-noise rating in its class (3.7 dBA). Plus, it comes with a high-quality shock-mount included, unlike the others.
I was one of the first voice over talents to buy a CAD E100s and wrote about it back in 2012. I still love mine, and I look forward to many more successful years of using it. But I wanted to let you in on a little secret about another microphone: the JZ J1 by JZ Microphones. JZ Who? JZ Microphones, named after their founder Juris Zarins, who still handcrafts his mics (including the J1) in his factory in Latvia. This is the same factory that made the original line of Blue Mics before Blue pulled out to work out of California and China.
How does the it compare to the CAD E100s?
1. The J1 is cardioid, not super-cardioid like the CAD. It does have a focused sound and a wide, open grille like the CAD.
2. The J1 self noise is 6 dBA, which is excellent. The CAD E100s has the best 3.7 dBA rating. However, the CAD has a lower output. They’re both going to sound super-clean.
3. Both have excellent shock mounts built into them.
4. The CAD E100s is $349. The J1 is $360.
5. From what I can tell from the samples, the J1 has a better top end to it than the CAD, and it has a bit of a brighter, open tone too. Check out the Sound on Sound review of it here, comparing it to the quality sound of a AT4050 (which is good company). Note that the J1, like a lot of JZ mics, is electrostatic. They are cheaper to make (the solid AT ’20’ line is electrostatic) – but they will wear out after about twenty years of use. You’re not going to be using the same mic for that long, are you? Your dog is going to knock over the mic stand sometime in the next decade, right? Or, you’re going to get Gear-itis and upgrade to one of JZ’s other top-notch mics.
6. The CAD comes in a lovely wooden box that’s too big for travel; but unlike the J1 it has a pad and a High Pass Filter which are handy for road use. The JZ comes in a cardboard box…but you could easily put it into a small pouch. In terms of style, the J1 wins – and would be an especially nice look for a female voice over talent’s microphone with its good non-sibilant sound on the higher register. The J1 is retro and contemporary, just like all the JZ and related Violet Design microphones.
There are a lot of choices out there for voice over microphones, but if you want some high quality gear for under $500 with great specifications and made by a designer/manufacturer with a long history of building great microphones, check out the J1 by JZ Microphones.
