I bought this microphone a few months ago mainly to record my own vocals.
I have a very bright and high male voice, so I needed a microphone that will capture and retain the natural brightness of my voice, while still sounding smooth and pleasing, with no harshness.
The CX12 does it perfectly.
The high end sounds very detailed, yet at the same time very smooth and soft. Doesn't sound sharp, sterile, or fatiguing.
The mid range is very flat, natural, and solid. No harshness or weird resonances.
The low end is very tight and focused, doesn't get muddy or overwhelming. It has a nice proximity effect, but still sounds full even when recording from a bit farther away.
The 9 different polar patterns give you a lot of flexibility.
My studio is very dry so I can't comment too much on the difference in ambience.
However, I can say that the overall tone is very consistent between the different polar patters, other than of course the low end getting thinner the more you go towards the omni pattern due to the lack of the proximity effect.
The tube inside the CX12, along with the WA273 preamp I paired it with give a very nice saturation and texture when pushed hard.
The listed noise floor seems a bit high, but I found my particular unit to be very quiet.
I find that the mic can be used right as you turn it on, no need to let it warm up for a while, the sound is right there.
The power supply is nice and can be placed on a desk without taking too much space.
One little thing though is I wish the polar pattern knob and the power switch were on the same side, this way you'd have one side with all the controls and one side with all the cables, instead of having cables coming out of both ends of the unit.
The vintage tweed suitcase the microphone and accessories came in is a very nice bonus, definitely makes you want to showcase it rather than put it away in storage!
The provided 5 pin cable is very nice. It's long enough, and the grey color helps your differentiate is from the rest of your (black) cables.
The shock mount is pretty standard. It's a little bit scary that the mic is not screwed in and is only held by the clamps, since its a very big and heavy mic, but I've never had any issues with it so far.
Just make sure to hold the microphone with your hand if you ever release the clamps, otherwise it would fall off straight to the ground.
Overall this microphone manages to sound very natural and detailed, while always remaining smooth and pleasing to the ear.
Couldn't be happier with the sound!
