......CHECK IT OUT.....

Along with a ribbon mic, a valve mic has become a 'must have' for many serious project studios, and while a few years ago valve or tube mics were rare and expensive now most major mic manufacturers produce fairly inexpensive valve mics in their studio range. Probably the most iconic vocal mic of all time the Neumann U47 sets the template for this microphone but you really need to be working in the Banking sector to even think about buying one of those. sE Electronics have a solid reputation for producing quality mics at affordable prices and the SE Z5600A MKII large diaphragm mic is fantastic value for money at around £550 in the UK

Of the 3 sE mics we recently got for the studio the sE Z5600A MKII was a favourite. It’s a really nice sounding versatile mic and because of the constantly variable polar patterns I really enjoyed using it to bring in elements of the room. I used it on basses a lot... don’t ask me why I just felt that it would work well on them.. and it did, and of course it got used on vocals a lot. Maybe it's down to the acoustics in the main room at Fairview but I found it really hard to distinguish the sound of the Z5600 from the sE Gemini which is twice the price. Chris from Mostly Autumn is recording a solo album at home in his small studio and he asked me to recommend any mics that I thought would be a good buy and the SE Z5600A MKII fits the bill perfectly. It’s a great all round mic and at around £550 is stunning value. It is really quiet and clean and not coloured enough so that you couldn’t use it on certain instruments. Chris wanted a mic to record hand held perc, vocals, acoustic guitar and flute and I think the Z5600 is perfect for all that and infact I haven't found anything that it can't handle well. My initial experience with these valve mics is that you have to be careful not to get too far away as they tend to get a bit unfocussed off axis but I enjoyed using the SE Z5600A MKII a lot and in the right place it gives a really solid believable sound without being coloured in any way. It was great in front of guitar cabs and I found myself gradually opening up the pattern a little from cardioid towards omni to enjoy some of the room without having to pull the mic away from the cab. The only slight issue I had with all the SE mics is the massive shock mount that really gets in the way sometimes but don’t let that put you off what is essentially a really great mic.
I tried it on a range of vocals and there were no failures at all which really is a good recommendation for any mic and for the money there isn’t really much out there that gives you the quality and versatility. So if you are in the market for a nice valve condenser mic then you should definitely have a listen to the SE Z5600A MKII.

 

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