The New year is on us and we're starting it in style with our first taste of GA's vintage EQ module the EQ73. Also a great new session for you to mix from The Nick Rooke Band
sE Electronics have taken the
smart step of distancing themselves from the raft of budget
Chinese mics dominating the market by concentrating on more
esoteric high end products and the fixed-cardioid-pattern Gemini
11 microphone is currently their flagship large diaphragm studio
mic. Rather than the usual transformer-coupled outputs associated
with this type of mic, the Gemini uses two dual-triode tubes
which accounts for its large, impressive appearance. The valves
and diaphragm are housed in a substantial coated brass body
with a series of holes to dissipate the heat, all topped of
with a quality mesh cage. At the base of the mic is a switchable
10dB pad along and low-cut filter, and the mic connects to the
chunky, brushed-aluminium PSU via a multi-pin mic cable. The
current range of sE tube mic PSUs feature a controlled power-up
LED, which blinks for around 30 seconds to give the tubes a
chance to warm up, but as with tube mics in general it's best
to allow the mic to warm up for a few minutes before you use
it .
Recording
First up let us say that the Gemini is a very impressive looking,
beautifully engineered mic and while I can see the reasoning
behind producing a large expensive flagship mic like the Gemini,
for me it was just too big and heavy. The shock mount in particular
is like a piece of Russian ordenance and it's so big that it
does prevent you getting the mic in as close as you would like
on some things. There's no doubt that it’s a really nice
sounding, quiet, transparent mic but at around £1100 pounds
in the UK it faces some stiff competition most noticably from
sE's other valve mic the Z5600s which is half the price and
which to me sounds as good (with the added attraction of the
variable pattern!) I've used the Gemini on lots of vocals and
with the exception of one girl singer I’ve been really
pleased with it and I don’t know whether it's because
of the double valve design but the Gemini really works well
close up and gives some fantastic detail without being particularly
prone to popping. We’ve never had an expensive valve mic
before in the studio and after the revelation of using the new
AEA ribbon mics with all their inherent musicality I thought
that the Gemini would have a definite character similar to the
ribbon but it's really very different. Valve mics are noted
for being warm, thick and full but the Gemini is in fact very
smooth and transparent, so if you are in the market for a large
expensive vocal mic then it does deliver though I personally
think its a bit too polite and was hoping for something with
a real definite character to match its steroid looks. It is
in the nature of mics and recording that for someone out there
this mic will be their perfect vocal mic and there are enough
reviews around to suggest that for some this is a very special
mic. However it’s a tough market out there and at £800,
while the Gemini is a lovely microphone, is it really twice
as good as the Z5600? Now SE's
RT1 tube ribbon.... that’s another story….JS
