Apologies for the lack of new material but the mobile and the studio are so busy at the moment that weve just not had time to put any new stuff up. We have some great new sessions waiting to go up and a sneak preview of a fantastic new compresser but thats all to come!!!!! In the meantime have a read about the first in our series of great mics under £100
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 £800
pounds 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 a 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
