Se Electronics Se2200A Cardiod Condenser Mic (Item # 55046)

Comments about Se Electronics Se2200A Cardiod Condenser Mic:

To begin with, I own this and other sE Electronics microphones and they are, without question, very good microphones, well built and well respected in the industry. In fact the sE Mic Line has been described as having a sound of their own (as opposed to trying to emulate the sound of others).The SE2200A Class A FET mic is a very smooth sounding microphone without the sibilant brittleness common with many low cost Chinese built mics. This is due to the fact of its gently rising frequency response pattern that does not have "the standard 10K-12K frequency response bump that many low-cost mics try to emulate (a-la U87 et al). If the job requires that added "air", a little added eq in that range can easily bring it to the forefront albeit with the smoothness and warmth this mic is known for. However, I have done a side by side comparison of my SE2200A and a 1970's Neumann U87 and was quite surprised (as was the engineer and another musician) at the tonal characteristic commonalities between the 2. However, as close as they were, I have to say that SE2200A is NOT a U87 especialy in the hi-end and depth catagories but the SE2200A is still a surpringly great sounding mic nonetheless. Right out of the box and without EQ, in my opinion, this is a great vocal mic for tenors, altos and sopranos. Basses and Baritones may sound a bit thick, but again, thats why we have eq. I placed this mic in front of a drum kit and added an sE SE3 mic about 3 feet above the snare and was easily provided a very useable drum set sound (something to remember if your available track count is low). The SE220A can also warm up thin sounding acoustic guitars. If one bought this mic and the brighter sounding Z3300A, for way less than $1000, you could cover a large portion of sonic ground and recording duties with just these 2 mics. Of course, any SE2200A commentary would be remiss without mentioning the awards and kudos this mic has received including the Platinum Award and Mic of the Year Awards for 2003 and 2004.