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Soundelux E250 Cardioid Tube Microphone E49 Large Diaphragm Condenser Mic
Soundelux has announced the release of two new microphone models, the E250 cardioid tube condenser mic and the E49 large diaphragm condenser mic.
Conceived and designed purely as a vocal microphone, the Soundelux E250 cardioid tube condenser is a rethinking of classic tube microphone design to address the inherent problems with the modern practice of close-miking loud vocals. Classic tube condenser microphones were never meant to be placed within six inches of loud vocalists, yet producers and engineers love the presence, size and low-frequency boost this adds to their artist’s sound. However, the proximity effects of low-frequency build up and the upper midrange/treble tilt of many popular old classic cardioid microphones can also work counter-productively, causing problems requiring extensive outboard signal processing.
Designer David Bock remarks: “I started out designing a more affordable and mellow version of the ELUX 251 while still retaining all the 251’s meat and
sound. Something you can’t get from a 47 or any of the other vintage mics. The E250 is not as bright as the 251 with its pronounced high-frequency peak. The 250 is mellowed down a bit and I sculpted the proximity effect more towards the middle of the vocal range than down below it where it usually lives. Basically the 250 is a condenser version of the 251 optimized for close vocals and includes all our modern enhancements with lower noise and distortion specs.”
Another problem with close miking vocals is high-frequency directionality or the “beaming effect.” This is where any slight head movement by the singer can produce a big change in the high-frequency content. Bock continues with: “The new E250 has a broader cardioid polar pattern than our standard 251, which is fairly directional up close, and that makes it much more forgiving in these cases.”
The E250 is similar looking to the ELUX 251 with the same classic colour scheme but with a one-piece body and without a chromed windscreen. The E250 is delivered in a wood box, comes with a custom shock mount and the reliable P251 power supply (same as ELUX 251). Similarity to the ELUX 251 ends with a whole new capsule design. Derived from the 251, the capsules are hand-picked and individually tested. They have a one-inch in diameter with a six-micron thick gold-vapour deposited diaphragm. Again like the 251, the entire capsule is mounted in a brass holder. Bock also chose a different tube and output transformer than the ELUX 251 and kept Soundelux’ Stable Bias circuitry design to prevent the sound of the mic changing with dynamics. The mic’s frequency response stays constant whether singing loud or soft. When asked if he feels he accomplished his original design goal and overall sound of the mic, Bock simply says: “You could say it’s huge sounding.”
The E49 large diaphragm condenser microphone is based on the original 1952 German IRT design. The original vintage tube 49 microphone is still regarded by some as the gold standard in studios around the world because of its flexibility in any application from distant orchestral recordings requiring a neutral sound quality, to close up miking where the tailored proximity effect is well known and valued for achieving big vocal sounds.
Like the original, the Soundelux E49 is a remote variable pattern tube mic that uses Soundelux’s KK47 large diaphragm capsule and a unique head grille design that replicates the original’s acoustic and sonic signatures. A specially designed Soundelux SteadyState fixed-bias type tube amplifier (similar to the original) is used but has lower noise and distortion. The output transformer provides a correct impedance match to any mic pre-amp input and, compared to transformerless designs, has lower intermodulation distortion.
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