Soundelux U99 Features

Before I get into the nitty gritty, I'll discuss the features of the Soundelux U99. The mic is very well built. You feel confident when you hold this mic. It's much heavier than other microphones in a similar class (which requires the use a confident mic stand). It's shockmount looks like you could run over it with a truck and not have any problems. It seams to be very well constructed.

The tube power supply gives you options to sweep between cardiod, figure8, and omni directional. Compared to other, cheaper, tube mics this mic has never made crackles or strange hiss sounds. In other words, this mic is the real deal professional microphone. Trust me. I haven't gotten this kind of reliability with other microphones that I own.

The Sound

The Soundelux U99 is a microphone and as I've said in other articles, a microphone is a microphone regardless of the price. I'm a believe that all microphones that cost more than $40 seam to pick up sound fairly well (as long as they are functional). Some characteristics are more ideal for certain things, but they all work.

The Soundelux is a bright microphone. These days, I'm finding less and less reasons to use a bright microphone. When I was down at Wagener's one of the key principals was avoiding harshness and excessive brightness. In fact, Wagener kept everything pretty dark until mixing time, when he used an outboard EQ on the 2 bus.

In my review, the Soundelux was always used with a Vintech 1272 preamp or a Presonus M80 preamp. The Vintech is one of the darker, thicker preamps around while the Presonus can get a little brighter, but is more likely to get harsh in the high end as well.

Polar Patterns Make A Huge Difference

Before I jump in too deep about the sound quality of the U99, I need to say that it's polar patterns sound drastically different. The fact that you can sweep between them makes choosing the right one a big problem. You see, I find that I seldom have the opportunity to sweep between the various patterns on the mic while listening on the the monitors. I'd need a 30 foot cable for that and the cable provided with them is more like 20 feet. So I must admit that I haven't done enough playing around with the polar patterns to really learn what they sound like and be able to predict which one will work for a given application.

Even Singers Can Hear A Difference

With that being said, I've had singers who've said, ?I liked the sound of the vocals way more last week?. If I remember correctly, I was using omni the day the singer liked it and then cardiod on the day he didn't like it. The point here is the patterns sound so drastically different that even a singer can tell an obvious difference.

Because I have not been able to get intimate with the microphone in the way that I would have liked. However, I have gotten a hardcore dose of the straight up the middle, cardiod sound.

Huge Low End

This mic has low end like no other mic I've ever heard. It can be incredibly thick on the low end. I used this mic for a voiceover project and I was amazed at the difference between being 2? away and being 1? away from the mic. The proximity effect is staggering on this microphone. Even when you are back a distance, this mic still has a thickness that is tough to beat if that's what you are looking for. I've used it on kick drum several times and have been very happy. In fact, I've used this mic to capture an entire drum set (no other mics but a room mic) and it grabbed the entire kit without a problem. You can hear the kick drum in your subs just like I mic'd up the kick drum separately.

U99 On Bass Guitar

I've used the U99 on a bass cabinet. I LOVED the sound of the bass cab mic'd with this mic. Unfortunately, my monitors/room lie to me a lot at the 125Hz region. Essentially, what I heard in my monitors was the ideal bass tone for this particular player. However, when I took the cd out to my car or home stereo, the sound was clearly too much at 125Hz. The tone was muddying up my mixes. The Soundelux just had too much beef for this particular bass cabinet.

U99 On Electric Guitar

I've only tried the U99 a few times on electric guitar. I didn't care for it. I'm not sure why, but tone just wasn't happening. It sounded weird. It may have been the huge low end and bright top end reaking havoc on the sound of the guitar. It could just be that I'm used to what a Shure SM 57 or Royer R121 does and it freaked me out hearing a mega condenser on guitars.

U99 As A Room Microphone

I've tried this several times with various degrees of success. The biggest problem is the top end on this mic. Generally room sounds need to be darker and if you use a bright microphone you are going to catch too much cymbals in a drum kit or fizz for most other things. The low end is so sensitive in this mic that it will bring out weirdness in your room (if you have them). On room mics, I've had better luck with my Royer R121 or my AKG 414 which both have a certain way of avoiding the mega simblance.

U99 On Acoustic Guitar

On the right guitar, there are few mics that can compete with the big, rich low end of the Soundelux U99 coupled with it's bright top end. However, on the other side of the coin, if the guitar has a really crappy, muddy low end the U99 will not work. It will take that muddy tone and run with it exposing it to the world for what the guitar really is. On kick ass acoustic guitars, this mic will probably always be my first choice. I recently used a U99 on the soundhole and a 414 on the nut of the guitar and it sounded glorious. (Glorious as in Ron Burgundy Glorious). Some guitars are really click because of using too thin of a pick or they the guitar itself just has a tinny quality. The U99 will also show this to the world too. On cheaper guitars that I'm stuck recording the U99 is usually out. There are other mics that won't pick up the details so much. It's strange how a mic can be too detailed.

U99 On Voiceover

I was doing a little stupid voiceover thing last week. I grabbed my U99 first. Without a doubt, the low end is exactly what I was looking for. With every inch closer to the mic I got, my balls seam to grow another inch as well. You can sound like King Kong or Jaba the Hut fairly easily with this mic. The low end is staggering.

I found that I had to use quite a bit of EQ and De-essering to get the high end tamed down though. I was using the cardiod setting. Granted, my voice does need a lot of de-essing generally, but the Soundelux in cardiod really seamed to exploit that. In fact, I knocked the high end down a few dB, used a de-esser fairly aggressively but still had more high end than I wanted. Maybe next time I'll just use the Sm7 although I doubt it will have anywhere near the quality and intensity of low end that the U99 has.

U99 On Vocals

Okay, here's the big one. Before I jump into this section, I must say that I've learned that dark is a good thing for vocals. I tend to really like the sound of a very bright mic on vocals until I hear it in my car and realize that I have a real problem. With that said, the U99 tends to be too bright on many voices when using the cardioid setting. I'm sure I could knock down the high end a little bit by putting a pencil in front of the mic, angling the mic a tad more off axis (damn singers always move though), or some other trick but why do that when I can reach for another microphone and generally get what I'm looking for?

On the right voice, the U99 is a phenomenal vocal microphone. Unfortunately, it will also expose the simblance in a voice quite a bit. I've had my head ripped off a few times while listening in my car. In general, I have to get aggressive with a de-esser or an eq to get what I'm looking for on vocals.

Overview

Without a doubt, the U99 is a totally pro microphone. I'm sure you can make it work on just about every source with some creative placement (such as turning the mic off axis). If I had the situation where I could I truly learn the ins and outs of the mics patterns, I think the power of the mic would grow considerably to me.

For better or worse, it's detail, huge low end, and bright top end all combine to make a mic that is picky about it's sources. It will expose flaws in your room and will reveal more top end and simblance than other microphones that I own.

When this mic is right for an application, you will know it because it will probably the best tone you've ever gotten for that particular application. With that being said, the U99 is often not the best choice for a given sound.

Is This Mic Right For Home Recording Guys?

Home recording guys are always curious if mega pro gear is going to make their recording great. You may want to check out my article. Does Pro Recording Gear Belong In Your Living Room?