Published 16/9/08
US mic manufacturers pioneer elliptical capsule design
Fledgling US microphone manufacturer Bock Audio have announced a new large-diaphragm tube mic that’s a little bit different to conventional models.
The Bock 507 (or 5-Zero-7, as they write it) uses a hand-made elliptical capsule, rather than the conventional circular type, which has been designed in conjunction with hi-fi interconnect guru George Cardas.
The designers say that the 507 is the first mic to use the patent-pending Bock/Cardas Ellipse, a capsule that apparently “delivers higher levels of audio performance than have been seen before”, which is suited to “the very best, top-level vocalists”.
Bock Audio give few more details about the practical implications of their new design, but we can speculate that the standing waves that might normally occur across the diameter of a circular capsule (which has the same length from any angle) would be reduced in the odd-shaped elliptical design, as the resonant frequency across different areas of the capsule will naturally differ.
Apart from the capsule-design differences, the mic is very much like any other high-end tube model in terms of specification. In the USA, it costs around $7000. UK prices were unavailable at the time of writing.
www.transaudiogroup.com
www.bockaudiodesigns.com
Fledgling US microphone manufacturer Bock Audio have announced a new large-diaphragm tube mic that’s a little bit different to conventional models. The Bock 507 (or 5-Zero-7, as they write it) uses a hand-made elliptical capsule, rather than the conventional circular type, which has been designed in conjunction with hi-fi interconnect guru George Cardas.
The designers say that the 507 is the first mic to use the patent-pending Bock/Cardas Ellipse, a capsule that apparently “delivers higher levels of audio performance than have been seen before”, which is suited to “the very best, top-level vocalists”.
Bock Audio give few more details about the practical implications of their new design, but we can speculate that the standing waves that might normally occur across the diameter of a circular capsule (which has the same length from any angle) would be reduced in the odd-shaped elliptical design, as the resonant frequency across different areas of the capsule will naturally differ.
Apart from the capsule-design differences, the mic is very much like any other high-end tube model in terms of specification. In the USA, it costs around $7000. UK prices were unavailable at the time of writing.
www.transaudiogroup.com
www.bockaudiodesigns.com
