sE announce BL8 boundary microphone

Published 12/7/23

Three voicing options & high SPL handling

The latest product from sE Electronics is a rugged boundary microphone designed to tackle a wide range of tasks, from kick drum miking through to capturing dialogue at conferences and on stage during live performances.

The BL8 has a half-cardioid polar pattern, and uses the same hand-crafted capsule found in the company’s sE8 small-diaphragm condenser, which is said to offer an excellent transient response thanks to its three-micron diaphragm. Usefully, it is also compatible with the capsule used in the sE8 Omni, allowing users to change the capsule and have the BL8 function as an omnidirectional microphone instead of cardioid.

The BL8 uses the same capsule as the sE8, and is interchangeable with the version used in the sE8 Omni.sE say that they have designed the microphone to reproduce low frequencies as accurately as possible, and its ability to withstand high SPLs make it a great choice for applications such as miking kick drums. This certainly isn’t its only intended use, though, as the BL8 also promises to excel at tasks such as room miking, immersive ambience recording or capturing acoustic pianos.

As well as the default frequency response, there are two optional voicing modes: Classic and Modern, which both offer different mid-range EQ cuts, and switchable -10 and -20 dB pad options are provided along with an 80 or 100 Hz high-pass filter. High quality components are used throughout the design, with transformerless Class-A circuitry offering plenty of headroom with minimal distortion.

Secure mounting brackets can be accessed by removing the microphone’s casing, providing a convenient way to fix it into place in permanent installs, and it is also compatible with The Kelly SHU FLATZ, an isolation mounting solution for fitting microphones inside of a kick drum.