Sontronics Saturn 2

Sontronics’ unmistakeable Saturn is back — with digital pattern control to complement its vintage looks.

Sontronics’ original Saturn was reviewed way back in SOS October 2010, when Paul White found much to like about this distinctive, retro‑looking large‑diaphragm capacitor microphone. Despite it being a very successful product, Sontronics made the difficult decision to officially discontinue the mic in 2015, as a key component of the circuitry was no longer available or easily replaceable. The microphone was close to designer and Sontronics founder Trevor Coley’s heart, so it was always the plan to re‑release the Saturn at some point. A new version was seemingly set for release just before the pandemic struck in 2020, which put their plans on hold. Finally, nearly a decade after the original Saturn was discontinued, the Saturn 2 is now available, and I was very much looking forward to putting it through its paces in my studio.

Polar Exploration

The Saturn 2 is hand‑built in the UK, and comes with a reassuring lifetime guarantee. Sontronics’ aim with this new version was to preserve the character of the original Saturn, whilst seeking to enhance it wherever possible. As such, the sonic nature of the capsule remains broadly the same, with the headline change being the new digitally controlled internal electronics — which, Sontronics explain, have been painstakingly engineered to provide extremely close control over the voltages sent to both sides of the capsule. These accurate voltage adjustments allow precise adjustment of the polar pattern, and whereas the original offered a choice of cardioid, subcardioid, hypercardioid, omni and figure‑8, this new version includes four additional patterns that sit between the five main options. With a total of nine polar patterns to choose from, the Saturn 2 should more than satisfy engineers who like to dig deep into really fine‑tuning their mic’s directional response.

Another key benefit of the new digitally controlled design is the consistency with which the mics perform. Different Saturn 2s are precisely matched out of the box, which is obviously important for anyone planning to use multiple mics in stereo or immersive arrays.

First Impressions

It’s perhaps important to point out that I have never used the original Saturn, so my review will be very much about assessing this new release on its own merits! Like other Sontronics mics I’ve encountered, the Saturn 2 comes in a large, velvet‑lined briefcase. This feels a little over the top for a studio mic, but I’m very much OK with that, especially since many other mics now seem to ship in nothing more than a flimsy cardboard box. The mic itself is just as visually striking as its lavish case, and I was struck by just how large the cylindrical frame that supports the suspended capsule is. The design is undoubtedly vintage‑looking, but it also feels modern and utilitarian at the same time — it looks good to me, and a number of clients who came through the studio thought the same.

I’m the owner of a pair of Sontronics Sigma ribbon mics, and although they get used a great deal, you will often hear me grumbling every time I have to put them in and take them out of their mounts. The new version of the Saturn features the same mounting system, and whilst it works perfectly once in place, it takes a frustratingly long time to screw the mic into the mount in a busy session.

As well as the plethora of polar pattern options, which we’ll look at in a moment, the mic features two easily accessible high‑pass filter settings — 75Hz and 120Hz — and the option to pad the output signal by either 10dB or 20dB.

Smooth Cymbals

One of my favourite techniques for recording drums at the moment is to have a spaced pair of ribbon mics covering the left and right sides of the kit, combined with a capacitor mic acting as a ‘mid overhead’ to capture more of the upper mids of the snare and toms. This seemed like a good place to start with the Saturn 2, and I positioned the mic so that it was above the drummer’s head, but safely out of the range of his sticks! I was immediately impressed with how smooth the top end of the cymbals sounded, and I also took advantage of the hypercardioid polar pattern option to focus the sound more on the snare drum. The digital switching between polar patterns felt very smooth and intuitive in use, but I should point out that the mic always defaults back to cardioid when phantom power is switched off and then on again. This particular drum session took place over two days — with all the mics left in situ overnight — and I forgot to reset my chosen polar pattern on day two! Staying briefly on the drum theme, I liked how the Saturn 2 sounded as both an overhead and mono room mic in my live room over a few different sessions; I always had a sense of a subtle high‑end roll‑off, which worked superbly for keeping cymbals sounding smooth and contained.

It sounded perfect for this singer’s voice, with a lovely, open, detailed sound that literally made the hairs on my neck stand up.

Singers & Guitars

My next session was with a folk singer who always wants to record playing her acoustic guitar and sing at the same time. I like to use two mics in figure‑8 in this setting, with each mic’s nulls pointing towards the opposite source, to get some isolation and control over the voice and guitar. Starting with the Saturn 2 on vocals, it sounded perfect for this singer’s voice, with a lovely, open, detailed sound that literally made the hairs on my neck stand up. Suitably encouraged, I experimented with seeing how close I could get the mic on one of the quieter songs in the session, and I found myself using the 125Hz cut to filter out the enhanced proximity effect you get in figure‑8. It worked superbly, capturing an intimate vocal performance.

As an experiment towards the end of the session, I asked the singer if she wouldn’t mind doing a quick take with the mics reversed. On a fingerpicked guitar part, you could hear a slight presence peak on the Saturn 2 — at around 7kHz, to my ears. Comparing the Saturn to a mic I know very well indeed was helpful to me and, generally, the Saturn came across as pushing forward the upper midrange presence of a source slightly — which was either good or bad, depending on what was in front of it. Another thing I noted was that the Saturn 2 needed dramatically less gain than my vintage U87, and was extremely quiet even when I cranked the preamp as loud as I dared.

A True All‑Rounder?

The Saturn 2 is billed as a high‑quality studio mic that will be at home in many different settings. Due to its physical size, it isn’t going to be a snare drum mic, but I observed nothing that would contradict that claim otherwise: it got heavy use in my studio on piano, drums, various acoustic guitars, vocals and even a voiceover session. As I mentioned earlier, I was often aware of the subtle presence peak, but for the most part, it felt like it presented what was in front of it in a neutral but ever so slightly flattering way — due in part to the pleasing sense of the very high‑end frequencies sounding rolled off. I’m not an engineer who gets overly fussy with polar patterns, but with the switching being so easy (I often got an artist to change the pattern for me!), I found myself playing with subtle changes in patterns, and I especially liked nudging around between the omni and cardioid options when recording acoustic guitars. I imagine that over time I could get even more involved with the options, and I also found myself using the high‑pass filter settings more than I do on some other mics.

Sontonics’ higher‑end mics have always done well, offering up a credible alternative to many of the well‑known vintage mic options. You get a great‑sounding, British‑made mic that is quiet, has a healthy output level and won’t misbehave mid‑session or need regular servicing. This has certainly been my experience of the Sontronics mics I have owned, and it’s true for the Saturn 2. This does face some stiff competition in this price range, but I found it to be a great‑sounding, flexible addition to my studio mic collection that helped me make some memorable recordings during the review period.