DISC Sontronics Helios Valve Condenser Mic

Full Description

If you're looking for a microphone that captures its subjects accurately, with a complete low-end response and a smooth, beautifully detailed high-end presence, then the HELIOS is for you. This precision allows you to transparently position your subject within a mix, without having to resort to heaps of EQ and dynamics processing to do the job for you.

In Sontronics' laboratories, they (being their clever development techs) spent many hours working with some very famous vintage microphones in order to understand what makes them sound so nice. As a result of this research, the gain structure and frequency response of the HELIOS has been engineered to closely simulate these characteristics, without adding unnecessary noise or colouration to the sound.

The SPS-1 power supply has a variable pattern control allowing a smooth transition from OMNI to Figure 8 pattern, and anything in-between. Allied to this are switches for a low-cut filter and -10dB pad, making the HELIOS one of the most flexible microphones available in any class. Sontronics have even added a TUBE READY light - in cool blue - to let you know when you can start working.

Again, they felt that this microphone should have a special name, something with relevance like the ORPHEUS. Greek mythology heralds HELIOS as the god of the sun, bringing light and warmth to the earth. Sontronic think that this fits the personality of this microphone perfectly.

The microphone is supplied in a luxury wooden box and, together with its power supply and cables. It is also protected by a high quality aluminium flight case.

Press Reviews

"I love the way it captures and translates a singer's emotion, even in the midst of a raging guitar track."

Alain Johannes, Producer/Engineer

Features/Specifications

• Response: 20Hz - 20kHz
• Sensitivity: 20mV/Pa - 32dB + 2dB (0dB = 1V/Pa @ 1,000Hz)
• Polar Pattern: Variable, sweeps from omni to figure-of-eight
• Pad: -10dB
• Filter: 75Hz
• Impedance ≤ 200 Ohms
• Equivalent Noise Level: 18dB (A-weighted)
• Max SPL (for 0.5% THD @ 1,000Hz): 125dB
• Power Supply: SPS-1 - 115/230V
• Connector: Mic=8-pin connector, Power supply = 3-pin XLR-M

Now Includes: EZ Drummer Lite:

EZdrummer Lite is the stripped down version of the multi-microphone drum-sampler EZdrummer. It is designed for musicians and producers in need of a compact, affordable, easy to handle plug-in without compromising sound quality or control.

The visualized drums in the interface combine auditioning of sounds and drumkit construction. The extensive drag and drop midi-library enables users to create a great drumtrack in less than five mouse-clicks. For more advanced handling, users can control microphone bleeding and levels between drums using the internal mixer. The mixer also allows stereo and multitrack routing into the host through one single plug-in, and thanks to the second generation Toontrack Percussive Compression (TPC), system requirements are kept to a minimum. The drums for EZdrummer Lite were recorded, produced and played by the best in the business at Avatar Studios in New York.