sE Electronics sE2200a II C
I got this mic in 2013 as part of a package deal during Sweetwater’s Mic Month. Looking to fill in my lunchbox I purchased an RND 511 500 series preamp and this mic came with it, essentially free. It’s bounced around on sessions and gigs; on Sierra Hull’s mandolin, on Nathan Salsberg’s guitar, and early on pointed up into the rafters of a cathedral for reverb on a choral recording. It always sounded good, but never found a niche in my workflow in any environment.
Then, a year ago, Fred Knittel (host extraordinaire at Folkadelphia) moved out of the City of Brotherly Love to take a job at Smithsonian Folkways. The only problem was the WXPN studios are a 137 mile drive from the offices and archives at Folkways. A mobile recording setup was rushed together. We got the Focusrite Scarlett Solo; stands, cables, what-have-you. But we took pause at choosing a mic. There’re a whole host of new broadcasting mics beyond the classics (XPN uses the RE20), on top of a host of “vocal” mics and LDCs (NPR famously employs U87s). So we went into the studio and set up an RE20, SM7, 103, 57, my modded MXL, and the sE2200a II C.
Since we’re reviewing the sE you can probably guess what happened. It just worked. It fits the niche. When I listen in on the show now, I often think “damn that sounds good” at each vocal break. After almost a year of recording the show with the sE, we had a guest host do the show from WXPN and the difference was night and day. Now another mic month is upon us, and we’re getting Fred his own sE, with the shock mount/pop filter combo (a feature that makes this mic stupid easy to setup and move), and looking into the sE Reflexion Space (with strong contention from the Aston Halo). In the end the sE2200a II C may not be the dream mic for recording Fred’s show, and maybe not your dream mic, but it’s a damn fine mic at a damn good price point. So if you don’t have a huge budget, and you’re looking for a mic for home studio work, voice overs, podcasting, or if you find your recording sessions short on LDCs, give this mic a look/listen, it just might fill that niche.
sE Electronics sE220a II C, $249 street
