sE8

The sE8 is a hand-crafted small-diaphragm true condenser built for the sources that expose a mic's weaknesses fastest: hi-hats, cymbals and drum overheads, plus acoustic guitar, piano, choir, orchestral strings, woodwinds and percussion.

Two numbers explain why it holds up there. Self-noise sits at 13 dB, among the quietest in the small-capsule class, so soft acoustic passages stay clean at high preamp gain. Max SPL reaches 159 dB with the -20 dB pad, giving it the widest dynamic range and SPL handling in its class, which means a hard-hit cymbal inches away does not push the capsule into distortion.

The hand-made 1/2" true condenser capsule uses a sophisticated backplate design that keeps response balanced rather than hyped in the top end, so cymbals sound like cymbals instead of thin and brittle. Integrated 80 and 160 Hz low-cut filters and -10 / -20 dB pads let you shape the signal before it reaches the preamp.

The body is all metal, 23 mm across and 120 mm long at 141 g, small enough to fit between cymbals and toms. It also accepts the sE8 omni capsule (sold separately) when a session calls for open room capture. Mic clip with thread adapter and wind screen are included.