Recording - October 2010 - 72

Earlier this summer, I had an opportunity to go to Shanghai and check out the sE Electronics factory in a guided tour. It was an enlightening visit and gave me a lot to think about in today’s world of “audio gear from China” and everything that implies. There was a lot to see and discuss, and I plan to write quite a bit more about it in my blog on the Recording website, but for this Fade Out I’d like to focus on one particular image from my trip that is indelibly stamped in my memory: our visit to the Clean Room where sE’s microphone capsules are assembled. Check out the photos and follow along as I explain the process, which goes something like this. Each microphone’s diaphragm is hand-tensioned (1); a technician stretches Mylar film across the frame and secures it, tweaking it by hand for the most even possible tension. Tensioned diaphragms are then sent outside the factory for sputtering to deposit the microscopic layer of gold that lets the diaphragm operate as part of a capacitor (condenser); when they’re returned to the Clean Room (2), they are tested one by one on a light box (3) to look for flaws in the sputtering that will compromise sound quality.

Editorial by Mike Metlay

Thoughts From The sE Clean Room
After that stage, the diaphragms are tuned by hand to set up the resonances that give them their sonic character, using a speaker playing swept sinewaves generated by precision signal-generating equipment (4). Then they’re assembled into completed capsules (5), and tested yet again before they leave the clean room. The entire process, from beginning to end, is done one capsule at a time by a series of technicians; there’s no assembly line, no automated machinery at all. In fact, almost everything the company sells is made in house by hand, from handstuffed circuit boards to hand-welded shock mounts and capsule heads machined from solid pieces of brass on CNC milling machines. This struck me as remarkable for a factory intended to create highly affordable products. But upon further reflection, it really started to make sense. After all, this is China we’re talking about; while there can be issues with certain resources (see Scott Dorsey’s Fade Out “The China Syndrome” about difficulties in tracking the provenance of construction materials in our March 2009 issue), one thing the country doesn’t lack is a labor force. In an economy where labor is cheap, it becomes possible to train and place skilled laborers and produce an affordable product by hand; sE’s fabrication process harks back to the grand old days of the early mic manufacturers in Europe. When I mentioned my findings to Scott Dorsey, whose fascination with mic design and construction is well known to our readers, he commented, “They are building mics the way Neumann was building them fifty years ago, and that’s not a bad thing, although it’s not the way Neumann is building mics today.” Scott pointed out that, for example, while it’s certainly possible to make fantastic mics by hand-tensioning diaphragms, modern automated processes will produce more consistency from mic to mic. Ultimately, though, the question everyone should ask is: does this manufacturing process result in a microphone that is both affordable and sonically superior? The only way for us to truly answer that question is through our review process; as quick examples, you can find reviews of sE’s sE2200A and GM10 microphones in our January 2009 and May 2009 issues. In closing, I’d like to take a moment to remember Mitchell Carey, sE’s Director of Worldwide Marketing, who passed away very suddenly as this editorial was going to press. Mitch was one of my favorite people in this business, and I am simultaneously saddened to think I’ll never see him again and blessed to realize we’d had the chance of a lifetime to get to know one another better while in China.

1

2

5

3

4
72
RECORDING OCTOBER 2010

Mike Metlay (mike@recordingmag.com) is the Associate Editor of Recording. Photographs by Julia and Alexandra Metlay.



Recording - October 2010

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recording - October 2010

Recording - October 2010
Fade In
Contents
Talkback
Fast Forward
Cakewalk V-Studio 20
Abbey Road Sessions—Good Reasons To Be Prepared
AKG Perception 820 Tube Microphone
A Basement Conversion—The Borla/Mouse Basement Studio
DAW Details
SM Pro Audio P-Control, DiDock, and CT-3
Green Glue
Alesis PalmTrack
It’s Your Music—Know Your Rights. Chapter 7: Income Earned By Songs—Part 2
Reviewed and Revisited
Plug-In Outlet
Do It Yourself: Rack Panels For Under Four Dollars
Cockos REAPER—A Walking Tour
Recording’s Showcase of Sounds
Readers' Tapes
Advertiser Index
Fade Out
Recording - October 2010 - Recording - October 2010
Recording - October 2010 - Cover2
Recording - October 2010 - 1
Recording - October 2010 - Fade In
Recording - October 2010 - 3
Recording - October 2010 - Contents
Recording - October 2010 - 5
Recording - October 2010 - Talkback
Recording - October 2010 - 7
Recording - October 2010 - Fast Forward
Recording - October 2010 - 9
Recording - October 2010 - Cakewalk V-Studio 20
Recording - October 2010 - 11
Recording - October 2010 - 12
Recording - October 2010 - 13
Recording - October 2010 - Abbey Road Sessions—Good Reasons To Be Prepared
Recording - October 2010 - 15
Recording - October 2010 - 16
Recording - October 2010 - 17
Recording - October 2010 - 18
Recording - October 2010 - 19
Recording - October 2010 - 20
Recording - October 2010 - 21
Recording - October 2010 - AKG Perception 820 Tube Microphone
Recording - October 2010 - 23
Recording - October 2010 - A Basement Conversion—The Borla/Mouse Basement Studio
Recording - October 2010 - 25
Recording - October 2010 - 26
Recording - October 2010 - 27
Recording - October 2010 - DAW Details
Recording - October 2010 - 29
Recording - October 2010 - 30
Recording - October 2010 - 31
Recording - October 2010 - SM Pro Audio P-Control, DiDock, and CT-3
Recording - October 2010 - 33
Recording - October 2010 - Green Glue
Recording - October 2010 - 35
Recording - October 2010 - Alesis PalmTrack
Recording - October 2010 - 37
Recording - October 2010 - It’s Your Music—Know Your Rights. Chapter 7: Income Earned By Songs—Part 2
Recording - October 2010 - 39
Recording - October 2010 - 40
Recording - October 2010 - 41
Recording - October 2010 - Reviewed and Revisited
Recording - October 2010 - 43
Recording - October 2010 - Plug-In Outlet
Recording - October 2010 - 45
Recording - October 2010 - 46
Recording - October 2010 - 47
Recording - October 2010 - Do It Yourself: Rack Panels For Under Four Dollars
Recording - October 2010 - 49
Recording - October 2010 - 50
Recording - October 2010 - 51
Recording - October 2010 - 52
Recording - October 2010 - 53
Recording - October 2010 - 54
Recording - October 2010 - 55
Recording - October 2010 - Cockos REAPER—A Walking Tour
Recording - October 2010 - 57
Recording - October 2010 - 58
Recording - October 2010 - 59
Recording - October 2010 - 60
Recording - October 2010 - 61
Recording - October 2010 - Recording’s Showcase of Sounds
Recording - October 2010 - 63
Recording - October 2010 - Readers' Tapes
Recording - October 2010 - Advertiser Index
Recording - October 2010 - 66
Recording - October 2010 - 67
Recording - October 2010 - 68
Recording - October 2010 - 69
Recording - October 2010 - 70
Recording - October 2010 - 71
Recording - October 2010 - Fade Out
Recording - October 2010 - Cover3
Recording - October 2010 - Cover4
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