Recording - July 2013 - 14

B Y PA U L V N U K J R .

Sontronics Halo Guitar Cabinet Microphone
A purpose-built dynamic for dramatic guitar recordings
While dynamic mics like Shure’s SM57 and Audix’s
i5 are often thought of as guitar cabinet microphones, they were never designed with just that
application in mind. This month we look at a
microphone that is: The Sontronics Halo.
Sontronics is a British company that marries its own creative designs with overseas
manufacturing, for a lineup of visually and
sonically unique yet affordable microphones. Back in October 2010 we introduced you to the large-diaphragm
Orpheus condenser, as well as the vintageflavored Sigma active ribbon mic—which
still stands as one of my favorites for getting a
thick smoky classic ribbon tone.
Springs, coils and rings
Most Sontronics mics feature a unique styling that is best
described as vintage futuristic retro! In other words, what
someone in the 1930s might have thought a mic in the space
age world of the 2000s would look like. The Halo reminds me
of an old suspended carbon-element announcer mic.
The Halo is a moving-coil dynamic microphone. Its capsule is
housed in a 21/2" long tube with a 2" diameter. This tube is suspended on springs
inside a large 41/2" outer ring that is mounted on a small rectangular body bearing the
Sontronics logo and model name. It has a
fixed threaded mic mount and is dressed in
matte black with a silver head grille on the
front of the mic. It is well built and the
springs and mounting are sturdy and tight.
The Halo uses the same capsule as
Sontronics’ STC-80 handheld mic, but has
been tweaked to capture electric guitar
tones. It is a cardioid-pattern mic with a 50 Hz to 15 kHz frequency
response, a –53 dB (+2 dB) sensitivity, and a <600 ohm impedance.
Looking at its frequency plot, you will notice a slightly rolled-off
low end along with rolled-off highs from 7 kHz on down. Its low
mids through the upper mids (200 Hz to 5 kHz), however, are significantly pronounced, especially in the 2 to 4 kHz range... and I
mean significantly!
Forward ho!
“Forward” and “bold” are how I would best describe the Halo,
and it will push a mid-focused electric guitar tone out front with
ease. I put the Halo to use on a small Marshall tube combo amp
and a tweed-covered Peavey Classic 30 in a variety of music
styles, including clean-toned pop, heavily delayed U2-style singlenote playing, overdriven blues rock, heavy punk, and clean jazz.
The Halo is a loud mic and is perceptively 3–6 dB louder than
both the SM57 and the i5, and as such it also has a quieter noise
floor. It offers a different sound from the usual guitar mic suspects... really different!
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RECORDING July 2013

I admit that because of this, I was not sure that I
liked the Halo’s sound at first. It took some time
to learn how this mic is subject to position
and placement as well as amp settings,
styles and mix context. True, most mics are
all of the above, but I mention this mainly
to point out that the Halo is not a drop-in
replacement for an SM57!
Pop and circumstance
In my working with the mic, I found that
I preferred the mic on-axis, and the closer
I could get to the speaker the better, be it
jammed into the grille or better yet up in the
speaker itself with the grille cover removed. The
Halo has a very tight off-axis cutoff and very little
proximity effect, and I found this position took the best
advantage of each.
Because of its forward clarity, the Halo couples well with
beefy bottom-ended mics like the Cascade Fat Head II
Active/Passive (reviewed September 2012), the new Sandhill
ribbon mic (review forthcoming), or the abovementioned
Sontronics Sigma. It has a fullness and punch that can be easily mixed to taste. I was also surprised at
how much I liked the sound of two Halos
(accomplished in my case through
reamping), one on and the other off axis
to yield a great in-your-face guitar tone
for classic and indie rock.
The Halo takes eq well, either in the
mix or on the amp. I did find myself
boosting a fair amount of lows and low
mids back in, but they were clean and
clear.
Finally, the Halo really is a purposebuilt guitar cab mic and doesn’t take well to many other instruments. However, I did find it useful on percussion like congas,
and I think it makes a fantastic under-snare mic, where it grabs
just the rattle of the wires nicely.
Conclusions
The Halo makes a welcome addition to the world of guitar miking by giving us a new tone and flavor that is markedly different
from the usual old standbys. It’s great to have another Sontronics
mic in my studio, and this one’s a unique experience.
Price: $185
More from: Sontronics, www.sontronics.com; dist. by
Professional Audio Distribution, www.proaudiodistribution.com.
Paul Vnuk Jr. (vnuk@recordingmag.com) is a recording engineer
and producer, live sound engineer, and sound designer working in
Milwaukee.

http://www.sontronics.com http://www.proaudiodistribution.com

Recording - July 2013

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