Recording - February 2017 - 42

Chandler EMI Type REDD

That's creepy.

I mean obviously it was on a close vocal, not like five feet away or anything.
But I think that part of that has to do
with the close proximity of the capsule
directly to the amplification.

Another Chat With
Chandler Limited's

Wade Goeke
So, when did you first decide to
build a microphone and why?

Wade Goeke: Well, to me there has
always been a mystique about microphones, a voodoo, more so than most
other gear. It's something I've always
had at the back of my mind to do.

Do you have a history building or
repairing mics?

I've fixed and repaired my own for
years, but about six years ago was when
I started experimenting with building my
own. Actually I started experimenting
with the mic and the preamp combination
idea right at the beginning.

Are there benefits that you've
found in having the mic and the
preamp together?

Sonically the transmission is really pure,
it feels like you're getting really close to
the source. The mic itself is super-sensitive.
In one of my sessions with Kristin Sullivan,
I had her stand still and be quiet for a
few seconds so I could hear the noise
floor of the mic, and while she was
standing still I could actually hear her
blink through the mic.

Blink?

Blink. I could hear her eyelids move.

42

RECORDING FEBRUARY 2017

This seems like one of those ideas
you'd think that somebody else
would have come up with this in the
last 100-plus years of mic design.
Why do you think you're the first
person to do it?

I don't really know, it seems like an obvious progression. I mean, mics became
solid-state with smaller power circuits,
smaller voltages, smaller current, until they
got down to one FET transistor buffering
the capsule and that's all. I guess this is a
reverse progression of that.

What were some of the challenges
that you had to overcome?

Obviously, thinking of how the whole
circuit was going to fit in was a big part,
and the capsule choice. I tried every
capsule under the sun and we ended
up going with a custom capsule in the
end that met my needs more than any
pre-existing CK12 or K47.

Did you learn anything unexpected?

Yes: microphone circuits are very specific
and overly sensitive. You breathe on them
differently from one day to the next, and the
circuit sounds different. I don't mean from a
performance point of view, but how you set
up the capsule and the circuit matters more
than anything I've ever come across, and
that's what I loved about it.

So the REDD.47 preamp is two rack
spaces... how did you fit it into a mic?

Well, it is different because it's a microphone, but the basis of the circuitry is the
REDD preamp. I started with that circuit
and I built the microphone around it. So
there are no shortcuts, no weirdness, and
no gimmicks going on; we're not trying
to pull the wool over anyone's eyes; they
do have physical differences.

You're the only person that can
answer this: if you were to take
your mic without the built-in REDD
preamp and plug it into one of
your REDD rack pres, would you
be getting the same sound?

It's more complex than that. I think it's
easy to overthink something like this. You
can't really think of them apart from one
another. It's all meant to function together and sound the way it's been designed
to sound as one thing.

Let's talk about the capsule. Is it
based on a CK12-style capsule, a
47-style capsule, an M7...?

It's not meant to reproduce any of those.
I think that people have just gotten into the
frame of mind that there are only so many
capsules available. When I first started
out, I tried all of the usual suspects. I started
with two vintage K47 capsules, as well as
a vintage CK12 and a vintage M7. Then
I started buying as many remake capsules
as I could. For a long time I used an M7,
but it just wasn't doing it for me. I used
a CK12 in a number of versions-that
wasn't doing it for me, either. So I decided
on designing my own capsule.

You let me hear one of your CK12
prototypes... I think you made the
right choice!

Thanks! That's also why I chose the
platinum diaphragm. It has a smoothness
that I really like. It's meant to be a pretty
thick-sounding mic, but also maintain a
brightness in presence.

I was shocked that the capsules
alone are $500 each!

Well, it's European and it's handmade.
We have forty-some capsules sitting waiting
to go into our next batch of mics. That's like
$25,000 sitting there in this little bitty box.

You mentioned the European
capsule and I know you guys make
the mics by hand at Chandler HQ.
Are the parts sourced locally?

Yeah, as much as possible. The bell
is machined fifteen minutes from our
town and it is a specific design I did
to surround the XLR connector. It cost
several thousand dollars just to have a
guy do drawings, work with me on the
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recording - February 2017
