Recording - April 2017 - 52

Soyuz Microphones
SU-019 FET Condenser Microphone

Handmade Russian mic artistry-now in solid state
REVIEW BY PAUL VNUK JR.

n our 2015 April issue, we looked at a microphone from new Russian company Soyuz ("Union"). This
mic was the large diaphragm SU-017. In the past two years it has made quite an impression on some
of the industry's top producers and engineers, including Nigel Goodrich, Butch Walker, Rik Simpson
and Ryan Hewitt. When we interviewed Sylvia Massy in our January 2017 issue, she was quick to point
out that the the SU-017 was at the top of her list of current favorites.
This month we look at the latest offering from Soyuz, the FET-based SU-019. As we will see below,
it is cut from the same cloth as the SU-017 in construction, quality, and sound.

Made in Russia,
made by hand

While many audio products
are assembled in the USA or
Europe from globally sourced
parts, the number of truly homegrown/local companies is smaller than you think. When the
folks at Soyuz say "Made in
Russia", they mean it!
Located in the city of Tula,
which is well known for its metalwork, Soyuz uses materials and
parts that are sourced, crafted,
and assembled at Soyuz HQ.
These are about as handmade as
it gets in the mic world. This mic
PRICE: $1999
uses the same body capsule and
MORE FROM:
materials as the SU-017, and like
Soyuz Microphones,
its sibling, the SU-019 is thick,
www.soyuzmicrophones.com
heavy, and built strong enough to
last through years of heavy use and studio abuse.
The SU-019 is a large diaphragm FET-style mic. It features
an all-brass body measuring 2.16" in diameter and 5.9" tall.
The center tube is covered in a white baked enamel finish with
a green Soyuz badge. Each end is capped by brass domes
that are individually lathed and coated with a micro-titanium
finish to ward off scratches and patina. (That being said, at
NAMM Soyuz was taking a poll and showing a possible noncoated finish to encourage visible aging... I voted Yes!)
Like its sibling, the SU-019 is a lollipop or bayonet-style mic,
with a 3" tall brass capsule assembly that houses a 34 mm dualdiaphragm cardioid capsule behind a dual layer of brass screening. The capsule is based on a Neumann K67 capsule and is also
made in-house. The screening and enclosure is millimeters from
the capsule itself; you can get up close and personal with this mic.
52

RECORDING April 2017

As a traditional bayonet-style mic, the SU-019 has a detachable
capsule. There will be figure-8 and omni choices in the future that
will also work with Soyuz' other microphones.
One thing that makes both the SU-017 and SU-019 unique
is that the central tube of the body as well as the size and
distance of the capsule adhere to the Golden Ratio (1 to
1.618) which reduces the buildup of resonances through the
mic. It also helps that the 2 lb. bodies are thick brass! These
are some of the least resonant mics I have used, with only a
dull "thuck" when tapped with a key or finger.
Inside, the mic is an old-school work of art. Rather than the usual
sideways circuit board and long frame bracing, the SU-019 uses
what Soyuz calls a stacked disc system, similar to the stages of a
rocket. There are no traditional printed circuit boards inside; instead,
there are a pair of hand-lathed polycarbonate discs stacked upon
internal brass bracing. Brass pins are forced through pre-drilled holes
in each disc, and wires, capacitors and other electronic components
are attached to these posts via a wire wrap process rather than traditional soldering methods. Lastly the SU-019 uses an in-house handwound toroidal transformer, with its casing made on a Soviet-era
lathe and its core custom-ordered from the Ural Mountains region.
The mic comes with a custom shockmount in a handmade feltlined wood box. Both shockmount and box are made in Tula as
well. If it sounds like I am obsessing over the details of the build,
I absolutely am... because Soyuz absolutely does!
Finally, a few specs: the SU-019 is a cardioid mic (with
optional omni and figure-8 capsules on the way) with a 20 Hz-20
kHz frequency range, 15 mV/Pa sensitivity, 200Ω impedance,
maximum SPL of 140 dB, and 18 dBA equivalent noise.

The sound of Soyuz

In use this mic has a sonic signature reminiscent of its tubebased comrade, especially when it comes to focus, rolloff and
proximity. By contrast, it is less upper-mid forward and more
neutral across the spectrum than the SU-017, with only a gentle
1-2 dB rise around 5 kHz and again at 12 kHz.

http://www.soyuzmicrophones.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recording - April 2017