Recording - January 2020 - 22

REVIEW

Soyuz 023 Bomblet
Workhorse FET

Condenser Microphone
This affordable Russian made FET condenser displays
an open, natural sound perfect for a variety of sources
REVIEW BY ALEX HAWLEY

S

oyuz headquarters, fondly referred to as 'The Base' is located two
hours south of Moscow in the city of Tula. It is here that Soyuz microphones are hand built by engineers and master machinists. The
city of Tula has a long history of metalworking dating back to the 1700s.
Virtually 100% of all Soyuz production is done in-house: capsule fabrication, power supply manufacturing, and even the transformer winding and
assembly processes. The company was founded in 2013 by American
musician David Arthur Brown and Russian businessman Pavel Bazdyrev.
Soyuz is a Russian word for 'union'.
There are currently six products offered on the Soyuz website. The
Soyuz line comprises a growing assortment of large and small diaphragm mic choices with both tube and solid-state versions found in both
the 017 Series (large diaphragm) and 013 Series (small diaphragm). I
got my hands on a new pair of Bomblet LDCs to try out...

Overview

The Bomblet is a FET-based large diaphragm condenser microphone with a
fixed cardioid polar pattern. It's housed
in a vintage-looking, bottle-shaped body
made of polished metal. It comes with
an external (more below) -20dB pad
and a mounting ring, and the works is
housed in a magnetized solid oak box
lined with form-fitting foam. There's also
a deluxe edition which adds a custom
hand-made shock mount and a classy
wooden suitcase.
The mounting ring is screwed to the
bottom of the body and accomplishes the
task of securely holding the microphone
in place. However, it can be rather unforgiving if it gets bumped or moved while
the mic is hot-this is where having the
deluxe edition shock mount would be
handy. The pad is included as a separate
22 RECORDING January 2020

component, and installed by unscrewing
the capsule from the body and inserting
the pad component inside the mic. Both
mount and pad seem to be cost-saving
measures-the Bomblet is intended to be
a more cost-effective model than its SU017 FET sibling. Detailed documentation
is provided, including a picture and signatures of the individuals who built and
tested the mic. I must admit, this adds a
nice human touch-to be able to actually
see who personally built my microphone!
At the heart of the Bomblet lies a custom S23 capsule, which uses two 33mm
membranes, one of which is gold sputtered. The S23 features a triple backplate
design inspired by the LOMO 19A19
mic, which in turn was based on the legendary AKG CK12 brass ring capsule.
Soyuz further developed its unique triple
backplate S23 design with proprietary

circuitry and a custom made toroidal output transformer. One other thing to note
is that Bomblet electronics are mounted
to a PCB; the more expensive 017 Series
features point-to-point wiring.
Bomblet frequency response covers
30Hz to 18kHz on a fairly flat curve,
aside from a bump at around 10kHz,
a gentle dip from 100hz - 500Hz, and
then another slight bump at around
60Hz. It has a sensitivity of 25 mV/PA,
an impedance of 190 ohms, and an
equivalent noise of 18dB.

Sounds

Bomblet delivers a smooth, rich sound,
with a full-bodied midrange and an open
top end. The bottom end is present and
punchy and far from being muddy or
boomy. I'd say the sonic character is
ever so slightly skewed toward a subtle,



Recording - January 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recording - January 2020

No label
Fade In
Fast Forward: 2019 AES New York Report
iZotope Ozone 9 Advanced
Toontrack Decades SDX
Fluid Audio FX80 Coaxial Monitors
Soyuz 023 Bomblet Workhorse FET Condenser Microphone
Dave Schoepke: Recording Drums On Low at Home
Plugin Outlet: Sonnox Oxford Drum Gate
Heritage Audio Successor Stereo Bus Compressor
Creative Drum Tuning and Treatments for the Studio
IK Multimedia MODO Drum
Plugin Outlet: FabFilter EQ-3
It’s A Small World After All: Remote Collaboration
Plugin Outlet: Baby Audio I Heart NY Parallel Compressor
Tyler Bates: Soundtrack Scoring and Recording
Readers' Tracks
T.H.E. HILBE Mo 67 MELCOR Mic Pre
Extinct Audio BM9 Viking and Black Ops Studio Ribbon Microphones
Fade Out
Recording - January 2020 - No label
Recording - January 2020 - Cover1
Recording - January 2020 - Cover2
Recording - January 2020 - 1
Recording - January 2020 - 2
Recording - January 2020 - 3
Recording - January 2020 - Fade In
Recording - January 2020 - 5
Recording - January 2020 - 6
Recording - January 2020 - 7
Recording - January 2020 - Fast Forward: 2019 AES New York Report
Recording - January 2020 - 9
Recording - January 2020 - 10
Recording - January 2020 - 11
Recording - January 2020 - iZotope Ozone 9 Advanced
Recording - January 2020 - 13
Recording - January 2020 - 14
Recording - January 2020 - 15
Recording - January 2020 - 16
Recording - January 2020 - 17
Recording - January 2020 - Toontrack Decades SDX
Recording - January 2020 - 19
Recording - January 2020 - Fluid Audio FX80 Coaxial Monitors
Recording - January 2020 - 21
Recording - January 2020 - Soyuz 023 Bomblet Workhorse FET Condenser Microphone
Recording - January 2020 - 23
Recording - January 2020 - Dave Schoepke: Recording Drums On Low at Home
Recording - January 2020 - 25
Recording - January 2020 - 26
Recording - January 2020 - 27
Recording - January 2020 - 28
Recording - January 2020 - 29
Recording - January 2020 - Plugin Outlet: Sonnox Oxford Drum Gate
Recording - January 2020 - 31
Recording - January 2020 - Heritage Audio Successor Stereo Bus Compressor
Recording - January 2020 - 33
Recording - January 2020 - Creative Drum Tuning and Treatments for the Studio
Recording - January 2020 - 35
Recording - January 2020 - 36
Recording - January 2020 - 37
Recording - January 2020 - IK Multimedia MODO Drum
Recording - January 2020 - 39
Recording - January 2020 - Plugin Outlet: FabFilter EQ-3
Recording - January 2020 - 41
Recording - January 2020 - It’s A Small World After All: Remote Collaboration
Recording - January 2020 - 43
Recording - January 2020 - 44
Recording - January 2020 - 45
Recording - January 2020 - 46
Recording - January 2020 - 47
Recording - January 2020 - Plugin Outlet: Baby Audio I Heart NY Parallel Compressor
Recording - January 2020 - 49
Recording - January 2020 - Tyler Bates: Soundtrack Scoring and Recording
Recording - January 2020 - 51
Recording - January 2020 - 52
Recording - January 2020 - 53
Recording - January 2020 - 54
Recording - January 2020 - 55
Recording - January 2020 - 56
Recording - January 2020 - 57
Recording - January 2020 - Readers' Tracks
Recording - January 2020 - 59
Recording - January 2020 - 60
Recording - January 2020 - 61
Recording - January 2020 - 62
Recording - January 2020 - 63
Recording - January 2020 - 64
Recording - January 2020 - 65
Recording - January 2020 - T.H.E. HILBE Mo 67 MELCOR Mic Pre
Recording - January 2020 - 67
Recording - January 2020 - 68
Recording - January 2020 - 69
Recording - January 2020 - Extinct Audio BM9 Viking and Black Ops Studio Ribbon Microphones
Recording - January 2020 - 71
Recording - January 2020 - Fade Out
Recording - January 2020 - Cover3
Recording - January 2020 - Cover4
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