Recording - December 2020 - 60

REVIEW

TechZone Audio
Products Stellar
X2/X2 Vintage
LDC Microphones
Solid-sounding modern and vintage
flavors at a great price
REVIEW BY ALEX HAWLEY

echZone Audio Products is a small company based in Torrance, California. The Stellar X2 and Stellar X2 Vintage are its debut products-
two fixed cardioid LDCs. While there are many similarities between
the two microphones, the tone of each is unique. The Stellar X2 features a
K67-style capsule, drawing inspiration from Neumann U 87 and U 67 designs. The capsule inside the Stellar X2 Vintage is based on a K47, pulling
inspiration from the Neumann U 47. The result? Read on...

Overview

Aesthetically, the two microphones are
identical aside from grill color (black for
X2, gray for X2 Vintage). I was surprised
by the microphone's size-it's a bit smaller than what might be considered typical
of an LDC, at six inches long and 1.725
inches wide, but feels solidly constructed
nonetheless. The body is made of highgrade iron and is finished in a sleek powder-coated black. Each mic ships with an
aluminum flight case, spring shock mount,
foam wind screen, and a leather pouch. I
found the shock mount to work quite well;
it offers a secure fit and is easy to use.
The only unpleasant experience I had
during the unboxing was being greeted
with an awful smell when opening both
flight cases. Not sure precisely where
the aroma originates from, but it smells
strongly of epoxy. Getting past that, I'm
appreciative of all the included accessories, especially given the price tag.
Both mics feature a custom-made transformerless JFET circuit with high-tolerance
60 RECORDING December 2020

German film capacitors and gold traces on the PCB for better conductivity.
Both capsules are center-terminated,
34mm gold-sputtered brass, made with
Japanese Mylar three microns thick to
provide high sensitivity. Unlike many
other Chinese-made K67-style capsules,
TZ employs high-frequency attenuation
in the design to avoid an overly bright
response, thus maintaining a balanced
and natural top end. The self noise is
also respectably low for both models,
measuring 10dB for the Stellar X2 Vintage and 13dB for the Stellar X2.
The Stellar X2 has a listed frequency
range of 20 Hz - 20 kHz (+/- 1.5dB),
with a high frequency rolloff hitting -6dB
at around 20 kHz. The chart shows a
very balanced response, with a 2-4 kHz
bump followed by a slight attenuation
from 5 kHz to 7 kHz, and then another
bump at around 10 kHz. It rolls off gently beyond 12 kHz.
The frequency response of the Stellar
X2 Vintage is also listed as 20 Hz-20 kHz,

with a more pronounced bump starting
around 2 kHz and extending through
7kHz (peaking at around +4dB @ 4
kHz). The vintage model sees a more
rapid drop off beyond 10 kHz, ending
up at around -10dB at 20 kHz.
TZ Audio Products does a fair amount
of quality control testing as well, including a 14-hour burn-in, frequency sweep
test in an anechoic chamber, noise floor
test, visual inspection, and more.

In Use

I tried both microphones on various
sources and generally found that they
both shine in different roles. I found the
Stellar X2 to be somewhat of a utility microphone, sounding good on a broader
range of sources as it's more evenly balanced and imparts less character. Of the
many sources I put in front of it, the standout was vocals. It's uniquely voiced so that
it doesn't get too sibilant, but it still has a
lovely sheen and openness to the top end.
That can be a hard line to walk, and I don't
expect it to be the case for every voice
(sibilance ranges can vary quite a bit from

Recording - December 2020

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