The Sontronics Orpheus offers a unique take on condenser mics with a three-position, -10dB/+10dB cut and boost switch, 3 polar patterns, and eye-catching design.
While there are microphones do an excellent job on a number of sources, some will excel on a given function, which pretty much sums up the Sontronics Orpheus-a must-have for practically any studio or live application, which many users call the best room mic they've ever heard. If that doesn’t sound like a big enough deal to you, keep in mind that many producers and engineers, including Chris Lord Alge, depend on room mics as a crucial component of their drums and other instruments. The Orpheus features extremely low self-noise, lively presence, and defined clarity, especially in the higher frequencies, allows you to record the subtlest instruments or voices without the need to edit afterward. Sontronics spent a lot of time and effort honing the Orpheus body as well as its capsule and electronics, to ensure that it could be hugely flexible for studio work as well as live recording.
Sontronics Orpheus-Just the Facts:
- Condenser mic with 3 polar patterns: cardioid, omni, figure-eight
- Clean, clear, open sound
- Super-defined in high frequencies
- -10dB pad with unique 10dB boost
- A favorite with voiceover artists
- Comes with a lifetime warranty
Sontronics Orpheus-Behind the Grille
The Sontronics Orpheus has a highly compliant, 35mm dual-diaphragm capsule suspended in its own special mount. The diaphragm virtually floats in a large, spherical basket, which allows Orpheus to soak up every detail of the space you’re recording in. Orpheus’ body is cast from zinc alloy, which gives a very low resonance, helping to keep signal capture tight and accurate.
Since Orpheus was introduced (it formed part of Sontronics' initial range of mics for Sontronics launch back in 2005), it has become a favorite with live sound engineers for drum overheads (when used in pairs) and has also become extremely popular in the voiceover community, thanks to the fact that it delivers crisp, classy results on male and female spoken word.
Sontronics Orpheus is ships in a luxury, velvet-lined wooden box and comes with a special angled mount adaptor, giving you plenty of flexibility, whether onstage, in a vocal booth, or in the studio. Like all Sontronics mics, Orpheus is protected by a lifetime warranty.
Sontronics Orpheus applications
Three polar patterns also mean that Orpheus is fantastically versatile when it comes to recording groups and ensembles (in omni mode), for use in mid-side and other experimental applications (in figure-eight mode) or even for Foley and sound effects work.
Recommended uses:
- Acoustic guitar
- Guitar amps (especially when used in tandem with a ribbon mic)
- Vocals, voiceover, broadcast
- Choir and backing vocals
- Piano
- Solo and ensemble strings
- Percussion and drum overheads, live or in the studio (especially in pairs)
- Room and ambient recording
- Foley and sound effects
What the pros are saying about the Sontronics Orpheus
“It never fails to deliver-whatever it’s being used on!” - Will Jackson, producer-engineer (Kaiser Chiefs, Pigeon Detectives)
"Orpheus has such great bite without losing any clarity or detail. It's become a real go-to mic for anything and everything, from vocals to snare drum, acoustic guitar to autoharp, piano or incredible room ambience" - Flood, producer (Foals, PJ Harvey, Depeche Mode, U2, NIN, Goldfrapp)
"I'm constantly excited by the results I get from my Orpheus. It's sounds so full bodied with excellent presence on vocals, drum overhead or as a room mic" - Simon Gogerly, producer-engineer (Paloma Faith, U2, Massive Attack, No Doubt)
"The ORPHEUS sounds so classy and clean - I find it enhances my performance and sound… it's a great British broadcast-quality mic to be proud of!" - Hannah Patterson, voiceover artist-presenter
Orpheus users include:
- Flood, producer (PJ Harvey, Foals, Editors, U2, Goldfrapp)
- Queens of the Stone Age
- Simon Gogerly, producer/engineer (Paloma Faith, Massive Attack)
- Eagles of Death Metal
- Alan Moulder, producer
- Will Jackson, producer (Kaiser Chiefs, Pigeon Detectives)
- Mark Rankin, producer/engineer (Florence + The Machine, Adele)
- Blur (Graham Coxon's live amp rig)
- Extreme (for drum overheads)
- Andy Gray, producer/composer
- Gary Bromham, producer
- Ciaran Byrne, producer
- Tim Bran, producer/writer
- Pete Parada, drummer (The Offspring)
- Fulsonic, sound/foley designers
- Paul Glover, drummer/clinician
- Paul Fawcus, engineer (BBC Big Band, Syd Lawrence Orchestra)
- Hannah Patterson, voiceover artist
- Della Phillips, voiceover artist
- Stevie Cripps, voiceover artist
- Olivier UNIA Totti, artist/producer
- Pip Williams, producer (Status Quo, Elton John, Prague Symphonia)
If you’re looking for a live sound or studio workhouse, or mics to dedicate to room recording, the Sontronics Orpheus is for you. Order yours today. For more information, call or chat online with your PAD Studio Specialist.
Specifications
- Polar patterns: Omnidirectional, cardioid, figure-of-eight
- Pad: -10dB cut, 0dB, +10dB boost
- Frequency response: 20Hz - 20kHz
- Sensitivity: -20mV/Pa -32dB ±2dB
- (0dB = 1V/Pa @ 1,000Hz)
- Impedance: ≤200 ohm
- Power: Phantom power 48V required
- Connector: 3-pin XLR
- Dimensions: 8" x 3-3/8" x 3-3/8" (204 x 86 x 86mm)
- Weight: 2 lb. (894g)
- Comes with: Angled mount adaptor, wooden box
