sE4400a Large Diaphragm Multi Pattern Condenser Microphone

Product Information

We have four different patterns consisting of cardioid or hyper cardiod, which are selected by choosing cardioid patter and, via another switch, you choose your needed cardioid pattern. There is also the ever useful omni which, in my experience, gives you a great room sound that can be used in surround sound applications. Finally you have figure of 8 which is most usefull when you have 2 singers to record simultaneously or as part of a wider setup e.g. mid-side. Given the generous polar pattern choices on offer and the tightness of cardioid and hypercardioid, I for one would have appreciated a wide cardioid pattern, as well. The sE4400a performs superbly on my vocal and acoustic guitar recordings. In the past I've generally used for these purposes my AT4047. I think the sE4400a sounds very similar on my vocals and acoustic guitar as the AT4047. Maybe even a little superior to the AT4047 in that the sE4400a to my hearing has a little more presence and air. I really like the sound of the sE4400a and I'm hesitant to say this, but I will... I think that I might like the sE4400a better than my AT4047, which I think is saying a lot, since the AT4047 is generally regarded as being a fairly good large diameter condenser microphone. The sE4400a does not seem to be prone to sibilance, at least no more than the AT4047. I also always use a Shure Popper Stopper plosive filter, which I find indispensible for any vocal recording. I've been recording my vocals for nearly 30 years and I find that effectively controlling plosives and sibilance has much to do with using good microphone vocal recording technique.

Meta Platforms Ireland Ltd. is a subsidiary of Meta Platforms, Inc. based in the USA. It cannot be ruled out that your data collected by Facebook will also be transmitted to the USA. acoustic guitar (love the MS!), overheads (especially ORTF positioned!), room mics, toms, leslie speakers, accordions, choirs, piano, ukulele, percussion, woodwinds, etc. I'd sometimes use them for vocals and even voiceovers, violins and violas.

For the more learned audio enthusiast there is an Impedance of ? 50 Ohms and a Noise floor of 17dB(A weighted). I know what these mean, but I have no idea what it means to me

Is this good or bad, obviously, is a matter of taste, but in many instances it will at least keep the often human problem littered task of lead vocal recording free of technical problems or added colour that might be enhancing, or annoying, to the point of getting distracting to the performance. Deployed in stereo arrays....M/S, Blulein, and coincident or non coincident...the pairs performed well and seemed to be well matched. Used them on 12 ft boom stands over a choir and they performed very well in an application i tend to favor SDC's for. For example, the sE4400a is easy to position so its capsule is just peeking over the top of the rim of a snare drum. Speaking of the capsule, it's based on a retuned version of the capsule in the SE2200A (I wish SE Electronics were consistent with capitalization of their product names), which I consider one of the best values in microphones; I use it more often than mics in my closet that cost ten times as much. In direct comparison to the SE2200A (Tape Op #48), the sE4400a in cardioid mode brings out significantly more of the snare drum's punch whether up close, at medium distances, or placed far. I can hear much more resonance of the drum's body. There is perceivably less of the actual snare wires coming through, no matter how I angle the mic, but also less of the undesirable "spit". Hypercardioid and figure-8 modes are useful for rejecting high-hat bleed, but of course, polar-response selection also affects how much room and "floor" (reflection of the snare from the floor -or in my case, a clipboard lying flat on the rug below the snare) the mic captures. First you have the padding setting which is a simple choice of -10dB, -20dB or no padding. This allows you to use this in a high SPL situation i.e. for micing up guitar amps, bass amps or inside the SPL heavy base drums. Pattern selectivity...kudos to SE for going with actual toggle switches instead of the electronic gismos that the rival 414's now use...those always seem to add noise in my opinion, just take a listen the next time you switch the pattern on a new 414...pop hiss....It's flat, and non metallic, extended in its' frequency range and free of artifacts or anomalies all along, from bottom to top. The aforementioned sheen is like a very, very gentle high frequency lift, that somehow accurately avoids any peakiness in the obnoxious 3 or 4 kHz region, and any harshness in the 7 to 10 kHz region. It's more air than sizzle. And it's very subtle indeed, just enough to breathe some excitement into sounds being captured, some sort of expensiveness in the sound, but never enough to get in the way or to be hard to dial out with some very light handed eq, or an appropriate preamp and compressor choice.

Because the sE 4400a seems to have more then a little of what it takes to enter the category of studio classics, and favourites. The microphone is great for instrument recordings and with little to no processing the recording will be good – which is not the case with vocals where you will need to pay more attention after you are done recording – but definitely not something that is too complex. If you're looking for a C414 clone....these aren't necessarily them. Yes, the physical design and feature set reminds you of that AKG. Recently, 414's have come across as a bit nasal and shrill in the high frequencies. I find when talking to other engineers, when the 414 is spoken of favorably it tends to be the older models, the famed version with brass in the capsule. The 4400's are DARK sounding, warm...not sharp at all, more like those earlier 414's. So i would say they actually out 414 the current 414's.In fact, it has been suggested that this mic is named as it is because uses a twin pair of the capsules used in the older (and much loved for its' versatility) single pattern sE 2200a, an entirely differently and more conventionally shaped model. I would personally add that if sE thought of “cloning” something of the venerable AKG 414 in its' various versions (EB, ULS, B-TLII, XLS, etc), then it must have been cloning its' universality and ubiquity in studios around the world. Actually, the word would not be “cloning”, but rather... earning. Anyone from the audio world looking at the sE 4400a microphone is bound to think “ Oh – an AKG 414 derivative!”. The shape, albeit somewhat more rounded and modernly pleasing to the eye, and a bit smaller, along with the twin “4s” in the model name all ring a bell. As a main feature for many robust European condenser microphones, they are made to be able to withstand sources from very quiet whispers to some really loud metal screams. Well, this mic is something like that. The mic is built to last. With all the controls on the microphone made from metal, you are sorted out in terms of longevity. Firstly there are the polar pattern switches that will shift you between these settings – something pretty standard.