Welcome back to the blog! It’s finally summer and we have some very exciting news coming up this coming week; before that though, we’re carrying on our focus this month is all about The Best Scenarios For Each JZ Series - this week, we’re looking at the Signature Series and The Black Holes Series, and what situations would work best for each microphone. In general, this is a subjective topic, and there’s not any one correct answer, but there's some logic behind each of the reasons and recommendations for each series.
Anyway, without further ado, let’s dive in!
The Signature Series
First off, let's look at what makes each mic sound in the way that it does, and the thoughts behind the designs of each one, starting with the BB29. The BB29 has been designed to start out from not just the overall crowd, but also our own microphone line as well. Building upon the Blueberry design by the founder of both JZ and Blue, as well as Violet microphones. We wanted to expand further on what is already an extremely converted sound adored by so many studios and grammy winners - so the real challenge was bringing that design into the modern world with up to date and high quality components.
The biggest thing that makes the BB29 sound the way that it does, in particular and only available in the BB29’s design compared to the rest of our line, is the transformer coupled output which has the biggest effect on the sound profile and frequency response. It also means that the microphone is incredibly quiet and will age gracefully; and this matters in particular with how bright the BB29 is compared to the other JZ mics available, and in turn compared to other bright mics on the market. Oftentimes, mics similar in sound to the BB29 will end up losing fidelity and with age, their timbre will warp slightly.
The main 3 places I would personally see the BB29 performing incredibly would be on Acoustic guitar, Hip-Hop vocals, and classical instruments such as cello, double bass, piano, etc. But there's a number of other sources where the BB29 would be a better choice than others in your mic locker; for example, jazz drums can be rather dark and played with insanely varying dynamics where the BB29 would act as a counterbalance to the sound of the kit overall. Another place I’ve known the BB29 to excel is on room mics, especially in slightly duller rooms, which I’ve personally employed multiple times usually as a mono mic to extend the low end of the snare and kit within the overall drum sound. Below is a great video from Pro Audio Tools which demonstrates the effectiveness of using the BB29 on specifically female vocals and acoustic guitar:
The Black Hole Series
The BH1S is honestly one of my favorite ever mics for a number of reasons, but I’ll do my best to whittle it down! In particular, there is one incredible feature that the BH1S in particular, compared to the rest of our line, is the ability to utilize 3 different polar patterns as well as a switchable pad, which I don’t think needs too much explanation as to how incredibly useful this microphone can make itself in a number of situations. We’ve spoken so many times about the usefulness of stereo recording techniques which can take your recording to an entirely new realm once you start to experiment with them; simply because they’re not just useful for drums, but almost any instrument and recording situation where there might be a large group of people or instruments that need recording at the same time for one overall performance (such as an orchestra or choir to give a more extreme circumstance).
This fact alone makes having the BH1S a necessity to have within your locker, but there are so many other reasons that makes the BH1S and overall series special. It’s our flagship mic for a reason and it looks to do one thing more than anything else: become a modern solution for every scenario, without compromise. This was the most important vision when conceptualizing the design and it needed to be a workhorse capable of becoming a classic in years to come similar to the revered designs we know and love from the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s.
It's a microphone for any situation, and thus excels on basically every source you can think of. That’s not to say it’ll always be the best choice, but it circles back to my original point regarding taste, personal opinion, and the situation you find yourself in. But overall, if you ever found yourself with indecision as I have time after time, the Black Hole Series always works. In the video below from Creative Sound Lab, you can hear the BH2 (the little brother of the BH1S, simply without polar pattern switch or pad, but the same sound) on acoustic guitar, drum overheads and vocals:
What ties all of our mics together however, and what they share regardless of series or age, is the technology pioneered by JZ Mics known as the Golden Drop Technology developed by our time who hand make every and all microphone we have available. These 2 factors are also what really sets all of our microphones in a totally different league, for a number of reasons - but we’ll talk about that a bit more next week when we’ve shared all the news I mentioned earlier! Until then, stay creative and look out for the blog next week.