You may well be aware of the Black Hole series already - after all, its one of the most talked about microphones in our line…
but if you’ve not personally used it, I think I’d be remiss if I didn't let you know just how much you’ve been missing out.
So, with that in mind, let me walk you through why the one microphone has saved my skin time, after time.
Let’s dive in.
Clarity Is Key
The word clarity holds a lot of weight within microphone marketing; it’s one of the worst kept secrets of pro audio manufacturers. However, in the case of the Black Hole, there’s not really many words that describe it better.
It’s hard to find a microphones in todays intensely saturated market that is evenly balanced, it’s own ‘sound’, and not an attempt at a carbon copy of an already prolific microphone - this is what struck me upon first hearing the BH2.
I quite literally didn't want to stop listening to the takes I’d just heard my client perform - it wasn’t just the artist doing a brilliant take (as always, as you’ve heard my friend Luc Sweetman do time and time again within this blog), but the mic itself shining coupled with a preamp that had no chance to over shadow it.
In fact, I decided to change up the preamp and keep the BH2 in place, with al variables the same other than the 1073 Neve style preamp being changed out for a much lesser known tube preamp and channel strip: my cherished DBX 676 Tube preamp. Again, I was quite literally lost for words at how good this microphone sounded, and thus the experimentation carried on; not because I wanted to push it further, but because I was determined to find its weakness.
Vocal to Vocal, Source to Source
The story continues with me trying my own vocals on this microphone. Now, for those that don’t know (likely all of you to be quite honest unless you’ve scoured the internet for my own band, Novastatus), I have a rather thin voice, and so a warmer mic is often what I’ll reach for - you’ll know from the recent blogs that the Amethyst is a workhorse for me more often than not.
And yet, time and time again I’ve reached for the BH2 over it for myself even knowing that my vocal will likely be brighter than I would usually like - but the trick is the preamp I found with myself and I suspect that’s the same with the many Grammy Award winner engineers and producers that love the Black Hole Series as well.
This is the same with so many sources I’ve placed the Black Hole series in front of. You may recall the Drum Mic’ing video I did a few months ago whereby I coupled a wide spaced pair of BH2 mic’s 10ft away from the Snare and each other. The room we recorded in was a solid metal container, with tall roofs, uneven surfaces with many reflection faces, let alone the kit being a much more ‘Jazz’ styled size with small, bright cymbals. The BH2’s were actually what I wanted to use here on Overheads, as I know how versatile they are; but alas after shooting out the V67’s alongside them the band opted for the more neutral side, but agreed to the BH2’s being placed as room mics.
Long story short, they thanked me for the insights as the overheads where great but not what they thought they wanted after all, and the BH2 pairing made the drum mix come to life in the way we all wanted. I think the other way round, it may have likely always been the same issue - but the point I’m trying to make is just how well they play with all mic’s in our line-up (as well as the variety on the market!)
Conclusion
If you’re looking for a new mic that will never cease to keep amazing you, I can assure you that the Black Hole Series is exactly that.
The BH1S is above all other in my arsenal the most versatile and rivals many timeless mic’s you may call ‘household brand names’; and the best part is that until the 11th October you can save 50% off the Black Hole series.