The Vintage 11 is a large diaphragm FET condenser microphone and is part of JZ Microphone’s “Vintage” series that includes the Vintage 67 [Tape Op #133] and Vintage 12 [#147]. The Vintage 11 has discrete Class-A electronics, JZ’s Gold Drop™ capsule technology, and is hand-built in Latvia. Its flat, rounded body is similar to its cousin, the JZ Vintage 67, but sports an all-black body and grill, with an included heavy-duty shock mount attachment. The mic has a fixed cardioid pattern, with a claimed frequency response of 20 Hz to 20 kHz and a max SPL rating of 134 dB. Unlike the Vintage 67 and 12 models, the Vintage 11 is not meant to specifically recreate the sound or vibe of a classic microphone but was designed to have some desired tonal characteristics of a multitude of classics. It’s an excellent-sounding mic and useful in a variety of recording scenarios.
I first used the Vintage 11 on some acoustic guitar tracking. It sounded very smooth and natural, with a polished tone. With proper placement, users may not need much EQ if an acoustic guitar were the only featured instrument; however, I put it in a denser mix, so I compressed and EQ’d it slightly to make it fit in the track. The Vintage 11 takes EQ well and shines through without sounding hyped, sizzly, or processed. I also thought the mic performed well for both lead and layered background vocal duties, and again, took EQ adjustments quite well when needed. For drums, I first used a spaced stereo pair of the Vintage 11s as overheads in a Glyn Johns [Tape Op #109] type setup, then tried one as a mono overhead, with a second over the drummer’s left shoulder (along with kick and snare mics from the Earthworks DK6 [#165] package). In all instances, I thought the Vintage 11 pair performed well, capturing a lifelike representation of the kit, and I liked the sound of the smooth top end on the cymbals.
I began to think the Vintage 11 might be an excellent choice if you could only have only one microphone, so I placed it close to the front of the drum kit at about waist level and compressed it with the Lisciel Equipos Maletomp compressor [Tape Op #144]. What a fantastic single-microphone kit sound! Sticking with the “only one mic in the collection” theme, I used the Vintage 11 to record tambourine, shaker, and even loud electric guitars, placing the mic about a foot in front of my Vox AC30. I often use my much-loved JZ BH-1 Black Hole [#71] for this purpose, so it was no surprise that the Vintage 11 sounded superb as well. It captured a big, rich, wide open sound with plenty of detail and character, and I’d be happy to use it every day for electric guitar duties.
Do not be fooled by the attractive price points of JZ Microphones. They are extremely well-manufactured workhorse mics that perform way above their cost. I have had my Black Hole in regular use for almost 20 years. It has been issue-free, and I expect the same from the other JZ products in my collection. For those who already have a substantial microphone stash or are just on the hunt for their first high-quality mic without breaking the bank, the JZ Vintage 11 (along with everything else they make!) is a microphone worth consideration.