I’ve been a big fan of Soyuz equipment since a rep came down to Chase Park Transduction here in Athens, Georgia, and let us demo several of their microphones a few years ago. After the demo session, studio owner David Barbe [Tape Op #14] decided to buy their Bomblet condenser mic [#140], and the rep was so friendly they let me borrow several microphones for a bit longer to use on an upcoming Kishi Bashi session that I had at Echo Mountain in Asheville, North Carolina. Since then, I’ve purchased their Launcher microphone booster [#167], V1 dynamic microphone [#171], and their 013 Ambisonic microphone [#163]. Amazing equipment and top customer service are what I’ve come to expect from Soyuz as a company, and they haven’t let me down yet. So, I was extremely curious when I found out that they were doing a variant of their flagship 017 tube condenser microphone [#117] called the Silver 17.
The main difference, from an electrical design perspective, is that the capsule in the Silver 17 is edge-terminated rather than center-terminated like the traditional Soyuz 017. What this means is that the diaphragm of the capsule is mounted so that it is making electrical contact (terminating) at the edge of the diaphragm rather than the center. Neumann U 87s and U 47s are famous examples of microphones with center-terminated capsules, whereas the AKG C12 has an edge-terminated capsule. Edge terminating a capsule supposedly gives the diaphragm more sensitivity to higher frequencies for a more “open top end,” often known as “air.” Soyuz provided me with both the new Silver 17 capsule and the original 017 capsule so that I could not only take the new mic for a spin but get a perspective on the sonic differences between these two designs.
The Silver 17 shipped in a sturdy etched wooden case, as a lot of their higher-end microphones do. The mic comes with a nice shock mount (I always appreciate when companies don’t skimp on that) and all the other accessories you’d expect in a tube mic kit. The mic itself is a beautiful, polished silver with a sturdy feel to it. The power supply is solidly built as well. Nothing in this set feels cheap. The first thing I tried it on was a bass amp – an old Ampeg B-18. I had the mic six to eight inches from the speaker, and it did a perfect job of picking up the full spectrum of frequencies coming off the amp. It handled some loud SPLs and never distorted. The first thing that struck me was how solid the low end felt through the mic. That same notion struck me when I tried the mic on acoustic guitar. Both the artist and I ended up commenting about how much body we felt the acoustic guitar had.
Acoustic guitar is also the first instrument I had a chance to A/B the two Soyuz capsules on. Both did a great job of picking up the body of the guitar, and both had clear, focused midrange, but the top end was radically different to my ears. The Silver 17 capsule is so much more open from what seems to be about 8 kHz upward that it almost feels like you took a veil off of the standard 017 capsule. That’s not to say that the standard 017 capsule sounds bad. We found that if we put the Silver 17 in the wrong place on acoustic guitar, it was much less forgiving of finger movement noise or overly attack-y pick sounds, so I could see applications where I would choose the original capsule depending on the player, guitar, style (finger versus pick), etc. But there was no arguing that there was a new level of detail presented by the Silver 17 capsule. One other thing we noticed is that the Silver 17 had a slightly less tight cardioid pattern. We could hear just a touch more of the room when we switched back to it, but that was an extremely minor difference. The next thing I tried it on was saxophone. I positioned the Silver 17 a couple of feet in front of the horn, aimed between the bell and the valves, and it captured the overall timbre of the instrument quite well. It was detailed without being harsh and didn’t distort even when hit with some high-SPL moments during a dynamic performance. The last source I tried it on was female vocals. Again, I A/B’d both capsule versions with similar results. The Silver 17 sounded truly fantastic on the vocals. The level of air and detail that it captured was honestly incredible. The vocalist I was recording is an exceptional singer to begin with, and this mic did a fantastic job of capturing her vocal in a way that felt like she was singing in front of me when played back. I used a pop filter to cut down on plosives and sibilance, and neither of those was overly emphasized by this mic in a way that I needed to fix afterward. When I switched to the original 017 design, the lack of extra high-end detail in the vocals was definitely noticeable. The singer commented that it was slightly easier to sing with the 017, as the amount of high-end detail in the Silver 17 was almost overwhelming in her headphones. Ultimately, we both agreed that we slightly preferred the Silver 17 capsule in the context of the arrangement, but both sounded excellent.
The Silver 17 is an exceptionally high-quality microphone. It comes at a premium price, but you are getting what you pay for here. A well-built, excellent-sounding microphone backed by quality control and customer service. Whether you’re looking for a flagship mic for your smaller setup or wanting to add another quality mic to a huge collection, the Soyuz Silver 17 is worth considering. I just opened a new studio, but when I recover from that I will definitely be picking one of these mics up.