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CardioidCharterOak Acoustic Devices S600

Cardioid Tube Condenser Microphone

The S600 is a large-diaphragm tube mic with an unusual end-address design. Charter Oak ships them in sequentially-numbered, matched pairs, intended primarily for stereo and instrument recording.

The mic capsule is a 35mm, edge-terminated design with a single 26mm-diameter diaphragm. The membrane is made of 6-micron Mylar, sputtered with gold. CharterOak’s internal designation for this design is “S-3;” it is also used in the FET version of this mic, the S700.

The tube is a selected ECC83/12AX7 from JJ Electronics.

The output circuit is transformer-coupled, using a proprietary transformer wound in Connecticut to CharterOak’s specifications.

The included power supply drives both microphones simultaneously.

SoundOnSound, 2007

The frequency response charts supplied with the mics show a pretty flat response, but not as flat as the generic trace published on the company’s web site. They were both within a couple of dB from 60Hz to 7kHz, with a modest resonant peak at about 9kHz, above which the level falls off gracefully.

The S600 sounds like a hand-tailored large-diaphragm mic. It quite definitely has a character, which is slightly warm and quite rich… I tried the mic on a couple of different electric guitar/amp combinations and found it did indeed work very well, capturing the required sound in a pleasing, musical way, with plenty of detail but without harshness.

Permalink: CharterOak Acoustic Devices S600

The mic was released in 2005.

Specifications

Frequency Response - CardioidClick Graph to Compare!
S600 Cardioid Frequency Response Chart
Pickup Patterns Pads & Filters
Cardioid (13 mV/Pa; 20 - 18,000 Hz)
Capsule Dimensions Impedance SPL/Noise
Diaphragm diameter: 26mm
Capsule diameter: 35mm
Diaphragm gauge: 6 microns
200 Ohms (Low) Max SPL: 125 dB
Self-noise: 22.0 dB(A)
Weight Length Max Diameter Interface(s)
590g (20.81oz) 210mm (8.27'') 40mm (1.57'')
  • 3-pin XLR male (1)
Power Specifications
  • Includes tube power supply

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