The Venerable 017 Tube, Revoiced with Platinum Flavor
A meticulously revoiced iteration of the company’s venerable 017 Tube microphone, the Soyuz Silver 17 houses an edge-terminated S17E capsule machined from pure aluminum, bolstering its predecessor’s detailed warmth with added definition and an exquisite airiness. Like the original 017 Tube, the Silver 17 brandishes an interchangeable lollipop-style cardioid capsule, reinforced by a hand-tuned, gold-sputtered 34mm diaphragm. Handcrafted in Russia, the Silver 17 flaunts a manually machined body and capsule, a hand-wound toroidal transformer, and point-to-point handwiring. Beyond that, this premium-caliber large-diaphragm tube condenser comes with a dedicated external power supply equipped with a -20dB pad. You also get a heavy-duty shockmount and a velvet-lined hardwood storage box. The 017 Tube has become the mic of choice for countless world-class artists, producers, and engineers. Even if you own the original, the Silver 17 provides you with a forward presence that — as we’ve discovered here at Sweetwater — is pure magic on a massive array of sound sources.
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In-your-face presence meets heavenly airiness
The Soyuz 017 Tube is the go-to vocal mic for such artists as Coldplay, Radiohead, Shawn Mendes, the Lumineers, and Paramore. Moreover, world-renowned producers and engineers, including Nigel Godrich, Ryan Hewitt, Sylvia Massy, and Butch Walker, swear by it for capturing the voices of their legendary clientele. Retooled with an aluminum, edge-terminated S17E capsule, the Silver 17 offers a lighter, more distinctive take on the original 017 Tube. The Silver 17 offers the same detailed, warm character as its predecessor, especially in the 80Hz–1kHz region and above 12kHz, but it exhibits a flatter response in the 20Hz–80Hz area, more presence in the 1kHz–3kHz range, and added definition in the 3kHz–6kHz territory. Moreover, it offers significantly more air in the 10kHz–20kHz zone. While the 017 Tube is smooth and more forgiving on harsh sources, the Silver 17 is exactly what you need for naturally dark voices, acoustic guitars in a dense mix, and sessions where you want to limit post EQ work.
Eastern engineering, Western design
The Russian word soyuz means “alliance,” and it signifies the partnership that is the driving force behind Soyuz Microphones. In 2013, American vocalist David Arthur Brown and Russian entrepreneur Pavel Bazdyrev teamed up and launched a company to build world-class microphones in Russia. Soyuz now has 20 full-time employees, and Soyuz microphones are being used by top engineers and producers and are favored by artists such as Coldplay, Radiohead, the Lumineers, and Paramore.
What’s in your mic locker?
Among the most cherished assets of any world-class recording studio are its microphones. Take a peek in the mic locker, and you will almost certainly find vintage European tube and FET models made in the 1950s, ’60s, or ’70s. The “human-touch” manufacturing methods and discrete handwired circuitry of that era yielded microphones with sonic characteristics that are distinctly different from modern computer-assisted designs. Soyuz’s original tube and FET microphone designs — while not clones of vintage models — are produced in the old-school way, using manual lathes and drill presses and leveraging the former Soviet Union’s rich technological legacy as a foundation. So what’s in your mic locker? The answer will determine the sound of your recordings.
Soyuz Silver 17 Features:
- A revoiced iteration of Soyuz’s 017 Tube mic
- Aluminum, edge-terminated S17E capsule bolsters its predecessor’s detailed warmth with added definition and airiness
- Interchangeable lollipop-style cardioid capsule (optional omni and figure-8 capsules sold separately)
- Hand-tuned, gold-sputtered 34mm diaphragm
- Manually machined body and capsule
- Proprietary toroidal transformer wound in-house
- Meticulous point-to-point wire-wrap circuitry
- Dedicated external power supply with a -20dB pad
- Includes a heavy-duty shockmount and a velvet-lined hardwood storage box
- Handcrafted in Russia
