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Author Topic: Beesneez Jade  (Read 9985 times)

jetbase

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Beesneez Jade
« on: October 11, 2010, 07:12:06 PM »

These are my impressions so far of a Beesneez Producer Series ‘Jade’ tube mic with a K7 capsule (NOT the K47 capsule) which I have been using for a couple of months.

Overall, it is a reasonably natural sounding mic with a nice sense of depth, & it’s quite versatile. It certainly has the potential to be an all-rounder, if that’s what you wanted. The areas of ‘colouration’ I found to be in the very low mids (or is it high bass?) where you might want to reduce it a little if you were using this mic on various sources on the same song, and also around 2kHz where there seemed to consistently be a little ‘hardness’ that I found I often wanted to dip a little. But other than that it sounds quite even & low frequencies came across solid & tight, which made it excellent for bass guitar. You could certainly get away with minimal or no eq on this mic providing you had the source & mic placement right.

This mic seemed to want to hear loud sources. It was almost as if the louder the source the better the Jade was it capturing it. I have found with some mics that when you really push them it brings out their bad qualities, but the Jade never got harsh or screechy or brittle, it was smooth all the way through. On the flipside, if a vocal was a bit soft or once you got a bit of distance from it the tendency was to sound a bit thin. I’m actually not 100% sure on this aspect of the mic & I think I need a bit more experience with it to confirm my impressions. Also, ideally, I would have liked the midrange to have been a little more ‘forward’, but perhaps not if it’s at the expense of other favourable characteristics.

Here are some more specific observations:

Bass amp – sounds pretty much like the amp sounds in the room. The bottom end was pretty solid. Not quite as thick in the low mids as an AKG C12B (my favourite on bass), which I found made it comparatively harder to sit in the mix than bass that I had recorded with the C12B. It was a pretty close second though.

Guitar amp – made for a slightly thicker electric guitar sound. Not as ‘in your face’ as you might get with an SM57 or a U87, but if you wanted to dial in a lot of ‘bite’ on your amp this mic would record it quite well without getting abrasive.

Acoustic guitar – a bit softer in the midrange on acoustic guitar than I usually go for. That’s not a bad thing, just a different choice. I would choose this mic if I was going for a ‘jangly’ or sweeter acoustic guitar sound.

Drums (mono overhead) – I normally like a Coles 4038 in this position. The Jade was not as ‘thick’ sounding as the 4038. It didn’t require much eq & was quite natural sounding on drums. It also sounded fine on various percussion instruments.

Piano – I’ve only used it once on piano. It sounded like the piano.

Vocals – I used it on a wide range of vocalists & it sounded good on all of them. I definitely preferred it up close (within 1 foot). Really nice high frequencies with no harshness, even when pushed.

I’m very happy with the Jade. I think that it compliments the (original) U87 in my modest mic collection perfectly, but it would certainly be sufficient if you didn’t have other choices. Now that I have one I would probably consider buying two more before looking at any other mics (next time I have a microphone budget).

Obviously I’m not a writer, so please feel free to ask questions if you need further clarification on any points.
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Barry Hufker

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Re: Beesneez Jade
« Reply #1 on: October 11, 2010, 07:55:29 PM »

Thanks Glenn for your observations.  I've been wondering what this mic is like.

Barry

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deville

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Re: Beesneez Jade
« Reply #2 on: October 19, 2010, 03:29:28 AM »

Thank you for the review. I have an early model Jade and I like it very much, but I always like to know what others think about the mic, good or bad.
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KB_S1

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Re: Beesneez Jade
« Reply #3 on: October 19, 2010, 07:24:14 AM »

What is the build quality like?

I am always impressed by the standard of Rode mic's compared to similarly priced competition in that respect.
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jetbase

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Re: Beesneez Jade
« Reply #4 on: October 19, 2010, 06:11:58 PM »

Deville, does my description differ much from your impressions of your early model Jade? Yours would have a different capsule, body & power supply.

Keith, the build quality is excellent. It seems more "boutique" compared to Rode, which actually makes me fear cosmetic damage more. Ironically, I think the powder coating would render it less likely to suffer from such damage. The mic comes in a wooden case lined with some kind of high density foam rubber, which is then stored in a foam lined light aluminium case along with the power supply, shock mount & leads. I'm not really a big fan of the shock mount as it's a bit fiddly to clip on, but once attached it stays put.
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jwhynot: "There's a difference between thinking or acting dogmatically and drawing from experience."


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deville

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Re: Beesneez Jade
« Reply #5 on: October 20, 2010, 08:02:08 PM »

My early model Jade looks homemade compared to your mic. But I did pay considerably less for it. You have a better power supply and a better capsule so I would expect your mic to sound nicer than mine. Ben did give me a chance to upgrade the mic with a K7, new power supply, and Gotham cable for an undisclosed sum, but I didn't have the scratch at the time. I do like his mics quite a bit, I think given the chance I would seriously consider a Producer Arabella or Sally as my upgrade. He has come a long way in a few years.
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