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VOL. TWENTY SEVEN NUMBER THREE
$5.99US $5.99CAN
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09281 03050
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DECEMBER 2013 USA $5.99 CANADA $5.99
B Y PA U L V N U K J R .
The IFET condenser microphone is the latest from David Bock and his company Bock Audio. Not completely a brand-new creation, it is actually an update/rerelease of the IFET7 which was introduced around 2003 under the Soundelux brand. David co-founded Soundelux’s microphone division, and while he parted ways with them in 2006, luckily for us he retained the rights to his microphone designs, which he now builds under the Bock Audio name. Our first look at Bock Audio was when I reviewed the Bock 195 microphone in our February 2011 issue. At $1250 street, the 195 is the entry-level model of the line and is a modern take on a classic FET style mic, but with a twist. The 195 offers built-in tone shaping by way of a Fat/Norm switch that engages a gentle sloping low-end boost from 500 Hz up to 100 Hz; couple that with a 20 Hz low cut and a 10 dB pad, and as I mentioned in that review it was like having two mics in one. While this paradigm of expanding the tonal palette of a mic by electronic means has grown in popularity over the past few years, the new Bock IFET takes this idea a step further, without resorting to filters of any kind. Essentially the IFET is two microphones in one body; it employs two completely
The microphone measures 61/2" x 2 /8" in diameter, with a 43/8" attached mounting arm that hints at the microphone’s inspiration—the most classic FET mic of them all, the Neumann U47fet. The IFET captures its look and feel well, dressed in a classic silver brushed aluminum finish with a black enamel Bock badge. The IFET has no pad or bass cut, only a single recessed silver toggle switch on its front with the letters I and V etched on its side. I stands for Instrument, and this setting engages the microphone’s classic FET amplifier circuit. It is a high-SPL ClassA discrete circuit with one FET and four transistors. While designed to capture the vibe of an old classic FET microphone, David’s design features improved clarity in the highs and a more solid low end than was possible in models of yesteryear. The V side stands for Vocals, and its amplifier is a Class-A variant of the singletransistor design found in Neumann’s KM84. Both amplifiers make use of a large custom-wound transformer of David’s design. The capsule of the microphone is a 25 mm (1-inch), single-backplate K47 type cardioid capsule with a 15 Hz to 18 kHz frequency response, and 135 dB max SPL. 3
Bock Audio IFET Condenser Microphone A classic-inspired FET design with some powerful tricks up its sleeve different amplifier circuits married to the same capsule and output transformer! Intrigued? I sure was, and here’s what I found out. Inside and out While the premise, and much of the internals and build, remain similar to the older Soundelux IFET7, there have of course been some significant changes and improvements in the past decade. First the IFET7’s heavy brass base has been replaced by aluminum. This makes the mic much lighter and better-balanced, improving the microphone’s attached mounting arm’s ability to hold position. And speaking of the mounting arm, it has also been redesigned. Sonically the microphone’s voicing has been adjusted for better high- and low-end response as compared to the IFET7.
The I side of the mic, like the classic U47fet, is fairly flat in the lows and mids, with some minor presence peaks around the 5 kHz and 9 kHz areas with a nice dip in between. It’s also nicely rolled off in the highs beyond 10 kHz or so, and exhibits a classic tone that will easily seem full and warm compared to most of today’s ultra-bright modern mics... which tend to peak pretty high in the 8 to 12 kHz range or even beyond! The V side of the mic has a fuller low end, a gently less pronounced mid section, and an even more tamed high end. Also note that this circuit is 4 dB hotter than the I side. I try the I I put the IFET to use on room duties, acoustic guitar, mono drum overhead (alas, I only had one), front of kit, front of kick
drum, floor tom, cajon, shaker, tambourine, the speaker cabinet of a Rhodes piano, electric guitar amps, bass amp, and, of course, male and female vocals. In fact, with the exception of a Neumann KM84 as a secondary acoustic guitar microphone, I have been using the Bock IFET on pretty much every source I’ve tracked so far for a client’s upcoming Christmas EP! If I had to use one word to describe this mic it would be: classic. It really does capture a nice classic vintage tone, end of story! The Instrument setting is full and solid, but not peaky or forceful. It never tries too hard to impose a sound of its own. It’s well suited to drums, although rather than as an overhead, I liked it more in front of the kit, where it solidifies the drum mix and
Excerpted from the December edition of RECORDING Magazine 2013 ©2013 Music Maker Publications, Inc. Reprinted with permission. 5408 Idylwild Trail, Boulder, CO 80301 Tel: (303) 516-9118 Fax: (303) 516-9119 For Subscription Information, call: 1-954-653-3927 or www.recordingmag.com
compresses nicely. Kick drum is also one of this mic’s specialties, where it gives a nice well-rounded picture of the drum’s low-end and upper-end thump equally. On guitar amps it balances out an SM57’s midrange nicely, and as a distance mic a few feet back it captures the depth of the amp in its space. On acoustic guitar I found it really successful at capturing a nice balanced tone in conjunction with a KM84. Since it is made for louder sources like amps and drums, the mic in I mode needs a little bit of extra gain on quieter sources like acoustic guitar. It’s quieter in this mode even than in V mode, but turning up the preamp gain can add a little bit of noise. However, everyone involved in the recording sessions felt the tone being captured was worth the tradeoff. With this in mind, this mic may not always be wellsuited to room mic duties or very quiet sources. This is a large-diaphragm mic that loves to get close to a source, and likes it loud! V for Victory! Moving to V mode, I quickly learned that it really is made for vocals. I used it for lead and backing vocals on both male and female voices, and it had a very intimate tone that is best described as pure velvet. It’s a nice upper-mid forward tone
with a beautiful softness and weight that fits around the human voice like a glove. This mode also sounds good on acoustic guitar, but is better suited to when you want the instrument to sit back in the mix. The IFET does come with one word of caution—mute your channel when switching modes. Since it is an entire circuit disengaging and reengaging and not just an EQ change, there will be a loud pop, followed by a few sonic stutters that may not be conducive to your speakers’ health, or your ears. Conclusion David Bock did a great job of capturing the vibe and feel of a vintage FET mic in a very natural way. The IFET succeeds by not trying to impose the illusion of what we think a classic vintage tone should sound like. Instead it simply captures a nice classic sound by, well, not sounding modern. Bottom line, this is one of the best fet47style mics I have used, and the V mode on voice is to die for! Its price is starting to move it into boutique territory, but as two mics in one it’s worth every penny. Price: $2150 More from: Bock Audio, www.bock audio.com, dist. by TransAudio Group, www.transaudiogroup.com.
Excerpted from the December edition of RECORDING Magazine 2013 ©2013 Music Maker Publications, Inc. Reprinted with permission. 5408 Idylwild Trail, Boulder, CO 80301 Tel: (303) 516-9118 Fax: (303) 516-9119 For Subscription Information, call: 1-954-653-3927 or www.recordingmag.com
