Believe it or not there are three, yes three main types or categories of microphone and we at Production Expert or maybe I should say I, spend a great deal of time talking about amazing Condenser and Ribbon mics and not so much time talking about the type that we probably all started with and use on an almost daily basis, the Dynamic microphone. Enter the new Sontronics Corona dynamic mic. It might look like something from outer space but sounds just amazing so come with me as we take a look and listen to the new Sontronics Corona.
Sontronics Corona or Halo II
As you can see from the headline image I took the picture of the new Corona with it’s older sibling the Sontronics Halo in the background. While yes, the new Corona does share a similar look to the older Halo, and yes both Halo and Corona are Dynamic or moving coil microphones that is just about where the similarities end. The Halo was pitched as a dynamic mic for close micing high volume (SLP) electric guitar speaker cabinets, (a job I have been using mine on for many years) as an alternative to the more common place Shure SM57. The Corona however is much more of an all rounder and as you will hear it’s not just a mic that works well on electric guitars it also sounds great on vocal and drums. In fact the new Corona has much more in common with Sontronics new handheld vocal mic the Solo than the older Halo.
Build & Construction
Like the Halo before it, the Corona is designed with it’s own circular shock-mout ring. The mics dynamic capsule is mounted on tensioned springs to keep it in the middle of the ring. The ring then has a small block attached which houses both the mic stand mounting arm and the XLR output. The build quality is really good and the retro styling helps the Corona to not just blend in as yet another Dynamic mic. The Corona also ships in a very nice APS plastic flight-case so if you are using it on the road (and I do) it’s not going to die in transit slopping round in someones kit bag.
Corona For Vocals
Since I bought my first condenser mics I have been using them for vocals. I do not own a Shure SM7B (don’t get me started) so other than for live work I do not use Dynamic mics on vocals, call it a rule of thumb and I’ll be honest I was not expecting much from the Corona, knowing the Halo as I do. OK, I take it back. Corona sounds great on a big, up front vocalist. If you are looking for a mic to capture the energy and high SPL of a full all out rock vocal, this is the mic for you.
Take a listen to the solo vocal track from the review song and even though I don’t have a big booming voice, the Corona really captures the growl and edge to the voice.
Corona On Drums
I almost always use a dynamic mic when recording or re-enforcing the Snare Drum top, and while the iconic looking mounting ring does get in the way a little it is totally worth it as a trade off to get the sound of the Corona onto your recording. As with all my review tracks and recordings, there is no processing what so ever on the tracks. This is the sound of the drum, through the mic and onto “tape”. If the Sontronics team could build a Corona without the ring for more convenient placement this could replace the SM57 as a “goto” Snare mic.
Corona On Electric Guitar
Here are some worlds I never thought I would use in a review in a positive way… The Corona has a fantastic gritty sounding top end which works really well for loud distorted electric guitars. It just imparts a richness to the guitar that for my kind of playing and recording really works. I put the Corona inside my Grossmann quiet cab and it sounds great and it blends really well with other mics, however in the audio example below you are just hearing the Corona with a little reverb.
The Full Mix
One of the reasons I always try to record an entire song using the many and various mics and hardware goodies to get to play with is because, until you really use any new bit of kit in a real world way you have no idea how it is going to perform. I honestly say I was really surprised just how good the vocal sound was and how well it fitted into the tone of the overall track. The Snare Drum track also just jumps out in a really good way without having to overly boost any part of the kit to compensate. As always the only processing on the final mix of the track is a little reverb to help place the instruments and a little limiting to bring up the level.
Conclusion
The Sontronics Corona is not only a great sounding dynamic mic, it is a great sounding mic full stop. It imparts it’s own flavour onto the audio which I really like. It is far from a flat transparent sounding mic, but I like that in this case. Like all dynamics it’s not going to work for everything, but if your sound source is loud and upfront Corona is going to give you great results. And being a Dynamic mic means you are not going to have to worry quite so much about recording in what you might call “bad” acoustics as the mic is not going to pick up so much “room tone” that’s the nature of Dynamic mics.
Street price for the Corona is around £230 UK pounds and you can find out more about the new Corona and the entire range of Sontronics mics at their website.