Limited to just 20 microphones worldwide.

Swords into Plowshares; Blue Steel to Brass Black

The hometown of Soyuz, Tula, has a tradition of metallurgy dating back centuries. Local iron ore attracted craftsmen, who soon gained a reputation for the finest samovars in the Russian Empire. Where there are blacksmiths, there are guns. Soon Tula became a center of, not only ploughshares, but swords. Then guns, then tanks, then missiles. At Soyuz, we take pride in having re-directed the world-class skills of master machinists from local weapons factories into the manufacture of our world-class microphones. As a nod to the city's military past, we are proud to introduce the Brass Black series, created by using a technique called bluing to treat the brass. Traditionally used to protect steel firearms from rust, bluing gives our mics an original and timeless finish that will highlight the 017 TUBE as the centerpiece of any mic locker.

The 017Tube

The 017Tube condenser represents the modern embodiment of the big, classic sound so highly prized in vintage microphones. Its hand-machined and tensioned capsules—Soyuz microphones are, like the finest musical instruments and works of art, completely handmade—enable details to be captured with stunning depth and warmth, and impart a silky transparency to the upper frequencies. These sonic characteristics, inherent to the 017’s design, allow it to transmit subtle nuance—as that of delicate vocal and string performances—while complementing the challenging transients of complex instruments.

The engineers at Soyuz have spent decades studying, servicing, and building classic microphones; the resulting pool of knowledge, craft and skill—combined with the ears of numerous musicians, producers and audio engineers—has culminated in the creation of the 017 Series’ custom S17 cardiod capsule (an omni-directional capsule is also available). Featuring a gold-sputtered, hand-tuned 34mm diaphragm, the S17 is loosely based on the original K67 capsule developed by Neumann in 1960. Far from creating another clone of a classic, however, Soyuz has further developed the design, modifying its assembly and tuning. The result, when paired with Soyuz’s original schematic, is unique and uniquely musical.

As with all Soyuz microphones, 017Tubes are manually machined, transformers—all Soyuz microphones are transformer-based—are wound in-house, and all wiring is true point-to-point.

The 017Tube has quickly become the go-to vocal microphone of such artists as Coldplay, Radiohead, Shawn Mendes, the Lumineers, and Paramore, among others. Well-known producers and engineers who have adopted it include Nigel Godrich (Radiohead, Paul McCartney, Beck), Ryan Hewitt (Red Hot Chili Peppers, the Lumineers, Lady Gaga), Sylvia Massy (Prince, Johnny Cash), and Butch Walker (Pink, Katy Perry, Taylor Swift, Avril Lavigne) and many more.