the t.bone SC 140 Stereo Set

OK, I bought these because I actually needed a single extra small capsule condenser for my home studio. I originally bought The sontronics STC-1, but I had a faulty one, and I also didn't like the general quality of that product, so I opted for a refund.

So, I'd just bought another t.bone mic, the MB75 Beta, and was AMAZED at the quality and sound, so i thought I'd take a chance on these, and hopefully get two mics for less than the price of one.

I'll try not to repeat too much what other people have said, but these mics come in a sturdy case with all the accessories you need to get them mounted and running. The mounting parts are of an acceptable quality, but they're not of the highest quality, but no problems so-far, they do their job.

The mics themselves on inspection are made very well. The switches for instance are nice and affirmative, unlike on the aforementioned sontronics. The construction in general is apparently faultless. Like the MB75 BETA, nothing to suggest anything about it is cheap.

In use they have extremely good rear and side rejection, better than my AKG C1000 (v1). So great for situations where you have an untreated room or fear of feedback. They also have more apparent volume in the channel for the same amount of gain.

Sound wise, they offer a good palette. i would say the AKG C1000 probably has more subtlety, but the SC 140 is somehow 'punchier' and more even for certain applications, if such a thing can be said. I would say that this mic is very suited to applications with complex competing frequencies, like percussion and percussive sounds like strummed guitar.

I record a lot of hurdy gurdy music, and you have in that instrument a constant battle between melody and percussion from the buzzing bridge. Very difficult to get something your happy with with printed this instrument. This mic gives a really nice directional, even response. I used this combined with a tailpiece mounted AKG C418 for a little extra 'support' the melody, and got one of the best sounding recordings I've ever achieved

With more 'common' instruments such as acoustic guitar/percussion etc. Perfectly good. Be happy to use this any time.

So I've concentrated my ratings on the mic itself and not the mounting parts as they are all extra to me. Exceptional value for money.

So now I'm thinking of more t.bone mics to play with. At this price I can afford quite a few! Probably will be now looking a the t.bone Ovid system as my old C418 was actually the weak link in the chain, by being relatively noisy compared to the SC140.

The world of microphones is like a minefield of options and data. Some people devote their lives to them, I'm just a casual user who needs as close to the best at an affordable cost. Sure we'd all like Neumann 184 stereo pair sets, but have other plans for the thousand euros they cost. The specification for the T.bone SC 140 is quite near, and the mics come at 1/10th of the cost.

I have not tested these mics to destruction, so I won't go quoting published data about them. I've also used 184's, though gratefully, also not to destruction. The 140's have a high specification for SPL (sound pressure level, i.e. how hard the wind can blow at them (!) without 'cracking') so they're quite suitable for percussion recording. I recorded congas with them, with the mics angled to each conga, and got very acceptable and regular results. Also, the frequency response speficied for the 140's would suggest that it 'captures' some of the high frequency characteristics such as found in acoustic guitar well.

Summarily, I've found the 140's to be durable enough to work with drums, and with sufficient finesse to get the harmonic content of string instruments well. The 140's come with a shockmount for each, and those shockmounts may be each mounted directly to a micStand, or both onto the little bridge supplied which for the 2 then only requires 1 micStand. There were spare elastic mountings in the box when received.

All the items were received in a foam padded protective not insubstantial case, into which each of the items fitted very well. There is also a pair of little wind-socks in the case, for outdoor use.

Quality established, if you know how they do it for the money, please do tell me.

Ridiculous bang for buck. I've been using them as a XY pair on acoustic guitar with great results. I haven't found them to be overly brittle or harsh.
One mic is quiet and the other has more self noise, not enough to make it unusable, but a bit annoying. They came with a mic bar, which is plastic and not the best, nice to have it included but worth buying a better one latter on. At this price it's well worth getting a pair to have around.

I have been nicely surprised by theses mic's. They were bought for recording (primarily) acoustic guitar. They do a fine job particularly if used x/y as this allows mono without phase problems. As a spaced pair they sound great but like all other mic's don't mono too well. They seem to catch the top guitar strings in a warm way without that fizzy spiky stuff you can so easily get. The bottom end is warm without boom. I also used them on a full band recording (bass, electric guitar, harmonica, vocals) as overheads on the drums. Again a nice crisp sound that could either be used with lower frequencies rolled-off for cymbals, or as a full range recording. On mandolin they are very good, fiddle a bit bright but may be very good at a little distance in the right room. Not much good for vocals - the large LDC win every time. I haven't tried these on guitar cab but again suspect that there are better options.

The mic's feel chunky and of good quality. The clips are a little awkward as they a bit too tight but at least your mic's don't end up on the floor. The clip threads are only plastic a feel as they may easily cross-thread. The same applies to the crossbar which is all plastic including the thread. The roll-off switches are useful but I tend to use the pad on drums only and the HPF on the mixer.

All in all worth every penny. I guess you would have to spend quite a bit more to get significantly better. A keeper.