The second studio has never been home to a condenser microphone because of its considerable reflectivity and perfectly square shape. Upon replacing the tried-and-true dynamic mic with the BCC-1, our production director was surprised at the bright response, low noise floor, high output level and seeming disregard for the poor acoustics.

Frequency response. Click to enlarge.

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A different voice

The second part of the test was to try some voiceover work by a female. Our office manager/voice over talent/weekend special host stepped up to the microphone and her voice came to life. The BCC-1 was transparent and the voiceover was crystal-clear, all the while, no room reflections were detected. By way of a field-test summary, I would expect brightness and high output from any condenser mic. But the magic of this mic is its impressive response to bad acoustical environments and clarity for nearly any voice type. One more thing: I dropped the microphone on the floor. No problem! Even after taking a bump on the ground, the BCC-1 bounced back, stayed tight and never missed a beat. The robust metal construction and internal shock mounting proved critically necessary!

The BCC-1 is a phantom-powered mic, preferring 48-volts. It has a selectable high pass filter rolling off lower frequencies starting at 150Hz. It ships with a foam windscreen for protecting from plosives and moisture and is packaged in a foam-line hard plastic carrying case. It handles sound pressure levels up to 148dB and has a -49dB sensitivity. I commiserate with engineers who are skeptical of condenser microphones when used in compromised acoustical environments. But much to my surprise, the BCC-1 behaved very nicely in reflective rooms and its bright, noise-free and lively response added life and clarity.

Wygal is the programmer and engineer for Victory FM at Liberty University, Lynchburg, VA.