SE2200A vs X1

G

giopad65

New member
Hi everybody,
I am currently thinking about getting myself a budget LDC for occasional recording of male vocal (myself, baritone-bass), some acoustic instrument and my small (15 people) vocal group.
I put my eyes on the SE2200A (which one can get at interesting price now that it's discontinued), but now that the X1 is available I am wondering if it could be an interesting alternative.
Did anybody try to compare these mikes?
TIA
 
I've got 3 2200A mics which (as you can tell from how many I own) are great favourites of mine--pretty much my go-to mics for a lot of different things, particularly vocals.

I don't own an X1 but a few weeks back was invited to a "try it out" session at a local dealer and had a good play, both with the X1 and the new 2200A MkII.

I was very impressed by the X1. It has a pretty similar sound to the 2200A--maybe slightly less open and natural than its big brother but so little in it that it became hard to tell. I'm very tempted to add one to my mic case but I certainly won't be selling the 2200As any time soon either!

One thing in your consideration: check what's included in the X1 price. If I heard right, the dealer muttered something about the shock mount not being included with the X1 after the introductory deal. If that's the case (and if the 2200A deals are as good as they sound) then that erodes the price differential and it might be worth just getting the 2200A.

(And, in case you're interested, the Mk II is also lovely--sounds just like the original to my ears but with the added advantage of multiple patterns.)
 
giopad65 said:
Hi everybody, I am currently thinking about getting myself a budget LDC for occasional recording of male vocal (myself, baritone-bass), some acoustic instrument and my small (15 people) vocal group. I put my eyes on the SE2200A (which one can get at interesting price now that it's discontinued), but now that the X1 is available I am wondering if it could be an interesting alternative. Did anybody try to compare these mikes? TIA
Click to expand...
I am a Baritone and the SE2200A will do a fine job. It will also be a better mic than the X1.
However, I am an sE Fan.....
 
I have been told that the x1 and the 2200a have exactly the same capsule in side just a different carcass. I can not see that there will be much difference. my question is will the carcass make much of a difference?
 
they are the same!

I have been told that the x1 and the 2200a have exactly the same capsule in side just a different carcass. I can not see that there will be much difference. my question is will the carcass make much of a difference?
 
The casing can indeed make a difference to the sound of a mic capsule--as an extreme example, think about how the sound of an SM58 changes when some twit cups it, effectively changing the case design.

However, it's not just the case which is different--although the capsule is the same, the rest of the electronics are also different.

That said, as per my post above, the differences are fairly subtle and the x1 is a good mic--but check what's included in any deal. If, for example, you have to pay extra for a shock mount or whatever, the price difference gets smaller. Also, you don't mention if you mean the original 2200A, the 2200A II which is a very useful (but not cheap) multi pattern mic or the 2200A II C which is the cardioid only version, probably the most direct comparison to the x1.
 
Agree with everything Arcaxis said.

FYI I've done an A/B comparison of the 2200a and 2200a II C mics and can't hear any difference. It wasn't a 100% controlled experiment but good enough for me.
 
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