SE Electronics VR1 Voodoo 3-stars Reviews

Hm, it's a ribbon that doesn't sound like a ribbon...

So I first got an sE X1-R, which I instantly loved, but it does need a lot of Treble EQ for vocals, so I thought the Voodoo would be perfect because of its extended hi-end.

The specs say it goes up to 18kHz, but testing it I found it goes above 20kHz.

So, turns out a ribbon with extended hi-end sounds like a condenser mic set on figure-8, with all the ribbon quirks (storing them vertically, low sensitivity and moody behavior with preamps), without the silky smooth EQ-able highs (and generally its freq response was spikier and harder to EQ).

I personally love ribbons because of their slow speed, natural, yet easily EQ-able freq response, 3-D sound and their ability to take saturation like no other type of mic and this one didn't have any of these characteristics neither on vocals, electric guitars nor drums.

If you want a clinical, pristine and clean ribbon, the Voodoo is a great choice, it's definitely extremely well-made too, it's just that it doesn't really have the character typically associated with a ribbon mic.