Superlux S502MKII 5-stars Reviews

Great mic

I use it for orchestra, choir, even nature sounds recordings and it is great.

Amazing value for money.

This is a really low price for a great sounding and convenient microphone. Setting up ORTF with separate mics is a bit of a pain unless you have a decent stereo bar. The only other option for a ready-to-go ORTF stereo mic is a Schoeps for more than €3k. I have used this on piano but will also use it to record small ensembles, choirs, duos, trios etc.

Compared to Neumann KM184s, this has a tiny bit more noise and a tiny bit less in the low and high frequency range, but hardly anything that could justify the €1000 price difference.

ORTF spacing and angle is accurate. The capsules seem to have a tighter polar pattern than the Neumann KM184s, giving this a more distinct stereo image.

To justify the low price, it comes in a fairly nasty, though serviceable plastic case filled with packing grade foam. No hand-crafted wooden case, but it works. Superlux could do with coming up with an improvement of their super-cheap looking logo.

As others have noted, this comes with a hilariously short 5-pin XLR to 2x3 pin XLR cable. Obviously the intention is that you always connect standard XLRs as extensions, but it would have been nice if this was a 2m cable so that short connections could be completed without the need for additional cables.

Buy it!

Mic clip is fine.

One thing that has been noted about this microphone and which I can confirm is a sensitivity to RF interference. Having my jacket containing my mobile phone close to it caused the familiar clicking interference so watch out for this. Maybe this is something Superlux could address in the MkIII.

Value

I have both the s502 and mkii, I use them as my overhead on a large percussion rig. I have applied the input capacitor mod (which voids the warranty) which reduces max SPL

BUT

This is an absolute perfect match for my application and I have a lot of mics. The transient response to cymbals is silky, the change to the caps captures huge bottom end subtlety. The price of this mic vs performance is insane. Ok its not a km184 and def not a scheops...but it is very good.

It developed a fault/out of warranty and so I ordered the mkii. In the meantime I read about drying out the mic...which I did and the fault (crackling) disappeared completely. The mkii is a good mic too (un modded) but is nowhere near this mic for percussion...I just finished ab comparision and unfortunately, this cheaper mic (with $2 worth of upgrade parts) is my go to and I can take live without stress of expensive mics etc.

Highly recommended...but of course consider its price...also be aware it makes a big diff on what pre/leads are used...it really does. I use Analysis Plus Pro Oval into Dpre (excellent low mids/mids) and I couldnt be happier.