Sontronics Solo

I'm the lead vocalist for a punk rock band and I was in dire need of a mic that has a clearer, more rounded-off & warmer sound, better ambient rejection, more feedback resistance and more robust build quality and aesthetics than the omnipresent 58. I also specifically was looking for a wired mic, since I was always under the impression that my wireless 58 kit was lacking some growl.

Upon opening the box and holding the mic for the first time, it's apparent that it's really built like an armored vehicle - even more so than the Shure. It's milled from a solid piece of anodized metal, and is heavy - but reassuringly so, and not in an inconvenient manner. It's also very stubby and short, and all black, with laser-etched branding. It's a lovely object to hold and to behold.

Sound-wise, it's very nuanced for a dynamic mic, clear in the highs but with very little-to-none need for deliberate de-essing. The marketing hype says it doesn't really need any EQ-ing, but plugged straight into a full-range single-speaker PA, I really did need to cut the lows, by... a lot. That said, it doesn't really run as low an output as your average dynamic, hence does not need that much gain increase for it to sound good.

Overall, a great buy, and a mic that I believe will indeed outlast my life expectancy, no matter how much abuse I'm gonna be throwing at it throughout its gigging life. I do, indeed, believe that it would benefit from a bit of compression and a decent amount of EQ-ing, hence my next link in the chain is going to be a pedal-format mic preamp (just ordered today).