It’s a microphone I often don’t get time to talk about as much as I would like, however, many of our artists love the HH1, notably I had a conversation with Sean Genockey about his use with it regularly within his sessions.
I guess, because it’s not as well known, I’ve not had too many reasons to publish my personal experiences - however, that changed drastically once we opened the new JZ Microphones Members Area via Facebook, and the sheer volume of you using the HH1 made me want to talk about it further
(if you’ve not already joined and own a JZ MIc, you can find it here!)
Let’s dive in!
Surprising Range
It’s no secret that dynamic mics can handle much higher SPL than most other variants of mics just due to the nature of the capsule. But when I say range, I mainly mean the frequency response and the sheer range into the top end that you rarely see with a dynamic microphone.
The HH1 has turned many heads just because of this one factor, and I myself was stunned upon listening for the first time when comparing it to other handheld dynamic microphones in my collection.
The HH1 reaches well into the 18Khz area, gifting it much more clarity, married with its unusual presence boost around 5Khz - but as a wide bell curve rather than a sharp peak found so typically on ‘vocal’ dynamic microphones. This one variable means that it excels on sound sources you’d not typically associate it with, and even more so on sources you’d likely think of first (guitar, snare drum, vocals, etc).
Roll it Off
The HH1 does have a slightly sooner low end roll off compared to other dynamics in its range, however, but don’t let this fool you into it sounding thin or lacking in lower midrange content.
I’ve found this actually helps it compliment other microphones paired with it; if you’re a usual visitor of the blog, you’ll have no doubt seen my Guitar Cabinet Mic Shootout where the V11 and HH1 blended together wonderfully and blew me away entirely.
On snare drum as well, it performs like you’d expect, but without a amassing of lowend frequencies overpowering the snap and detail of the drum. In fact, one thing that this mic does better than I think any other dynamic in my collection, is reflect my choice in proximity to the source. It does take time to learn this microphone’s characteristics, but after a couple of sessions I’d be surprised if you didn't share the same views or similar.
If you have a HH1, I’d love to hear what you’re doing with it and the ways in which you like to utilise it, so make sure to join the new JZ Microphones Members Area and share your work and experiences with the ever growing community!