See the making of the Sony C-100 and hear it on test in Japan
Sony has been a pioneer of sound since its beginning and their pioneering spirit is continued with the C-100 microphone. Their first professional audio manufacture was circa 1950 – the G-Type reel-to-reel-tape recorder. Sony/Taiyo began producing audio equipment in 1978. Sony Taiyo is in charge of the development of professional microphones such as the C-800G.
Tomiyuki Himeno is in charge of assembling the Sony C-800G, HMC-800G, C-38B and AC-148F and been doing so for 30 years. He has in some way been involved in assembling almost all products made by Sony/Taiyo, from headphones to microphones.
The C-100 and Collaboration with Sony Music
Sony Professional Audio has collaborated with Sony Music in building this new Hi-Res condenser microphone, putting it through several tests in doing so. Sony Music was able to provide frank opinions that Sony Pro Audio never would have received outside of the organisation. They use the C-800G anti-vibration structure on the new C-100 High Resolution microphone. From there, the C-100 includes a two-way structure. A 25mm capsule capture mid to low tones for a realistic voice recording, while a 17mm capsule can cover high tones up to 50kHz, making the C-100 one of a very low number of mics worldwide that adheres to the Hi-Res mark requirements for professional audio products.
As well as the new ECM-100N and ECM-100U pencil mics, this mic delivers a wide frequency response of 20Hz to 50kHz. In order to achieve this special sound quality, the capsule needed micron levels of precision, it needed to be manufactured inside a clean room.
Demonstration of Sony C-100 on Acoustic Guitar and Drums
Hear the Sony C-100 on test at the end of the video.
- The acoustic guitar was recorded with a pair of C-100s approximately 4-6 inches from the source.
- The mics were positioned over the bridge and around the 12-14th frets respectively.
- For the drum demo, a pair of Sony C-100s was positioned about 6 feet from the source as a spaced pair.
