The Reynolds A-Type 4 is a four-capsule tetrahedral A-Format ambisonic microphone array, representing the culmination of years of product development and testing.
The mic and cabling, built by hand by Jack Reynolds in Hackney, East London, comes bundled with a state of the art A-Format to B-Format VST Encoder plugin designed by the amazing team at Atmoky
The mic array itself is made of four closely matched 14mm cardioid electret capsules with 78dB signal to noise ratio, an extremely important feature for nature recording or in situations where the background room tone needs to be clearly audible. In theory adding four mic capsules should result in 6dB better signal to noise ratio giving the A-Type4 a self noise of 10dBA. Max SPL is 127dB and the sensitivity is high at 21dB, requiring minimal preamp gain when recording even the quietest sources.
The capsules behave well in conditions from cold, wet overnight recordings to humid jungles and hot dry deserts and the capsule array mount is seated on Sorbothane pads, which absorb vibration and isolate the capsules and all wiringi is aerospace spec silver-plated, Teflon-insulated wire.
Physical Construction
The mic headbasket and body are made in London from SLS 3D-printed Nylon, which has a number of benefits including being incredibly light weight (75 grams), perfect for stuffing in your backpack, and also low susceptibilty to condensation, since the plastic body doesn't get as 'cold' as a metal bodied microphone. The SLS (selective laser sintering) process produces hardly any waste material and the mics are made with with the lowest possible environmental impact.
The mic body and grille are nickel coated for electrical shielding and to give a hard wearing surface and the light weight nylon construction also means the mic can be dropped from any height without damage.
Cabling
The 3m length cable included in the kit is made to the highest ISO standards by LEMO in West Sussex using Mogami 5.1 cable, terminated with an extremely high quality Lemo 2B plug, which mates with a LEMO 2B 8-pin socket on the mic body.
LEMO connectors are found everywhere the best is required, from the International Space Station to the most expensive movie cameras.
The tails at the preamp end of the cable are terminated with colour coded Neutrik XX 3pin XLRs with a built in circuit providing a fully electronically balanced low impedance output, giving the mic a high sensitivity and ability to drive long cable runs with no losses.
Atmoky/Reynolds Microphones Encoder VST
The final and perhaps most important part of the kit is the inclusion of a ground-breaking custom made VST plugin custom designed by Atmoky, which converts from the raw A-Format signals recorded directly from the mic, into B-Format ambisonics, for use in virtual reality, 360 video or as a spherical audio storage format that can be decoded to binaural or a wide range of channel based output formats.
The plugin includes settings to compensate for the coloration caused by the optional Rycote BBG windshield, plus additional controls to compensate for high frequency loss when using the Rycote Windjammer fur in higher wind conditions. Finally there is an optional low boost below 40Hz and an 'air' control to match the response to the Neumann KU100 diffuse field EQ.
The overall design is intended to be as rugged and reliable as possible but also to deliver the quietest most detailed sound at the lowest possible price point with no compromise on component choices. We don't sell through distributors or retailers, which keeps the price low and also means you can contact the designer and builder of each microphone directly with any queries or questions.
The A-Type 4 evolved out of conversations and field tests with leading sound recordists, collaboration with cutting edge spatial audio software developers and microphone component suppliers.
If you want to hear the results of A-Type 4 recordings please look at Axel Drioli's work or his immersive field recording library
An optional upgrade bundle includes accessories by Rycote and a rugged waterproof plastic flightcase:
- A custom-designed Rycote BBG windshield, which seats the mic array perfectly in the centre of the ball optimising the effectiveness of the shield. The BBG also provides protection for the microphone when in transit or out in the field.
- A Rycote BBG Windjammer fur windshield for use in higher wind conditions.
- A Rycote INV7HG shockmount with adaptors for various mic stand threads.
- A waterproof rugged plastic flightcase with foam inserts
The Atmoky VST will be shared via email shortly after purchase
