Reynolds A-Type 8

The Reynolds A-Type 8 is an eight-capsule hybrid-second-order A-Format ambisonic microphone array, representing the culmination of years of product development and testing. The mic comes bundled with a state of the art custom A-format to B-Format conversion VST plugin made by the brilliant team at Atmoky and each mic is lovingly built by hand by Jack Reynolds in Hackney, East London and cabling is provided by LEMO UK.

The mic array contains eight closely-matched 14mm cardioid electret capsules with 78dB SNR, 127dB Max SPL and -21dB Sensitivity. The microphone has been rigorously tested and behaves well in a range of conditions from cold, wet overnight recordings to humid jungles and hot dry deserts.

Physical Construction

The headbasket and body are made in London from SLS 3D-printed Nylon, which is both light-weight and strong, with low susceptibility to condensation since the plastic body doesn't get as 'cold' as a metal bodied microphone. The SLS (selective laser sintering) process also produces hardly any waste material.  The mic body and grille are then nickel coated for electrical shielding and to give a hard wearing surface.

The mic is wired with silver-plated, teflon-insulated (military spec) stranded OFC and every component is chosen for the highest possible quality.  Great care is also taken to reduce any resonances in the mic body and grille - the capsule array is mounted on Sorbothane pads to decouple and vibration-isolate the sensitive mic capsules from the mic body.

Cabling

The 3m cable included with the microphone is made to the highest ISO standards by LEMO in West Sussex, using double helical shielded Canford HSJ 8 pair microphone cabling, providing a high degree of electrical shielding, terminated with the highest quality LEMO 3B series plug, mating with a LEMO 3B 16 pin socket on the mic body. LEMO connectors are found everywhere from the International Space Station to high-end movie, chosen for ultimate reliabilty and performance. 

The cable is terminated to 30cm tails with colour-coded industry standard Neutrik XX 3pin XLRs with a built-in electronic circuit providing a fully electronically balanced low impedance output,  able to drive long cable runs with no losses. 

Atmoky/Reynolds Encoder VST Plugin

Included with the mic is the ground-breaking VST Encoder plugin custom designed by Atmoky, which converts the raw A-Format signals recorded directly from the mic into second order B-Format ambisonics (ACN SN3D), 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 formats and Dolby Atmos. You can also extract theoretically perfect 'virtual microphones' at the post production stage

The Atmoky A to B plugin is based on a large number of physical calibration measurements and is unique in the way it processes the A-format. The plugin includes a low noise setting, useful for recordings of very quiet sources at a distance, and BBG windshield and Windjammer settings that compensate for high frequency loss and coloration when using the BBG windshield, and Windjammer fur in higher wind conditions. Additional controls add a low frequency shelf boost below 40Hz, and an 'air' control which boosts the high end above 12.5KHz

Optional accessories

• A custom-designed Rycote BBG windshield, made in Stroud, which seats the mic array perfectly in the centre of the windshield
• The Rycote BBG Windjammer fur windshield, for higher wind conditions
• The Rycote INV 7HG shockmount with adaptors for various mic stand threads to securely hold and vibration isolate the microphone.
• Waterproof rugged plastic flightcase

The overall design evolved out of conversations and field tests with leading sound recordists and collaborations with cutting edge spatial audio software developers and microphone component suppliers. 

It is rugged and reliable while also delivering the most detailed natural sound at the lowest possible price point. No distributor or retail markup keeps the price low and allows for personal contact for any queries or questions.

Lower noise, better shielded, higher fidelity, more robust and more reliable than similar products the A-Type mics were originally designed for field recording, but customers have recently also been getting excellent results in classical music recording scenarios at BBC Maida Vale Studio 1, Abbey Road Studio 2 and Snape Maltings. Some recordings are available on the Reynolds Microphones Youtube Channel.

Mike Hatch, award winning classical engineer and owner of Floating Earth, had these kind words:

“In a field dominated by major manufacturers, Jack Reynolds has hand crafted a surround microphone that offers truly exceptional audio quality and noise performance. His unique design uses a 3D printed frame and high performance capsules to produces a microphone that is more transparent than any others I have heard so far, and I highly recommend them” 

Email jack@reynoldsmicrophones.com if you would like to try out a demo mic or if you have any questions. Custom builds are available on request.