NAMM 2023, Booth # 15223 – Roswell Pro Audio, maker of boutique condenser microphones, has added a new flagship to their roster: the Roswell Aztec, a multipattern tube mic built without compromise.
The mic’s single-triode topology, edge-terminated K251 capsule, and custom-wound European T14 transformer deliver the airy, intimate top end and muscular bass of the finest vintage tube microphones.
Rather than merely “clone” a vintage design, Roswell has reimagined it with new features and upgrades. The mic incorporates a high-pass filter switch to reduce proximity for close mic placements, while a second switch enables an attenuation pad to increase headroom for high-SPL sources. A control on the power supply provides nine discrete polar patterns.
The mic’s power supply is fully regulated and excessively filtered. It includes numerous component upgrades unique to the Aztec: NOS tantalum resistors, a Swiss-made pattern control, and Roswell’s own electrolytic filter capacitors, which were specially designed for audio. Even the fuse and fuse holder are upgraded to gold-plated German-made parts.
The microphone benefits from relentless upgrading as well, incorporating an incredibly transparent NOS military-spec input capacitor and a copper-foil output capacitor made specifically for this microphone. Both the mic and PSU represent two years’ worth of R&D, during which countless components were auditioned, or in some cases, custom designed and manufactured.
