Bock Audio 251 Large Diaphragm Tube Condenser Microphone

The vintage 251 is THE vocal sound people ask for, but the original (vintage) versions are 50+ years old and sound very different from one another.  Repairing, rebuilding and “nursing” original 251’s along has been David Bock’s work spanning over 30 years.  The risk for a modern studio or end user to depend on a vintage mic on a daily basis is increasingly problematic.

The Bock 251 is David Bock’s answer to the vintage mic dilemma of getting “that sound” without the headaches.  It is a premier lead microphone for premier voices. It is built to last and provide the studio and user with many years of daily, high end performance.

The BOCK 251 provides the user with absolute confidence that this is the mic you put in the most critical situations.  The BOCK 251 uses a proprietary hand made German capsule, a proprietary hand wound multi sectioned audio transformer, a NOS tube in the mic amplifier, a hand built outboard power supply and a custom low capacitance audio cable.  This is one of the best overall mic packages available on the market at any price.  The BOCK 251 is the ideal microphone to choose when there is a variety of applications that must met with absolute top recording quality.  With frequency response that extends well beyond the normal range of typical studio microphones, the BOCK 251 sets new standards.

For vocals, the BOCK 251 instantly delivers that huge vocal sound you have wanted for years.  It sounds equally impressive on females and males. It will capture the most intimate and subtle details of a vocal yet maintain integrity at high SPL’s.  It holds up track after track, “sitting on top” in extremely dense mixes without EQ. For instruments, the BOCK 251 offers very high end performance on critical stringed instruments, orchestras, choirs and small ensembles.  The outstanding transient response reveals elusive harmonic details that spell the difference between good and great in your recordings.

The BOCK 251 cardioid pattern shuts off the back of the capsule to deliver extraordinary vocals when worked very close.  It is recommended to use a pop filter on less experienced vocalists to enable closer working distances to take advantage of the magical proximity effect.  There is no low frequency filtering used on a BOCK 251 so you will hear low frequency content you’ve never heard before.

At distance, the BOCK 251 delivers a level of definition that is amazing.  The high end does not fade with distance like so many other condensers and the power and depth of the low end response is a joy to hear.  The omni and Figure 8 patterns prove useful in these non-voice applications.