Pro audio vets can attest to the surge of craziness entailed by the emergence of boutique microphone companies hailing from the Baltic countries in the late 1990s. Suddenly, oddly shaped microphones appeared at audio shows, in magazines and then on store shelves. Some looked very retro, as if a pre-WWII Telefunken showroom had exploded. Others were “whimsical.” Some were tube and some solid-state.
Unexpectedly, many of them sounded quite good … and some were priced “affordably.”
The shock of Baltic audio humor and competence has long worn off but every now and then a hint of the old magic nips by.
One such example is the new JZ|PF from JZ Microphones of Riga, Latvia. “PF” stands for pop filter.
The JZ|PF is a typical pop filter in that it has a vise connector, a 45-centimeter gooseneck and a round frame. But the business end of the JZ|PF is an unusually shaped metal mesh. It looks almost like a still photo of a water droplet hitting a liquid surface. This is thought to generate extra-curative plosive defusion. Price: $139.
