Dominic Guss Explores Sanken Dual-Diaphragm CU-44X MK II Mic

Sanken Chromatic CU-44X MK II

MESA, AZ, March 2025 — Successful boutique record label executive Dominic Guss is also an accomplished recording engineer, session drummer, and vocalist. His mic of choice for vocals, and for much of his instrumental work, is the Sanken CU-44X MK II dual-diaphragm microphone.

Guss explains, “One thing that a lot of people don’t realize is the small size of Sanken’s CU44X MK II, unlike famous large diaphragm condensers like the U87, C800, and 251. But the sound of this mic is big and impressive. In addition to vocals, I often use my pair of 44Xs as overheads as well, in addition to percussion instruments. That said, it’s one of those mics that I will try on anything and have always gotten good results.”

The CU-44X MK II’s revolutionary design features two titanium-matched capsules for low and high response with a wide dynamic range and headroom. The dual capsules. a larger one for the bass and a smaller one for the high frequencies, allow a unique mounting scheme that guarantees phase coherency, and are immune to the effects of humidity and temperature change, resulting in totally consistent response, regardless of the recording environment. The transformerless design of the 44X MKII, with a slight bump above 14kHz, provides air in the high end with a remarkable transient response. Sanken’s unique microphone is suitable for vocals, overheads, and acoustic instruments of all kinds. The lack of proximity effect and perfect cardioid pattern together offer a unique ability to naturally capture great sounds.

Guss adds, “it’s not quite as forgiving as some LDC and ribbons, but that’s okay with me because I’ve found that it means the source or something else is lacking in some way. For me, it doubles as a tool to improve my vocals — it makes me work harder to get takes I’m satisfied with, but that’s no fault of the mic.”