On first inspection, the Hurford Studio Bug resembles a contact mic, but the tiny head actually contains two military grade, back-electret mic capsules configured back to back in a manner which produces a tight directional pattern in the direction of the embossed arrow and also seems to reject more distant sounds.

Like a contact mic, the bug is attached directly to the instrument being miked, but it works by radiated sound, not by surface vibration. The design has a good immunity to vibration and a self-adhesive velcro fastener is usually all that's needed to attach it to an instrument. In more demanding environments, it may be isolated by means of an adhesive foam pad.

A special power supply and preamp, complete with belt clip, is supplied with the mic, power being derived from a standard 9V battery; the bug plugs into the preamp and another lead feeds out to a standard balanced XLR connector at 600ohms. Alternative powering, and indeed battery charging, arrangements are available via the preamp, but because of the circuit's current consumption, the system cannot operate from conventional phantom power. Any external DC source between 12 and 30V should be fine for powering the unit, even unregulated ones, as the preamp box contains its own regulator. An alkaline PP3 battery will provide around 12-15 hours of power.

In live applications, the capsule topography provides good isolation from nearby instruments and is surprisingly resistant to feedback. This is also useful in the studio where several instruments are being recorded at the same time.

I checked the unit with a guitar and a viola, with generally good results. The brief manual provides notes on positioning; for guitar, the best position seemed to be pointing across the sound-hole towards the bridge. The resulting sound is definitely more open than you'd expect from a traditional contact bug while still being more direct and less airy than you'd get with a conventional mic. By moving the mic position, the sound can be fine tuned without the need to add much in the way of external EQ. Similarly, the viola yielded an immediate but warm sound, and though I'd still prefer to mic conventionally wherever possible, there's no doubt that the Hurford system can produce very good results in situations where conventional miking might be impractical.

For live use, there's a lower-cost Studio Bug Silver system that still produces a good quality sound at around half the cost. The Gold version has a response that extends from 30Hz to 18kHz, while the Silver provides a slightly more modest 50Hz to 14kHz. So far, this novel British development is available only from the manufacturers, but I feel it has something new to offer and wouldn't be surprised to see it picked up by one of the major players better equipped to market it.

Further Information

Studio Bug Gold £297.28; Studio Bug Silver £169.20. Prices inc VAT.

Arden Technical Services, (Contact Details).