Our story

Founded in 2013 by American musician, David Arthur Brown and Russian businessman, Pavel Bazdyrev, Soyuz has a unique and remarkable story and we’d like to share it with you here.

What is "Soyuz"?

Soyuz (союз) is the Russian word for union or alliance. At Soyuz Microphones we’ve combined Russian engineering and manufacturing prowess with Western design, quality control and marketing to create products that go beyond what either culture could achieve on their own.

A classic
Not a clone

Most new, high-end microphones are direct copies of a few classic German or Austrian designs. Usually, they’re manufactured using modern CNC technology and thus rarely sound like the originals.

At Soyuz we use our own, original microphones designs drawn from the best that both the Russian and German microphone traditions have to offer.

We manufacture them by hand in our own facility using only manual equipment and master machinists. In this way we create microphones that are unique, with their own personalities but which have that “classic” sound that engineers and artists so value. At Soyuz we strive to create “modern classics”.

The Base in Tula, Russia. Two hours south of Moscow.

The Base

The Soyuz factory, known as The Base, wouldn’t look out of place if it were transported back to the 1960s. It’s very much like what you would have found in one of the premiere microphone production facilities of that period– manual lathes and drill presses, white lab coats and analog testing machines. Everything from the way we machine our backplates and tune our capsules to how we wind our transformers is done much the same way as it was 60 years ago by companies like Neumann and AKG.

The manufacturing techniques used in that era created a sonic character that is impossible to achieve using modern, computer-controlled techniques. In the same way that the finest violins are all handmade, great microphones require that “human touch”. We do virtually 100% of our production in-house including making our capsules, building our power supplies and winding our transformers.

Tula, the perfect city for Soyuz

Located just 2 hours south of Moscow, Tula has long been famous for being the home of Russia’s top machinists. It’s long history of metalworking began in the 1700s when the Demidov blacksmiths were commissioned by the Tsar to build Russia’s very first weapons factory. Since then, Tula has remained a center of weapons production and machining. Tula is also famous for producing samovars and gingerbread (prianiki). Russia’s oldest microphone factory, Oktava, was founded in Tula in 1927 and Soyuz has benefited greatly from hiring former engineers, assemblers and machinists who were trained there.

Our Core Values

Union

We strive to exceed our customers’ expectations. We want our products to look, feel and sound better than expected. We have strict quality control and the best customer service in the business.

Quality & Service

A company that isn’t moving forward is on its way to becoming obsolete. At The Base we have a vibrant R&D department complete with white-coated “mad” scientists. There’s a healthy (some might say chaotic) culture of experimentation and innovation. As a company, we never stop searching for new ways to better serve the pro audio community with our products.

Innovation & Evolution

We believe in the idea of the non zero sum game. Just because there is a winner doesn’t mean there has to be a loser. We have strived to create a company where the customers, the employees and the owners all win. In a world where companies often try to squeeze unreasonable profit margins out of their products at the expense of their customers and employees, Soyuz is a refreshing exception. We build the best possible products at the best possible price and we have a lot of fun doing it!