sE Electronics
RN17
Small-diaphragm condenser · Cardioid · 20–20,000 Hz
- A small-diaphragm condenser with Rupert Neve transformer electronics and a 17.2 mm gold-on-mylar diaphragm.
- The capsule unscrews — an omnidirectional head is sold separately, which is rare at this size.
Frequency response
No response curve yet.
MicSense only draws a curve redrawn from a graph the manufacturer publishes — it never estimates one from the microphone’s class. No published graph has been redrawn for the RN17 yet, so the numbers are in the spec table below.
Polar pattern
Generated from the first-order directivity formula for cardioid. It illustrates the pattern type — it is not a measurement of this individual model.
Specifications
| Manufacturer | sE Electronics |
|---|---|
| Model | RN17 |
| Type | Small-diaphragm condenser |
| Form factor | Stick / pencil |
| Polar pattern | Cardioid |
| Frequency range | 20–20,000 Hz |
| Sensitivity | 6 mV/Pa · -44.5 dBV/Pa |
| Max SPL | 131 dB SPL (0.5 % THD) |
| Self-noise | 18 dB(A) |
| Impedance | 200 Ω (electrical) |
| Connector | XLR3M |
| Powering | Phantom 48 V |
| Weight | — not published by the maker |
Specifications: sE Electronics specifications page · last checked 2 Oct 2026. These are the maker’s published figures for this model. A dash never means zero: “not published by the maker” means the maker’s documents give no figure; “not yet checked” means MicSense has not confirmed one yet. Spotted an error? Tell us.
MicSense notes
| Price tier | Premium |
|---|---|
| Introduced | — not recorded |
Price tier and “a rider regular” are MicSense’s own judgement, not the maker’s.
What it gets used for
- Overhead
- Acoustic instrument
- Hi-hat
- Choir / ensemble
MicSense tags microphones by the job on a live stage, not by studio category — so you can filter for “kick in” or “monitor vocal” instead of working backwards from “large-diaphragm condenser”.
RN17 alternatives: closest in published specs
Based on published specifications only — always listen at soundcheck. These are the microphones in the MicSense library whose datasheet figures sit closest to the sE Electronics RN17’s for the same live job, with the reasons. It says nothing about how they sound.
Not compared for the sE Electronics RN17: response curve not redrawn yet.
-
Shure
SM81
- Same job: overhead, acoustic instrument, hi-hat
- Same type: condenser (small diaphragm)
- Same cardioid pattern
- Same form: stick / pencil
- About the same output — within the datasheets’ tolerance
- Max SPL as high or higher (136 vs 131 dB SPL)
-
Sennheiser
e 914
- Same job: overhead, acoustic instrument, hi-hat
- Same type: condenser (small diaphragm)
- Same cardioid pattern
- Same form: stick / pencil
- About the same output — within the datasheets’ tolerance
- Max SPL as high or higher (137 vs 131 dB SPL)
-
Neumann
KM 184
- Same job: overhead, acoustic instrument, hi-hat
- Same type: condenser (small diaphragm)
- Same cardioid pattern
- Same form: stick / pencil
- Max SPL as high or higher (138 vs 131 dB SPL)
- ≈ 8 dB more output — about 8 dB less gain
Compare it against the alternatives.
MicSense lets you put up to four microphones side by side — spec table, overlaid response curves and polar diagrams on one screen. Free with a free Squaresmile account.