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AKG C12 |
AKG
was founded in Vienna, Austria in 1947 as a manufacturer of products
for the cinema industry but in 1952 they launched their first
large-diaphragm, tube condenser microphone, the C-2. A year later
in 1953 they produced the C-12 which was identical to the C-2
but built around its 6072 industrial triode and it’s this
microphone which has the accolade of the most exclusive and sought
after mic ever built.
Today AKG has been eclipsed by Neumann in the vintage mic arena
and Neumann’s U47 has claimed the crown as the ultimate
vocal mic but while the success of he U47 can be attributed in
some part to the Telefunken vf14m valve the mythical status of
the C12 is entirely based on the design and manufacture of its
hand tensioned, edge terminated Ck12 capsule which is undoubtedly
the most intricate and beautifully engineered mic capsule ever
produced. With 55 separate components the original “brass”
ck12 capsule is so complex that it required hand assembly and
tuning by a workforce of highly skilled craftsmen and AKG quickly
realized that it was simply too expensive to produce and they
had to redesign it for mass manufacture. Only a couple of thousand
brass capsule c12s were ever made between 1953 and 1963 ensuring
their position as the holy grail of rare mics. By the 1980s it
had achieved cult status and original C 12s regularly sell for
$15,000 and upwards
What AKG created with the CK12 was a new innovative capsule based
on a dual backplate design which enabled the polar pattern of
the mic to be adjusted without changing its on-axis sensitivity.
This innovative design was the invention of two engineers, Mr.
Kalusche and Dr. Spandock, from Siemens and Halske and was patented
in 1951. The following year AKG modified the design and used it
in their C-2. and it became the basis for all subsequent CK-12
capsules until around 1980. AKG set out to design their diaphragm
along quite different lines to Neumann and the brightness and
clarity that are the famous attributes of the mic came about almost
incidentally in their quest to produce a more sensitive mic for
radio. The physics is very complex but basically Neumann put a
screw in the center of their large-diaphragm capsules, and the
membrane vibrates in the form of a ring. The free air resonance
of the diaphragm is also set quite a bit lower that AKG’s,
all of these considerations create a vastly different sound character.
When Neumann discontinued its OEM production of the Telefunken
U 47. Telefunken needed a quality condenser microphone, and AKG
stepped in to produce the Telefunken ELA M 250/251 based on the
C12. The differences between the mics are small but important.
On the original C12 the pickup pattern is remotely controlled
by polarizing the rear diaphragm with a separate variable voltage
from the power supply, while the ELA M 250/251 has switches in
the capsule assembly that change its polarization pattern. However
the 250 only has two patterns, Omni and Cardioid while the 251
included these patterns and also the figure eight.
Further differences in circuit design and body and grill style
separate the mics but the use of the brass CK12 capsule means
that any of these mics commands a huge price in today’s
vintage mic market. Interestingly it's probably the Ela
M251 which is the most expensive mic to get your hands on fetching
up to 30K
The original CK12 was just too complicated to mass produce so
AKG redesigned it for mass production using modern materials
and it’s this later capsule that went into the C 414TLII
the 1994 re-issue the C12 the C-12 VR. These are nice mics but
really not in the same league as the original brass capsule
C12.
We've never had a play with one
and chances are we never will
JR
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