The New year is on us and we're starting it in style with our first taste of GA's vintage EQ module the EQ73. Also a great new session for you to mix from The Nick Rooke Band
The
AKG C12 has that special place in the top ten of great microphones.
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 AKG 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 in fact
AKG themselves quickly realized that it was simply too expensive
to produce and they had to redesign it for mass manufacture. As
a result only a couple of thousand brass capsule AKG C12s were
ever made between 1953 and 1963 ensuring their position as the
holy grail of rare mics and by the 1980s it had achieved cult
status with original AKG C12s selling 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
U47. 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 AKG 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 an original AKG
C12 to play with and chances are we never will but like all
old classic mics there are a range of retro reissue versions
available today with AKG themselves producing the AKG C12 VR
tube condenser. We have had some great results with Advanced
Audio's take on the mic the CM12 and while it is a lovely multipattern
valve condenser that looks externally like the AKG without the
famous CK12 capsule it is never going to be an iconic mic.
