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Neumann
U87 |
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Neumann U87 is probably the best known and most widely used studio
condenser microphone. Originally released in 1967 as the solid
state version of the valve U67, the Neumann U87 condenser microphone
has been the industry standard studio condenser since the 1960's.
It is a large dual-diaphragm condenser microphone with three directional
patterns: omni, cardioid and figure-8, all of which are selectable
with a switch below the head grille. At the back of the mic is
a 10 db attenuation switch and a low frequency roll off making
the mic capable of dealing with most studio tasks though it's
probably most famous for its use as a vocal microphone. |
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Recording |
The
Neumann U87 was the microphone you had to have a few years ago
or you really weren't a proper recording studio and while they
don’t have that stranglehold any more they are still a
very good quality vocal mic indeed. The fact that they were
adopted by the BBC gave them some great exposure and they appeared
in some of the iconic photos of the 60s and 70s in front of
the big pop stars of the day.
Fairview has three U87s, all the same model except one has the
captive lead. They are really good microphones obviously but
ironically they aren’t the quietest mics around and if
you are doing something that’s very dynamic if you aren't
careful they can introduce noise in the quiet passages. When
I discovered this I was quite shocked though really it's not
a problem as long as you have a decent mic pre with plenty of
gain available. The great asset of the mic is that you can use
it across a wide range of things and it's one of the most faithful
mics we have in the studio. I've used it on everything from
trombones to singing bowls and you pretty well get back what's
going on out there. It's always my first call for a vocal mic
as they usually sound pretty good straight away and they hold
their integrity throughout the session by which I mean that
even as other tracks get laid the sound seems to hold its own.
If put up a U87 for the vocalist and I don’t like the
sound of it or there is a problem, that’s really unusual
and I guess that it might make me a bit lazy as I tend not to
be as adventurous as I could be with vocal mics. With the U87
you know what you are going to get. It's pretty flat really
and if you've heard the singer in the room and you put the mic
in the right place it's a foregone conclusion that you will
get a decent vocal take. The things it doesn’t really
do very well are distorted guitars as they can sound a bit peaky
and though I use them as drum overheads up high they aren't
as focussed as the
KM 84s.
I know that they are about £1500 to buy new but you can
still pick them up on EBay and the likes for well under a grand
and if you want to own one classic quality vocal mic then you
really should look at them" JS .
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