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Now that VF14 prices are in the stratosphere, how can you protect yourself from getting taken to the cleaners when you need to buy one? There is little any tube dealer or private seller can promise you when it comes to a microphone tube's functionality, noise, life expectancy, …

Preventative and restorative maintenance of a condenser mic capsule is such an important topic and often so easy to do, that I ask you to read the following all the way through. It may save you the money of a capsule replacement! Quote: Wouldn't a wind screen do the job? It …

When enough dust, dried spit and other airborne contaminants have settled permanently on a 6µ or thinner diaphragm, there comes a point when the effects of that debris will affect the transient response, high frequencies, and ultimately the capsule's functionality. The biggest …

There comes a time when a badge fell off the precious U47, or was never there on the used KM84 you bought. You may have bought an overpriced badge on eBay and now want to be absolutely sure to not waste the effort and expense.  Years of trials and mess-ups have taught me how to …

Here is my experience with pop screens and their effect on vocals*: First, I agree with comments made on mic forums: if you can avoid a physical barrier between vocalist and a sensitive condenser microphone, avoid it. Physics dictate that any barrier to acoustic waves will cause …

Though even Neumann, a leader in microphone standardization, could never quite stick to one color scheme through the decades, certain color choices for conductors have been prevalent through time. Here is my suggestion how to terminate multi-pin microphone cables. 1. 7-pin …

When Neumann asked me in the spring of 2021 to give input on a new model the company was planning to launch, reissuing the M49 was probably the last thing I would have guessed: unlike with the rebirth of the U67, no parts could be borrowed from any of Neumann’s current …

Among the Big Five, the M49 takes a special place. It was the only mic which was never seriously marketed to recording professionals, artists or studios, either in Germany or abroad: entirely a creation by German broadcasters to fit the needs of German, state-owned, broadcast …

In the spring of 2018, Neumann reissued the U67, a three-pattern, large diaphragm tube microphone first introduced in 1960. To simply review build features, response curves, and component quality of the Reissue, in order to determine how faithful it is to the original, would be …

Let’s start with a sleeper, a mic so rare that many have never heard of it, let alone used it. This model in Neumann’s line of solid-state small diaphragm mics stands out from the rest of the gentle, un-hyped KM8x series that commenced in the late 1960s. Its ‘wow’ factor has …