Description
A LEGEND PERFECTED
The M 150 Tube is a unique small diaphragm condenser microphone for orchestral recordings, based on the legendary Neumann M 50. The M 150 uses a titanium capsule flush mounted in a small sphere to create an omni pattern which becomes directional at higher frequencies. An innovative transformerless tube circuit ensures a vivid sound with low noise.
TRULY UNIQUE – UNIQUELY TRUE
The M 150 is a unique tube microphone in the tradition of the legendary Neumann M 50 of the 1950s, often quoted as the ultimate microphone for orchestral recording. The M 150 offers the same phenomenal transient response and unique directional characteristic as its ancestor, updated with 21st century technology and improved performance.
CONSTRUCTION
Like its predecessor, the M 150 uses a 12 mm small diaphragm capsule, flush mounted in a 40 mm sphere. The capsule itself is a pressure transducer, but the sphere modifies its omnidirectional pattern to become gradually more directional at higher frequencies. The M 150’s condenser transducer is extraordinary in other respects, too: Its ultra-thin diaphragm is made of titanium, a light yet rigid metal, and spaced only 10 microns from the backplate, also made of titanium. The result is a sound transducer with unparalleled transient response. This delicate capsule is protected by an acoustically open headgrille – shaped just like that of the venerable M 50.
The capsule signal is amplified by a tube circuit using a subminiature triode, specially selected for optimal transmission characteristics and lowest self-noise of only 15 dB-A. Unlike its ancestor developed in the 1950s, however, the M 150 does not use an output transformer which might color the sound. Instead, the M 150 relies on an ultra-transparent transformerless output stage ensuring a clear low end, even at highest levels, and a wide dynamic range of 119 dB. Moreover, this state of the art output stage allows for long cable runs of up to 300 m without transmission losses.
A –10 dB switch allows to attenuate the microphone signal at the output for use with low headroom preamps. Another switch activates a 40 Hz rumble filter; in the LIN position, the low cut filter is not entirely deactivated but shifted to 16 Hz in order to protect the console input from sub-audio noise as the capsule’s low frequency response is virtually unlimited.
