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Monday, October 13, 2014

AES Show New Gear Wrap Up - Part 2

Yesterday I discussed new loudspeakers and software from this year's AES show. Today we'll look at microphones and consoles (yes, they're back - in a way). Here we go.

Microphones
AKG Perception mics
AKG Perception mics
AKG launched some new mics in its Perception series. First is the small diaphragm P170 ($80), then there are a 3 large diaphragm entries - the P820 based around a tube ($700), the P420 ($200) and P220 ($150). I wasn't able to listen to them (not that it would have told me anything) and there was no literature readily available, so can't say much more.







Advanced Audio CM1084
Advanced Audio CM1084
My friends at Advanced Audio released a KM84 style CM1084, which appears to be very versatile and is only $399. They also showed their 251 close, called the CM251, which sells for a very reasonable $995. I own a couple of AA U87 clones and they're great, so I can't wait to try these new ones.






Cathedral Pipes Mic
Cathedral Pipes Mic



One of the coolest variation on the U47 comes from Cathedral Pipes. Owner and designer Charles Dickenson told me he put an LED beneath the grill as a joke when he was continually asked to make the mic brighter. It was only when people started to order it with different colored LEDs did he realize that was something that people really dug. These mics are very meticulously hand-built in Southern California and sell for around $1500. There's also a cool version of the RCA 77 as well for only $800.



Josephson C700
Josephson C700



Josephson Engineering showed their very cool C700 series. It's been around for a while but it never caught my eye. It's a combination Blumlein (2 figure 8 capsules) and MS mic (with a third omni capsule) rolled into one so you can change the directional pattern of the mic after you've recorded. Price is around $8k.





Gefell KEM975
Gefell KEM975
Another unique mic along the same lines was the Microtech Gefell KEM975 line array mic. Just like a line array sound system you see at concert venues everywhere, this mic has 8 capsule elements. The idea is to make the mic very directional in a vertical plane so the mic only picks up what's in front of it, not above or below. A 9th mic at the rear of the main body is to extend the frequency response below 200Hz. It's up for a Tech Award and costs around $11k.






Sony C38B
Reissue Sony C38B
Sony showed its C38B, a reissue that's been around for a couple of years but also skipped my attention. This was the FET followup to the amazing C37A. Sony says it's an exact reproduction and sells it for around $2200.










Reissue Neumann U47FET
Reissue Neumann U47FET
Speaking of exact reproductions, Neumann has reintroduced its famous U47FET. Once again, it's supposed to be identical to the original version. It's around $4k. There are other very good reproductions around, but none of them say Neumann on the body.









AT 5045
AT 5045
Audio Technica showed its brand new 5045, a side-address mic made especially for high SPL instrument capture. Despite its shape, AT says it has the largest diaphragm area of any mic it sells. The price is around $1600.










MXL Giga Mic
MXL Giga Mic
Here's an interesting mic from MXL called the Giga Mic. It has the largest body of any mic I've every seen; probably twice as long as the biggest U47. No info on the mic though.










Telefunken USA M60FET
Telefunken USA M60FET
Finally, Telefunken USA brought out a new small diaphragm condenser called the M60 FET. It's the company's first FET mic. No price yet.







Consoles
Trident Series 88
Trident Series 88
Recording consoles made a bit of a comeback at this show. Trident finally showed a shipping version of its Series 88. This one has 24 input strips with a 24 channel monitor section. The inputs are also dual inline so there's 72 inputs for your mix. All this for around $25k.







Daking Console
Daking Console
Geoff Daking showed his currently unnamed console, which was very cool indeed. It came complete with his Trident A-Range-style mic amps and EQ, plus dynamics on each channel and a cool routing with parallel compression in mind. It also has a very complete monitor section. Around $65k for the 24 input version.






Tree Audio The Roots Jr.
Tree Audio The Roots Jr.
This Tree Audio The Roots Jr is basically The Roots console without the master section. Each channel has a direct out only. Around $16k for all tube retro audio.








SSL XL-Desk
SSL XL-Desk
Finally, SSL showed its XL console, which is basically a mixer attached to a 500 Series rack. It comes with 8 SSL mic pres, 16 input channels, 4 stereo channels, the famous SSL buss compressor, 18 500 series slots and much more. The price is only $20k with empty slots. It's one of the more brilliant things I've seen in a long time.


That's it for today. Tomorrow we'll look at outboard gear and miscellaneous audio stuff.

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