Beyerdynamic M 88 TG Microphone

Comments about Beyerdynamic M 88 TG Microphone:

I purchased this microphone after years of being curious about it. Recently I attended a Pink Martini concert, in which both the lead trumpet and trombone players were miced with it. Overall I would describe this mic as smooth with low-mid frequency warmth and de-emphasized high frequency response (but not anything to the extent of the blunt high frequency attenuation of an SM57). I tried it on trombone and it sounded just great. In that application I would characterize it as smooth, not in-your-face, but still catching the overtones very nicely. It sounds real, tangible, and musical, with no obvious hype. It smooths out those harsh high mid and high frequencies and adds warmth to the low end. However, this microphone did not fare so well on my male baritone voice. The proximity effect too readily overloaded my Metric Halo ULN-2 audio interface when used close up. I had to back away about 6 to 8 inches to reliably prevent proximity effect overload. However, backing up to that extent resulted in a mediocre, somewhat thin tone and noticeable room noise. Maybe I don't know what I'm doing, but despite adjusting preamp levels, I could not get this microphone to work all that well on my voice. The proximity effect was simply overwhelming and ready to jump out at the slightest detection of low-mid frequency. That said, I am keeping this mic because it sounds great on trombone, where it strikes me as pleasant with no problematic issues. On trombone, I did not have to be wary of distance at all - it just worked. Most importantly it just sounds right in that application. That said, some engineers might miss the bump in high-mid boost presence featured in some other mics, so it depends on the sound you are after. I suspect this mic will sound even better on trumpet, which generally contains more pronounced upper overtones and could also benefit from the low-end body of this mic. Hey, this being the mic Pink Martini uses for their live concerts on lead trumpet and trombone, I would have to conclude that this is one of the best for that application. While it is not a do-it-all mic, it has the "just right" sound in certain applications.