Neumann U 87 Ai Microphone/Grace Design Preamp Bundle

The nickel U 87 Ai Condenser Microphone from Neumann is a large dual-diaphragm condenser microphone. It features three directional patterns, including omnidirectional, cardioid and figure-8. These are selectable with a switch below the head grille and the window above this switch shows the symbol of the selected characteristic. A 10 dB attenuation switch is located on the rear. It enables the microphone to handle sound pressure levels up to 127 dB without distortion. The low frequency response can be reduced to compensate for proximity effect.

The U 87 Ai is used as a main microphone for orchestra recordings, as a spot microphone for single instruments, and extensively as a vocal microphone for all types of music and speech.

The U 87 Ai is addressed from the front. The frequency response of the cardioid and figure-8 directional characteristics are very flat for frontal sound incidence, even in the upper frequency range. The microphone can be used very close to a sound source without the sound becoming unnaturally harsh. By means of a high-pass filter, interference through subsonic and low frequencies are reduced.

The circuitry increases operational headroom of the U 87 Ai by supplying the bias voltages for the capsule through a reduced resistance. The result is a higher sensitivity of 10 dB for identical sound pressure levels, and an improved S/N ratio of 3 dB.

A switch located at the rear attenuates the sensitivity by 10 dB. When this switch is activated, the microphone accepts sound pressure levels up to 127 dB (equivalent to a sound pressure of 45 Pa) without distortion.

An additional switch at the rear allows to change the microphone's cutoff frequency. This reduces low frequency interference directly at the input of the microphone amplifier. This setting also compensates for the unavoidable bass boost that occurs with all pressure gradient transducers when they are used at close distance (proximity effect).

The cardioid characteristic maintains a smooth frequency response at a distance of 30 to 40 cm, and the figure-8 characteristic at a distance of 15 to 20 cm.

The m101 from Grace Design is a single channel microphone preamplifier that uses the same fast, musical transimpedance amplifier architecture as the model 801 and model 201, but packaged and priced to be within the reach of any recording engineer, musician or studio. The preamp now employs 0.5% precision metal film resistors.

An upgrade from the model 101, the unit still employs fully balanced, transformerless circuit topology and has no electrolytic capacitors in the signal path. With incredible bandwidth, headroom and resolution, the unit is remarkably natural, musical and detailed. A universal power supply is internally mounted.

The m101 features a ribbon microphone mode which provides additional gain that is usually required by that type of microphone. Pushing the dedicated ribbon switch does three things. Phantom power is locked-out to prevent potential damage to ribbon microphones, the impedance of the microphone input is raised from 8.1kΩ to 20kΩ, and the 48V DC blocking input capacitors are bypassed with sealed gold contact relays.

The included instrument DI input is designed to accommodate a wide variety of high impedance input sources, making the unit an excellent choice as a DI box which will flawlessly preserve the sound of any plugged-in instrument while imparting lackluster sounding instrument pickups with clarity and detail.

This Mogami Gold Studio XLR Microphone Cable is a high quality microphone cable for studio use utilizing Neglex Studio Quad #2534 cabling for better clarity and diminished noise and RF interference. This cable is terminated with black body 3-pin XLR connectors and gold contacts.

Neglex type Quad Cables have been developed for the highest quality recording applications where maximum definition of recorded sound is of critical importance. Special proprietary materials & construction methods make those state-of-the-art mic cables a must for direct to DISC and digital recording. Basic matters of flexibility, microphonics and shielding effect have been designed to meet international professional requirements.