Neumann Condenser Microphone manual

Neumann H istory 1928–2005 English[...]

Neumann H istory 3 2 Georg Neumann – An Inventor and His Life’s Work Company founder Georg Neumann was born on 13 October 1898, in Chorin, some 80 km North- east of Berlin. He received his vocational train- ing at the firm of Mix & Genest in Berlin. Later he worked in a research laboratory at AEG’s Oberspree Cable Works where the focus wa[...]

Neumann H istory 5 4 More than Just Microphones ... By 1928 Neumann had spread his attention to other aspects of studio engineering, such as record making. It was his interest in record tech- nology that was, in fact, the real reason for the split with Eugen Reisz. His enthusiasm and Reisz’ opposition were stirred by a commission from Neumann’s[...]

Neumann H istory 7 6 The First Remote-Switchable Microphone Other models appeared in 1949 and 1950, both bearing some notable progress. In 1950 the M 50 featured a pressure capsule embedded in acrylic glass to give an outstanding omnidirec- tional pattern. But more important was its pred- ecessor, the M 49, which was the first micro- phone that cou[...]

Neumann H istory 9 8 The variety of microphone models, however, increased: First the existing, well-tried models of the 60 Series (e.g., KM 63, KM 64, and KM 65, U 67) were replaced by suc- cessors using semiconductors. Starting in 1966, these were the small and large mem- brane microphones KM 83, KM 84, KM 85 and U 87 of the “fet 80” series fo[...]

Neumann H istory 11 10 Refinements in Phonographic T echnology Up until around 1953, Neumann built disk-cut- ting lathes for phonograph records with a con- stant groove pitch. Between 1953 and 1955, Neumann developed a method of varying the groove pitch depending on the recorded am- plitude. To this end, an additional playback head was mounted on t[...]

Neumann H istory 13 12 1980: U89 Variable Studio Microphone 1988: KM 100 Variable Miniature Microphone System 1987: RSM 190-S First Stereo Shotgun Microphone 1988: RSM 191-S 1994: RSM 191 A-S 1983: KMR 81 Shotgun Microphone 1978: KMR 82 Shotgun Microphone 1977: KMS 84 Vocalist Microphone 1974: QM 69 Quad Microphone 1965: KTM First Transistor Conden[...]

Neumann H istory 15 14 Especially for outdoor re- cordings the RSM 191 stereo shotgun micro- phone was developed. The recording angle of this MS combination can be ad- justed for the most di- verse recording situa- tions. Upheaval Everywhere These dynamic developments in the area of capsule technology and circuitry coincided not only with turbulent[...]

Neumann H istory 17 16 Back to the T ubes The assertion above that the U 67 was Neumann’s last tube microphone is not entirely correct. Down to the present day, the development of semiconductor circuitry has resulted in tremen- dous improvements in specifications. There has also been amazing improvement in the relia- bility of all components. Qua[...]

Neumann H istory 19 18 Neumann goes Digital Simultaneously, in the first years of the new millenium, the Neumann engineers were work- ing intensively on the development of the first digital microphone. Once again, this involved basic research in a completely new technology in this field. This finally resulted in the suc- cessful development of the [...]

Neumann H istory 21 20 Neumann: A Name Stands for Quality and Precision Despite all the progress in machines and pro- duction technology, manufacturing a high-qual- ity microphone involved a great deal of hand- icraft, upon which the quality of these trans- ducers and a reputation such as Neumann’s ultimately depend. Capsule Building – A Scienc[...]

Neumann H istory 23 22 Quality Must Be Measurable To meet the operating conditions encountered in the studio the microphones are subject to testing throughout their manufacture. The cap- sules alone undergo more than 50 different tests before final assembly. Since the very beginning in 1928 Neumann condenser microphones have always operated on an a[...]

24 Georg Neumann GmbH • Ollenhauerstr. 98 • 13403 Berlin • Germany • Tel.: +49 (30) 417724-0 • Fax: +49 (30) 417724-50 • E -Mail: headoffice@neumann.com • Website: www.neumann.com Errors excepted, subject to changes • Printed in Germany • Publ. 09/05 89496/A03 Legend P. 2 Georg Neumann Reisz-microphone P . 3 Erich Rickmann – Co-[...]