U 67
neumann.berlin
the microphone company
U 67 - The Workhorse
The news came as a shock to Neumann at the end of the
1950s, when the German electronics firm Telefunken told
Neumann, that because it was the only remaining buyer of
its steel tube VF 14 M, further production of the tube was
no longer profitable for the company. After one last lot was
produced, the volume of which Neumann could decide,
the tube’s production ceased forever. With this announcement the end of the world-renowned Neumann U 47 microphone drew near.
At a time, when thousands of U 47 were in use worldwide,
Neumann began to intensify its development of a successor. The company had already been producing the KM 56
miniature microphone for a few years. That microphone featured selection of all three major directional patterns: omni
directional, cardioid and figure-eight. Neumann wanted its
new model at least to have these switchable functions.
As for directionality, the legendary Neumann M 7 capsule
made it relatively simple to realize both the cardioid and
omni directional pickup patterns. However, an exact figureeight characteristic posed more of a challenge, because the
dual diaphragm in the M 7 shares a common central electrode. The accuracy of a bi-directional pickup depends on
the precise correlation of the two capsule halves. This problem led to the development of a similar dual capsule, but
with two separate back electrodes. In addition to the ability to match the two halves exactly, it also become possible
for this capsule to respond optimally for all three patterns.
The result is the K 67 capsule, scheduled to be employed
in the successor to the U 47.
In the 1950s, it had become fashionable for many
popular vocalists to sing almost directly into the microphone. This practice
produces a noticeable increase in low frequency
response due to the so
called proximity effect.
Through this, the voice
gains volume at low frequencies and sounds fuller. Too much bass,
though, can be a problem, and to counter it, a switchable
circuit was designed to „roll-off“ low frequencies.
A switch located on the microphone head permits changing the low frequency attenuation to become effective at
100 Hz for proximity compensation. The EF 86 tube operates as triode in an anode amplifier configuration into an
output transformer with separate feedback windings. The
output transformer’s special construction helps to eliminate
hum and allows internal impedance matching with the following preamplifier.
Finally, in 1960,
the new microphone was born,
which ultimately
matured to become the Neumann U 67. Its
form is a variation
of the typical
cone-shaped microphone. It can
easily be disassembled without
tools and incorporates all the above
mentioned features. The prototype series was released as the U
60 to select recording studios for
testing. It was renamed U 67 with
the start of its
market introduction, to honor its
renowned predecessor and providing continuity
with the U 47.
The U 67 quickly
gained a reputation for its unprecedented versatility, making it the
ideal microphone
for universal applications. The Neumann U 67 became known as a
true workhorse for
professional recording studios everywhere. Several thousand were sold in
the first five years of its production, and as the U 67 gained
in popularity, the U 47 declined.
An era ended when the last U 47 was delivered in 1965,
with the U 67 having taken the market by storm and firmly
established as the legitimate successor. Especially in the
US, this microphone had become so well known that our
sales reps there were able to release an effective ad with
only a picture of the U 67 and the words, „ask anyone“.
The understatement was enough. Owing to its quality, versatility and shape, the Neumann U 67 became the very
symbol of a high quality microphone, often imitated, but
never duplicated.
Loading...