Advanced Audio CM49 Tube Condenser Microphone

Product Description

The Advanced Audio CM49 was designed with the vintage Neumann M49 in mind. As with all of their microphones, Advanced did not clone one of the vintage M49 versions. Rather, they used modern designs, circuitry, and components while maintaining the sound of this classic microphone famous for producing smooth pop and soulful vocals. The M49 gained notoriety capturing the distinct vocals of Bob Dylan, Miles Davis, Billie Holliday, and the Beatles ´Help´ overdubs. Additionally, it is considered the classical orchestra workhorse. Renowned for the lush vocal sounds of the 50s, Advanced Audio's CM49 touts the same natural and accurate reproduction, but captures a more refined high-end and smooth bottom-end.

The CM49 uses Advanced's hand-assembled AK47 capsule. The capsule is a 32mm OD dual diaphragm, single back-plate, center-fed design. Although they originally called the capsule a K49, it is an exact reproduction of the early Neumann K47 from the late 50s (the capsule used in the M49). Each capsule is hand-inspected and tested by Advanced Audio techs. Advanced Audio capsules use 6 micron thick, gold-sputtered mylar.

By using Advanced Audio's modern 2-stage tube mic circuitry, the CM49 has a much lower output impedance, yielding more headroom than the original. The hand-selected Electro Harmonix 6072a valve is one of the quietest hi-fi tubes available.

The output transformer is Advanced's own custom-wound BV18 transformer. This dual bobbin transformer has bi-metal (a mixture of iron and nickel) laminations. It provides very fast damping, resulting in a clear, undistorted transient response. The 8:1 ratio windings, along with the dual-stage circuit, deliver >+10 dBu, with less than 1% of distortion.