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The brainchild of Georg Neumann, the legendary German company’s flagship product was the Neumann CMV 3, the world’s first commercially available condenser microphone. Capable of different directional patterns by swapping out the interchangeable capsules, it was hard to miss at 40 cm tall and 9 cm diameter. Due its large profile it became known as the “Neumann bottle.” The Classic Neumann CMV 3 became almost iconic and can be seen in many historical photographs of public events in Germany, especially those taken during the period of World War II.

After the Neumann factory in Berlin was damaged by Allied bombing in November 1943, Georg Neumann moved his company to the town of Gefell and resumed production in the early months of 1944. After the close of World War II, Gefer was taken by the Soviets and Neumann became a state owned and operated “people’s corporation.After the reunification of Germany, the Neumann company now located in Gefell became known as Microtech Gefell.

After re-establishing his company in one of the allied sectors of Berlin under the new name “ Georg Neumann GmbH,” a new switchable pattern microphone was developed, the famous U 47, which was based on the M7 capsule of the previous CMV3 microphones. The Neumann U47 was one of the first condenser microphones to be widely used in recording studios around the world. Neumann microphones were used by The Beatles giving their recording a signature sound which had better upper mid-range response, and sounded sharper and more present.

During the post-war period, Neumann developed the M49 and M50, both using the M7 capsule, and during the 50’s the KM 53, 54, and 56. In 1957 Neumann introduced the first stereo microphone, which was essentially a pair of KM56 microphones housed in the same body and capable of being remotely controlled. Many 50’s rock ‘n roll recordings were distinguished by the up close, high volume, overdriven sound of the U47 and U48. These produced a harsh sound, loved by some and frowned upon by others. Around the same time this trend was developing, Telefunken discontinued production of the VF 14 vacuum tube on which the U47 and U48 were based, and a new model was developed, the U67.

The mid-sixties saw the introduction of the first solid state Neumann microphones, the KTM and the U77, transistorized version of earlier Neumann mics. In 1966 the Neumann U87 capacitor microphone employed the “phantom power” method which had been used for years by telephone systems. This allowed Neumann tube, solid state and dynamic microphones to all be connected to the same power supplies.

Neumann introduced the TLM 170 in the 80’s, which featured no output transformer, and instead had balanced outputs. The KM100 was an expansion on the transformer-less design and featured seven different changeable active capsules: the TLM 193 borrowed the capsule from the U89 and TLM 170, the KM 180 series, the large diaphragm TLM 103, the variable pattern TLM 127 condenser.

Neumann introduced the TLM 170 microphone in 1983 which featured balanced outputs and no output transformer. Eventually this “fet 100″ or “transformer-less” series was expanded to include the KM 100 modular series of small microphones (with seven different “active capsules” for various directional patterns), the cardioid TLM 193 (using the capsule of the U 89 and TLM 170), the small-diaphragm KM 180 series, the large-diaphragm cardioid TLM 103, the variable-pattern TLM 127 and the TLM 49 cardioid vocal microphone.

During the 90’s, Neumann introduced a revolutionary series of vacuum tube microphones that featured transformer-less output circuitry.  Still widely sought after today, the Neumann M149 Tube microphone, the cardioid Neumann M147 Tube microphone and the Neumann M 150 Tube microphone, an evolution of the M 50 design that featured a pressure transducer mounted on the surface of the sphere directly inside the capsule head. The iconic Neumann company was bought by Sennheiser in 1991, and production was moved to a brand new level 100 clean factory in Wedermark. Official Neumann headquarters remained in Berlin.

Neumann revolutionized microphone technology again in 2003 with the Solution-D D-01 microphone, featuring built in analog to digital conversion. The D-01 was followed a few years later by a modular, small-diaphragm line of digital microphones, the KM D which was based on the earlier KM 100/180 series. During this time Neumann also began production of its very first dynamic microphone, the BCM 705 broadcast microphone.

Since the beginning, Neumann microphones have remained synonymous with quality and signature models like the Neumann U87 have become unmistakable icons of the recording studio. For artists, producers and engineers alike, Neumann vocal microphones represent the highest level of sonic perfection and innovation.

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