Neumann U87 Low output?

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samth3mancgp

samth3mancgp

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Hi everyone. I picked up a Neumann U87 at a local music store used for $1400. The price was right at the right time for me and it seemed like I just would be doing myself wrong if I didn't pick it up.

I've done a shootout using it against.. An MXL990, A Rode NT-1A, and an AKG C414 xlII. The Neumann outperformed the MXL and NT-1 hands down and the 414 was "getting there" but the neumann still had a little extra something to the sound that the AKG didn't have.

I have been very happy with it so far (for the last few weeks) but I have noticed that it takes significant extra gain on my preamp to get it to the same level as the AKG or Rode. What sort of problem is this? The mic sounds damn good as it is!

This is an older model. It just says Neumann U87 on it. no "a" or "ai" on it. The age isn't really a concern to me as I've actually heard that the older ones sound better from all the research i did on forums and reviews and such.

I can give more info such as the serial # if needed. I just wanted to clear up a few questions that I had about this mic. It feels like a privilege every time I pull this mic out of the case. So much history behind it.
 
Probably a dumb question, but do you have the pad disengaged?
 
No I recorded a bit with the pad on and off and it still takes alot of gain when the pad is off
 
A couple of years ago I emailed the service department Neumann company and gave them my serial numbers and they got back to me with the production dates. My U87 was 1971 and KM84's 1984.

It's hard for me to say if I think my U87 needs lots of gain because I don't know what to compare it to plus I always go through a mic pre then a tube compressor and the compressor has gain controls. Also my mic was modified and that could change the output from stock possibly.

But I never had any feeling that it needed any excessive amount of gain. I'd say I usually have it in the +20 - +26db range.
 
Old U87s were spec'ed at -42dBV/Pa, vs. -31dBV/Pa for ai version (cardioid mode). Compare that with the spec for your other mics and see if the difference in gain corresponds. If not, something is wrong somewhere.
 
mshilarious said:
Old U87s were spec'ed at -42dBV/Pa, vs. -31dBV/Pa for ai version (cardioid mode). Compare that with the spec for your other mics and see if the difference in gain corresponds. If not, something is wrong somewhere.
Click to expand...

Hmm I dont see the "/PA" part in the manual from my C414 but the "open circuit sensitivity" says -33dBV Is this right? The spec for the Rode NT-1A that I also put up against the neumann reads "-32 dB re 1 Volt/Pascal".

I'm not very savvy with the electronics and physics side of this stuff (hopefully that will change when I get to college)

Could a different impedance mess with this gain loss as well? But I thought that also messes with the quality of sound...? The mic sounds great. I've read that U87s were manufactured with different impedances in the early years. your theory seems like the more probable one to me! :)
 
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