VO-BB - 19 YEARS OLD!

[Dan-O]

So, a few months ago, I was able to play on Joe Cipriano's 1984 Neumann U87 and fell in love. I went out and bought a U87 AI hoping for the same results and came up a bit short. It was clean and tight, a beauty in its own way, but lacked the presence I desired. Then, as if the mic gods heard my prayers, a vintage 1969 U87 recently serviced by the legendary Neumann modification engineer, Klaus Heyne, came up for sale on Craigslist.

Below are two cuts recorded over ISDN from Portland to New York during a session. The first cut is with the 416. When the session was complete, I asked the engineer for his opinion on the newly acquired U87. We made the switch and read the promo again 15 minutes after the 416 cut was recorded.

(Please ignore the quality of my voice. At the time I had been battling pneumonia for four days.)

416
https://www.dropbox.com/s/cvnkl467dn2d3a0/416.aif?dl=0

U87
https://www.dropbox.com/s/o583hpbftnm7nyl/87.aif?dl=0

This isn't a shoot out between the two, but to demonstrate why having different tools to work with can enhance the quality of a project.

[nick]

Thanks for posting that... much appreciated.

[Rob Ellis]

Dan-O, is the U87 serviced by Klaus Heyne, or modded by KH?

[Dan-O]

Serviced and brought back to as close to original condition as possible. The mic was found in the dustbin at a guitar center and was in poor shape. Klaus said to the owner it was covered in 40 years of spit. Gross. Here's the tech version of that: he perfomed a three-way cleaning of two diaphragms, front side selection for best audio in cardioid, moisture sealing of relevant exposed conductive high impedance points, re-biasing of FET for lowest distortion, noise, highest output, and updating of amp's eq section to version 930-16 for better high frequency performance.

/over my head

[Moosevoice]

U87 sounds WAAAY more present. Rich, full but maybe a tad muddier.
Would love to hear a 416 vs Warm 87 shootout if anyone's inclined.
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www.moosevoice.com

[Rob Ellis]

I've had some good moments with a 416, but have always felt the 87 has a better overall balance, if that makes sense....I definitely prefer the 87 in this example.

[Eddie Eagle]

Nice to have Klaus in your neck of the woods too so you don't have to deal with shipping.

[Dan-O]

True, Eddie. Found out he's out near Hood River. However, he has a two year wait list for a mic modification.. You send him the mic and $2500, then two years later you get back the modded mic.

He cleans mics in between to clear his mind. Mine was completed in four days, but the previous owner knew him personally.

[Jason Huggins]

[verbcrunch]

Also registering curiosity regarding how the WA87 would hold up in this test.

The U87 definitely has way more body than the 416 here.
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Jeff Berlin
Humble Voice Guy
http://www.jeffberlin.com

[Jack Daniel]

Dan, just saw this and listened to your files. This is what I hear b/w my 416 and my U87 (though mine is the ai)--the 87 is much richer and rounder, but it lacks that incisiveness the 416 is famous for. I keep going back and forth; and right now I'm in a waxing U87 phase. In my case, I brighten up my auditions (and, with finished work, final files as well).

Curious what kind post work you do when you use the U87...?
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Jack Daniel
Narrator / Man About Town

[Rob Ellis]

The two mics being discussed are my two main mics.

After much trial and error, I have found a custom plug-in from George Whittam that works for each mic. The plug-ins clean up the sound nicely and provide a nice polish and sweetening that I use mainly for auditions.

Using the plug-ins, I find that generally the 416 works best for me on commercial announcer type-stuff while
the U87 works well on pretty much anything.

[Jack Daniel]

[Rob Ellis]

Well I know just enough to almost be dangerous, but they are Apple AU (Audio Units).

I don't know the exact specs on them, but it's a combination of some EQ boosting and cutting, some high pass filter and also an expander and limiter. If you go to George's website all of the basic info should be there. They are custom in that George configures them based on sound files of your voice.

Like any AU effect, you just hit Apply and it does the rest. It took me awhile to get comfortable using them because I'm a bit of purist but I've gotten to where I really like them now. Others who eschew any kind of processing when it comes to auditions may feel differently.

[Dan-O]