SOUND ON SOUND

[The Red Bladder]

Another secret mic is the SM59. Silky top-end ideal for high-hat, but was originally designed to be a reporter's mic as it had the most remarkably low wind and handling noise. It's almost spooky, as one pats the mic to hear if it is on and gets nothing - but speak into it and you come booming across!

[Martin Walker]

Well it's very rare that I can help with mic-related questions, but it so happens that like Hugh I used a D190 in my student days, and still have it over 40 years later, so I've just opened it up and taken some photos.

No foam is involved!

Martin

[resistorman]

Another secret mic is the SM59. Silky top-end ideal for high-hat, but was originally designed to be a reporter's mic as it had the most remarkably low wind and handling noise. It's almost spooky, as one pats the mic to hear if it is on and gets nothing - but speak into it and you come booming across!

I used to use those with a portable JVC cassette deck. They really need a quiet high gain preamp, though, or a Cloudlifter. Gave mine to a friend starting a studio.

[MOF]

I think the SM87 was released in the last two or three decades Hugh

1983/84 apparently

That’s earlier than I thought.

so a little after my time at uni... so can't have been that, then! I'm going to have to trawl through the photo albums and see if I can spot what it was anywhere!

The phantom powered microphones might have been from the AKG 451 family.

We didn't have that kind of budget! :D

You were lucky, it was almost an unwritten rule that PA/stage systems only used Dynamics. Condensers were said to be too delicate.

[shufflebeat]

...and we used the original AKG D12s on kick drums.

I remember the first time I heard our drummer with a new (old) D12 in the kick and our new (old) folded 18"s.

We were a band.

"Sputtered!"

Should only be seen in crime novels.

Well that rules out all gold sputtered membranes in condensor microphones then. ;)

It would be a niche crime novel certainly but I'd buy it.

[shufflebeat]

"It was Dr Robjohns, in the live room with the NT2"

[Mike Stranks]

An old fart writes:

I think Hugh has given a balanced perspective on the 190.

The '70s was a very different 'good amateur' landscape for recording and 'amplification' to that which obtains now.

In the early '70s the 190 was just about the only 'decent' mic that I could afford. In a limited field, mics I loved such as the 202, the 421 and the Beyer 201 were simply out of reach if buying with your own money.

Thanks to the generous discount of a friendly dealer who supported the charity for which I provided material, I got four 190s for £80... which was over a month's take-home pay!

Sure it had it's faults, but it was a good mic for voice work and with some judicious use of 'treble' and 'bass' controls on the mixer(!), gave a reasonable account of itself for music. Bear in mind that we were recording onto semi-pro tape machines such as Ferrograph and Tandberg (TEAC, Fostex et al had yet to appear) at 7.5ips.

The 190 was a staple of the installed PA market for many many years and I still come across them today giving reliable service in various churches.

[mellowsouls]

Thank you for taking the time to do that, Martin!

Looks like this D590 I have has a smaller capsule than a standard D190. Might be standard or might have been swapped out at some point. It rattles around in the basket, so I’ll have to just bodge something with foam.

[shufflebeat]

The D190 was an excellent mic when paired with a Carlsbro 6ch 150w PA head (TRS inputs only, mono of course) and some generic 12" + Tandy piezo tweeters cabs all connected up with the finest bell wire £2 could buy.

[Martin Walker]

+ Tandy piezo tweeters

Hands up all those who bought some of these ( I know I did ;) )


Martin

[James Perrett]

+ Tandy piezo tweeters

Hands up all those who bought some of these ( I know I did ;) )

I put some in shiny silver painted boxes which sat on top of the Laney PA columns. They added a whole new dimension to the sound.

[MOF]

Hands up all those who bought some of these ( I know I did ;) )


Martin

No, but I did buy a Tandy PZM mic’ and then made it worse by trying to make it balanced output, according to some instructions I’d read somewhere.

[shufflebeat]

Hands up all those who bought some of these ( I know I did ;) )


Martin

No, but I did buy a Tandy PZM mic’ and then made it worse by trying to make it balanced output, according to some instructions I’d read somewhere.

Yay, I've got two of those with the same mod.

[shufflebeat]

+ Tandy piezo tweeters

Hands up all those who bought some of these ( I know I did ;) )

I put some in shiny silver painted boxes which sat on top of the Laney PA columns. They added a whole new dimension to the sound.

Coo-ool!

That would have been the envy of the discotheque.

[Tim Gillett]

Thank you for taking the time to do that, Martin!

Looks like this D590 I have has a smaller capsule than a standard D190. Might be standard or might have been swapped out at some point. It rattles around in the basket, so I’ll have to just bodge something with foam.

Yes something doesnt seem right here. AFAIK the D590 is basically the D190 on a gooseneck, with perhaps a HPF. How does the capsule compare with Martin's photos? Does it have the grey tube attached?