BeesNeez Tribute 1

The Neumann U47 is legendary for a reason — as this homage makes clear.

Since starting production of their own mics back in 2002, Australian pro audio company BeesNeez have built up an impressive catalogue. I reviewed the Lulu Tube from their budget‑friendly Studio range last month, and was impressed to find a high‑quality valve SDC mic that would be affordable to a small studio owner like myself. For review this month we have another valve mic, but this time from their professionally priced Tribute range. The Tribute 1 is BeesNeez’s take on the classic Neumann U47.

There are already plenty of other options out there for engineers seeking a U47‑inspired mic, so BeesNeez are keen to highlight the lengths they’ve gone to to reproduce key aspects of the original design and assembly, with the all‑important capsule being a great example. The M7 capsule used in early U47 and M49 microphones was, apparently, made from gun‑barrel material, which is not readily available today. BeesNeez say that they have managed to track down a source of this material to use it in their M7 recreation. They have also designed and built a faithful replica of the original mic’s BV‑08 transformer. Unsurprisingly, though,...