Neumann U87 Ai #86131: Large Diaphragm Condenser Microphone

Neumann U87 Ai #86131: Large Diaphragm Condenser Microphone

The Neumann U87 Ai is a large diaphragm condenser microphone great on vocals, overheads, acoustic guitars or just about anything!

History

The U87 was originally designed by Gerhart Bore of Neumann as a solid-state replacement for the very successful U67 tube microphone, (somewhat ironically, the U87 was debuted in 1967). The mic used the new K87 capsule, which was sonically identical to the K67 capsule, but utilized phantom power instead of an external PSU. In order to guarantee usability in the absence of a power source, the microphone body was fitted with a pair of 22.5v batteries to power the mic.

By 1986, when phantom power had become an industry standard, there was no longer a need for the battery compartment, and so the chamber was modified to house a DC/DC converter instead, and these mics are designated U87A. The output of this version is 6 dB higher, with a noise floor that is 4 dB lower than the original U87. Those models that had an XLR connector instead of a Tuchel are designated U87 Ai.