NUDE Microphones

One of the giants on whose shoulders modern studio production stands...Les Paul in the studio…circa 1950...He’s credited with a whole raft of music production innovations from the solid body electric guitar to multitrack recording....A few Little known facts…In 1948, Paul crushed his entire right arm in a car crash. Rather than have the arm amputated Paul arranged to have it permanently set at an angle which allowed him to keep playing guitar – he was also the inventor of the neck-worn harmonica holder 😉

The JBL Paragon based on a diffusion principle launched in 1957. It was the world's earliest production stereo loudspeaker for home use, and also the most expensive at the time. The flagship JBL product cost $1,830– equivalent to over $20k in current $$...The design reflected/diffused the sound of the multiple drivers against curved surfaces (wood panels) within a cabinet to create a wide, uniform stereo image….They were 2.7m long and remained in production for longer than any other JBL product – from 1957 to 1983….These speakers were hand constructed and assembled – In most cases, it would not be possible to substitute cabinet parts from one Paragon into another because of this individually hand crafted aspect… To this day, it is arguably the most sought after vintage loudspeaker system ever made.

In 2020, we celebrated the 80th anniversary of the VU (Volume Unit) meter—an unsung hero in the audio world. Back in 1940, the Institute of Radio Engineers revolutionized the way we measure sound. Before the VU meter, measuring audio was a bit of a mess—telephone engineers used crude methods to measure line loss over a standard mile of cable, and early radio tech wasn’t much better, struggling to capture the nuances of complex audio waveforms with their TU meter which measured the power ratio between two different sound sources ....Then came the invention of "talkies" in the film industry, which demanded a reliable standard for sound levels. Enter the VU meter, a game-changer that ensured consistency across audio equipment and industries. Using a logarithmic scale because it mimicked human hearing, the VU meter brought precision to sound measurement and set the stage as the audio baseline that is still meaningful today – Who’s still looking at it for mix meaning?

The venerated Fairchild 670..... not for the faint of wallet at over $50k AUD…..even if you could get an OG one…. weighs in at over 30kg's and 14u’s of rack space....with a 20 vacuum tube compliment......It’s a stereo vari-mu design fundamentally.....often used as a mastering tool.....the before and after has to be heard to be believed.......the hype is actually real....Up there with the most ingenious Compressor designs of all time IMO….It’ll function as two independent compressor/limiters OR as a stereo unit OR the vertical and lateral components of a stereo signal which made it a hit with vinyl mastering folks…. It used a matrix that divided the stereo input into its vertical and lateral components, limiting them individually and the recombining them through a second matrix into left and right channels….Each half of the unit employs only a single push-pull stage audio amplification with a crazy fast attack time…It’s actually a little more complex than my description but I’ve skated over the granular tech detail – suffice to say the design is level up!

USE THE DISCOUNT CODE - $55OFF414 UNTIL JULY 6
https://www.nudemicrophones.com/products/nude-414
If you buy two microphones - we'll send you a matched pair
Our homage to AKG's halcyon period through the 1980s. The N**E 414 channels the legendary EB/BULS lineage. Get amongst it! In a market crowded with must have magic bullet gear choices – N**E stands on one simple premise...Low cost, Superb Sonic Quality Microphones – Get N**E in Your Studio

Reviews are beginning to drop

This clone found itself on a song today, and oh my…it really brought everything together. N**e Microphones are an Australian company who make what might be the closest recreations to classics, whilst being extremely cheap, that you’d think I’m telling you an apocryphal story! But it’s all true, this 414 recreation
(with brass ring!), is an elegant workhorse. Today it was the Centre piece of the drumkit.

Beast stuff Hugh, they’re lovely microphones with some really nice high mid-range response. Love them for overheads as seen.

They’re a big warm sound…but I decided that rather than try to describe them as warm or deep or clear or full.
If anyone asks, I’ll say. They just sound ‘full of goodness’.

The 414 is my current go-to for pretty much any single mic recording I do at the moment. Wondrous results each time I've used it on acoustic guitars, electric guitar amps, and vocals.

N**E Microphones N**E Microphones
Low Cost, Superb Sonic Quality Microphones.

When $$ answer the Question: – To EQ or not to EQ? – that is the question.
The Bard would have approved and I have no doubt he would have Got N**E in his Studio 😉

Recolored photo of the seminal BBC radio sound effects department taken in 1927!..These four foley artists reproduced everyday sound effects that were added to BBC radio shows...The department became the famed BBC Radiophonic Workshop in the late 1950’s and this unit continued sound effects and music production works until it was closed in 1998....Much of the work created is freely available here https://sound-effects.bbcrewind.co.uk/ - an incredible resource!!

It’s an artwork – Listening Room Dream No. 1, a mix of performance, industrial, and interactive art for fans of unique design, great recordings, and bespoke equipment – Each component in the installation is sculptural – The massive main speakers have two 15-inch woofers and a 15-cell horn evocative of Altec’s iconic Voice of the Theatre systems – all the amps use the newest iteration of Western Electric 300B tubes (not for the feint of wallet) – undeniable focal point of the room is the subwoofer…no idea what its sounds like but sure does look purdy 😉

Collins 212E dual Channel broadcast Console with a pair of Watkins Copicats
Legendary kit! The Copicats would be very boutique in a modern studio environment but the Collins is highly sought after Tube consolette with built in program limiter!

Keith Emerson Live on Stage circa early 1970’s with his legendary “Monster Moog”
Custom build by Bob himself as a live performance instrument for Keith....Story goes that Keith just kept adding to it to create its enigma presence including a few dummy modules....Moog Music, Inc. retains detailed schematics of modifications made by Bob over the Emerson, Lake & Palmer through the ‘70’s.

This Mobile DJ rig popped up on one of my feeds and I just had to share...Not quite sure where from or the era here so all thoughts appreciated...Note the central platter which I reckon is for 7” plates and the dual arms which would have been for running
different cartridges for different tones or to match specific music genres or vinyl presses...Just dope-style-nice

Monsters of Rock – 1984...In the years prior to modern Line arrays this is what big concert sound looked like...The British systems were the state of the art through this period – pictured is Hills Audio M4 full range boxes – no subs!...Like Turbo sound, they just faded away but through the eighties they had the contract to supply PA for AC/DC word-wide and did the PA for Live Aid at Wembley Stadium to name a couple of big gigs....Great historical pic – cabs were 4 way tri-amped – each box had 3 x 12" for the lows, 2 tannoy 10" coaxials and renkus tweeters – things weighed in at 160kg per box.

Vacuum Tube Shenanigans Sunday…It’s a Thyratron from the old soviet era….popped up on a page I follow....Look at the size of it! They are still manufactured today for very high current applications. Super-fast high-power electrical switching and as a controlled rectifier....Think pulsed radar equipment, high-energy gas lasers and particle accelerators....Always been looking for a reason to acquire a particle accelerator 😉

For those folks who are waiting on the new N**E 414 to land - THEY ARE LIVE IN THE SHOP NOW - https://www.nudemicrophones.com/products/nude-414
Thanks for your patience - Get N**E in Your Studio ;-)

Giorgio Moroder with some of his fav toys circa ‘96
What an absolute music production legend!
Tres Stylin’ – not many if any can pull off the tee shirt & neck tie 😉

Chet Atkins producing (left) with recording engineer Bill Porter – RCA’s Studio B Nashville – early ‘60’s...Porter served for four years as the chief engineer under guitarist and producer Atkins and is attributed with establishing the “Nashville Sound” of that period....When Porter left RCA in late-1964, Atkins said, "the sound was never the same, never as great."...Porter recorded nearly all of Presley's number one hits upon the singer's return from Army duty in 1960 through to his passing....A giant on who’s shoulders modern audio productions stands.

N**E has a new website
Check it out!
www.nudemicrophones.com
Huge props to for the new images and to Trentino Priori for generally also being a legend of photographic things – new site still has some Trentino magic ;-)
Don't forget to
Get N**E in Your Studio 😉

Anechoic chamber, European Space Research and Technology Centre [ESTEC], Noordwijk, the Netherlands – I am obsessed with anechoic chambers. Part of this is an aspect of my narrative arc as someone who (for want of a better description) works in the audio industry – Once you have been inside a few, your relationship to listening is forever changed.

TOA corp. produces a diverse range of audio products including the pictured disaster broadcasting speaker system.
These were developed post the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake in Japan. Freq. vs is 150Hz – 6kHz. They are designed to project voice over a wide area with excellent intelligibility up to an couple of kilometers distance – It’s a high powered horn array. Super clever speakers design.

The N**E stereo ribbon (Swiss Army Microphone) is seen here harvesting plant sound for use in Lacto vegetarian and vegan deep trance mixes 🙃

Circuit Bending Sunday – It’s a modified Xoxbox (pronounced zocksbox) 303 bassline clone architecture…Add of the octave keyboard and wooden consolette makes that whole shebang – Very tidy stylin’ …always amazed at human ingenuity 🙃

It’s a RCA KU-2A "SKUNK" (pic looking at the back so you can figure the WHY of the name) Ribbon Mic…OG ones (circa late '30's) are pretty rare and command quite high $$ - $15k+ in good condition - AEA has a contemporary reissue available…Really early innovative design to achieve a directional polar pattern…Design consists of two ribbon motors suspended in a common air gap. One of the ribbons is open to sound waves both in front and back and operates on the pressure gradient principle. The other has a tube that connects with a damped acoustical labyrinth, sealed to the back side of the air gap, The outputs of the two ribbons are connected in series to produces a somewhat cardioid polar pattern.

Adrian Utley (Portishead) in the Studio circa 2016.
Plenty of Moog goodness on display here.
Production legend me thinks.
Happy Christmas all.
Don’t forget to – Get N**E in Your Studio 😉

Oldskool UA rack...Few $$$ on display
2LA2A levelling amp, 4110 4ch pre, 610 mkii tube channel strip, OG610 and the OG LA2A...Not for the feint of wallet 😉