If you can actually afford a vintage tube microphone, you’ll be lucky if it contains all the proper parts. Often, the condition of the diaphragm is less than desirable, and the cable may have been shortened, possibly unbalancing the original design. Finding replacement tubes can be a chore. For this and other reasons, a plethora of independent companies are now producing new tube microphones. Many try to emulate the old favorites, but few succeed.

Soundelux entered the microphone market five years ago, starting with large-diaphragm condenser microphones. The U95 Multipattern Tube Microphone was the first tube model the company made, complementing two FET models already in production. The U95 relies on a 6072 tube, which is now becoming scarce, so Soundelux redesigned the mic. The U95S, substituting an EF86 tube for the 6072, was nominated for a 1999 TEC Award. (By the way, if you purchased the U95, don’t worry about replacement tubes as Soundelux has a good supply of the best 6072 tubes available.)

While creating the U95S, the Soundelux design team got some new ideas about how to build an even better capsule. Now, combining these ideas with suggestions from U95 owners, Soundelux has produced the U99 Multipattern Tube Microphone ($2,499, including power supply, cables and carrying case). Also based around the EF86S tube, the U99 has a 1-inch diaphragm made of 6-micron Mylar, coated with gold and aluminum. In answer to customer suggestions, the U99 has a continuously variable pattern selector (the U95S features a stepped pickup pattern switch). The U99 has also improved upon the performance of the U95 in the areas of maximum SPL and dynamic range. The U95 has a brighter top end, but the U99 has beefed up the 80 to 160Hz region by 2 dB, partially a result of a larger output transformer.

The microphone arrived in an Anvil-type briefcase, complete with an engraved plate stating the name of the mic. Packed neatly in foam were the mic (serial #91), AC cord, power supply and a spider-style shockmount that fits many other mics. A snap-in-place panel creates another storage area in the upper half of the case, and this is where I found the six-pin mic cable. There is also room in the compartment for an additional cable or two.

Setting up the mic is simple: connect the mic to its proprietary power supply via the six-conductor cable and use a standard XLR cord to connect the power supply to your preamp or console. The power supply has a knob for pickup pattern selection, which is continuously variable from omnidirectional through cardioid to bidirectional (figure 8). I found that if I moved the knob quickly, the signal dropped out temporarily, but if I changed the position of the knob slowly, in small increments, the signal remained uninterrupted.

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Reprinted with permission from Magazine, October, 2000
© 2000, Intertec Publishing, A Primedia Company All Rights Reserved