Audio-Technica AT5040 50 Series Cardioid Condenser Microphone By Lynn Fuston for Pro Audio Review As I started listening to the Audio-Technica AT5040, I considered the last time I saw a really revolutionary mic design. It could have been the Sony C-800G with its Peltier cooling device, or the Sanken CU-41 with its dual-capsule design (one for HF, another for LF), or maybe the Holophone with five elements in a single enclosure for recording in surround.
The truth is that, over the past 30 years, there have not been many revolutionary mic designs, with most manufacturers/importers choosing to make “variations on a theme” of history’s most beloved mics. One only has to look at the proliferation of the numbers 67, 47, 12 and 251 in any sales catalog to figure out that most mic makers are still riding the coattails of the glory days of mic designs from the 1940s to the 1960s.
Is there room in today's marketplace for a totally new, brave design? Audio-Technica thinks so. More »
Today's Blog
AES Readies 51st International Conference By Steve Harvey The Audio Engineering Society (AES) will hold its 51st International Conference in Helsinki, Finland, August 21-24, 2013, focusing on loudspeakers and headphones, and the technologies associated with their design and performance.
This event will bring together top names in the industry for four days of in-depth programs, sessions and tutorials, kicking-off with the keynote address given by Genelec Founder and Chairman Ilpo Martikainen on the evolution and history of the loudspeaker as we know it today. More »