Neumann - U 87 Ai

Depends on if you have an original or the 'ai' version. the new ones do suck, but the og's are magic.

I find the TLM 103 downright unbearable in the highs. The U87 Ai can get pretty ruthless on s-sounds too (especially with female voiceover talent). Personally, I’d take the U89 any day. Far more versatile and flattering to the human voice. Many engineers seem to get unsettled by its low-end, probably because modern sound has trained them to equate violence with clarity. The old original U87s can be nice, but every one’s a surprise on it‘s own. God, it’s been a while since I’ve mansplained to fellow sound people on the internet. One does miss it!

I have U87ai and use for clean vocals mainly. It can get a bit hard in mid range depending on vocalist. I don’t really Use it for much more than vocals. I do agree it’s not the holy grail, but what truely is? Use what you like that gets you the results you like. So many mics these days and lots of cheap good ones.

Pro here working at a top-ten studio with over 200k in microphones. I use the U87 set Ai and even vintage U87 for roughly half of my vocal sessions. Its a bit of a Swiss Army mic. If you can't make a U87 work for your vocals, you have bigger problems than your mic. It is not over hyped in the highs or scooped in the low-mids. It's a fairly vanilla mic all things considered but with minimal preamp eq or DAW eq, you should be able to get a natural balanced tone out of most vocals and instruments. Proximity is the key determining factor when used commonly in cardioid.

I've been in the biz since the 90s. I've never met a studio owner who says what you say. I've owned -- and still own -- most of the great mics people rave about and I'd say the U87 is one of the most trustworthy mics I have.

I've got a couple of well-maintained vintage u87s and two u87ai. I actually prefer the newer ones for a lot of the acoustic music I record. The vintage ones have their advantages, of course, too.

I always feel more character in my SM7B than my U87ai Both going 1073 > Cl1b U87ai feels more artificial and screechy, and a loss of character. Could be the way the SM7B makes me deliver into the mic because of its shape, and that it’s dynamic allowing me to get more close and personal.

At least they’re better than the u87ai. Holy shit that thing was trash the one time I tried it.

100%. I’ve used vintage 87’s, Ai’s, replicas…all blah and boring. If I absolutely had to use one it’d be fine but for being a legendary mic worth thousands, it’s always a letdown.

Mine are 1970's. The newer ones are higher output and they made some compromise for this which added harmonic distortion that sounds bad. Email gunter wagner and send them to him if you want yours modified to the best spec (it wont sound like an original u87 but it will sound better).

Are you using an old one or a new one? Because the new ones unmodified aren't very good. Ive heard some old ones that dont sound [that] great either. But my two vintage 87's are excellent (no they aren't u67s or u47's).

It depends by your chain and for what purpose you intend to use it. For a clean recording of the mic in the audio interface u87 is a good mic but nothing esoteric, for example, i prefer an akg c414 for a clean sound. But when you search a specific color and a signature sound u87 is the most versatile mic to use with most high end preamp that makes a miscellanous of colors and styles depending on the combination chosen. I think also, that most of audio engineers or artist use the u87 by 1% of his possibilities because they use only the cardioid polar pattern, but the figure 8 in a mid side for a piano recording, or the omni for a coloured room, they changes everything in terms of texture.

I really will never understand the tlm103 love. For me, it’s u87 or MKH416 for that commercial cut-through.

I got a track to mix that was vocal to a U87. They’re so saturated and resonant in mids/high mids and to be honest for what I was mixing it genuinely sounded awful for the job. I had to EQ to death because it was so ringy.

“The real pros in here” use them a lot lol. A U87 isn’t always the best sounding mic on any given source but it’s usually top 3 and never the worst.

Yeah I mean it’s not a bad mic by any means, I have one and I have no plans of moving on from it any time soon, but the last vocal session I did I used a 251. The U87’s place in a mic locker is “good default mic if you want something clean and not to colored” which is cool. It was also designed when things like tube preamps and consoles, as well as tape machines were basically always a part of the signal chain by default which will add color and flavor. If you’re going into a clean preamp right into Pro Tools that’s obviously going to sound way different (flat) so a mic with more character will be more exciting. I agree with you in a way, that a U87 isn’t always exciting, but I do think it has a place in a pro studio.

I disagree, I think they’re more than “just ok.” I think a lot of people just think they work great on everybody, I disagree with that. I think an sm7b is more versatile. But when a U87 works great, it works pretty great. I have 2 regular studio spots, one has a real U87 and one has a clone. The U87 fucks

I've owned two U87s for 25 years, and as an engineer who records lots of classical and acoustic material, I'll 100% disagree. They're one of my first choices for lots of stuff. Ive used countless mics, and the U87 isn't always the first choice. But they're reliably open and accurate, smooth. My clients choose them regularly in shootouts. They're popular for a reason....they sound good and are versatile.

Post man myself. A u87 with just the right spacing from the talent is awesome. I prefer it over the usual tlm103 you find a ton in western animation.

I personally feel you can get a more natural sound with the right amount of spacing. Let a bit of the high end roll off. Every U87 I’ve worked with needed very little EQ unless there was a specific sound in mind. I’ve used them when making demo reels, and that’s when I usually need much more EQ because of how much compression is applied.

I'm a little late but it seems to me that it's stature has risen in the last ten years or so. Like, it's youtube famous now? They're great mics but I don't think they're special in the way a 251 or 47 is on some sources. But what I do find intriguing is although I'm not in love with 87s, I am in deeply committed relationships with several 67s. Mics are funny.

the older version is about the cleanest vocal mic I've ever used. pristine top-end. not what you want on every session but on the right vocalist they're unmatched.

this one? graph about halfway down the post. https://groupdiy.com/threads/manley-reference-cardioid-schematic-and-some-analysis.84774/ u87 is much flatter up top (actual performance is pretty close to this): https://recordinghacks.com/images/graphs/_gen/small/0/0860.png both great, but they're voiced pretty differently. edit: eh, pretty close actually

I confess I no longer work at a pro level - my partner and I closed our studio during Covid lockdowns for a variety of reasons, and now I just do it for myself and friends for fun - but back then, I only had a U87 so that clients could look at my mic list and see that I had what they considered to be THE mic. It almost never actually got used, except when a client couldn't be persuaded to try something else.

I feel like this mic get a bad wrap based on how great they are. Like they sound awful in a room where vocals sound awful. IMO they’re pretty hyper accurate & give to u what u give to them. I own just 1 myself and if the room is killer I’m using it each time unless there’s an aesthetic thing

lucked into the temporary possession of a U87 through a family member. I’m a home producer, and I generally make intentionally noisy, lo-fi music. As such I’ve never had a desire to record with premium kit before now. That said, I get the hype around this mic. It sounds familiar, and I use it whenever I want to record a lead and have it punch through the mix. I’m obviously way less experienced than many on here, I didn’t pay anything for the use of this U87 and don’t know much about the alternatives. That said, it’s the first time I’ve ever got the hype with premium studio gear.

I‘ve got a nice 87 that I‘ve been using for 20 years now, selling my 4047 that has only seen use very rarely..

U87 is ideal if you want clear and crisp. Perfect for modern rap vocals. Can be good for female pop vocals but possibly too bright depending on the singer. Surprisingly awesome on Toms. Would well prefer a Flea 47 for most vocal styles

Na 87 is the desert island mic. Maybe the 67 betters it. You can throw it on anything and it’ll work. 87 is better than SM7 on vocal for me generally

Sure, there are better mics than 87s. You are in a privileged position to own two and talk about how you have better mics. For many, it's simply the first model number that they recognize that is legendary but also within reach, unlike an actual 47 (not a clone). I worked in a recording studio for over two decades and we did a lot of voiceover recording and our 87s were used every day. Maybe not so much for vocals, but for voice, all the time.

87 beats a 7b for me at least 8x out of 10.. aggressive vocals notwithstanding. Especially when put want a detailed, nuanced capture of a good singer in a nice sounding room The 87 hate is real, but there are reasons it’s been used on so many beloved, familiar recordings. A good 67 will usually sound sweeter, a 49 fuller and more beautifully balanced, a 44 , bigger, but an 87 is going to do better on many voices, under many circumstances, than 90-95% of the mics most commonly used today by home recordists

Seconded. There is no "best" mic for every voice, and lots of voices are flattered by different mics. But as a best *average* VO mic, a U87 is damn fine. On top of that, the fact that the U87 is pretty much a standard means that talent can do pickups in any studio. Much like Pro Tools, having a standard makes life easier for everyone when it comes to moving projects between different studios. Whether or not it is the "best" is less important than the fact that everyone involved knows what to expect.

For vocals I almost never use a U87 Maybe is it’s a male rock vocal that’s recorded from about an arms length away. Generally the high mid harshness is just too unpleasant and there are many mics that work far better for my ear, some of them much more expensive, some far more affordable. The JZ black hole is very good at capturing the U87 but with the horrible shit removed.

Already a lot of comments here, but I’ll put my two cents lol. I have the same experience with U87s, but I think the better options you have in mind may just be a personal preference thing as they are for me. I see U87s as a one of the highest quality “blank canvasses” you can get microphone-wise - neutral, clear, and very receptive to whatever processing and character you wanna throw at it. I don’t love them because I just prefer a mic that has more of the character I’m looking for from the get-go, but if my #1 priority was versatility and I could only have one mic, a U87 would probably be one of my top choices

when you get to use 47's and 67's and 251's and 49's and 149's on a daily basis....yes the 87 often feels just 'fine'. when you have mostly worked with mics under $1000, the u87 feels like a gift from the gods. even moving from something like a TLM193 to an 87 feels like a huge upgrade to my ears.

87s are flat, reliable, smooth-sounding mics with the most copied capsule design in modern music. They're not always the best choice, but they are more consistent than just about any other mic in existence

Whilst I’ve never truly loved 87s on most vocals when compared to other choices in my studio locker….the 87s are exceptionally useful mics from overheads to strings to grand piano and so much more. They’re also great on rap vocals. The 2 I have get used regularly.

I see so many posts and comments with people treating the u87 like it’s the holy grail of microphones. I own a pair of them, and I hardly use them.. They’re not bad mics, but my god there are such better options out there (especially for vocals). I know for beginners the U87 is the most attainable “pro” mic, but I guarantee the real pros in here don’t use them as much as people in this sub seem to think. For the price, you’re better off getting a u47 clone. I would take a Flea47 over a real u87 all day. Hell, I’d take an SM7 over a u87 (on vocals). Edit to clarify: I’m not saying u87’s are bad or that no one uses them. As I said, I have 2. I just don’t think they’re worth the hype for what they are Another edit: I think a lot of you are misreading my post. I didn’t say the u87 was a bad mic. Never once. I don’t own bad mics! I just find it funny that when the obvious newbies comment about vocal mics in this sub, it’s a lot of “I’ve got X for a vocal mic, it’s no u87 but it works” or “if dreams came true I’d have a u87” or “how do I get that u87 sound??” I just don’t think it’s worth that hype. They’re ok mics, nice to have in the locker, but they’re not the end-all-be-all a lot of people seem to think they are. Also, for those who are mad that they somehow read “pros don’t use them,” read again! I said “the pros don’t reach for them AS MUCH AS PEOPLE IN THIS SUB SEEM TO THINK.” See the difference?

I find them to be quite harsh

Not pretend my dude. I chuckle every time I see a post or comment praising the u87. I just don’t think it’s worth all the hype

Neumann U versions AKG 414 Sennheiser 441 Electro voice RE 20 Shure 57 and 58 versions Beyer Ribbon mic. I'm from the 1980s era so that's why I have no modern mics in my list. I edited out some mics because I realized we were only talking vocal mics. There were some days in my 3000 plus sessions where I had time to set up all these mics for a vocalist and then let them run down some of the song in each one. The Neumann i had was a U87. All late 1970s era mics. Within just a few minutes i knew what mic fit their vocal pre EQ. Miss those days..

Vocals - start with 4 of the following up: U67, 251, c12, u47, c37, and maybe a u87, SM7. Patch each into your choice A vocal chain, and pick whichever works. Sometimes the U87 or the SM7 win For the character of the song. Or just go with what you got and make it work.

I have an mxl condenser mic that works well, but just bought a Neumann condenser mic off Amazon. In the studio, they always said they used the $4k Neumann on me. Not sure that it is a knock off, but supposedly the same one Billie eillish uses and it sounds great. Under $400.