Misplaced Pages

Beyerdynamic M 160

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.
German ribbon microphone
A microphone with a round, silver, head pointed at a guitar amp
A Beyerdynamic M160 (right) next to a Neumann M49, both pointed at a guitar amp

The Beyerdynamic M 160, sometimes referred to as Beyer M160, is a German hypercardioid ribbon microphone used for speech in broadcasting and for music in live concerts and the recording studio. Introduced in 1957 by Beyerdynamic, the M 160 was initially based on a rugged dual-ribbon transducer element with alnico magnets. The two 15-millimeter (0.59 in) ribbons combine to yield a highly directional pickup pattern. The ribbon assembly is turned 90 degrees away from the usual configuration to make the M 160 an end-address model; the similar M 130 model is a side-address microphone with a figure-8 pickup pattern. The structure later incorporated neodymium magnets as they became available.

The M 160 is known for its ability to soften the harsh characteristics of strident sound sources. David Bowie sang into an M 160 for most of the songs on Young Americans. Engineer Andy Johns used a distant pair of M 160s (along with other processing) on John Bonham's drum kit for the Led Zeppelin version of "When the Levee Breaks". The M 160 is commonly used on guitar amplifiers, for instance, engineer Eddie Kramer recorded both the voice and the guitar of Jimi Hendrix on M 160s, starting in 1967 halfway through the sessions for Are You Experienced. Producer Phil Ramone used an M 160 to record Billy Joel's voice on every album from 1977 to 1986. The main electric guitar riff of Michael Jackson's "Black or White" was recorded with an M 160 in 1989 by Bill Bottrell.

Still in production after more than six decades, the M 160 was inducted into the TEC Awards Technology Hall of Fame in 2019.

References

  1. Simmons, Greg (November 27, 2020). "Ribbon Microphones". Audio Technology. Retrieved July 25, 2021.
  2. Huber, David Miles; Runstein, Robert E. (2012). Modern Recording Techniques. CRC Press. p. 114. ISBN 9781136117985.
  3. "Mixdown's Picks: Beyerdynamic M160". Mixdown. Retrieved July 27, 2021.
  4. Hunter, Dave (2012). The Home Recording Handbook. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 274. ISBN 9781476855851.
  5. Welch, Chris (October 31, 2013). "Andy Johns on the secrets behind the Led Zeppelin IV sessions". Music Radar. Archived from the original on November 4, 2018. Retrieved July 26, 2021.
  6. Owsinski, Bobby (2005). The Recording Engineer's Handbook. Hal Leonard. p. 43. ISBN 9781932929003.
  7. ^ "Beyerdynamic M 160". TEC Awards. Retrieved July 25, 2021.
  8. Ramone, Phil (2007). Making Records: The Scenes Behind the Music. Hachette. p. 199. ISBN 9781401388294.
  9. Buskin, Richard (August 2004). "Classic Tracks: Michael Jackson 'Black Or White'". Sound on Sound. Retrieved April 19, 2022.

External links

Category: