TECHNOLOGY REVIEW
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Audio-Technica AT5040
STUDIO VOCAL MICROPHONE
With a four rectangular diaphragm design, the AT5040 meets its aim of achieving purity of sound, writes Alan Branch.
IT’S NOT often something really original comes along in today’s modern studio, so it was a huge surprise when I got to test the new Audio- Technica AT5040 condenser mic. Using a revolutionary four rectangular diaphragm combination, Audio-Technica has taken a fresh approach to how a mic can truly capture sound and has delved deep into its R&D think tank to overcome and refine the process, resulting in what might just be the best vocal mic ever produced!
PURE SOUND Agni Akkitham, European Product Manager for Audio- Technica, told me the idea behind the new ‘50 Series’ mics was to spare no expense,
FOUR ELEMENT PATENT- PENDING DESIGN The new circuit design from A-T feeds the hot side from two of the rectangular capsules and the cold side from the other two (wired out of phase) to achieve a balanced circuit without having to use components that might induce any kind of sound alteration.
with the design engineers instructed to achieve the utmost “purity of sound”. If we take the basic theory that the larger a mic diaphragm the greater the sound detail, you can understand why many manufacturers try to fit large diaphragms within a mic. However, large diaphragms are limited by practical manufacturing and inherent sound flaws the larger the diaphragm gets. This quest to produce a super high-quality mic led A-T to create something quite different. The AT5040 has a four-
part rectangular element that combines through its own patent-pending summing circuit design to create one huge diaphragm element. Each of the four capsules has effectively 254.4mm squared area – a whopper of a large capsule when combined. In relative terms, this is more than twice the size of a conventional large-diaphragm mic. This increase of surface area means much greater detail is captured and the four-part rectangular design provides a smoother 5k-20k off-axis response.
THE ELECTRET DIFFERENCE The internal construction of the AT5040 super-sized voice capturing wonder has another ace up its sleeve in that A-T has used an electret condenser construction rather than a conventional capacitor type. The use of electret mics has been growing. Although once they were considered a low- cost solution due to their
38 August 2013
easier mass-produced construction, A-T has a long history with electret capsule manufacturing and has refined the process to achieve as high specs as a true condenser. This can give great benefits, as unlike a capacitor mic it doesn’t require the polarizing powered circuit of a condenser. This reduction of electronics gives the AT5040 a cleaner circuit resulting in lower noise, a wider dynamic range, and a greater frequency response.
SHOCK MOUNT INSIDE & OUT
A mic this sensitive needs to be as isolated as possible from any vibrations. In addition to the new mic design is the rather clever new AT8480 metal shock mount. Using an almost finger-like grip mechanism, the mount grabs the mic body into its magnetic mechanical grasp, guided by rubber rings that line the clamp’s jaws, it snaps gently into place with the smallest of pressure, where it can be locked with a quarter turn twist of a small locking pin. The shock mount certainly is a striking design, which you can’t help but admire when you put the mic into its jaws for the first time.
IN USE The AT5040 is a tall mic, hand finished with a sleek silver finish to its aluminium mesh windscreen, and a dark grey brass body. It certainly has the feel and look of something rather expensive, especially when you consider the huge four-element
capsule inside, clearly visible when held to the light. But the mic is not overly large like some LDC mics. Its excellent construction and genius shock mount allow for all kinds of placement, although Audio-Technica calls this a premier vocal mic, I wanted to see what else could be achieved with the AT5040.
ACOUSTIC Acoustic guitar recording always needs careful mic
INFORMATION Feature set
• Four-part rectangular diaphragms (2 micron) function together as Audio-Technica’s largest-ever element
• Exceptionally low noise and wide dynamic range • High-SPL capability and extended frequency response
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placement. Gently moving the AT5040 around while the artist is playing it soon found a sweet spot below the guitar neck and it provided a warm silky sound, full of natural detail. It was certainly a very impressive recording.
ELECTRIC With electric guitar I like to use a combination of a Shure SM57 and a condenser or ribbon. I had a few days in the studio with the incredible Jeff Beck to experiment a
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