Sometimes I am surprised that people like microphones from 60 years ago better than modern types.
Microphone technology and 'know how' has certainly improved over the years.
But apart from quality, I also think that 'nostagia' plays a certain role.
Everything used to be better in the past, isn't it? :
I won't deny that there are a couple of excellent microphones produced through the years.
AKG/Siemens C12, Telefunken ELA M250/251, Neumann U47/M49/M50/U67 etc.
But how are they maintained through the years? Do they still perform the same as when they were produced?
Some time ago I did a test with a Telefunken M251 and a modern microphone.
The M251 had costed the owner $10.000+. The modern microphone costed a fraction of this price.
6 people were listening, and 5 of them couldn't hear any difference...
The only person who heard a difference, was the owner of the Telefunken M251.
Of course! After all, he was the one who had payed $10.000+ for a historic microphone, so it would make him
very unhappy if there wasn't any difference!
After this experiment, I analyzed the recordings of this test.
And yes, there
WAS a difference. The M251 had a hum... ;D