AudioMedia - December 2008 - (Page 45) M A D E I N A M E R I C A : A P R O M OT I O N A L F E AT U R E Telefunken USA Re-Making A Legend T Bringing the classics back to life, Telefunken|USA has re-envisaged legendary microphones and brought them up to date, ready for the 21st century. Fishman says that the Ela M has gained widespread recognition among the recording industry’s top professionals, and that the microphones have made their way into the hands of many award-winning producers and engineers – and are in use by some of the music world’s most successful artists. “We are very proud of the hard work and investment we have made in bringing back the sound of the most sought after microphones ever built,” says Fishman. Telefunken|USA currently has a staff of people, headed by Director of Production Alan Veniscofsky – who is himself an experienced recording engineer. “The historic reissues of the original classic Telefunken microphones are built by hand, at Telefunken|USA’s Connecticut facility with parts that are almost entirely custom made for Telefunken in America,” says Veniscofsky. Though there are many sought-after classic designs that have the potential to make their mark in the modern recording environment, Veniscofsky feels that the vintage Telefunken microphones are rather special. “They were originally manufactured by the three acknowledged European leaders in condenser microphone technology, and are revered as the finest recording microphones ever manufactured,” he says. “Telefunken|USA takes great pride in having been able to provide historic reissues that have been widely accepted as identical to the original microphones.” Telefunken|USA was incorporated in , after Fishman purchased the Telefunken Trademark for the United States, and the company now produces a series of reverse-engineered vintage design products from its Connecticut-based manufacturing facility. These include the Ela M (which is essentially a stereo ), E (a version with two polar patterns), and the AKG C -inspired M , which we build to the original Austrian blueprints. The company also produces a replica of the Telefunken-badged classic Neumann U model, along with the intriguing CM ‘CineMic’ – which is a recreation of the microphone designed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Chief Sound Engineer Stanley Church in the s, for use in the company’s sound stages. Though Telefunken|USA’s designs are firmly rooted on the triumphs of the past, the company itself is looking to the future. Originally devoted exclusively to manufacturing exact replicas of historic Telefunken models, Telefunken|USA AUDIO MEDIA DECEMBER 2008 has now widened its horizons to include highly customised microphones, created with parts which originate worldwide in combination with proprietary electronic components. “Our product line has expanded to include custom-designed ribbon microphones and dynamic microphones, all built with the intention of exceeding the somewhat limited specifications of previous designs,” says Veniscofsky. “Telefunken|USA is currently in the final stages of reverse engineering, and will soon unveil another addition to its line of historic reissues,” he adds. Future plans include outboard processing equipment, microphone preamplifiers, vacuum tubes, and other products related to the Telefunken lineage. “Our most recent product offering is the Telefunken VF K, a direct replacement for the venerable VF vacuum tube which has been out of production since ,” says Veniscofsky. “It’s the one found in the vintage U microphone which was designed in , and still overwhelmingly popular.” Though there are many modern budget microphones on the market which visually ape the classics of yesteryear, Telefunken|USA’s offerings are obviously not just Chinese designs that have been re- badged after a bit of tinkering. The company is proud of its recreations, and the list of users is a long and growing one, including the likes of Oceanway Recording, Real World Studios, and Dweezil Zappa. As for the latter name, you may possibly have heard of his father, Frank, a man who was well known for using the occasional Telefunken and whose collection Telefunken|USA is restoring. “We are very proud of the hard work and investment we have made in bringing back the sound of the most sought after microphone ever built,” says Fishman. “We go to great lengths to recreate the vintage designs as accurately as humanely possible.” ∫ he very mention of the Telefunken brand name is almost guaranteed to melt the hearts of even the most hard-boiled sound engineer. The original vintage Austrian – manufactured Ela M and microphones, are highly regarded amongst audio professionals, but working examples are becoming hard to find and even harder to keep in anything approaching pristine condition. Telefunken GmbH was founded in , and emerged as one of the largest manufacturers and distributors of electronic equipment worldwide. In , Toni Fishman, now Founder and President of Telefunken|USA, purchased what was amongst the largest collections in America of the aforementioned company’s microphones, along with other tube-based vintage models from Neumann, and AKG – which originally had been assembled for Warner Nashville’s recording facility, The Loft. He saw an opportunity to bring the old classic back to life via a precisely re-engineered design that would be true to the original, right down to the last screw. The Ela microphone’s complex dual diaphragm design proved to be the trickiest engineering problem, as did the fact that no definitive blueprints for the microphone and its ancillaries existed, so engineering drawings had to be lovingly recreated from dismantled microphones and the know-how of long-time Telefunken users. The result was the Ela M that Telefunken|USA says is ‘a tribute to the classic microphone.’ The mic is also available in a new ‘no frills package’, the Ela M F, which houses the same meticulously hand-crafted components and vintage tube as the , but without the impressive flight case and with a power supply, which is a modern version of the original. “After perfecting our reverse-engineering technology in the re-creation of the , and with the manufacturing breakthroughs we’ve achieved in the last six months, we have been able to minimise our costs considerably and can now pass this savings onto the recording community,” explained Fishman. “You might think of the new package as a coach ticket as compared with business class – the price is different, but you still arrive at the same destination.” A Ne w Star t O utstanding Pe er No C ompromis e CONTACT DETAILS More To C ome Telefunken USA 300 Pleasant Valley Road, Suite E, South Windsor, CT 06074, USA t +1 860 882 5919 e contact@telefunkenusa.com w www.telefunkenusa.com 45 http://www.telefunkenusa.com http://www.telefunkenusa.com
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