Recording - May 2018 - 28

beyerdynamic TG V90 Ribbon Microphone
POP FILTER/
BLAST SHIELD

GRILLE

MAGNET

CONTACT
The published curve has a somewhat
alarming-looking drop at low frequencies
because it's measured with the source
a meter away from the microphone.
Move that source up to a few inches
away, and the proximity effect perfectly
offsets that drop, causing a reasonably
flat low frequency response down as
far as I can measure... and probably at
least a couple octaves below that, since
I am very limited in my ability to measure
bass response.
As the microphone is moved off-axis,
the dropoff in response is fairly even
above 1 kHz aside from the aforementioned irregularities in the top octave.
There is a small rear lobe and the nulls
at 120º are pretty good. The positions
of the nulls are pretty independent of
frequency, which means good rejection
of broadband sources like guitars. The
top end drops off a bit more quickly as
you move off to the side, but the
response 90º off is no more ragged or
peaky than it is on-axis, which means
sounds off-axis are going to be reduced
in level but will not sound echoey
and 'off-mic'.
This mic does not measure as flat
on-axis or off-axis as, say, beyerdynamic
M 160 small ribbon microphone, which
is designed with a similar technology.
But it also doesn't pop and it probably
won't be destroyed by blowing into it or
dropping it, unlike the M 160!
28

RECORDING May 2018

RIBBON
The manufacturer's measured sensitivity
was listed as -60.5 dB with respect to 1V/
Pascal. I measured it out to be a little bit
less, but within reasonable measurement
error. It's about 6 dB lower than a Shure
SM57, which is a low enough output level
to best benefit from a good quiet preamp
rather than a cheap interface's mic input.

The M 500: a historical note

Many years ago, beyerdynamic made
a similar stage vocal microphone called
the M 500. The M 500 design was cruder
than the TG V90's in some ways; the transformer design was more clumsy and the
pop filter was not as sophisticated. The
M 500 had a curious upper midrange dip
and a bit more of a presence peak than
the TG V90, which helped tame nasal

PROXIMITY
COMPENSATION

voices more dramatically than the TG
V90, but much of the basic character
of the microphone was the same.
Since the M 500 was discontinued
nearly twenty years back, people
( i n cluding me) have been asking
beyerdynamic to bring it back into
production. The TG V90 is not that mic,
but it is a worthy successor to the family.
When I first got this microphone, I was
really hoping it would have the same great
effect on nasal voices than the M 500 does.
It doesn't, but because of that it's a more
useful general purpose vocal mic. My guess
is that the beyerdynamic engineers considered the dip on the M 500 response to be
an aberration to be eliminated, and that the
smoother response of the TG V90 is an
improvement. Aside from those nasal voices
I've mentioned, the new response truly is
an improvement, giving it wider utility.

Summing up

The TG V90 is a really well-made
microphone. It's one of only a small handful
of stage ribbon microphones out there (all
made by beyerdynamic), and it's a very
useful tool to have in the kit. Even though it's
a ribbon, it's nothing like the old RCAs and
the various designs adapted from the RCA.
It's smooth and clean, useful on a very wide
variety of vocals and instruments.

PRICE: $449.99
MORE FROM: beyerdynamic,
www.beyerdynamic.com
BLAST FILTER
AND GRILLE

FUNDAMENTAL
RIBBON
RESONANCE
REFLECTIONS
http://www.beyerdynamic.com
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