Yesterday we talked about the classic German brand, Neuman. Today, another German stalwart, Telefunken.
Telefunken was a German electronics company founded in Berlin in 1903. Originally named "Telefunken Gesellschaft für drahtlose Telegraphie mbH," the company played a significant role in the development of radio and broadcasting technology. Before World War II, Telefunken was a big consumer brands company making televisions, Radios, and of course, microphones.
In the 1960s, Telefunken merged with AEG (Allgemeine Elektricitäts-Gesellschaft), another prominent German electronics company, to form the conglomerate AEG-Telefunken which, sadly, is no longer with us today.
The microphone I am so in love with is a stereo microphone. The Telefunken AR-70—a legendary microphone manufactured by Telefunken in the 1950s.
It is a stereo microphone with two large-diaphragm condenser capsules mounted in an adjustable 90-degree XY stereo configuration. This design allows for phase-perfect stereo recording without the need for multiple microphones.
Most important to me is its ability to accurately and easily handle the Blumlein microphone technique, named after the inventor of stereo, Alan Blumlein.
Born on June 29, 1903, in London, England, Alan Blumlein's journey into the world of engineering lead him to his groundbreaking invention, stereo sound recording, a concept that revolutionized the way we perceive audio. In the early 1930s, he introduced the "Blumlein Pair."
In my experience, the two best microphones that employ the Blumlein technique are the AKG C24, and the Telefunken AR-70. Octave studios owns both but my preference is the Telefunken. Its warmth, accuracy, and richness is unmatched by any other stereo microphone I have ever used.
The AR-70 is my favorite microphone for capturing the beautiful tones of Octave Record's Steinway grand piano. Never heard anything come even close.
The only downside to it is also its upside. It captures everything from the piano and the room it is being played it. Which is great for a piano recording but not so great if in the same room there's other instruments like drums being played. Then, I have to resort to tomorrow's microphones, the Geffels.
