Neumann M 149 - a gift from heaven! 
by Francesco Bonifazi from Fort Collins, Colorado, January 2008
Music Background:  Pro Musician and hobbyist engineer

After doing some tracking at Anthony Walker Studios here in Fort Collins, Colorado recently; I'm extremely impressed with the Neumann M 149.

We used it on my vocals and tears almost came to my eyes. Was that me singing my songs sounding like Frank Sinatra had come back to life and got tuned onto new music? This mic is something else on vocals. EQ?...no need to. I've used dozens of good mics but nothing comes close to this thing - for my voice anyways. The engineer tells me I'm not a unique case. Vocalists ranging from soft ballad singers to rock shreaders love it.

It took a bit of time for me to learn that I didn't have to do anything special to get a good sound from the 149. The condensers I normally use have what's called a "proximity effect" which means the tone changes as you get closer or further away from the mic. Not the 149. It sounded the same (tone-wise) at 3 inches or 12 inches. Cool!

So I could close my eyes and sing without having to worry about my head moving around - something I enjoy doing (it also has a wide sweet spot from side to side).

Also, I often use the PE to boost low frequencies to some of my notes...but that was already present when I hit the low notes...and more importantly, not there when I hit high notes...no need to move my head in and out to control tone. Wow! Now, I can use the distance element to select how much room ambience I want in my sound - a single variable is a lot easier to control for my simple mind.

List price: $5,700...Sweetwater price: $4,500...start saving for one!

I'm definitely going to do my important vocals with the M 149 at Walker's studio in the future. Most of his gear is also from Sweetwater.

Ciao!

Francesco - The Jazz Whistler
www.FrankieBmusic.com

  M-149 is The best mic in the World for my vocals 
by Cornelius Hill from Japan/harvey illinois, June 2007
Music Background:  Pro Rapper,Producer,Engineer,and always Student

my first neumann mic and i went straight for the gusto and i am am as happy as a kid if you got the money Get 2 if you aint got much save up for one until you get the money buy a MXL v69 mogami edition for my voice they stand toe toe REALLY THEY DO!!!! (dont stunt i have 14 mics now all from many price ranges all great)
also before you buy this mic ensure that your chain of comand is great mic pre,
converters acoustics you know what the deal is the get and v69 mogami then save up for this very very impressive mic
peace

A step in the right direction? 
by Tom Guignette from Lagrange Oh, January 2004

Neumanns successor to the old classic M49. The Neumann M149 is destined to be a classic. It`s a big mic making a U87 look very undernourished in comparison. With • 9 different patterns including Omni, Cardioid, Wide-angle cardioid, Hyercardioid, Figure-8 you will be hard pressed to find something a M149 pattern can`t be used for. With a Pressure Gradient Transducer ( K 49 Capsule ) and 20 Hz to 20 kHz frequency response there won`t be many thing this thing won`t handle. The mic looks like an old M 49 but is a bit taller. The mic has a different head grill ("inlet basket,"). In the past the original had three layers of metal acoustical mesh used as a heavy-duty pop filter, the M149`s mic's head grill has fewer layers and is said to be more transparent and more neutral sounding. Two switches allow various adjustments. The first enables the selection of nine different pickup patterns (omnidirectional, wide cardioid, cardioid, hypercardioid, figure of eight, with an additional intermediate pattern between each). The second switch is a seven-stage high-pass filter switch with cutoff frequencies that can be selected between 20 Hz and 160 Hz. Since this mic implores the tlm circuitry, Neumann states that a pad is not needed. On vocals the mic is very transparent and rich in character. I do have to say that it can sometimes become a little strident if pushed too hard. It`s definitely a step up from a U87 for most applications. But i prefer the U87 on electric guitars and rock vocals. Generally i prefer small diaphragm mic on acoustic guitar but the richness of this mic won me over. It might sound to big in a dense mix so a km-184 might be a better alternative. I would not hesitate to try a pair in a classical setting; it should give the 414s, B&Ks and Schoeps a run for their money. If I had to purchase just one pair of microphones for all-around studio use, it might very well be a pair of M 149s.

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