Beyer M160 double-ribbon microphone 💫

 

1957 -- Beyer M 160 ribbon microphone

One of the longest-running microphones still in production, the beyerdynamic M 160 began as a unique offering in the world of ribbon microphones. The M 160’s breakthrough design employs two aluminum ribbons in a vertical array just 0.0002 inches apart. Each ribbon is less than one twelve-thousandth of an inch thick and is much shorter than conventional ribbons.

 -- These low-mass, high-inertia ribbons accurately reproduce transients to create a highly detailed and transparent sonic image. Its true hypercardioid pattern provides -24 dB of attenuation at 110 degrees off-axis, suppressing lateral interference and allowing high levels of gain before feedback.

A vintage Beyer ad, courtesy of late Alexis Korner 💫

 -- For this reason, famed producer-engineer Eddie Kramer recorded Jimi Hendrix’s vocals and amplifier with this beyerdynamic classic, thereby cutting the amount of drum and bass bleed into Jimi’s live signal. Likewise, Andy Johns reached for the M160 to obtain John Bonham’s massive drum tone for Led Zeppelin’s “When the Levee Breaks.”

— Ralph Towner has also been using for decades, now, his trusty M160 for live gigs to amplify his classical and 12 strings acoustic guitars… for its sound and low-interference with other instruments on stage.

 -- This is but a small sampling of the variety of the M 160's use throughout music history. Currently only offered with an XLR-male termination, the microphone was originally equipped with a Tuchel connector (shown in lower photo).