AKG 460S (c. 1980s)

The AKG 460S sits in an odd spot in the record. The microphone itself is reasonably well attested. It was a modular, small-diaphragm condenser that working engineers reached for constantly. The "S" suffix is thin ground. What follows is what the sources show, and where they run out.

The 460 family was AKG's ULS (Ultra-Linear Series) small-diaphragm condenser, a preamp body that took screw-on capsules. The body is the part that shows up most in the period press. db (1984, p.26), reporting on an AKG factory tour, singled out the then-new C 460 B preamplifier as the most interesting product being built and tested. It was designed to improve on the existing CMS capsules, with a self-noise figure of 15 dB SPL and a maximum SPL of 140 dB for 0.5% THD, or 150 dB with the 20 dB pre-attenuation engaged. That is a serious dynamic-range spec for a small-diaphragm condenser of the era.

The capsule system is the other half of the story. Mix (1997, p.182), in a field test of the later C 180 B preamp, notes that the CK68 shotgun capsule worked only with the C 460 B and had by then been discontinued in favor of the CK69. So the 460 was still a reference point a decade after launch, and its capsule line was broad enough to include a shotgun head.

Where the 460 earned its keep was on drums and percussion. In interviews collected by Recording Engineer/Producer, engineer Bob Clearmountain describes using 460s as drum overheads, and a separate R•E•P piece on percussion sampling lists AKG 460s alongside Sennheiser 421s, Neumann U87s and B&Ks as the mic complement. Another R•E•P interview, with a classical/live engineer, describes placing a pair of AKG 460s stage left and stage right to augment high and low strings. He also used them with KM-84s and 451s when miking each stand separately for symphonic pops shows. A live-sound feature on a large touring rig lists AKG 460s on the percussion kit alongside 414s and an EV 408.

Surviving documentation for the 460S specifically, as opposed to the 460 B, is essentially absent from the material we have. The period press and the studio interviews all refer to the C 460 B, and the 460S name doesn't appear in the review chunks at all. It's likely a variant or later designation within the same family, but no source states what the "S" denoted, when it was sold, or how it differed from the B. We're not going to guess. If you own one or have a manual, that's the kind of gap this archive exists to fill.

Type: Modular small-diaphragm condenser microphone, ULS (Ultra-Linear Series) preamp body
Capsule system: Screw-on capsules (CK-series); CK68 shotgun capsule compatible with the 460 body
Self-noise (460 B preamp): 15 dB SPL equivalent
Max SPL (460 B preamp): 140 dB for 0.5% THD; 150 dB with 20 dB pre-attenuation
Common studio use: Drum overheads, percussion, strings, live sound reinforcement