AKG D-140
A cardioid dynamic built to be bellowed into, sweat over, and manhandled - and still sound like the studio.
Overview
The D-140 arrived in 1975 as what AKG's own exhibition copy called "a super D190," aimed at the engineers already devoted to that microphone. It was announced at the eighth APRS Exhibition in June 1975 as a compact cardioid dynamic. The company's advertising that year made its priorities plain: you could jam this mic into the bell of a trumpet without overloading or distorting.
The design is a single-element cardioid dynamic. The spec sheet of the period put its impedance at 200 ohms, with a list price of £50.00 in the UK. In AKG's own 1977 lineup that sat above the D190 at £33.00 and below the two-way D202 at £68.00, so it was a mid-priced professional tool rather than a budget item. Owners talk most about the bass roll-off, a 12dB filter switch recessed into the handle. It lets the user dial back the proximity effect or keep it for a fuller close-miked sound. DB-Magazine (May 1975, p.9) highlighted exactly this in the launch advertising, noting the switch was recessed so it wouldn't get knocked mid-session.
The D-140's actual use is well documented. DB-Magazine (May 1975, p.9) ran launch advertising that presented the D-140E as a super-tough single-element cardioid dynamic, sensitive enough for top studios or concert halls. The same publication's buyer's guide from that year classified it as a cardioid moving-coil with the bass-cut switch, which is about as plain a description as it needs. In the field, a 1982 equipment inventory from the Spectro Arts Workshop in Newcastle listed a pair of D140s alongside four D202s and a pair of Shure SM58s. A period advice column recommended the D140 for miking congas and bongos, mounted on a boom or gooseneck about a foot above the skins, at a time when the mic retailed around £50.
AKG's own literature positioned it for percussion as well, listing the D12, D140 and D202 among the models suggested for drum miking. Across all these sources the D-140 shows up as a general-purpose dynamic, tough enough to survive a stage and clean enough for tape. It wasn't the flagship - the U87 dominates any survey of the era.
Documentation is thinner than collectors would like. The D-140E variant appears in the advertising, but the available material doesn't say whether the "E" denotes a different capsule, a different connector, or a regional designation. What is confirmed is the 200-ohm impedance, the cardioid pattern, the recessed 12dB bass roll-off, and the £50 UK list price in 1977. Beyond that, the record is quiet.
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