Neumann TLM170
A multi-pattern condenser that handles 140 dB without flinching - and quietly outsold the U87.
Overview
Five polar patterns, 140 dB of headroom and a 126 dB dynamic range. Neumann built the TLM170 around a multi-pattern condenser capsule with omni, wide cardioid, cardioid, hypercardioid and figure-8. Most large-diaphragm condensers in this class give you three patterns at most. With five, the same mic works as a room mic in omni, a close vocal mic in cardioid, or a Blumlein pair in figure-8, without swapping bodies.
The headline number is that 140 dB SPL figure with minimal distortion, paired with a 126 dB dynamic range. You can put the TLM170 in front of a screaming vocalist, a close-miked kick drum or a brass section without reaching for the pad. Engineers who have worked with it describe it as having more headroom than a U87, which matters to anyone who has watched a U87's FET stage get unhappy on a loud source.
The mic ships with a tiltable, elastically suspended mounting bracket. The suspension isolates the body from stand-borne rumble and lets you angle the capsule without fighting a yoke. That counts for a lot on a mic often used as a room or overhead pair.
Collectors and studio owners note that the TLM170 caught on fast enough to overtake the U87 in sales, according to Mix (March 1989, p.45). The U87 had been the default large-diaphragm Neumann for decades. The same report points to the TLM170's amplifier circuitry - 11 transistors, laser-trimmed resistors - and its slightly smaller body compared to the U87. Neumann's house sound has always leaned toward clarity, and going from a single-transistor design to an 11-transistor amplifier was, by the magazine's own framing, a fairly radical departure.
The engineers who use it don't treat it as a one-trick vocal mic. In a multi-microphone evaluation published in Recording-Engineer (February 1985, p.76), the TLM170 served as one of the "control" microphones alongside a Schoes SM69fet, scoring 7.44 against the SM69fet's 8.00. That puts the TLM170 in a reference role, the mic you measure other mics against, rather than a flavor piece. A score in the sevens against a stereo reference mic in a blind-ish evaluation is respectable, and it suggests the evaluators found it neutral enough to anchor a comparison.
The user base tells a similar story. A Morris County, New Jersey production room and Brooklyn Recording in New York both kept pairs of TLM170s on hand - the latter alongside M269c, U67, KM54, SM2 and SM69 Neumanns, per EQ (no date given in the excerpt, p.20). A studio that already owns the classic tube Neumanns and still buys TLM170s in pairs is using them as working mics. One engineer quoted in Electronic Musician described using a TLM170 as a "scream mic" set back four inches from a vocalist who went from whisper to shout, specifically because it had more headroom than a U87. He later replaced it with a Brauner VMA that had even more.
The TLM170 also turns up in less obvious places. Dave Fridmann reportedly miked an old Kodak movie-projector speaker cabinet with one while tracking bass for the Flaming Lips, chasing a punchy, efficient-speaker sound rather than a textbook amp tone. An engineer working with Karl Hyde on a solo record used "quite an old" TLM170 for the vocal, and Hyde described the mic as transparent, capturing breath and body resonance rather than adding its own color.
The manufacturer's list price was $2,295.00, with a windscreen (WS89) offered as an option. That is a serious number for a solid-state condenser. It explains the odd spot the TLM170 holds in the used market: expensive enough that owners don't flip them casually, common enough in professional rooms that they turn up for sale with some regularity. Buyers should expect to see them priced against the current Neumann large-diaphragm lineup rather than against vintage tube models.
A few notes for anyone shopping. The five-pattern selection and the suspension mount are the two features that justify the price, so verify both are present and working. A missing yoke or a sticky pattern switch turns a $2,295 mic into a project. The 140 dB handling and 126 dB dynamic range are the specs to quote when someone asks why you'd pick this over a cheaper three-pattern condenser. And if you're comparing it to a U87, remember the sales figure: the TLM170 overtook the U87 in the market.
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