Neumann KM 86 (1968)
A phantom-powered miniature that engineers reach for when a snare needs more bite than a dynamic can give it.
Overview
The KM 86 arrived in 1968. It was the variable-pattern companion to the fixed-cardioid KM 83 through KM 85 series, which had appeared two years earlier. Those earlier small-diaphragm models were built for phantom powering. The KM 86 had the same compact footprint but added pattern switching - a multi-pattern small condenser in an era when most engineers expected pattern options only from large studio mics. Neumann's own published timeline lists it among the milestones of the company's first forty years, between the U 87 of 1967 and the U 47 fet of 1969.
The multi-pattern capability is what collectors and engineers keep coming back to. High Fidelity (April 1978, p.129) tabulated the KM 86 in a survey of small double-diaphragm condensers. It noted a very wide polar plot for a three-pattern microphone and described the response as quite flat. That suited a mic aimed at strings and orchestral work, where a small capsule with predictable off-axis behavior is worth more than a flattering curve. The same listing put the price at $871 and specified a 48-volt supply. Nobody was buying this mic on a budget, even by late-'70s standards.
The KM 86 does the job small condensers have always done: it picks up detail without the bulk of a large-diaphragm body. The wide, flat polar response that High Fidelity measured makes it a natural for moderately distant pickup, and the survey flagged it for orchestral and string applications. Working engineers found other uses. In a 2009 interview in EQ (May 2009, p.23), an engineer described placing a KM 86 on a speaker in a guitar cabinet, sometimes on the same speaker, auditioning setups to see which they liked best. The mic's one real practical demand is phantom power. It needs a proper 48-volt supply and won't run off anything less.
The KM 86 also turns up on ordinary sessions. None of this is glamorous. It shows up because it works.
The High Fidelity survey's $871 figure is a useful anchor for what these cost new. The vintage market has its own ideas, and condition and completeness of the pattern switching matter a great deal.
The broader Neumann timeline puts the KM 86 in a busy stretch: the U 87 arrived in 1967, the U 47 fet in 1969, and the company was clearly iterating hard on phantom-powered solid-state designs. The KM 86 belongs to that push - a small, pattern-switchable condenser for engineers who wanted options without a large body. It was discontinued long ago, and documentation is thinner than for the marquee models, so buyers should verify pattern-switch function and capsule condition carefully. It does strings, snare, and cabinet work without fuss, provided you feed it 48 volts.
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