Ok folks, I'm getting ready to pull the trigger on a Pearlman TM1. Anything better out there for a 47 vibe for under $3K? I know the Wunder, Bock and Flea are all supposed to be better but I can' swing 4-5K. I currently have Pearlman TM2 and really dig it plus Dave seems like a great guy to spend my money with. Just figured I'd see if anyone else could persuade me elsewhere.

Thanks,
Chris

Hey Chris, the TM2 is actually very, very close to the TM1 sound. When we put the two up side by side for a day doing our Clipalator stuff, we could hardly discern a difference on all sources. Dave has stated that the TM2 is his more affordable version intended to deliver essentially the same sound.

Inside a mix you could have each mic punched in on every other word and you would not hear it.

War

Thanks Warren,

That's interesting. So you're basically paying for the nice looking case. Anything you like in the under 4K range for a 47 type thing?

Chris—
Hey mate. I would totally check out ADK's Custom mics. I auditioned their entire Z-Mods at the 2013 AES here in NYC and was blown away. I make my living as a singer and am also an engineer and producer— I'm VERY cautious about endorsing audio gear, but I can't say enough good things about ADK's Z-Mods. Check out their "47" here mate!
Peace,
Tony Vincent
Tony Vincent || Latest News

Just call Dave and order the TM-47 from him. I've went on a quest for a 47 mic as well and tried quit a number of different ones out, even had a TM1 in here but after talking with Dave I decided to get his TM-47 and have never looked back. Trust me your search will end the moment you get this mic

Ok.. What is that mic?!?!

I've had a pair of TM1's since 2005 or so. In that time there have been several other 47-ish mics pass through our place, including a couple real U47's. They all sounded good to great, but there was nothing that made me want to ditch my Pearlmans.

Pearlman TM47

I also have a TM-47 Dave brought a couple mics over to my place for me to check out. I don't know what the differences were between it and the TM-1, but the 47 seemed a little more magical to me. Dave is a super cool guy as well!!!

TM-47. AK47 capsule. Metal Tube. BV8 Transformer. Do yourself a favor. Order one from Dave you won't be disappointed

Cool, thanks for the info guys. I think I'm going to go with the TM47 from Pearlman and in true GS style, the Telefunken AR51. Fletcher recommended it highly. Thanks again!

C

There's not much that can beat the Pearlman TM-1 for the money. And none can beat Dave's customer service. Great mic and used on a lot of records.

Hi Chris,
I'm new to gearslutz.com but thought I would tell you that I work with one of the major studios in Denver, CO, and needed a vocal mic for my home studio. I had my heart set on a particular brand of mic and ran across ADK mics. I contacted the sales person at Pro Audio Toys to discuss them with him (rather on a whim I might add). He let me head to head several ADK's against another maker and we had a couple from another major brand as well (all mics over $1K and less than $3K). My producer and I were both so surprised by the versatility of the CS47 from ADK that I bought it. Not only was it good on me flat (I'm a baritone), but I could tweak it to get the same sonic qualities of the other mics that we tested (with the exception of the one mic that we didn't like at all that was over $500 more). Larry Villella also has taken a couple of calls from me and actually shipped a couple of other ADK mics for me to test just so I could be sure I was buying what I needed. I stuck with the CS47, though I must say my producer and I were both very happy with the CS251. In the end, the CS47 was incredibly versatile and we could tweak it to get so close to other mics, that I bought 1 mic instead of 2 (which was my original intent).

I can't recommend Larry and ADK more highly. My guess is that you would be doing yourself a disservice not to reach out to ADK or Pro Audio Toys ... they were kind enough to let me "try before I buy" (though I did make a deposit).

Best to you. I'm sure you can find a way to be happy with whatever you buy in this day and age, but I seriously doubt I'll ever need another vocal mic for me at home.

John

Yeah, all that have been mentioned are good options. Definitely important to try and compare. For 47-flavors, I'd compare the ADK Custom Shop 47 Tube mics (Z-47 or TT-47Au), Pearlman TM1, and a couple models from Beesneez (most of their mics would fit into the 47 family).

Love my t-47!

A Miktek CV4 is worth a listen.

Why is that TM-47 not on the Pearlman site? I'm curious about it.

David Pearlman is one of the few REAL DEAL guys in the Universe of Mic Builders.


His Mics are Well-Designed and Tone-Candy!


The other guy I respect as well is Gene Lawson.

Gotta love a guy who uses "First-Call" Mics as a Reference.


Among American Boutique Builders, these two guys set a high-water mark.


The beauty is that there are lots and lots of choices that weren't around a decade ago!

I've had a hell of a lot of different mics in here for demos everything from
Flea 47, Bock 241, Miktek CV4, Pearlman TM-1, Tele AR-51, Peluso 2247 SE and none of them came close to the sound that the Pearlman TM -47 can produce.
I've used this mic on numerous Singers, Acoustic Gtr's, Percussions with awesome results. Even set it up as a Mono Room mic for a Drum session. Hands down a must have mic. Plus added bonus is Dave is a fantastic guy with amazing customer relations.

Blackspade stuff is pretty legit.

Blackspade is more supposed to be a 67 capsule though. Might be nice to have something different that would sound killer in front of a guitar cabinet. Might also want to consider a soundeluxe iFet7 if you are into the vintage thing. When stacking it can be better to use solid state mics.

Wow TM-47 beats a Flea?

None of the Blackspades have a 67 capsule, actually.

Just ordered the Pearlman TM-47 AND.... Telefunken AR51. Can't wait to hear these things!!

Thanks for all the advice everyone.

C

I bought an AR-51 a couple months ago. It tends to get a little flack online because it's an airy mic and many people are only obsessed with sound qualities more identified with a U47's sound. But the AR-51 is such a gorgeous mic. I've used it on almost every session since I've gotten it. When recording vocals that need a lot of detail, if my 1974 original U87 isn't the right fit then often the AR-51 is just the ticket.

The TM-1 was high on my list whenever I was eyeing a good tube LDC in that price range.
Over the last year or so I ended up upgrading my monitors, converters, etc and am now again considering a great all around mic. So naturally, the TM-1 came up again (and the TM-47 is most definitely interesting).

But I've been hearing great things about newer mics that are almost half the price. I realize you often pay for what you get (though definitely not always), but when folks like Jacquire King etc are heaping praise on companies like Advanced-Audio (one of their mics also captured Elvis Costello's vocals on his new album and it sounds great), I can't help but wonder if you really can get so much more bang for the buck these days.

Damn progress. It makes research and decision making so much more difficult!!

the only way to know for sure is either rent them if it's possible or see if the dealer has a reasonable return policy and buy the ones you want to try. And send back the ones that you don't like.

I had the chance to play around with the Miktek CV4 and I gotta say I was really not impressed with it on vocals. Not even a little bit. I tried that thing on female and male vocals on 3 different styles of music and I just could not get that thing to work right. However, the Miktek C7 is another story all together! That this will most likely replace the AKG 414 as a studio standard. I was really blown away by the C7. We used it on piano and drum overheads and then did a ton ob BV tracks with it.

Anyhow that is a different animal than this thread is about. Really curious if anyone can post any sound clips recorded with the TM47. All of the praise here has me very curious!

I'll second this. I've also had a pair of TM1's and Manley Ref-c for a a decade and more recently got a Flea47. Not once I've thought to sell the Pearlmans. Very nice sounding mics.