Microtech Gefell UMT 800

The UMT 800 is a large format studio microphone featuring a pickup capsule with a long history of reliable performance. Five polar patterns make this microphone an ideal choice for a wide range of professional and semi-professional recording situations. The UMT 800 produces a clean colorless sound ideally suited for accurate recording of instrumental and vocal soloists in music studios, motion picture scoring stages, and television broadcast studios. Two distinguishing characteristics of this microphone are its high sensitivity and the outstanding signal to-noise ratio.

The pickup capsule is a pressure gradient transducer using dual diaphragms and a single brass back plate. The large diameter plastic diaphragms are gold-sputtered. Varying the polarization voltage of the diaphragms with the pattern switch located just below the head grille produces five patterns: omni, wide cardioid, cardioid, hypercardioid, and figure 8. The direction of maximum sensitivity is perpendicular to the microphone’s axis (side addressed).

The microphone preamplifier is a transformerless design with a symmetrical output stage. This design yields a wide dynamic range and a low self-noise floor. The sensitivity can be reduced by a 10 dB switch located on the body of the microphone when recording very loud sound sources. A low-frequency roll-off switch also located on the body of the microphone, reduces the proximity effect for close-range applications.