United UT Twin87 Twin-Circuit Large Diaphragm Condenser Microphone
The UT Twin87 captures the essence of both the original classic and modern incarnations of the “87-style” microphone design. For the first time ever, United has created a microphone that duplicates both circuits, and can reconfigure itself on the fly for an exceptional reproduction of the sonic capabilities of both microphones. The UT Twin87 features our own large-core, custom-wound, US-made output transformer, our own custom made 24k gold sputtered dual diaphragm/dual backplate K87 style capsule, and a whole assortment of selected, premium components such as polystyrene, tantalum, multilayer ceramic, WIMA film capacitors, metal and carbon film resistors, and hand-selected transistors. In Vintage mode, the UT Twin87 polarizes its capsule directly by phantom power voltages, taking advantage of an insulated, dual backplate capsule design just as the earliest “87-style” microphones did. The high-Z and de-emphasis circuitry use all of the same component choices as the original. This yields a slightly warmer, softer and forgiving sound. In Modern mode, the capsule is polarized at a higher voltage using an FET oscillator circuit as found on later revisions of the classic mic, yielding a higher capsule sensitivity and feeding a hotter signal into the amplifier circuitry. Its high-Z and de-emphasis circuitry likewise use all of the same component choices as much later “87-style” designs. This yields a louder, slightly brighter and more articulate response, with an extended top end reach and a more ‘up-front’ character.
The UT Twin 87 features United’s own custom-made K87 style, dual diaphragm/dual backplate capsule. The UT-K87 capsule is precision milled from brass, skinned with 6 micron Japanese PET film (mylar), and has 24k gold sputtered membrane. The capsules are skinned in a laboratory clean-room environment. United looked at many iterations of the original German output transformer used in this type of microphone, drawing inspiration particularly from some of the older, larger frame designs. Knowing that the size of a transformer can sometimes be a limiting factor, United developed their own custom-wound part which has nearly four times the metal mass found in any “87-style” microphones. Modern “87-style” microphones incorporate an output filter designed to block RF and EM interference — much debate has taken place over the years as to whether this filter enhances or harms the sonics of the mic. The UT Twin87 has also ended this debate, as the filter can be engaged/disengaged at any time, in either Vintage or Modern mode!
