Warm Audio WA-47 Large-Diaphragm Tube Condenser Microphone

The Warm Audio WA-47 Large Condenser Microphone is a large-diaphragm tube condenser microphone designed to provide the tonal characteristics of classic U47 microphones for vocalists, musicians, and recording engineers in home, project, and commercial recording studios.

Thanks to nine polar patterns—cardioid, omnidirectional, figure-8, and six intermediate patterns—selectable from the included external power supply, its versatility allows it to excel at anything from close-up vocals to distant room sounds.

The K47-style capsule reproduction features dual gold-sputtered, 6-micron Mylar diaphragms with a single backplate. Tone-enhancing components, including a JJ 5751 vacuum tube, TAB-Funkenwerk (AMI) output transformer, and WIMA, Solen, and polystyrene capacitors, have been carefully selected to impart vintage-flavored tone characterized by a smooth, uncompressed high end and strong, warm low frequencies.

Even the 7-pin cable, manufactured by Gotham Audio in Switzerland, rises to meet the demands of uncompromised audio production. It ensures the integrity of high frequencies and minimizes phase shift between the microphone and the power supply.

The Warm Audio WA-47 Large Condenser Microphone ships with a wood box and a shockmount, which reduces rumble and decouples it from problematic vibrations.

Custom Capsule

The Warm Audio WA-47 Large Condenser Microphone utilizes a custom reproduction of the vintage K47-style capsule that was used in the classic U47 microphone—designed with the same hole pattern and frequency response.

Warm Audio WA-47 Large Condenser Microphone version of this capsule (model WA-47-B-80v) is carefully manufactured by an Australian capsule manufacturer whose precision and consistency allows sonic replication of the most important piece of this classic style of microphone.

JJ Vacuum Tube

The JJ 5751 vacuum tube from the Slovak Republic is a lower gain, low-noise tube that forces much of the sonics of the capsule and transformer to be heard more significantly than some higher-gain tubes might allow. After auditioning four different tube brands, the folks at Warm Audio fell in love with the JJ 5751. Its frequency response and tonal contributions are smooth and vintage in nature.

AMI Transformer

The Warm Audio WA-47 Large-Diaphragm Tube Condenser Microphone utilizes an American-made TAB-Funkenwerk (AMI) USA transformer with imported large-core German laminations. This transformer helps provide the creamy smooth top end and the larger-than-life bottom end one would expect from a U47-style condenser microphone.

Premium Cable

One component of a tube microphone often overlooked is the 7-pin cable that connects the microphone to its power supply. When auditioning the Warm Audio WA-47 Large Condenser Microphone and other tube microphones, Warm Audio learned a lot about 7-pin cables and how the shielding and wire gauge can drastically change the sonic characteristics of a tube microphone.

Warm Audio partnered with Gotham Audio in Switzerland to use their carefully built, premium 7-pin GAC-7 cable. Using this cable increases top-end presence and the overall size of the recorded image in the stereo field by reducing phase shift and the parasitic effect often found in poorly built cables.

Tone-Impacting Capacitors

The Warm Audio WA-47 Large Condenser Microphone uses a polystyrene coupling capacitor for uncompressed top-end response from the capsule. WIMA film capacitors are present throughout and an imported Solen capacitor drives the TAB-Funkenwerk (AMI) USA output transformer.