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MICROPHONES
OUTBOARD
SOFTWARE
MONITORS
INSTRUMENTS
Original version, without the Neumann badge on the body. Includes M7, M8, and M55K capsules.
From Mike Nehra:"This is probably the most undervalued vintage mic on the tube market, considering its sound quality. One with a nice sounding M7/cardioid capsule gives you lots of bang for the buck! The CMV 563 was the second major microphone produced by Neumann, after their very successful CMV 3. The CMV 563 has a thinner sound then the CMV 3 but the character is very close. More so because of the bigger transformer in the CMV 3 rather than the circuit design. M55k is a very special capsule. It's not round in characteristics. It's like a wide kidney, with a 6db boost around 10K. The M55K was specially designed for overhead recording of classical orchestras. I have not ever found a better capsule for ambient recording - it sounds as you hear/feel it. The M55k is actually a more interesting capsule than the M7 because it has a diffused field equalized 1 inch membrane which is so unique - you won't find this in any other mic. All other mics that try to simulate this have small membranes to get rounder characteristics, but this is not what you really want for overhead recording. It's quite hard to find a matching pair of CMV/M55k's, but when you have that and record a stereo overhead....it's flying away...useful for any acoustic instrument that's recorded in a good sounding room. Also interesting as a close-up on acoustic guitars or in natural reverb rooms. Modified versions give a noise floor that fulfills modern demands. It's the sweetest overhead mic in the world with M55K, and a serious competitor for many mics on vocals with the M7. It has less components in the signal chain than switchable pattern mics have."
The CMV 563 is the only real successor to the CMV 3. CMV stands for 'condensator mikrofon verstarker', i.e. 'condenser microphone amplifier'. It uses an M7 'bayonet' style capsule, (this capsule can also be interchanged with the nine-capsule set currently produced by Blue microphones, as well as the capsule set from Violet Design microphones). The bayonet version of the M7 is actually the same capsule used with the CMV 3, the first commercially produced condenser mic ever. The CMV 3 saw its share of historic moments: it was used by British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain when declaring "peace for our time" in 1938, and by Berlin mayor Ernst Reuter in 1948 when he pleaded to the world for help with the Soviet blockade in his famous speech that began "People of the world, look upon this city!" The year 1936 also saw the M7 capsule play two important roles in audio history. The CMV 3 mic, (with an M7), was used extensively as the broadcast microphone for the 1936 Berlin Olympics, (the first Olympics to ever be televised). The CMV 3/M7 combination was also used to capture the London Philharmonic Orchestra on the very first recording made with the newly invented Magnetophon open-reel tape recorder.
The CMV 563 was manufactured by Neumann Gefell in East Germany. During World War II, Berlin was the home of the original Neumann company, (Georg Neumann & Co.) which was forced to move south to the town of Gefell to avoid the bombing raids on the capital. The factory itself had been bombed and burned, and all salvageable equipment was moved to the new location. After the war, Neumann returned to Berlin to resume operations as Georg Neumann GmbH, while manufacturing also continued in the town of Gefell. The Potsdam Conference of 1945 sealed the fate of Berlin and Germany as a whole, dividing each into four sectors. The Soviet sector of the country, which included the town of Gefell, eventually became the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) in 1949. Neumann Gefell continued producing components for the factory in Berlin for a few years, but by 1953, cooperation between the two arms of the company became almost impossible due to the Cold War. After this time, Neumann Gefell continued to manufacture microphones, including the famous CMV 563, with no direct involvement from Neumann Berlin. From the 1950s onward the two arms of the Neumann company used the same logo - the Berlin Neumann placed the logo in a diamond shape, while the Gefell Neumann placed it in a circle. This is one easy way to tell the difference between the products of the two different Neumann factories. Although the companies attempted to stay in contact on opposite sides of the Iron Curtain, when the Berlin Wall was built in 1961 this became not only extremely difficult, but illegal. Eventually in 1990 the company was rechristened Microtech Gefell, and they remain to this day a manufacturer of high quality studio, live sound, and measurement microphones. As a testament to the enduring legacy and sweeet sound of the CMV 563, the company has once again released a version of this famous microphone for a new generation to enjoy.
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The best gear advice always comes from those who use it the most. That's where you come in! Let the pro audio world hear your voice with a review of the Neumann CMV 563 #9007 (Vintage) . Once you submit your review, please check your email and verify your address to have it posted.
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