Author Topic: Pyramid microphones (Read 1850 times)

Jay Temple · « **on:** August 14, 2012, 08:21:09 AM »

One way I can tell an early LA episode from those of about the same vintage as the 100K is that the microphones are really tall. Does anyone know when they changed? From the YouTube clips I've seen, it was sometime between January and August of 1984.

mystery7 · « **Reply #1 on:** August 15, 2012, 05:51:13 PM »

They changed a couple times. Don't forget, they also used the ubiquitous Sony ECM-53 goosenecks before they switched to those small blocky ones. They might have been pressure-zone mics, judging from the shape of them.

HYHYBT · « **Reply #2 on:** August 18, 2012, 02:39:40 PM »

Funny; the other day I was going to ask about those ones that look like hard drives.

What I'd really like to know, probably nobody but whoever made the decision could tell me: why did they go from the tall, black ones (which didn't show nearly as much) to the tall, metal ones that drew attention to themselves, relatively speaking?

mystery7 · « **Reply #3 on:** August 18, 2012, 05:07:23 PM »

Best reason I can guess: the angle on those black mics was fixed. That, combined with their size, made them prone to getting in the way during play. With the ECMs, the gooseneck allowed the mics to get out of the way a little bit. Apparently that still wasn't enough, hence the change to the "flat" mics.