RickP
Established 1960, Still Not Dead
Tape Op did a good article/interview on it a while back. Here’s the section on the construction, and why it has a V (vocal) and I (instrument) settings.As I understand it, the iFet was the marriage of a U87 type capsule to a U47 circuit.
UA/Bock currently makes the 187 FET. Like the iFET, It's a cardioid mic that's designed around a copy of the U87 capsule.
Thus it's similar to a Neumann TLM103, though the Neumann utilizes the U87's original Neumann capsule in a cardioid version.
I have to think that the 187 FET has something to do with the lineage Bock developed for the iFET, but I don't know what the circuitry is based on. It's got a couple of neat features that the TLM103 doesn't have.
If I didn't already have the 103, I'd be interested in the 187 FET, but UA/Bock also have a mic based on the tube U67. That's the one I'd be most interested in. I love the sound of a U67, and the Bock mics are quality; Neumann's U67 reissue is very expensive, and the Bock looks tempting.
The good news is that there's almost zero call for vocals in ads these days, so I don't need another vocal mic and I can use the dough for things like...let's see...food...and shelter!
“But here's the clever twist. Bock didn't stop at just making a higher performance "Fet 47." As he explained to me, "Not everyone has a fortune to spend on a lot of microphones. I was curious what would happen if I took the K 47 capsule and married it to the U 87 amplifier." The Neumann U 87, as we know, is Neumann's other "classic" phantom-powered LDC mic. Unlike the amplification in the U 47 fet, which utilizes an input FET and four other transistors operating together as a discrete op-amp, the circuit in the U 87 relies on a single FET driving the output transformer directly. Bock started to wonder if it was possible to combine both amplification circuits into one mic. Well, that's what happened (more or less). The IFET (like its ifet7 predecessor) has a switch on it labeled I and V. In I mode, you are listening to the discrete op-amp amplifier. In V mode, the single FET. Keep in mind that an actual U 87 uses a K 67 or K 87 dual-backplate capsule, not the K 47 capsule in the IFET. Bock also modified the U 87 circuit, removing frequency- shaping elements that were necessary for the K 67 capsule (and unnecessary for the K 47), and decreasing negative feedback (ultimately making the IFET's V circuit more like the KM 84's).”
Unsurprisingly, the “I” setting works great with some vocals, and the ”V” setting on some instruments. But, for the most part, the natural settings work as expected. The thing for me was that it sounded good on both, so was like getting two for one where either side was as good as a single version of that kind of mic… rare, in my limited experience. You’ve done infinitely more than me, and most of my recording time was on the lower IQ side of the glass.
Good mics are often underrated in the process by musicians, but I’ve noticed that sometimes they are the difference. I’m always impressed when an engineer knows when a different mic is needed, and it does the trick. I’m a total newb still in that regard. I listened to an interview with Bill Schnee discussing marrying musicianship, equipment, and artistic sense by an engineer/producer, and its so interesting to get inside the mind of a person can make all of that audibly superior.
Sorry for hi jacking your thread, Lew… the topic is inspiring!