Description The AKG Model SolidTube is a large diaphragm condenser microphone that benefits from the combination of modern solid-state technology and vacuum tube-driven circuitry. The microphone, released in 1997, AKG’s Jubilee year, provides the characteristic warmth and generous margin of overload expected from classic tube-powered designs. Solid-state electronics within the N-Solid power supply ensure quiet and reliable operation.
The SolidTube has a large double-screened housing that reacts minimally with the capsule and provides shielding from RF interference. Frequency response remains relatively flat within the range of ±2 dB. The mid-range cut at approximately 2 kHz and presence rise above 10 kHz are signature characteristics of AKG large diaphragm condenser mics dating back to the classic C 12. They provide depth and clarity to any recording. Mid-band pattern rejection at 180° is in excess of 20 dB.
The microphone is response-tailored for solo vocal and instrumental pickup in the studio, and as such has only a dedicated cardioid pattern. The SolidTube is shipped with all necessary cabling, an isolation shock mount, windscreen, and a custom aluminum flight case.
Text copied from the AKG SolidTube specification sheet.
I had assumed this was the vacuum tube’s filament glowing inside the mic…
…but friend Torben Lysholm emailed me from Denmark and set me straight: “It’s an orange LED placed in the middle of the tube socket that lights up.”
Low-frequency noise below 100 Hz can be eliminated by turning the low-cut switch located on the front panel of the unit’s external power supply. There is also a ground lift switch next to the audio output connector on the power supply that can isolate the signal ground from the chassis ground, quickly eliminating hum.
