The TLM 103 is available in satin nickel and matte black. I love these nice details, nothing like a wooden box to impale a sense of greatness to a mic As with traditional transformers, it ensures good common mode rejection, and prevents RF interference that may influence the balanced audio signal. Even with u87's in the house, these still find use. I accompany this microphone with my Universal Audio Solo 610. But what you do get is a perfectly designed grill, beautiful body and one of the best capsules manufactured on planet Earth. The TLM103 is great, but beware about the cheaper alternatives, I call it pricey for the performance, but it is made of quality products (Atleast mine still works). It's also worth noting that this kind of condenser microphone requires to have a nice room, or at least a reflection filter of some kind. *Saxophone: came out beautifully, in fact the player complimented me on the quality of sound comparing to "much pricier" studios he'd recorded in. These characteristics are achieved without resorting to corrective resonance effects. I use it primarily on male hip hop vocals; it has a tendency to make them larger and more pronounced in the mix. Aluminium case The TLM 103 has VERY good transient response and sounds very good on the right source. Both times, the 353 in the TLAudio. This mic is to the studio what sm57 and sm58 is to the stage. It also looks the part. The capsule, derived from that used in the U 87, has a cardioid pattern, is acoustically well-balanced and provides extraordinary attenuation of signals from the rear. I'm a particularly sibilant singer, but simply placing myself a bit off axis from the microphone fixes all sibilance problems with the TLM103. When I got the chance to compare the TLM to a U-87, there was a difference, but it was much, much smaller than the difference between the KSM-32 and the TLM. It can be used for that and if it is the only the mic in the locker and can do almost anything, but for singers, there are better mics for less; same goes for most instruments. Bottom line, you can get a cheaper mic to do the job, but it wont say Neumann on it. I've mostly used it on vocals, and find it to really shine for that use. This mic is one of those pieces I had to buy in order to get people into the door through brand recognition , since it was my only option for a real Neumann mic (although the TLM102 has been made to fill in the lower price gap/prosumer niche- the 103 still seems to be their budget professional mic). We were using the preamps inside of the Digidesign Mbox 2 for pro tools which is around $550.00. The K 103 large diaphragm capsule is based on the K 87, well known from the U 67 / U 87 microphones.The capsule has a flat frequency response up to about 5 kHz, and above that, a wide flat 4 dB presence boost. " The Neumann TLM-103 is bright sounding in a way that would not complement my partner. When you buy products through links across our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. 1. I'd be interested to know how it'd sound on electric or acoustic guitar. *Therefore, the microphone maintains an excellent impulse response and reproduces the finest details of music and speech without coloration." If you have a lower end studio with some condenser mics in that $500 range, I think there is little that will do more to improve the quality of what you put out than to sell those mics and buy a TLM 103. In all instances I've had no shortcomings. As it says on the product site The K 103 large diaphragm capsule is based on the K 87, well known from the U 67 / U 87 microphones. I use it primarily on vocals, where it sometimes even beats out a u87 on certain sources that call for a bright tone. I’m sure it also has a lot to do with the fact that its made by Neumannheh. >a bit hyped on the high end. I personally love this mic and have used it both for vocals and harmonica, saxophone and clarinet. They also have a second element, which allows the additional omni and figure eight patterns, but the cardioid pattern that the TLM has is what gets the most use, in my studio at least. I have access to u87's, a u147 tube condenser, and a pair of KM140's, and did not find the TLM 103's to be on quite the same level. By utilizing the tried and true transformerless circuit found in numerous Neumann microphones, the TLM 103 features yet unattained low self-noise and the highest sound pressure level transmission. The build quality is, as all other Neumann mics, great. Similarly, the piano tracks turned out bright and lacked that Neumann magic. I use it primarily on vocals, where it sometimes even beats out a u87 on certain sources that call for a bright tone. Neumann TLM 103 - Female Vocal Test by Jessica Dale published on 2012-08-02T01:45:02Z. The TLM 103 is available in nickel and matte black with a swivel mount. Overall a good mic for the money: performs well and captures great sound in almost any situation you place it in.