Warm Audio WA-47

The WA-47 is a large-diaphragm tube condenser microphone with a 9-way switchable polar pattern. It is based on the classic '47 microphone, which can be heard on countless hit albums from the last 50 years of music history. The WA-47 is designed for professional recording studios as well as for home studios, live and broadcast applications. It harmonises perfectly with vocals, acoustic and electric guitars, acoustic and electric bass, drums, piano, strings, brass and woodwind instruments and many other sources.

The classic '47 became very popular in the 1960s and is still one of the best vocal microphones ever made. The originals are still extremely popular with sound engineers worldwide. However, they have become extremely rare and are generally only available at extremely high prices.

It was a great challenge for Warm Audio to build the WA-47 true to the classic model, as some of the original components have not been available for a long time. However, during the development process, Warm Audio was able to compare the WA-47 with two different original '47 microphones and realised that the two vintage microphones sounded slightly different. These comparison tests became the starting point for customising the WA-47 with the best characteristics of the two models.

Once again, Warm Audio has managed to bring a beautiful sounding classic of studio history to the market at a price that makes a rare legend affordable to more people than ever before and indistinguishable from the vintage microphones in terms of sound.

As with all Warm Audio products, the developers have focussed heavily on using the highest quality components possible. The WA-47 is also equipped with top components that are sourced from the best pro audio component suppliers worldwide. In this way, the Texan manufacturer ensures that it gets the best out of its product.

The capsule:

The WA-47 uses a custom-made replica of the capsule used in the classic '47 microphone - designed with the same hole pattern and frequency response. The Warm Audio version of the capsule (model # WA-47-B-80v) is manufactured with the utmost care by an Australian capsule manufacturer. Its precision enables Warm Audio to reliably provide this most important element of sound transmission at the highest level.

The tube:

Warm Audio took a very close look at four tube manufacturers in the run-up to development and fell in love with the Slovakian vacuum tube JJ 5751. Due to its low gain and low inherent noise, it transmits significantly more acoustic details of the capsule and transformer than tubes with higher gain. The frequency response of the JJ 5751 and the way it affects the behaviour of the circuit is extremely smooth and absolutely vintage.

The transformer:

The WA-47 uses a TAB-Funkenwerk (AMI) USA transformer with a large toroidal core and German transformer plates. Among other things, this transformer is responsible for the velvety soft highs and the thick belly that you would expect from a 47 microphone.

The cable:

One tube microphone component that receives little attention from many manufacturers is the 7-pin cable that connects the microphone to its power supply. In testing the WA-47 and other tube microphones, Warm Audio has learnt a lot about how drastically the shielding and wire gauge of 7-pin cables can affect the performance of a tube microphone. That's why Warm Audio has teamed up with Swiss cable specialist Gotham Kabel to supply the WA-47 with the 7-pin GAC-7 cable. This high-end cable greatly increases the airiness of the sound and the size of the recorded image on the stereo base compared to cheaper cables.

The capacitors:

A polystyrene coupling capacitor from Wima is used on the input side of the WA-47 and a Solen capacitor from France is used on the output side to drive the TAB-Funkenwerk (AMI) USA transformer.