PSA Warm Audio WA 251 affordable classic inspired tube mic
 

Disclosure I have not tried this mic , That said:

Warm Audio is a USA based company that has a reputation for bringing classic design based hardware and mic's to the market, at affordable prices. They design and spec the products and have them manufactured overseas (in China) I believe, to what they claim are exacting standards .

Perhaps anyone who has one of their products can offer perspective.

For those that may not be aware the Classic Telefunken ELAM 251 is one of handful of classic mic designs U67 ,, U47,, C-12 ,, that have survived the test of time and are still considered to part of recording legend.
There are numerous modern mics based on and trying to reproduce these classic mic sounds in all price categories .

Interestingly enough early this fall I decided to finally get a good tube mic.
I had pretty much decided to get a good U47 or U67 inspired mic and had budgeted about $3k . And ADK came to my attention.. In a studio audition side by side comparison (my to surprise ) I chose the 251 based mic as the best sounding on my voice .

So back to OP:

IF this Warm Audio offering is even 70 - 80 percent there, at 1/3 to 1/4 the price of my ADK, and over 1/10 th the price of the current Telefunken 251 price, it could well be an excellent value in mic choice .

https://warmaudio.com/wa-251/

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/det...ser-microphone

Hi Kev,

I have no experience with the Warm Audio WA-251, but I do have experience with the Warm Audio WA-47. I started a thread on this subject HERE.

I talked to my Sweetwater sales guy about the WA-47 before I bought it and he said that the studio guys had very good things to say about this mic. I have tried this mic on several videos already since I bought it and I like the sound of it.

Sweetwater seems to like the Warm Audio gear and gives the products high praise across their line of equipment. The reviews on the WA-47 mic tend to be good, suggesting that the mic is well worth the cost even if it's not an exact duplicate of the revered Neumann U-47.

- Glenn

Not a mic, but I purchased the Warm Audio WA-273-EQ Preamp in 2018. Researched a lot and tried several others until I came upon this one...it had just been released. Exactly what I was looking for, and totally pleased with it.

Great input guys , I thought some people here had experience with Warm Audio but could not specifically remember who .

While I do not have any Warm Audio products, I know they very popular and highly regarded as a good value/quality to cost, option, in between the low and high end gear. And the mics are highly regarded in the sub $1k price range

If the WA 251 does indeed follow the sound characteristics of the Original ELAM 251 in comparison to other vintage mic design/sound , then it will likely have a slight bit more high end detail than say the 47 sound, but the 47 will likely be a bit "warmer" (no pun intended) and perhaps forgiving, throughout the entire frequency range ( At least that was my impression when auditioning the ADK offerings).

Glenn I agree I do not think exact replication is really the meaningful standard. I think that while following the basic design theories of the different mics the characteristics will follow suit in the general sense and the resulting modern mics with arguably better more consistent and probably more reliable components , will be excellent mics in and of themselves, if not complete exact replica's sound wise.


The history of the 251 is kind of interesting in that basically in the 50's Telefunken had the distribution rights for Neumann microphones But when Telefunken stopped production of the The VF-14 tube in 1958 (used by Neumann in his U47 mic). That distribution contract also ended . Telefunken then decided to bring a new mic to market and partnered with AKG and based this mic on the AKG C-12 capsule and the ELAM 251 was born .

Interesting that Neumann would stop making their flagship mic because one component dried up. And that specific tube has since been shown not to be all that crucial.

Compare and contrast with AKG -- when the brass capsule in the their 414 started being a problem, they first swapped in a Teflon one which sounded radically different. And they've since gone on to change capsules and circuits pretty much willy-nilly and even removed the transformer, yet they still call the thing a 414.

Oh I don't think Neumann stopped making the U47 right then but they did not continue the distribution contract with Telefunken.

Here is an excerpt from Telefunkens web site

"When U47 designer Georg Neumann decided to not renew his distribution contract with TELEFUNKEN, the U47 was pulled from distribution. TELEFUNKEN sought to replace it with a microphone of equal caliber, and contracted AKG to develop a new series of microphones for their product line. Of these great microphones, one of them became a legend: the ELA M 251. The design stemmed from AKG's already in-production C12, with the CK12 capsule at the heart of the design. In 1959 the ELA M 251/251E was introduced to the world."


Now according to some things I read it was Telefunkens decision to stop production of the VF-14M tube that prompted Neumann to not renew the distribution deal, which was 1958 . According to wikipedia the U7 47 continued to be made until 1965

I have preordered one of the WA 251s and will report back when it arrives. Also, my sweetwater guy recommended a WA 87 as well and that will be here Friday. I am finding that the recording rabbit hole is deep. :D

And wide, better get a pair of those 251's :D

Seriously looking forward to your thoughts and post a sample, would be very interesting

Mic is shipping today. Should have It Friday.

I don't know how their mics are but I've owned a Warm Audio WA76 for a while and it sounds great. Especially for the price

I went through a lot of U47/U67 style mics before I found that a 251 style mic, the Lawson L251, worked better for my voice and how it sits in a mix. Let us know how your Warm works out.