MTM Reviews Telefunken CU29 Copperhead
is required. So it’s a centre-tapped
design based on Neumann capsules
rather than the traditional edgeterminated Telefunken/AKG C12.
Although there’s no flightcase
supplied, the Copperhead does ship in a
lined wood box and it comes with a
spider suspension mount and a
generous length of cable to link the mic
to the dedicated power supply.
Hopefully, UK-market Copperheads will
be supplied with European mic stand
adaptors and a UK mains cable rather
than an American one.
Copping a listen
Telefunken
CU29 Copperhead
The Copperhead is Telefunken Elektroakustik’s first fixedcardioid valve condenser. Huw Price takes a look at the ‘Tele’.
CU29 Copperhead
Manufacturer Telefunken
Elektroakustik
Price £1,195
Contact Unity Audio 01440 785843
Web www.telefunken-elektroakustik.com
T here are no prizes for guessing
how this microphone got its
nickname. The copper and
charcoal looks are certainly
eye-catching, but may divide opinions.
But for those of us who try to listen with
our ears rather than our eyes, that’s all
pretty immaterial. Focusing excessively
on the styling would also be remiss,
because the stuff going on under the
covers is actually far more important
and interesting.
Despite being a ‘heritage brand’, the
R&D team at Telefunken Elektroakustik
has been coming up with original
preamp circuits with some interesting
capsule and valve combinations.
Apparently, the CU29 underwent an
18-month development period during
which ‘industry experts’ were consulted
and experiments undertaken with body
styles, screen meshes and electronics.
Copperhead road
Taking their cue from the legendary
Telefunken ELA M-series microphones,
the designers optimised the circuit
90 | June 2011
magazine
Key Features
●F
ixed-cardioid
valve condenser
● EF95 minipentode valve
● Frequency
response:
20Hz–20kHz
● Impedance:
200 ohms
● Equivalent noise:
16dB (A-weighted)
Measuring Up
American
manufacturers like
Telefunken and
Peluso are now
producing some
high-quality valve
microphones for
the professionals
as well as serious
home recordists,
and some consider
them the perfect
antidote for Chinese
Microphone
Syndrome. To be fair,
the Peluso 22 251,
2247 and P12 (£999
each) are cheaper
and each has nine
pickup patterns, but
the Copperhead is
sonically every bit
as good.
layout to minimise the length of
high-impedance runs. So the valve is
inverted to bring the connection pins
closer to the capsule. The valve itself is
a selected ‘new old-stock’ Telefunken
6AK5W (aka EF95 or 5654) minipentode – and yes, we did check for
Telefunken’s diamond trademark
moulded into the base of the glass
envelope, so you can rest assured that
this isn’t just a re-branded valve of
questionable origin.
The various components within
have been ‘individually selected’ and
include WIMA Sprague and Russianmade capacitors along with what
appear to be low-noise metal-film
resistors. Since there are so few
components mounted on the board, it’s
probably safe to assume that the
preamp circuit is relatively simple;
output balancing duties are handled by
a custom-wound transformer.
Taking a closer look at the board, it
appears that Telefunken is using a
combination of PCB and point-to-point
wiring. Where possible the legs of the
resistors and capacitors seem to have
been left long and soldered along the
length of the PCB traces to allow for
actual physical connections between
the components.
We previously tested the dualdiaphragm version of this capsule in the
Telefunken AR51, but since this is a
cardioid-only mic, only one diaphragm
The first thing that struck us about the
Copperhead was its larger-than-life
presence. Unsurprisingly, it’s not
dissimilar to the Telefunken AR51 in
cardioid mode, but to our ears the
Copperhead sounds a little fatter in the
midrange. The AR51 produces a more
‘natural’ tone, but the Copperhead’s
beefy colouration is exactly what many
of us would hope for from a valve mic,
without sounding obvious or contrived.
Tonally it’s closer to the velvety
quality of vintage Neumann-style mics,
but a hint of upper-frequency glisten
helps to keep the Copperhead ‘warm’
rather than dark and allows plenty of
detail to come through. Although the
off-axis response is very decent, our
tests suggest that the Copperhead
prefers to be addressed head-on.
Lead vocals in particular sound
superb, almost jumping out of the
speakers. Sibilance problems are
non-existent and we discovered a very
workable proximity effect. We also
enjoyed the Copperhead on electric
guitar, where the gentle high
frequencies exert a calming effect on
any harsh edges and the midrange is
not dissimilar to that of a high-quality
ribbon mic. So if you don’t consider a
fixed cardioid mic restrictive, the CU29
Copperhead won’t disappoint.
MTM Verdict
WHY BUY
+ Rich valve sound
+ Sweet treble response
+ Great looks
+ Excellent build quality
WALK ON BY
- Cardioid-only
By any standards this is a
superior-sounding valve
microphone that just about brings
a Telefunken microphone into the
realm of affordability.
★★★★★★★★★★