Designers' Open 2008
DESIGN PHILADELPHIA 2008
LONDON DESIGN FESTIVAL 2008
FREEDESIGNDOM 2008
ManufRactured EXHIBITION
VITRA DESIGN MUSEUM SUMMER WORKSHOPS
BICYCLE
FARNBOROUGH AIRSHOW 2008
CERAMICS AND SOUND EXHIBITION
100 PERCENT DESIGN SHANGHAI
HAMBURG HARLEY DAYS 2008
BERLIN DESIGN FESTIVAL 2008
NEW YORK DESIGN WEEK 2008
MAKER FAIRE 2008
Posted by: hipstomp
|
Comments (21)
We were staring at that little 2mm dot on the top of our Macbook, which the manufacturer gleefully informs us is...a microphone. An amazingly convenient technological triumph, yes; but it's also a sad reminder that a once-beautiful object, a device that truly signified "industrial design," is gone forever.
Folks, we've got a new object fetish, and its name is: vintage microphones! Click the link below for our image roundup, and gosh darn if these things ain't beautiful.
London Design Festival 2008
Core77 visits NASA:
DesignPhiladelphia 2008
UGLY:
Comments
Nice collection! What a great era in industrial design... at least they'll live on in digital icons.
It should be good news then that most pc's are unequipped enough to require a plug-in. Anyone hacking one of these mics for a sweet desktop?
Gone forever?
There may be fewer choices but I doubt music will be recorded through a Mac laptop microphone in our lifetime. Go to Guitar Center and see their contemporaries. There are still a few beauties being made.
Uh, the microphone isn't in that dot at the top of the screen. That's just the camera.
The microphones (I think there's two) are inside the speaker mesh on either side of your keyboard.
Unless you know something I don't, I see misuse of an apostrophe on the title.
I love your blog.
"mic's"? Mic is not a person.
Superb is the word!
More important is how beautiful they sound. Those old large diaphragm mics are fantastic.
I've always lusted for one of those RCA pill or Shure grill mics because their just so dang beautiful! Always thought they should retro fit them with modern tech!!!
looks like a telefunken u-47.........in leather!
Wow, what a fantastic collection! Great post -- thanks...
amazing collection of vintage and not so vintage mics- personally though i don't think the mic is dead yet though!
i know plenty of studio-heads (me included) who can still put a mic to good use, and relish the variety of tones and sounds you can achieve from different types. the mic won't be replaced so easily by the 2mm dot!
Umm, lots of these aren't vintage! Man modern pro mics are as lovely as these. No hacking is required either, just a preamp, but it would be a waste of VERY expensive gear. Check out Neumann, Blue and Brauner mics, quality and design live on. DO some research on your stolen pixx next time.
vintage eye-candy! thank you
Great design!
The styles of the mics are full of memory of a past era.
Wow! What a great collection of mics (several of which I own!). But I think it would be nice if the manufacturers and model numbers, and even the range of dates of manufacture if possible, accompanied the pictures of these beautiful mics.
why is there an apostrophe in"mics"? i'm no grammar teacher but are they just letting anyone write nowadays?
The "Blue" mics are contemporary - the one on the left was an aniversary issue a few years back. You'll never see large diaphram cardiods dissapeare.
The RCA ribbon microphones are amazing instruments.
Hi, could you email me the name of the vintage microphone that is used in the music video "Precious" by Depeche Mode. I have never seen anything like it before. Here is the link to the youtube video http://youtube.com/watch?v=FeOiorwBF88
You can see a better look of the mic towards the end of the video. It truly is a fantastic design.
in answer to Brents' question: the mic used by Depeche Mode is a Monarch TM20 (sixties design from Japan)
greetings from Holland