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5. Setup
Mounting the microphone
Attach the microphone to a stable, sturdy stand.
Use an elastic suspension, if necessary, for the
mechanical suppression of structure-borne noise.
For this purpose set the microphone into the inner
cage from above, and secure it to the inner cage
with the threaded nut. If required, use a wind-
screen or popscreen from our range of accesso-
ries in order to suppress wind or pop noise.
Connecting the microphone
Caution: An incorrect supply voltage can dam-
age the microphone!
Attach the microphone only to a power supply
unit, a microphone preamplifier, a mixing console
or other equipment which has phantom power
with 48 V (P48), in accordance with IEC 61938.
Any P48 power supply equipment can be used
which supplies at least 0.8 mA per channel.
Caution: Very loud noise can damage loud-
speakers or your hearing!
Minimize the volume of connected playback and
recording equipment before connecting the mi-
crophone.
Using a suitable cable, connect the microphone
to the microphone input of the audio equipment
to be used for subsequent processing, or to the
designated P48 power supply equipment. Infor-
mation concerning connector assignment can be
found in the “Technical data” section.
Cable lengths of up to approximately 300 m be-
tween the microphone and the subsequent am-
plifier input have no effect on the frequency re-
sponse of the microphone.
When connecting the cables, ensure that the con-
nectors are locked correctly. Run the cables in
such a way that there is no risk of tripping over
them.
The microphone is to be addressed primarily from
the side on which the Neumann logo is located.
Gradually increase the volume of the connected
equipment.
Set the gain of the connected equipment so that
no distortion occurs at the highest sound pres-
sure level.
Selecting the directional characteristic
There are five selectable directional characteris-
tics, which allow the microphone to be adapted to
individual recording situations: omnidirectional,
wide-angle cardioid, cardioid, hypercardioid and
figure-8. The rotary switch for the directional
characteristics is located on the front of the mi-
crophone, below the headgrille.
When the directional characteristic is changed,
an increased noise level may occur for some
seconds. This does not indicate a malfunction,
but arises due to the electrical recharging of the
microphone capsule to the appropriate bias. As a
precaution, reduce the signal level of connected
equipment when changing the directional charac-
teristic.
Setting the pre-attenuation
The switchable pre-attenuation increases the
maximum signal level in order to avoid overload-
ing when transmitting signals at extremely high
sound pressure levels.
“LIN” or “–6 dB” can be selected by means of a
switch on the back of the microphone.
Setting the high-pass filter
The high-pass filter can be set via a rotary switch
on the back of the microphone. A cutoff frequency
of 80 Hz or 160 Hz can be selected. The filter can
be used to suppress low-frequency interference
or to compensate for the proximity effect.
When the “LIN” setting is used, a steep low-cut
prevents the output transformer from being over-
loaded by interference below the audio range.
Suppressing noise interference
The frequency response of the U 89 i extends
below 20 Hz. The microphone is of course corre-
spondingly sensitive to low-frequency interfer-
ence such as structure-borne noise and wind or
pop noise. Depending upon the situation, the use
of an elastic suspension, a windscreen and/or a
popscreen is therefore recommended.
Sound test
Simply speak into the microphone. Do not blow
into the microphone or subject it to pop noise,
since this can easily result in hazardous sound
pressure levels.
