Teenage Engineering has announced that their CM-15 field microphone is now available.
Here’s what they have to say about it:
“CM–15 is our portable large-diaphragm condenser microphone and the first all-in-one mic offering a combination of 48v phantom powered mini xlr, high quality audio converter via usb-c, built-in preamp, 3.5 mm line output, and battery power. included in the box: textile mini-xlr to xlr and usb-c cables, mic stand adapter (1/4″”-20 and 3/8″”-16 UNC mount), protective pouch, and user guide.”
Features:
- 1-inch diaphragm capsule, manufactured by peluso
- ESS sabre ES9822Q PRO analog-to-digital converter
- OPA 140 JFET amplifier stage with ultra low distortion
- Flexible powering system with 10 hour rechargeable battery
- Built-in table stand
Pricing and Availability:
The CM-15 is available now, priced at $1199 USD.
The microphone itself probably is worth the price, but the combination of features confuses me. Won’t the USB-C electronics and minijack preamp cause noise interferences inside the microphone? Or is the shielding inside of it really this good? Oh my, I’m curious now.
Looks great, but not too sure about the stand idea which is guaranteed to admit lots of low-frequency noise when placed on most hard surfaces. Rather disappointing to see it doesn’t include a low-cut filter because subsonic rumble will eat a lot of headroom.
Crazy price for a small microphone! TE desperately want to be Apple. But they are not even close. And for this price one could buy a Macbook Air, which inbuilt mic with its advanced dsp probably sounds better or just as good as TEs..
There is not really a relation between the size of a microphone and its price. There are many small diaphragm microphones on the market that cost a lot more.
I doubt that there are many small microphones that cost more than TE’s.I don’t doubt that there are many microphones that are both cheaper and better,
I don’t know what you mean with “small microphones”, but as far as small diaphragm condenser mics go, Thomann lists around 40 models that are more expensive than this one (stereo pairs excluded).
I of course meant small compact mics not small diaphragm ones per se. Never the less there are plenty of both cheaper and better microphones than TE’s.
Why do you keep saying ‘better’ like you’ve tested the microphone?
Do you really believe that TEs mic is the best of thousands of other good microphones on the market? I am sure it is not! Not saying it is bad though, but severely overpriced..
Wish it had a built in 32bit float recorder!
nice design lot of dough for me though.
They should make microphones shaped like the wooden choir dolls.
piss on us and tell us it’s raining
Eat The Rich!
I think a large reason for dropping 1200+ on an LDC is that one can reasonably expect it to have the same functionality 50 years from now, with maybe minor repairs along the way. I guess the one nice thing is that the aluminum is recyclable for when the ADCs inevitably crap the bed, making this a somewhat more responsible purchase than, say, 600 bottles of Fiji.
But who am I kidding? You know they’re gonna buy both.