On another thread I just gave a rant on how excellent quality preamps were a really great audio investment. Stable, long lasting technology, what could go wrong? Well, thinking about it, if digital output microphones become standard, we can all put our preamps next to our turntables. Now I don't see it happening soon. Right now the trend is to put more analog back in the signal chain. Only a few high end mics are trying it - seem to be pushing for the classical market. There is certainly some logic to it. Chips get smaller. Easier to put high quality A/D in the mic and transmit digital instead of analog.
So is this a "black swan" that can change the industry? (I guess it is a grey swan since everyone knows it is a possibility.)
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Engineers value their out of production mic's too much to not ha
Engineers value their out of production mic's too much to not have good preamps. When you say U87 all the "afficienados" start telling you only the ones from the 50's are any good and then the GS hanger ons start in on the "merits" of each era's U87 etc. The AKG D12/D25 is the same way. You could list at least a dozen mic models this way. Does that make new mic's worthless? Not in my opinion. A digital mic that sounds good is not likely to be a cheap proposition any time soon which is certainly why someone would market to an engineer wanting discreet tools for live video/audio production. The first step was of course the three manufacturers that make 8 pack remote controllable high end preamps. Some of these have digital output but the remote control aspect is/was more important. Speaking of, it is sort of ridiculous that AKG never followed through on a remote box for the current C414 lines.
Just sort of rambling this morning.