In November 1928, Georg Neumann and Erich Rickmann founded Georg Neumann & Co. in a Berlin workshop and by the end of that year, Neumann had debuted the CMV 3, the first mass-produced condenser microphone. The CMV designation stood for Condensator Mikrofon Verstärker, condenser microphone amplifier, and the number three hints at the least two prototypes that didn’t quite make it. The broadcasters who got their hands on the CMV 3 didn’t dwell on those earlier failures. Nothing else captured a voice like that.

Nearly a century later, another Neumann microphone, the TLM 103, has become the reference for many engineers and vocalists — a large-diaphragm condenser made in Germany, transformerless circuit, cardioid-only, introduced in 1997, retailing for around 1,200 EUR. Together with its bigger brother, the U 87, it’s the studio standard you’re quietly measuring everything else against.

So when WeissKlang, a small company in Murr, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, puts their handmade L1 side by side with exactly that microphone in their audio comparisons – without naming it, just listing the specs – it’s either a really bold move or a very confident one. After having spent a bit of time with the L1 over the last few days, I think it might be both.

On Paper #

The L1 is a cardioid-only large-diaphragm condenser built around WeissKlang’s own center-terminated WMK-1 capsule – a 32 mm gold-sputtered membrane the company spent three years developing. The circuit is transformerless and fully discrete, and the specs are, on paper, remarkable: a self-noise of only 4 dB-A, which even the TLM 103 with its 7 dB-A can’t beat – anything below 10 is considered extremely low noise –, a signal-to-noise ratio of 90 dB-A, and a maximum sound pressure level (max. SPL) of respectable 140 dB.

The frequency response ranges from 20 Hz to 22 kHz, with a presence lift around 10–11 kHz that adds what WeissKlang describes as “transparency and exceptional clarity”. The transient capture time is quoted at 14 microseconds, which is an impressive figure compared to other mics. It means the microphone capsule reacts to fast-moving sources – so-called transients – with real fidelity. Like virtually all condenser microphones, it requires 48 V phantom power to operate – something most audio interfaces or microphone preamps will supply.

WeissKlang offers this impressive package for a regular price of 349 EUR including shipping. And if you’re subscribed to their newsletter, you might also pick it up in a flash sale for even less, in my case only 199 EUR. (Yes, you read that right.)

On Air #

What does all that actually mean in practice? The slight lift in the upper frequencies definitely is real. So the L1 isn’t flat or completely neutral. It adds what many people refer to as “air” – a kind of openness at the top end that makes a recording sound more detailed. But not in the harsh way some cheap microphones like the Audio-Technica AT2020 do, to trick your mind into believing the sound is clearer than it actually is. To my untrained ears, that presence boost in the L1 is quite tasteful and smooth. The same goes for the deeper registers. On my voice, they sound warm and present without being muddy, boomy, or harsh. The community consensus I’ve found – over at Amazona.de and in Gearspace threads – seems to confirm that: the L1 is an extraordinarily quiet microphone with a genuinely impressive resolution that competes well above its price range.

The mic really captures every detail, including, as I quickly discovered, the small sounds you’d prefer it didn't. The same detail retrieval that captures the breathiness and texture of a voice can also catch lip smacks and mouth noises like saliva clicks with equal faithfulness. This isn’t a criticism – it’s simply what a high-fidelity LDC does when it’s doing its job properly. A little targeted EQ cut around 4–6 kHz can tame the harshest of those transients, and a de-clicker plugin like iZotope RX’s Mouth De-click handles the rest in post. But also microphone placement can help mitigate those noises. Because they come straight out of your mouth and downward, placing the mic above your mouth and slightly off-axis will minimize them. Not being too close to the mic also helps.

The included MA-L shock mount does what a shock mount should: it isolates the capsule cleanly, adjusts angle easily, and contributes up to 20 dB of low-frequency isolation. The whole package – the mic, a shock mount, the documentation on a USB stick (paperless by design), all in a box made from FSC-certified wood – feels considered, albeit definitely a bit hand-made. But that’s the idea, I guess.

If you need more flexibility than a fixed cardioid, WeissKlang also makes the L1+, a multi-pattern version with switchable cardioid, omnidirectional, and figure-8 patterns, built around the dual-diaphragm WMK-1D capsule, at 399 EUR. professional-audio.de just tested it thoroughly and came away equally convinced.

On Point #

I’ve only had the L1 for a short time and I’m still working out how it performs in different recording situations. I can’t wait to try recoding my son and his violin with it, for example. But so far, the L1 sounds to me like an honest, detailed microphone that is transparent rather than flattering. It captures what’s actually there and, although it still sounds different, of course, gets surprisingly close to the Neumann mic everyone is quietly measuring everything else against. For a German-made, hand-assembled condenser at such an unbeatable price, that’s not something I expected to be writing. I’m pleasantly surprised.

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