Gaumont-Kalee Type 1492
Manufacturer:
Gaumont-KaleeModel:
Type 1492Country of Manufacture:
United KingdomMicrophone Type:
RibbonPolar Pattern:
Figure 8Production Start Year:
1950Rarity:
4
Audio Recording:
Nylon string guitar recorded with a Gaumont-Kalee 1492 ribbon microphone.
Multiple quality options available
Impulse Response File:
IR file of a Gaumont-Kalee 1492 ribbon microphone.
Gaumont_Kalee_1492_IR.wav
Frequency Response:
Microphone History:
Both GB Kalee Ltd. and B.A.F Ltd. were subsidiaries of the parent Rank Organisation, which owned various other companies associated with the film industry, including Odeon Cinemas. The 1492 in the MoMics collection has both "Gaumont-Kalee" and "Manufactured by B.A.F." engraved on the sides. Model 1492 is visually identical to the 492 that appears in the GB Kalee catalogue.
The grill has a coarse outer later and a very fine layer of woven wire inside. These microphones are typically painted in a mustard-yellow or gold hammertone finish.
Inside, the mic is a fairly conventional figure-8 ribbon mic, but has added baffles both sides of the ribbon, and thick wires run from the top ribbon clamp, giving some blast protection along the way. The baffles also boost the high frequency response which may have been designed to make dialogue more intelligible, especially when recording at a distance.
The ribbon motor uses tapered triangular pole pieces, which compensates for the decrease in magnetic flux with increasing distance away from the two block magnets, and ensures a more even field along the length of the ribbon. There is a transformer in the base to convert to an output impedance of 50 ohms. The mic sounds rather nice, rich and dark close up.
This microphone uses the same plug as the Reslo RB and similar microphones. This is not used by any other brands, and so there must have been an arrangement between the two companies.
A B.A.F model 492 appears in, and on the front cover of the book Form In Engineering Design by J. Beresford-Evans, which was published in 1954 by Oxford University Press. The author clearly considers the design to be elegant and writes the following:
"The microphone has an attachment-lug and lead which are hardly noticed until the main shape has been taken in. The interest lies in both the strong contrast of three kinds of material and in the use of a very slight taper or truncated wedge. How significant this slight angle can be is best appreciated by imagining how it would look if the wire mesh were to make a plain rectangular shape."
Technical Description:
Output impedance: 50 ohm and 300 ohm models available.
From the 1951 GB-Kalee catalogue:
Sensitivity: 79 db (1 volt/dyne/cm)
Frequency response: substantially flat ±3db from 30 to 8000 Hz.
