Siemens & Halske ELM 24 III
Manufacturer:
Siemens & HalskeModel:
ELM 24 IIICountry of Manufacture:
GermanyMicrophone Type:
RibbonPolar Pattern:
CardioidProduction Start Year:
1931Rarity:
4
Audio Recordings:
Speech (male) recorded with the ELM24 ribbon microphone.
Multiple quality options available
Nylon string guitar recorded with the ELM24 ribbon microphone.
Multiple quality options available
Frequency Response:
Microphone History:
1847 - Founded by Werner Siemens (1816-1892) with his brother, Johann George Halske as Siemens & Halske Telegraph Construction Company in Berlin.
A Siemens & Halske patent pertaining to the ELM 25 design, dates the development of this microphone to 1930/1931.
Similar microphones were sold with different brands and model numbers including...
- Telefunken ELA M201/1 & ELA M25b
- Siemens & Halske SM3
- Klangfilm ELM24
The black and white photograph is of radio announcer Kaisu Puuska (later Kaisu Puuska-Joki) at Yleisradio in Helsinki, Finland, around 1936. (From the YLE radio archives.)
Technical Description:
Introduced in the early 1930s, this ribbon microphone was among the first commercial directional models. Its cylindrical body consists of a large horseshoe magnet and transformer, with the ribbon element mounted behind a metal grille. Directionality was controlled further through felt damping material behind the ribbon motor.
Hartmann concludes:
"While the superiority of the ribbon microphone over carbon microphones is undeniable, based on its better electro-acoustic properties at the same efficiency, it is above all its simple, robust construction, resistant to external influences, that ensures uninterrupted operation over long periods and secures the ribbon microphone a preferred position even over any other carbon microphone—not excluding condenser microphones."
