There may be no such thing as a perfect microphone, but the TLM 170 R comes fairly close. It combines the sonic precision and linearity of a small diaphragm microphone with the smoothness and flexible pattern control of a classic large diaphragm microphone.
Features:
The microphone is addressed from the front, marked with the Neumann logo. The large diaphragm capsule inside the headgrille has a very smooth frequency response for all polar patterns over a wide acceptance angle. The curves are flat and parallel to the 0° frequency curve up to 10 kHz within an angle of ± 100°.
As a result the TLM 170 R has a very even diffuse-field response for all polar patterns. This is important in a reverberant environment, as more reflections arrive at the microphone from different directions. The acoustic information is not affected in its tonal quality when recorded by the microphone. This characteristic is achieved without resorting to corrective resonance effects.
In addition to the usual directional polar patterns: omnidirectional, cardioid, and figure-8, Neumann have added a hypercardioid and wide-angle cardioid characteristic. When compared to the standard cardioid pattern, the hypercardioid characteristic suppresses sound from the side more efficiently. The wide-angle polar pattern is especially useful to record large sound sources.
The letters TLM stand for "transformerless microphone". With TLM technology the usual output transformer is replaced by an electronic circuit. As with traditional transformers, it ensures good common mode rejection, and prevents RF interference, that may influence the balanced audio signal.