Neumann KM 88 Before 1982 - Black

Up for sale is one of the rarest and most sought after microphones to capture acoustic instruments, espcially grand piano, guitar and harp. If you are seeing this sale, you know what you are looking at.

Neumann used the same nickel capsules in mics such as the tube powered KM56 and KM54 and the SM2. The main difference from the KM56 is the all FET amplifier. While the KM56 is famous and deserves its respect, the KM88 is lots (!) quieter regarding self-noise making it the go to mic for modern applications keeping the vintage sound.

The KM88 also has almost nothing in common with any other KM8x like KM84 or KM83. They are fine mics but do not match the quality of the KM88 in any way possible.

The KM 88 is a 3 pattern condenser microphone offering Cardioid, Omni, and Figure of 8. It also has a -10dB pad.

This mic has NOT been reskinned and all patterns (including the 8!) and the pad work perfectly the way they should! This is like 1 out of 1000.

Also this is the version made until 1982 with the original head basket.

This mic comes with an original Neumann leather case and a short cable 3pin Kleintuchel to XLR.

It's powered with P48V. According to the age of this mic, I advise anyone using it to switch phantom power off before connecting the microphone and also when switching patterns or using the pad, and especially before disconnecting the mic.

This microphone has been fully tested (all 3 patterns and the pad) on July 17th 2025 (and has not been used since) with the included cable: it works and sounds phantastic in each position!

Optical condition of both the mic and the original box like seen in the pictures provided. In all my years I have not seen this particular microphone in any condition even close to this one. Thus it is also a worthy candidate for collectors.

Serial number is: 10387

Please contact me regarding insured shipping options outside of Germany.