Neumann U47

The Neumann U47 tube microphone was Peter Gabriel's preferred mic for recording vocals.

During the making of So, a microphone blind-folded test was done on Peter (to find an alternative to the Shure SM57) and this U47 was pulled out, which was ultimately chosen. It had a silky top end, but no bottom end due to a faulty output cable. The cable was evnetually fixed, producing a more full-bodied vocal sound but lacked the airiness from beforehand. So the normal U47 output was patched into the mixing desk on one fader, coupled with the broken U47 top end signal on another fader to balance with for 'equalisation' on Peter's vocal sound on the album.