Should I buy the Innertube Audio U87ai mod or a tube preamp?

A tangent idea because you mention the occasional sibilance with the 87: lots of people are dumping TLM67 guts when they move to the ioaudio (Max Mod) U67 recreation, so a couple hundred $ would get you an alternately voiced amp for your 87ai head. Ty Ford's review of the TLM67 is pretty much on, it's not that it sounds much of anything like a tube mic, but:


It's got a bit of a pseudo-fuzz thing to it that I guess is supposed to be the tube part; it's pretty mild.  Comparing a TLM67 to a U67 does it a disservice, it's really it's own 67/87 variant.  


The Max Mod as you said, once you get a decent transformer in it, every Max transformer I've heard is much darker than it should be. The Neumann is apparently no longer available, the Moby is a great option. I've installed both and they're both very good.   Add $450ish to the Max Mod once you get that work done.  

The innertube as I understand it is a bright option, doesn't sound like what you'd want in terms of direction with the 87.   The continuous polar pattern it adds is a cool option.  

Not sure what I'd recommend in a 1RU tube pre with a hpf, that can't leave many options, and within 'tube pre' there are a lot of different sounding and behaving types.  The combos I have that'll do something like a tube mic sound from a SS mic into a tube pre are giant old 1940's tube preamps, there's nothing you'll buy within your constraints that'll make sounds like that.  

Did Neumann stop selling all spare parts?

The InnerTube IS bright. In a really great way, but brighter than a stock 87. Bear in mind, I'm using one on a vintage 87, not an Ai.
Really great mic.  In my hands on experience, I do not believe you can get the same sound from an 87 + tube mic pre.

Yeah, I actually bought a used 2019 TLM67 for cheap recently just because it was simpler and pretty much the same price as sending it in and having Neumann install a new capsule on my U87ai. And bonus I've got a different sound to work with.

Very much appreciate the feedback! The Max Mod plus transformer is probably a bit more than I'm looking to spend. maybe it's time to try out the old pencil trick and maybe a dbx 263...

I like the idea of finding some TLM67 innards on the cheap as well - none available at the moment but I will stay vigilant.

Thanks! I have good luck with FabFilter Pro DS when I really need it, but I record to tape sometimes and really want to get in the goldilocks zone when using that medium.

While I really like AEA mics, I don't find they work that well on vocals.
I've used the R84, KU5A a ton and owned the R44 for a few years and while I think they sound great on drums, egits, horns, vocals is always a bit meh for my taste.
The Coles through a nice tube preamp followed by a Pultec adding some sizzle is my favorite ribbon on vocals.

Not to derail the thread too much but Here's a memo I recorded with a Coles 4038, I used plug ins to open up the high end and it was heavily deessed but you can hear the mics character. 

www.dropbox.com/s/etaq3gczpjvjzj7/4038.mp3?dl=0

That's what I've heard. Emrr used the Samar on a folk album and I really liked the sound of the vocals.

I hope to try one out some day! They're not very common here in Europe.

Wow ... why did Neumann stop?

Customers want to take care of their mics w/o shipping all over the place. Mic techs rely on these parts to run their business.

Does Zen Pro still have Neumann parts for sale ? They had K870 capsules last month. Idk about transformers.

There is a Serrano 87 modeled off the 87i that’s getting some live around here. Maybe he can sell you a transformer but it won’t be authentic Neumann part obviously.

Because a bunch of people abused their good will and bought up their spares for use in DIY/project mics. Remember, for every one person posting about how they picked up an OEM transformer/capsule/whatever, there are probably 50-100 other people doing the same thing that didn't post about it. If they go from selling 45 U67 transformers a year to 450 out of the blue, they're going to notice that something is amiss.
Given the buyers in question, some of those people are going to screw up the installation, ruin the OEM part, and want a refund under the claim that it was defective. Again, for a professional company that was used to only dealing with experts when selling spare parts to suddenly have a glut of returns from people who clearly weren't experts, they're going to take notice.

I'm honestly surprised that it took this long.