Neumann U87 Toronto
Every genre welcome. Every style covered.
The most-recorded studio microphone ever made — Lush Recording Studio owns it and runs it as the default vocal mic. Built for artists cutting records and for brands needing broadcast-quality vocals for video and social. One booth, one elite chain, one artist at a time.
The Neumann U87 is a large-diaphragm condenser microphone introduced in 1967 that became the reference vocal mic for the entire recording industry. If you have listened to pop, R&B, soul, rock or a film voice-over in the last fifty years, you have heard a U87. It is the mic engineers reach for when they need to know exactly what a voice sounds like — full, even, honest from the low end to the air — and then shape it from there. Ours runs through the same preamp and compressor chain as our C800G, so the character behind the capsule does not change with the mic.
The U87 does not hype a range. Lows are present without boom, mids are true, highs are open without the edge. Whatever the voice actually is, that is what lands on the session file — which is exactly why it sits on so many records.
A big diaphragm, a controlled cardioid pattern and a smooth top end mean an artist who works the mic hard — moving, turning, leaning in — still gets a consistent take. Fewer punch-ins, more performance.
Cardioid for the lead. Figure-8 for a duet across the mic. Omni when a little booth on a ballad is the right call. The U87 covers all three without a mic change.
Major-label pop and R&B vocals are tracked on this mic because it delivers a finished-sounding capture the moment you hit record. No chasing the sound in the mix — it's already there.
A mic is only as good as the chain behind it. Our U87 runs through the Neve 1073SPX preamp — the same preamp character on a generation of rock, soul, and hip-hop records — into the Tube-Tech CL1B opto compressor for musical dynamics control, and finally into the UAD Apollo x8 for studio-grade A/D conversion. Elite studios have this chain. We have this chain.
Condenser. The capture.
Preamp color. The character.
Opto compression. The glue.
Conversion. The session file.
Every session on the U87 is run by our senior engineer team — Hip-Hop, R&B, Pop, Afrobeat, and Latin vocal all lived in. The U87 → Neve 1073SPX → Tube-Tech CL1B response pattern is in muscle memory here, and we route your session to the engineer best fit for the subgenre and block length.
The Neumann U87 is included in every recording session at Lush — there's no separate mic fee. Same elite chain on every session. Pick the engineer level that fits the record:
10+ years of experience. The full A-list chain, run by our senior engineer — for the records you want at their absolute best.
In-house engineer tracking your vocals on the same Neumann U87 + Neve 1073SPX + Tube-Tech CL1B chain. The standard vocal session at Lush.
The 6-hour daytime block at $400 is the best rate if you're tracking a mixtape or EP. Optional multi-cam captures the full session in-booth — yours to keep, fuel for the content flood you cut and post on your own terms. A-List Quality, Built To Go Viral.
Want us to edit? Edit packages (short-form clips, BTS reel, grid stills) are available as add-ons at checkout.
We own it. It lives in the booth. Right now it is the default vocal mic on every session at Lush Recording Studio while our Sony C800G is being serviced by Sony.
Neve 1073SPX preamp → Tube-Tech CL1B opto compressor → UAD Apollo x8 interface. Same chain as the C800G runs through — the mic changed, the character behind it did not.
Different, not better. The C800G is a tube mic with a lifted top end that flatters aggressive hip-hop and R&B takes. The U87 is a transformer condenser with a flatter, fuller response — it is the mic on more pop, R&B, soul and singer-songwriter records than any other, and it is more forgiving of room and technique. Right now the U87 is the mic in the booth; when the C800G returns from repair you can request either.
Cardioid for almost everything — it rejects the room and keeps the take focused. The U87 also offers omni and figure-8, which we use for duets and for capturing a bit of the booth on the right song.
Tell us what you're tracking and we'll confirm availability and route it to the right engineer.
