OC18

Tonal Profile

Fixed cardioid built around the ceramic CKR12 capsule, a reconstruction of the CK12 that AKG used in the C12; three high-pass corners and two pads on the body.

Gain Staging Advice

13 mV/Pa, which is -37.7 dBV/Pa; Austrian Audio publishes no decibel figure of its own. Self-noise of 9 dB-A and 148 dB max SPL, 158 dB with the pad, give a 139 dB window. The 275 ohm output impedance is high for a modern condenser - a consequence of the discrete output stage, and a reason to keep the preamp's input impedance well above 2.75 kohms.