The Neumann M 149 TUBE Condenser Studio Microphone has the lowest self-noise of any tube microphone on the market.

The Neumann M 149 Tube is a large-diaphragm transformerless condenser studio microphone with switchable polar patterns. It is the first new 'Tube' microphone design from Neumann in over 30 years, and also the world's first transformerless tube microphone. The head grill is instantly recognizable to vintage Neumann aficionados as that of the classic M 49/M 50. The capsule (K 49), also from the M 49, is a select version of the K 47 capsule from the famous U 47. The M 149 Tube has the lowest self-noise of any tube microphone on the market and features 9 polar patterns switchable on the microphone body. There is also a 7 position high-pass filter on the rear of the microphone body. The circuitry of the M 149 Tube includes a tube amplifier coupled with the FET 100 transformerless circuitry as used in Neumann's award-winning TLM 50 microphone. They have been approached by scores of customers asking them to build again the classic U 47. Unfortunately, the VF 14 tube of the U 47 is no longer available. They have optimized the M 149 Tube to have a sound "character" very similar to the U 47. Also, by incorporating modern technology with the tube amplifier, they are able to produce a tube microphone with unprecedented specifications. Vintage and modern technology combined! The M 149 tube won the TEC award in 1999.