CU-55
WARM
NATURAL
AND MUSICAL

CU-55 A Great All Purpose Small Premium Quality Cardioid Mic

Featuring a modern, compact design, the CU-55 provides a rich vintage sound in a small, lightweight, easy to position package. It is a great, affordable, all purpose mic.

The CU-55 houses a side-firing 16mm capsule. Designed with a resonant chamber like the top of the line CU-44X MK II, it has been tuned to create a perfect cardioid pattern, and is omnidirectional below 50 kHz.

Sanken Chromatic CU-55 with Optional KS-55 Shock Mount Band Suspension
Top Engineers & Producers
Talk About the CU-55

Engineers Chuck Ainlay, Frank Filipetti and Wesley Seidman talk about why they choose and how the use the Sanken Chromatic CU-55 mic.

Sound On Sound AES
Interview with Jim Pace

Sanken Chromatic’s Jim Pace talks with Sam from Sound On Sound about the design philosophy and features of the CU-55 mic

Small Mic Packs A Powerful Punch

Affordable premium quality mic perfect for all instruments, acoustic, electric and percussion, in addition to vocals

This new generation microphone is flat even at 90 degrees, flat on axis, with very little proximity effect. The CU-55 uses the same diaphragm material as Sanken Chromatic’s remarkable CU-100 and CUW-180 mics. Ideal for acoustic instruments like guitars, cello, harp and piano, the CU-55 can also handle the explosive levels of big brass and pounding tympanis. Try it on a snare drum, it fits nicely into tight spaces.

It features a built in resonant chamber that mates with the capsule to optimize pattern and minimize proximity effects. Stereo pairs are truly matched.

The affordably priced CU-55 is a fitting addition to the Sanken line of fine studio microphones. The response is very warm and natural sounding, very musical, without any coloration or artificial boost. If you are wrestling with some high SPLs, have no fears – the little CU-55 can handle whatever you throw at it. It can also bring out the best in softer, subtler sounds, and as a compact side-address microphone it is very easy to maneuver into tight spaces.

Like all Sanken microphones, the CU-55 provides optimum quality audio and reliability, and is a solid investment for the ambitious recording engineer/producer.

  • Rich vintage sound from a modern mic
  • Perfect cardioid pattern
  • -10dB attenuation switch for two sensitivity settings
  • Flat frequency response (40Hz to 20kHz)
  • High maximum SPL of 137 dB at 1% THD and 15dB EN
  • Small form factor
  • Finely tuned resonant chamber that mates with the capsule
  • Very low proximity effect
Sanken Chromatic CU-55
CU-55 Tom
CU-55 Acoustic Guitar

APPLICATIONS

Sanken Chromatic Logo 02 outlineCU-55CU-51CO-100KCU-41RCU-44X MK II
ApplicationMics-for-AppTable-80x160_CU-55Mics-for-AppTable-80x160_CU-51Mics-for-AppTable-80x160_CO-100KMics-for-AppTable-80x160_CU-41Mics-for-AppTable-80x160_CU-44X_MK_II
Acoustic Guitar
Background or Chorus Vocals
Brass and Woodwind
Drums Close Mic
Electric/Bass Guitar Amps
Orchestra Mains
Orchestra Solo
Overheads
Percussion
Piano
Sound Design, Effects and ATMOS
Strings
Upright Bass
Vocals

CU-55 Applications | Brochure PDF

ACOUSTIC GUITAR

BACKGROUND OR
CHORUS VOCALS

BRASS AND
WOODWIND

DRUMS
CLOSE MIC

ELECTRIC/BASS/GUITAR AMPS

ORCHESTRA SOLO

OVERHEADS

PERCUSSION

PIANO

UPRIGHT BASS

VOCALS

  • Acoustic Guitar
  • Background or Chorus Vocals
  • Brass and Woodwind
  • Drums Close Mic
  • Electric/Bass Guitar Amps
  • Orchestra Solo
  • Overheads
  • Percussion
  • Piano
  • Upright Bass
  • Vocals
Brochure PDF CU-55

SPECIFICATIONS

 

Model Name

CU-55

Transducer

DC biased condenser

Directivity

Cardioid

Frequency response

40Hz – 20kHz

Sensitivity

PAD@:0dB -26dB
(50.1mV, 0dB=1V/Pa)
PAD@:-10dB -36dB
(15.8mV, 0dB=1V/Pa)

Equivalent noise level (IEC)

15dB-A

Max SPL(1% THD)

137dB SPL(PAD@:0dB),
147dB SPL(PAD@:-10dB)

Output impedance( 1kHz )

180 ohms

Powering

+48V±4V phantom

Current consumption

3.5mA

Weight

180g/ .4lbs

Dimensions

113mm x 30mm (D)
4.45in x 1.18in (D)

Surface finish

Matte brown

Connector

XLR-3-12C(M) equivalent
1: GND, 2: Hot, 3: Cold

POLAR PATTERN
CU-55 Polar Response
FREQUENCY RESPONSE AT 30cm AND 1m
CU-55 Frequency Response 30cm
CU-55 Frequency Response 1m

ACCESSORIES

CU-55 Included Accessories:
Vinyl Case

CU-55 Optional Accessories:

KS-55

KS-55 Shock Mount Band Suspension for CU-55 - mic not included

CU-55 with KS-55 Shock Mount Band Suspension

S-55

Shock Mount Basket Suspension for CU-55

S-55 Shock Mount Basket Suspension for CU-55