Klaus Heyne has crafted the recorded sound of cultural icons such as Barbra Streisand, Whitney Houston, and Lenny Kravitz, as well as that of legendary film studios and scoring stages—Lucasfilm, Paramount Studios and Disney, among others. The sound of many of the world's finest vintage microphones by Neumann, AKG, and others—a sound still unsurpassed by current technologies—continues to flourish in the 21st century largely thanks to Klaus Heyne's efforts.

In the year 2000, he partnered with Dirk Brauner to create a limited edition set of 100 recording microphones—the VM-1 Klaus Heyne Edition—the single most expensive microphone ever issued; the model has since doubled in price.

Born in Berlin, Klaus studied law in Frankfurt and apprenticed as a luthier. In the 1970's, he emigrated to the U.S., settling in San Francisco. From guitar repairman, and later, owner of a luthier shop in the S.F. Bay Area through the early 1980's, he became an importer of vintage German tube mics to the U.S. Since 1987, he has specialized in the repair, restoration and upgrade of fine European recording microphones for studios, producers, artists, voice talent, and film production companies. Klaus has expanded his services to vintage microphone authentication and investment consultation. In 1991, Klaus relocated to the Columbia Gorge, Oregon.

He is currently writing "The Vintage Microphone Handbook", a guidebook for acquiring and preserving vintage microphones—a long awaited publication. Klaus moderates a world-renowned online forum on Prosound Web. A link can be found here. The link for Klaus Heyne's company, German Masterworks: http://www.germanmasterworks.com

Join us for a special edition of Lena Live, in a conversation with "the man behind the sound". BBS Radio—Station 1