DIY dynamic mic

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theaterguy

Active member
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Jul 10, 2012
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Location
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Due to  new frequency allocation I have couple of useless AKG D5's RF mics in my locker now.  With a little bit of mutilation they could be converted to normal wired mics. The capsule is separate from pre/RF section. What do I need to add? A trafo maybe; but which brand and model?
Btw, D5 is a very nice sounding mic.

 
Measure the DC resistance of the capsule.  If it is between 100R & 600R, just connect it directly to pins 2 & 3 of the XLR.

If not, you need a transformer that will transform whatever you measure to 100-600R nominal.
 
Since I don't want to open new thread and I thing this question should benefit this one ;) , I am asking if anybody know where to buy high quality dynamic capsules. I found just JLI electronics and some chinese, but I am looking for something better ::). Something under 100$ will be fine.
Thank you.
 
S-tomas said:
Since I don't want to open new thread and I thing this question should benefit this one ;) , I am asking if anybody know where to buy high quality dynamic capsules. I found just JLI electronics and some chinese, but I am looking for something better ::). Something under 100$ will be fine.
Thank you.

For example you can get those beauties:

MD422 / MD421-2 (clasic/old md421 capsules were better, but those are really good too)
http://spares.sennheiser.co.uk/MKH-microphones/md-421/md421-ii-dynamic-capsule-with-chassis.html

Classic RE-20/PL-20 capsule
http://www.10outof10.co.uk/acatalog/Microphone-Spares.html#a13381

Always you can get some cheap and used but good microphone for spare capsule.
There's many of really good capsules from old Sennheiser or AKG, which were mounted in several microphones.
Sometimes cheap microphones have the same capsules as the overpriced mikes.
For what purpose you need that microphone?

 
It should be universal mic, but mainly used for acoustic guitar and voice, something with wide freqency response and small lift in heights and bigger sensitivity than -60db?

Thanks for fast reply.
 
If you want something close to "universal", try RE-20 capsule, it's good for many purposes.
I think that making "diy" dynamic mike isn't cost effective, but always, for fun you can make some experiments with capsules transformers and body shape. For acoustic guitar are good sennheiser md408 capsules (cheaper than md409 - little bit different, but also good). Those capsules you can find in 405/408/413/416 and grundig mds202.
If you will be interested i have new sennheiser e906 enclosures for sale.
 
I agree to most what  ln76d said, but must say I never tried the MD408 and co. on acoustic guitar, so I don`t know. Good capsules for many other things for sure. The biggest difference between the old MD421 and new MD421-ll capsule is, that the new is louder.
 
panman said:
The biggest difference between the old MD421 and new MD421-ll capsule is, that the new is louder.

Sorry panman, but i can't agree with you :)
The only audible difference (in my opinion) between old and new 421 is that the new one is little bit brighter.
I've made comparision between the four old MD421 (N,U,HL,2), MD422 and new MD421 II. All they have similar level (ear/meter/graph).
Maybe you have HL version wiried for "hi" or weakened magnet in the old one?
 
ln76d said:
Sorry panman, but i can't agree with you :)
The only audible difference (in my opinion) between old and new 421 is that the new one is little bit brighter.
I've made comparision between the four old MD421 (N,U,HL,2), MD422 and new MD421 II. All they have similar level (ear/meter/graph).
Maybe you have HL version wiried for "hi" or weakened magnet in the old one?

I don`t remember when exactly I was AB:ing the 421:s, but certainly more than 10 years ago, perhaps even close to 15. So I dug up my 421:s and found 17 of them. I have all the "old" models(N,U,HL,2,Blackfire) an not just one of each. The oldest is from -60 and the rest is evenly ranging to the end of the "old" production. The latest sn. is 141434.  I have one MD421-II, the sn. of which is 183025, so it is from the beginning era of MD421-II. Then I have an old one where I have replaced the capsule with the 421-II capsule c. 15 years ago. The two last mentioned sound absolutely identical. I do not have time at the moment to run any more precise tests, but testing with my own voice(actually always the best). The results again: the new are louder. The only thing to say is, that the difference is less than I remember from before, but I can clearly hear it, plus the meters show it too.

Why is this so? I have three HL(HN):s and I certainly know how to wire them correctly. The HL:s sound the same as the rest of the old(sound ,level). The old all have the same level and sound regardles of the age, so if the reason would be the weakened magnets, logically the older should have less level than newer"old", but this is not the case. 421:s are my most used mics, so I keep them working properly and to specs. The only explanation I have is that the capsules simply are very differend. I have pics somewhere and perhaps at a later point I`ll post them side by side. What comes to your totally differing test results, I have no idea why. To me the 421-II is not brighter. Of course, if you only test with one example(also like my two 421-II:s), the testing is less valid. One mic might have iron-dust pressing the diaphragm and then it is not as loud and would also be brighter, but it is my experience that this is rare with 421:s.
 
panman said:
I don`t remember when exactly I was AB:ing the 421:s, but certainly more than 10 years ago, perhaps even close to 15. So I dug up my 421:s and found 17 of them. I have all the "old" models(N,U,HL,2,Blackfire) an not just one of each. The oldest is from -60 and the rest is evenly ranging to the end of the "old" production. The latest sn. is 141434.  I have one MD421-II, the sn. of which is 183025, so it is from the beginning era of MD421-II. Then I have an old one where I have replaced the capsule with the 421-II capsule c. 15 years ago. The two last mentioned sound absolutely identical.

If we talking about the amount of microphones, probably i had all versions (even both versions of BF521) except anniversary version with gold grill + ten or more (i don't remember) which i serviced in the past.
For tests/comparisions six mikes is enough i think :D

panman said:
I do not have time at the moment to run any more precise tests, but testing with my own voice(actually always the best). The results again: the new are louder. The only thing to say is, that the difference is less than I remember from before, but I can clearly hear it, plus the meters show it too.

Shame i don't have my samples anymore. I've did comparision with reamped samples of electric guitar and bass guitar, to get much more precised results.

panman said:
Why is this so? I have three HL(HN):s and I certainly know how to wire them correctly. The HL:s sound the same as the rest of the old(sound ,level). The old all have the same level and sound regardles of the age, so if the reason would be the weakened magnets, logically the older should have less level than newer"old", but this is not the case.

Sounds the same if they are wired for 200ohm :)
Once i received HL for repair, because it sounds different than the others :D Of course it was wired for high impedance :)

panman said:
The only explanation I have is that the capsules simply are very differend. I have pics somewhere and perhaps at a later point I`ll post them side by side. What comes to your totally differing test results, I have no idea why. To me the 421-II is not brighter. Of course, if you only test with one example(also like my two 421-II:s), the testing is less valid. One mic might have iron-dust pressing the diaphragm and then it is not as loud and would also be brighter, but it is my experience that this is rare with 421:s.

There was no possibility for any mechanical or "iron-dust" issues. 421II was new "from the box" at the time and i had three used too.
From my experience, dust/dirt issue on diaphragm cannot cause microphone brighter, ewentually loss of low frequency response (mostly by the unglued diaphragm) or high frequency repsonse. The old and new capsules in 421 have very well secured diaphragms.
For example in MD409 the dissolved foam sticked to the diaphragm cause the loss of high frequencies.

Here's a shootout made by someone else. Of course i don't know test conditions but the differences (judging by the ear only) are audible.
http://www.gearslutz.com/board/gear-shoot-outs-sound-file-comparisons-audio-tests/599747-md421-u5-vs-md421-mkii-sound-files.html

Cheers
 
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