b3groover
Well-known member
Up because I just replaced the capsule to fet cap with a 1000pf polystryrene and the two .22uf caps with .22uf Xicon polyester caps, which I had originally bought to mod my MXL 603s but they are far too large. I have some Panasonic polypropelyne caps coming on Thursday.
I recorded four different sources before and after the mod, using the same gain structure and using four different mic stands that were kept in the same place each time to ensure some kind of "control". I recorded a Wurlitzer 206A electric piano going through a MusicMan tube amp, a drum set with the mic out in front, about 3 feet, my voice, and a Hammond going through a Leslie 21h.
Honesly, on the drums and the Hammond, I cannot tell the difference. On the Wurli, there is a less "shiny" high end on the modded mic. On voice I heard the biggest difference, but it was not good. On the un-modded, it is overly bright and silibant. On the modded mic, the silibance seemed to be gone, but it was replaced with weird distortion in the upper frequencies whenever I sang loudly or hit high notes. Not pretty. I'm not sure if that is due to the polyesters or what. Come Thursday I'll replace them with the Panasonics and try again.
Even though they are the same circuit, the 990 doesn't really sound like the 603s. Probably due to the capsule enclosure (both the ring around the capsule and the windscreens).
EDIT: Just thinking out loud here -- could the distortion be caused by the polystyrene, which is only rated for 50v?
I recorded four different sources before and after the mod, using the same gain structure and using four different mic stands that were kept in the same place each time to ensure some kind of "control". I recorded a Wurlitzer 206A electric piano going through a MusicMan tube amp, a drum set with the mic out in front, about 3 feet, my voice, and a Hammond going through a Leslie 21h.
Honesly, on the drums and the Hammond, I cannot tell the difference. On the Wurli, there is a less "shiny" high end on the modded mic. On voice I heard the biggest difference, but it was not good. On the un-modded, it is overly bright and silibant. On the modded mic, the silibance seemed to be gone, but it was replaced with weird distortion in the upper frequencies whenever I sang loudly or hit high notes. Not pretty. I'm not sure if that is due to the polyesters or what. Come Thursday I'll replace them with the Panasonics and try again.
Even though they are the same circuit, the 990 doesn't really sound like the 603s. Probably due to the capsule enclosure (both the ring around the capsule and the windscreens).
EDIT: Just thinking out loud here -- could the distortion be caused by the polystyrene, which is only rated for 50v?