MXL 603 (SDC) alt capsules

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klem

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 12, 2005
Messages
172
Location
SW
Hi,
I'm looking for better capsules for some mod'd mxl 603s. Anyone know of any other capsules that will fit on the Chinese mic body and interface properly with the connector?
 
Klem,

Sorry for the long winded explanation to follow:

I've got a pair of these mics, and I performed the capacitor mods (styrene's etc). Using the PAZ analysis meters (VST Plugin), this changed the response of the mic by boosting the low end from about 40Hz through 200Hz by about 1.5dBFS.

What the meter didn't show was a subjective loss of "harshness" I'd estimate to have existed between 2-6kHz. This was not necessary a level loss in that frequency range, but a noticable smoothing out of the response.

Taking things a step further, I then proceeded to clean the PCB's with alcohol. There was a lot of flux. A post on this forum suggested it.

Another test showed little to no change on the PAZ meters during use, but at rest, the self-noise at high gain dropped. I did not record those levels, sorry.

During use, however, the subjective sound was more "open". In my opinion, the lower noise floor is revealing some dynamic content.

Then I did a blind AB of this mic with both stock cardiod and the $40 omni capsules against a pair of Neumann KM184s on acoustic guitar.

The 2 other people in the control room said there was a slight difference in sound between the 2 mics, but that neither sounded better than the other.
Gain settings did have to be slightly changed to match levels for the test.

I don't know of any replacement capsules for the mic, but I think that there may be differences in early capsules versus later capsules. My pair is from the introduction of the mics. I've read others saying that the new mics are not as good. (I have the 603S version).

In any case, the striking thing was hearing the cleaned PCB, cap-modded mics with the MXL OMNI capsules! WOW!!

If you haven't tried them, give them a shot. :green:
 
[quote author="bitman"]I did the Flatpicker cap mod too.
They are still blindingly bright to me.[/quote]

Same here & I squeezed in the 1uf for good measure (replacing the .22uf). I also have the 603S. The polystyrene cap seemed to do the most good. They don't get used since I bought my Josephson mics.
 
I was toying with the idea of putting Gefell(or RFT) M94 capsules on these. The M94 capsules are very similar to the capsules you find on Neumann KM54's (nickel), but have a built in resistor to make them hotswappable on mV692 systems with LDC heads, i.e. the resistor makes them accept 60V polarization. If you take this resistor out (and make them sound better in the process) they would sit happily on 603's, but you might have to lathe a couple of adapter rings to screw them on. I believe Marik is your man with the knowledge on this subject......
 
thanks for the replies. a few have suggested, like riggler, that the stock capsules aren't so bad, or that the improvements with a better capsule drastically changes the bang-for-the-buck ratio.

but i'm also concerned about consistency b/n mxl stock capsules - anyone have much experience in how much they vary? (specifically coming in this bundle: http://www.fullcompass.com/product/238402.html ?)

riggler, did you make a typo, the "stock cardiod and the $40 cardiod capsules" - did you mean $40 omni capsules (as the link in the subsequent post shows)?

BTW, i'm doing the royer mod to them.
 
Yes, that was a typo! (Will now fix).

I think that there is a wide variation in the capsule quality (subjective sound quality). I don't feel mine are overly bright.

OTOH, when micing instruments, I tend to "back off" my distance a little more than most.
 

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