Replacement capsule for Rode NT1a

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I have all 3 of the Maiku capsules. Used the 87 in a OPR 87 UMOD even though this mic has been modified to suit the bright but very decent original 67 capsule the Maiku 87 capsule improved it and worth the change for me. The 47 I have tried in a few microphones put it into a Blackspade um17 which come with 2 capsules when I bought it and the maiku 47 was a major improvement on them both. settled for a thiersch m7 blue capsule in that one though after speaking to BSA as the thiersch suits my voice better but the the Maiku 47 was great. the C12 Capsule I have tried in a slightly modded apex 460 which had a micparts ck12 in it and again the maiku c12 was better/ smoother. I am waiting for parts to upgrade this mic with the studio 939 kit I believe I will have a very good 87. 47/49 in the blackspade, And a good c12/251 ish when the apex 460 mod is complete ...... If my soldering skills stand up ;) . I was going to sell the Maiku 47 but could not bring myself to do that, so I have been trialling it in an old grey NT1 along with some other circuit upgrades... which is sounding promising so far. picked the NT1 up for £60, So for around £200 for a good sounding mic is fine by me (not many of them about off the shelf) ;)
 
To be really honest: I never heard a Rode microphone that sounded 'good'...

It is not my intention to insult Rode microphone owners, but the microphones I use sound a lot better...
I don't know anything about their LDCs, but the NT45-O omni capsule for the NT5/55/6 SDCs is highly recommended by none other than top Classical engineer, Tony Faulkner.

In the quote below, he's comparing them to his Neumann KM130s and Schoeps M2Hs.
 

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I have all 3 of the Maiku capsules. Used the 87 in a OPR 87 UMOD even though this mic has been modified to suit the bright but very decent original 67 capsule the Maiku 87 capsule improved it and worth the change for me. The 47 I have tried in a few microphones put it into a Blackspade um17 which come with 2 capsules when I bought it and the maiku 47 was a major improvement on them both. settled for a thiersch m7 blue capsule in that one though after speaking to BSA as the thiersch suits my voice better but the the Maiku 47 was great. the C12 Capsule I have tried in a slightly modded apex 460 which had a micparts ck12 in it and again the maiku c12 was better/ smoother. I am waiting for parts to upgrade this mic with the studio 939 kit I believe I will have a very good 87. 47/49 in the blackspade, And a good c12/251 ish when the apex 460 mod is complete ...... If my soldering skills stand up ;) . I was going to sell the Maiku 47 but could not bring myself to do that, so I have been trialling it in an old grey NT1 along with some other circuit upgrades... which is sounding promising so far. picked the NT1 up for £60, So for around £200 for a good sounding mic is fine by me (not many of them about off the shelf) ;)
What capsules were in the mics, originally? / What capsules came in the mics, originally?
 
To be really honest: I never heard a Rode microphone that sounded 'good'...

+1

All Rode LDC microphones I’ve tried, and I tried them all, always sounded overly bright and extremely sibilant to me. I could never use them in vocals.

I have an NT1000 microphone that I found it’s purpose on Bass Drum and Double bass duties, 2 instruments where the excessive brightness/sibilance don’t present a problem.
The Low end part it’s fine though very fast, round and clean in the Low end.

But overall Rode was never able to get their act together when voicing their LDC mics, fortunately nowadays I have much better stuff
 
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What capsules were in the mics, originally? / What capsules came in the mics, originally?
In the OPR Umod (great off the shelf for the money and a very helpful guy) looks like the same capsule as from a Cad gxl 3000 (look on recordinghacks) not many 35mm that I have come across that look close to this, and I think this is a decent capsule better than some, but the Maiku was an improvement and stayed in the mic.
In the Blackspade UM17 I believe it had the original BSA K17 capsule in it and also come with the TF TK67D. I can't remember which one was in the mic when it first turned up, but after trying the Maiku 47 it beat both the others by quite a bit. After doing some research I found that the upgraded mic's (UM17R's then B's) had Thiersch capsules in and opted for the blue which suits my voice more than the 47 type maiku (to my ears). The Rode NT1 old grey version had the original spec capsule in but as it is a 67 type in a circuit better suited to a 47 capsule I put the Maiku 47 in it, Which is a big improvement and eq's much better. As mentioned above I feel the same all the Rode mic's are bright that I have tried but the Rode NT1 old grey version has good parts and with a 47 capsule and a couple of minor upgrades to suit your personal taste I think you can have a very workable microphone for not much money (some people don't have much to spend as others so a different option than buying off the shelf IMO). I might have got £100 off ebay for the Maiku 47 but by putting it in the Old NT1 for a total spend of Just over £200 I have another mic to try out and Mess with before I attempt the Studio 939 251 build (when the parts come) so a no brainer for me and you never know depending on how the 251 goes I could do a 47 build using the maiku 47 going forward. Messing with the Rode is an interest for me I feel quite lucky to have a few nice mic's after trying quite a lot between the 0 to £1000 bracket I have so far settled on Blackspade UM17 with M7 Capsule, OPR 87 Umod with Maiku 87 capsule, Beyerdynamic 201 and a pair of beyer 930's. AEA N22 and KU5a also an Audix VX10 ( and the NT1) Hopefully the 251 build will add to this and stop my itch for spending more for little gain ...... lets see. Hope this helps.
 
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