22mm capsule

[Chrisfromthepast]

Thats looking more like the akg 451 removable capsules.
Speaking of those, is there an aftermarket LDC head for the vintage 451eb? The AKG one is too rare for my budget.
Im really wanting any side address options for the 22mm mics too.
Has anyone made any progress on josephson e22 style or audix scx25 style capsule mounts? I have no time to learn a skill at the moment, lack 3d CAD skills, but have lots of capsules to use as test fixtures if someone is game

 

[kingkorg]

Has anyone made any progress on josephson e22 style or audix scx25 style capsule mounts?

@soliloqueen what are you waiting for!? This would sell like crazy!

 

[Migs 31]

Thats looking more like the akg 451 removable capsules.
Speaking of those, is there an aftermarket LDC head for the vintage 451eb? The AKG one is too rare for my budget.
Im really wanting any side address options for the 22mm mics too.
Has anyone made any progress on josephson e22 style or audix scx25 style capsule mounts? I have no time to learn a skill at the moment, lack 3d CAD skills, but have lots of capsules to use as test fixtures if someone is game

Hey @Chrisfromthepast

Check your mail. I PM'd you.

M

 

[Chrisfromthepast]

I took some more measurements, here are some results.
First is a sleeper that I've never heard of someone modifying, so mine is stock, at least 10 years old, and works fine. 18mm externally polarized SDC called the B-5

 

[Icantthinkofaname]

I took some more measurements, here are some results.
First is a sleeper that I've never heard of someone modifying, so mine is stock, at least 10 years old, and works fine. 18mm externally polarized SDC called the B-5View attachment 104776

Do you have a cardioid measurement of the B5?

 

[Chrisfromthepast]

This one is topical this week, as @kingkorg posted about screwing the capsule from a kms 105 onto the Takstar C60 body.
The results are smother than the capsule for the 184 posted earlier. Because the preamp inside the kms 105 body is optimized for the source being less than 3cm away from the mic, the levels are drastically different, so I could include results from both bodies on one image. the handheld's headbasket has a small effect on the freq response, and the designers high passed around 100hz.

 

[Chrisfromthepast]

Do you have a cardioid measurement of the B5?

I don't have that capsule, but it might turn up for cheap soon

 

[k brown]

Ok, back to business.
to recap:
the Banzai capsules have 1 good match, one dark capsule, and one bright one and they all share a resemblance in terms of the shape.View attachment 103871

The micparts capsules all purchased separately are very close to one another, and vary from perfection by a small amount in roughly the same general shape as the others., but they are much better than a stock capsule from mxl. the pink reference capsule is from a monoprice 60700, which has the same MXL body and pcb as a 603s.View attachment 103872
My first impressions of the 3U capsules are very good. they feel good, threads are quality, just like the micparts and Banzai capsules. The matching is pretty good. the shape is that familiar dip before rise found in so many 22mm chinese SDC mics.
The cm60's are Takstar CM60 mics which cost less, but perform pretty well. Notice this curve is closer to the nady CM90 we will see later.

View attachment 103873
The matching, and the shape of the matched pair of 3U omni capsules is quite good. I haven't used them in any serious way yet, but Im hopeful about these. The purple trace is barely even visible under the orange one. View attachment 103874

This brings us to the reason for this quest in the first place - the dreaded 603s capsule.
Here I have a couple stock ones, and a couple with face flattened on a grinder, and one with a fancy restretched diaphragm. Notice that nady has a different shape from the rest of the crop. curious.View attachment 103875
Speaking of curious, I bought some 22mm capsules from ali express, and they are out of phase with the rest of what we have tested. the red one is the same capsule body, with the 603s guts. interesting change in top end shape due to the tapered opening I suppose. that tapered opening is not enough to pull high end out of a bad backplate/chamber arrangement.View attachment 103877View attachment 103876

Wow! - how recently purchased were the 603 omni capsules you tested? I just bought a pair a couple of weeks ago and they don't sound anything like what your chart shows.

They are very audibly less bright than my Oktava MK-012 omnis, and their top end sounds nearly as flat as my flat-response references, Panasonic WM-63T, and Primo EM50 measurement capsule.

 

[k brown]

I took some more measurements, here are some results.
First is a sleeper that I've never heard of someone modifying, so mine is stock, at least 10 years old, and works fine. 18mm externally polarized SDC called the B-5View attachment 104776

The B5 (with omni) was actually recommended in the big Decca "Classical Recording" book as a viable alternative to the Neumann M50, when fitted with a 40-50mm sphere, for people on budget.
https://www.amazon.com/Classical-Recording-Practical-Tradition-Engineering-ebook/dp/B08MVF21GG

 

[Chrisfromthepast]

This mic

Wow! - how recently purchased were the 603 omni capsules you tested? I just bought a pair a couple of weeks ago and they don't sound anything like what your chart shows.

They are very audibly less bright than my Oktava MK-012 omnis, and their top end sounds nearly as flat as my flat-response references, Panasonic WM-63T, and Primo EM50 measurement capsules.

Thats great news!
I haven't bought a new one since 2010 or right around when the through hole boards were getting phased out. I've been buying up more used ones, and used monoprice versions, and a pair of the screw on mogamis, and eventually random 22mm capsules for the last 5 years. So, there is no telling, Id love to get a flat one. the addiction continues?...

 

[Chrisfromthepast]

These Shure 137 small electret mics are fine as a spot mic for woodwind, and works on hi hat too, no surprise there, its a mic. Never seeming all that sexy to me, I don't pick them that often, maybe I should start.

 

[Chrisfromthepast]

Speaking of small electrets, here is a classic the SM81. I've never heard engineers more divided about a hi hat mic. It is very versatile, and tolerant of long cable runs and weak phantom power, and features a pad and high pass, yet I never use them on purpose. The output level is lower than most condensers, maybe that throws people off.

 

[Chrisfromthepast]

I encounter this mic, the Shure KSM9 as a wireless capsule all the time, and now I see that I should give more credit to the supercardioid setting, which always just sounded strange to me. In front of a symphony, these can be heavenly vocal mics. In front of a rock band in a poorly designed venue, its not the right mic. Also not a 22mm capsule. we've veered. sorry.

Edited for language

 

[Icantthinkofaname]

The B5 (with omni) was actually recommended in the big Decca "Classical Recording" book as a viable alternative to the Neumann M50, when fitted with a 40-50mm sphere, for people on budget.
https://www.amazon.com/Classical-Recording-Practical-Tradition-Engineering-ebook/dp/B08MVF21GG

They're definitely solid little cheap mics. There's a shootout on Gearspace where it's a KM184 vs B5 and I felt the B5 was the clear winner. Granted that doesn't say much, the sources were female vocals (the KM184 had a really weird resonance) and acoustic guitar (I prefer a darker sound on acoustic, I think the KM184 picked up a lot more string noise). I think this is probably the 4th time I've mentioned that shootout, usually it's as a knock against gear bias, but I thought it was pretty relevant here.

 

[craigmorris74]

@Chrisfromthepast, how did you fit the k40 in the Chinese bodies?

 

[kingkorg]

Some of the leftover diaphragms from typical China 22mm capsules. Not a dealbreaker but something to have in mind.
Edit:
Metric 14-16 microns. Akg 5 microns.

And the one i re skined with some Akg mylar i had tiny quantities of.

 

[k brown]

In-string . . .

So that last reading would be 5 micron?

 

[amplexus]

These Shure 137 small electret mics are fine as a spot mic for woodwind, and works on hi hat too, no surprise there, its a mic. Never seeming all that sexy to me, I don't pick them that often, maybe I should start.View attachment 104786

I got a pair of these a few years back and they're one of the most versatile I own. They have beaten pairs of brass capsule 414's and U87's on acoustic instruments many times.

 

[kingkorg]

In-string . . .

So that last reading would be 5 micron?

Yes, all in microns.

 

[Chrisfromthepast]

@Chrisfromthepast, how did you fit the k40 in the Chinese bodies?

The takstar cm60 is 21m X 0.5 threads, I think, and it fit the k105 beautifully. For the k40, I was only comfortable trying it on 3 mics, where it will stay on the third for a while. The fit isn’t perfect, but it threaded on tightly and makes a tight fit with the body. This is better than I have experienced with some 603s factory fits.
Here it sits on Banzai A: