Double G
New member
I recently purchased a brass capsule 414 EB off Reverb.
For a week or so before I made the purchase, I was loaned an original EB to make sure I really liked it.
When I received mine and compared it to the loaner, mine was considerably lacking in bass response. Also, when setting the low pass filter to 75Hz, it caused an ugly bump in the low end. The 150Hz position didn't cause a bump and the loaner EB did not exhibit the same behavior regarding its roll off.
I had it checked by a reputable tech and it checks out. The capsule is legit and has never been taken apart. The components are also original, aside from the switches, which must have been replaced at some point because they're black instead of white.
The tech did a visual inspection of the capsule and the electronics. The diaphragms have spit stains on them and the rear diaphragm has a little bit of gold missing around the center and the edge is rippled a little in one spot. I could see the missing gold but the rippling could only be seen with a magnifying lens. The loaner EB had near identical levels of spit stains. Both were fairly dusty and the tech cleaned the capsules with a very soft brush. That was the extent of the inspection.
A few days later, I brought my EB to the studio and compared it to their nylon capsule EB. Theirs too had a noticeably better bass response. The studio's techs were kind enough to check it out. While having the mic plugged up in their shop, to demonstrate the roll off bass bump, the mic started to make popping and scratching noises. I left it with them and the next day they told me the roll off switch was the reason for the noise and it needed to be replaced. I asked them if they could take the roll offs out of the circuit because I'm never gonna use them anyway. They said they could do it and it would have no ill effect on the mic.
They removed the roll offs and we checked it against their nylon EB. Their EB still had more bass and had considerably more output than mine, which I thought was odd because my EB had slightly more output than the loaner. One of them also did the hot breath test on the capsule and it passed. So I went home and checked it on my preamp, that I had used it on for many hours. The output was the same as before but I noticed there was a little bit more low end coming out of the mic, compared to my last test recording.
Then the mic started to make the popping and scratching noises again. I switched the polar patterns around. That didn't stop the noises. Then I engaged the pad, and not only did the noises not stop, they also stayed at the same level. I imagine that if the capsule was causing the noise, engaging the pad should've lowered the noise, right?
What I'm wondering is, could the lack of bass be the result of there being something wrong with the electronics? And even though the pad didn't lower the noise, does that necessarily mean that it couldn't be the result of the capsule starting to fail completely?
For a week or so before I made the purchase, I was loaned an original EB to make sure I really liked it.
When I received mine and compared it to the loaner, mine was considerably lacking in bass response. Also, when setting the low pass filter to 75Hz, it caused an ugly bump in the low end. The 150Hz position didn't cause a bump and the loaner EB did not exhibit the same behavior regarding its roll off.
I had it checked by a reputable tech and it checks out. The capsule is legit and has never been taken apart. The components are also original, aside from the switches, which must have been replaced at some point because they're black instead of white.
The tech did a visual inspection of the capsule and the electronics. The diaphragms have spit stains on them and the rear diaphragm has a little bit of gold missing around the center and the edge is rippled a little in one spot. I could see the missing gold but the rippling could only be seen with a magnifying lens. The loaner EB had near identical levels of spit stains. Both were fairly dusty and the tech cleaned the capsules with a very soft brush. That was the extent of the inspection.
A few days later, I brought my EB to the studio and compared it to their nylon capsule EB. Theirs too had a noticeably better bass response. The studio's techs were kind enough to check it out. While having the mic plugged up in their shop, to demonstrate the roll off bass bump, the mic started to make popping and scratching noises. I left it with them and the next day they told me the roll off switch was the reason for the noise and it needed to be replaced. I asked them if they could take the roll offs out of the circuit because I'm never gonna use them anyway. They said they could do it and it would have no ill effect on the mic.
They removed the roll offs and we checked it against their nylon EB. Their EB still had more bass and had considerably more output than mine, which I thought was odd because my EB had slightly more output than the loaner. One of them also did the hot breath test on the capsule and it passed. So I went home and checked it on my preamp, that I had used it on for many hours. The output was the same as before but I noticed there was a little bit more low end coming out of the mic, compared to my last test recording.
Then the mic started to make the popping and scratching noises again. I switched the polar patterns around. That didn't stop the noises. Then I engaged the pad, and not only did the noises not stop, they also stayed at the same level. I imagine that if the capsule was causing the noise, engaging the pad should've lowered the noise, right?
What I'm wondering is, could the lack of bass be the result of there being something wrong with the electronics? And even though the pad didn't lower the noise, does that necessarily mean that it couldn't be the result of the capsule starting to fail completely?
