6 years in the making

[MicDaddy]

Getting closer everyday

Since 2010 I've been working on an RE20 coil-diaphragm assembly.

Mostly I heard tales of impossibility and .... well......  next up is the D12  8)

 

[rock soderstrom]

Cool, looks like you are  building your own mic capsule with some german "Folien Muster"?? Cheers

Edit: Ahh, the poll  makes it more obvious...

 

[Michael Tibes]

I've never checked whether AKG sells spares - they don't? Then it would certainly be great to have a replacement for my broken D12 

Michael

 

[MicDaddy]

Having searched hi and low, of somebody making one, I do not know.

 

[beatnik]

great work and absolutely useful !

last year i had luckily found a stock of original nos membranes, but it's coming to an end now. many d12s that pop up on ebay are either butchered or got open coils, be careful with what you buy

would be definitely interested in some of these !

 

[ln76d]

Getting closer everyday

https://youtu.be/ODitWlihP_g

Since 2010 I've been working on an RE20 coil-diaphragm assembly.

Mostly I heard tales of impossibility and .... well......  next up is the D12  8)

Oh Man!!

I'm in for D12 diaphragms
Am thinking about making paper shims for D12 and D19 types.
Interested?

 

[beatnik]

Getting closer everyday

https://youtu.be/ODitWlihP_g

Since 2010 I've been working on an RE20 coil-diaphragm assembly.

Mostly I heard tales of impossibility and .... well......  next up is the D12  8)

Oh Man!!

I'm in for D12 diaphragms
Am thinking about making paper shims for D12 and D19 types.
Interested?

yes !

 

[MicDaddy]

It's football Saturday here, and what a nice morning to enjoy a wonderful breakfast courtesy of my beautiful and magnificent wife while I QC some diaphragms.... D12, I'm comin' for ya.  RE-55 you're next buddy  8)

 

[ln76d]

I can't look on the bacon (both pig and kevin) but diaphragms looks lovely
Do you have in plan to make coils also?

 

[MicDaddy]

Have been rolling coils for a few years now, was tough because we were starting with nothing much to go on. Luckily I had found a Renaissance man in a consulting-engineering/machinist who put me on the right path.

@ln76d, Are you looking into or maybe have it done  8) the shims for the D12?

Anyone know if Esa Tervala participates on this forum?

Dany Bouchard donated a D12 for me to try to copy. But I vaguely remember Esa telling me that the diaphragm had changed. I do not have any experience with these mics so I'm leaning on you guys for what to look for in an "ideal" dynamic.

 

[ln76d]

Still didn't make it, same as with many things which am doing it is still in the queue.
Since you get some progress i will also try soon to make it
I want to make for D19 and D12. This diaphragm fits both.
Here's Esa:
http://groupdiy.com/index.php?action=profile;u=53989

Yes, diphragm material was changed during the years.
Mostly to lightweight.
To be honest, it isn't that much important. It's not brass and teflon CK12 difference
Most important is to center and tune right as also height is relly important (Esa didn't agree with me on this ).
Blue diaphragm was heavier so the transients were little bit different, but even with donor diaphragms with different pattern and thicknes, properly tuned still sound great.

 

[MicDaddy]

Excellent news!  ;D

So if I'm understanding, a D12 diaphragm would also satisfy a D19? 

 

[ln76d]

Yes, same size of diaphragm and coil, different shims
AKG used same sized coil aand diaphragm in many models (that's why i have donors )
Some were little bit wider, in the flat area which isn't important, and can be cut off.
D12 and D19 share exactly same size
What i can say more - my favourite D12 for kick is 60ohm version

 

[zebra50]

Ben - this looks really great.  As you know I am ready to prime the pump if needed. 

I think I sent you a D12 diaphragm and motor in the past, but shout if you need more parts. Lots of dead ones here. And D19s too.

S.

 

[MicDaddy]

Ben - this looks really great.  As you know I am ready to prime the pump if needed. 

I think I sent you a D12 diaphragm and motor in the past, but shout if you need more parts. Lots of dead ones here. And D19s too.

S.

Can we start to catalog capsules with photos of their diaphragms and the corresponding date-codes. I don't know if this is Julian or what, but the capsule I have (maybe it came from zebra50, or poctop, I can't recall but i THINK I only have the one)  has digits:

6742

Is this 42nd week of 1967?

See attached photo of capsule & diaphragm.

From what I can tell, and I know squat about the D12, the diaphragm "bounce" happens as a result of the little paper washers spacing it up off of the faceplate?  Is that the only purpose of the spacers?  We could possibly design a diaphragm to bounce without the spacers, but this is uncharted territory and I defer to you guys.  If it makes more sense to exact copy the thing and have someone make spacers then I'm cool with that too.

 

[ln76d]

I had few mikes with glued paper shims (probly someone was that smart... i don't believe it was original made by akg) i couldn't properly center it.  It's esier to tune the capsule when you can easily move diaphragm without moving shims.
I don't know how the code works, if i'll find some on my mikes, i'll let you know.

 

[bryanday]

Hi everyone,

I'm new round here, but I've been fixing up a few d19's and d24's for a little while here and there, and waiting on a couple of d12's at the moment. Very excited to see somebody getting it together to make some new diaphragms/coils!

I'd be very interested in a few when they become available - do keep us posted.

In the meantime, can I get a dozen or so coils from you, MicDaddy? How much to get them over to me here in the UK? Shall I p.m. you?

Regards,
Bryan.

 

[MicDaddy]

AKG parts not available yet, soon.

@bryanday, are you wanting AKG voice-coils to repair microphones having existing diaphragms in a good-enough condition to reuse?  I've been able to do this with the RE20 with some success, however there are diaphragms that are beyond saving, hence my push to make them in-house.

 

[bryanday]

Yes, thats right. I can sometimes source used coil/diaphragms here and there but sometimes they are the wrong impedance, or the coil is unrepairable (or I've managed to mess up a repair and rendered the coil useless but the diaphragm is still completely fine).

I've attempted to transplant a couple of suitable coils from damaged diaphragms, but as yet I've not quite got the alignment just right. i.e. very close, but no cigar... What's your technique for getting it just spot on?

I've contemplated making my own coils and done some measurements/calculations regarding wire thickness, impedance, number of turns, layers etc. Happy to share my thoughts on that to see if it compares with what you have.

I've even sourced a few carefully measured parts to create a loom to enable winding. Tried winding a few with a hand-drill and my makeshift loom, but not quite got it perfect enough. I probably need to buy a half-decent coil winding machine, but I'm not ready to make that investment just yet. If you've got a guy who can already pop them out then that's great. Are they available?

Bryan.

 

[ln76d]

I've tried replace coil in these type of capsules but lways without luck.
With Sennheiser large diaphragms is much easier.
For D12/20 since you are use donors from other mikes i reccomend 60ohm.
Both original and donor 60ohm versions are in my opinion the best for kick.