Advice for Building a U87 Clone

[Lakewood]

I would be very interested.

Already sold

 

[Barry Hufker]

"A warning for the UT87twin: I have had one here but I returned it to the seller the same day... It sounds nothing like a U87."
@RuudNL
Thank you for posting this statement. I am glad OP has the benefit of your direct experience. I would be sad if he had taken my advice and had been disappointed.

 

[ccb]

The United Twin87 I had was well built and had the voltage to the cap switch which was unique, sensitivity to duplicate 8 or 28 mv/pa, and there was the common mod for U87 also the RF filter can be added (modern87) or off (old 87).
Seems most like the classic old U87, lower sensitivity/aka output..less hot.

But I do not have U87 side by side so is it in "sound", I don't know. Im not trying to sell this one but found the "modification" interesting.

 

[micolas]

The United Twin87 I had was well built and had the voltage to the cap switch which was unique, sensitivity to duplicate 8 or 28 mv/pa, and there was the common mod for U87 also the RF filter can be added (modern87) or off (old 87).
Seems most like the classic old U87, lower sensitivity/aka output..less hot.

But I do not have U87 side by side so is it in "sound", I don't know. Im not trying to sell this one but found the "modification" interesting.

@RuudNL is right.

https://groupdiy.com/threads/advice-for-building-a-u87-clone.86242/post-1136767

UT Twin-87 cannot sound like U87.
Even if it had the same capsule and circuit as the U87, because of the headbasket (shape, dimensions, meshes), capsule position, body, etc., it cannot sound the same.

 

[SubSpec]

@RuudNL is right.

https://groupdiy.com/threads/advice-for-building-a-u87-clone.86242/post-1136767

UT Twin-87 cannot sound like U87.
Even if it had the same capsule and circuit as the U87, because of the headbasket (shape, dimensions, meshes), capsule position, body, etc., it cannot sound the same.

Soooo...

Who has recommendations on a donor body I might attempt to swap the headbasket from to my Twin87?

I don't expect anything will just fit, but it appears the dimensions of the Twin are similar to the standard 87 style body sizes all over Ali so perhaps something might work. I just don't want to order any random body and get some plastic thing.

I don't have any gripes with the sound of the Twin, I like it well, but I don't have any other 87 style mics (aside from modded Perception) and would be interested to see how it changed the sound.

Edit to add:
Though M&M don't have the best rep 'round these parts, they do sell a standalone '87 style headbasket and the published specs match the Twin's dimensions. Unless some has a solid suggestion that comes out to be less bucks I may just go that route.

 

[micolas]

Soooo...

Who has recommendations on a donor body I might attempt to swap the headbasket from to my Twin87?

I don't expect anything will just fit, but it appears the dimensions of the Twin are similar to the standard 87 style body sizes all over Ali so perhaps something might work. I just don't want to order any random body and get some plastic thing.

I don't have any gripes with the sound of the Twin, I like it well, but I don't have any other 87 style mics (aside from modded Perception) and would be interested to see how it changed the sound.

As we are in a group of DIY enthusiasts, I would make my own handmade headbasket ( it doesn't matter if it doesn't look great aesthetically )
and do tests. I like to do this, I like to experiment, even @kingkorg often makes heabaskets that are as acoustically transparent as possible but that electromagnetically shield the capsule (Faraday cage).
Then, depending on the results I would buy (or not) a suitable body/headbasket.
The closest to the original U87 are
HL-95 (and HL-77)

https://a.aliexpress.com/_EwgQbZ5

https://a.aliexpress.com/_EwJeehD