AKG C3000B 5 min mod - Awesome mic!

[kingkorg]

Darn. Oh well. Are you still happy with the 3000b and it's now flattish freq response?

Not really flat-ish, it's still a bit scooped mic, but less of the HF boost. Honestly, this is no different than using external EQ to roll off the HF. But people like to get "the sound" straingt out from the mic.

C4000b should already sound like this modded c3000b according to the schematic. It has a nice capsule, not that different to c414. Just try to find the eq curve that works for you.

 

[Hibiscus]

Thank you for your reply. I truly appreciate it. I like to have the sound "straight out of the box" only because a mic's coloration can inspire me to want to sing in the first place. I guess it's different when you're an AE because like you said, you can tweak it to your liking with some EQ in post, so you don't really care how the singer sounds, you just want a true to source recording with good levels. I do my own recording, but I'm a singer first. I like the mic to look good (which is why I will prolly never get an Oktava 219) and also to flatter my vocal nuances. The AKG's we've mentioned aren't that pretty, but they don't look like Bolshevik architecture either.

 

[Sixty8 Dj]

Otro gran micrófono arruinado por una estúpida implementación interna del ecualizador. Aproximadamente 5 dB de aumento a 15 k.

Este micrófono apareció en mis anuncios locales por 50 dólares y tenía que probarlo. Medido, probado, brillante - OK.

Se abrió, se midió el circuito y reveló esta estúpida curva de ecualización al inyectar una señal. Encontré al condensador culpable de esto, lo quité y ¡ahora suena hermoso! También obtuve una salida de aproximadamente +5 dB.

Estoy un poco sorprendido porque este micrófono fue modificado antes por Scot Dorsey, creo que todo el circuito cambió. Me desconcertó, ¿nadie descubrió que era así de simple? De lo contrario, no veo la necesidad de cambiar el circuito, funciona bien, limpio, bajo nivel de ruido. Por cierto, una cápsula que suena muy bien. No hay señales de más de 10k exageración. Dado que c214 tiene la misma cápsula y un impulso superior a 10k, sospecho que también se le ha hecho un toro similar.

Esta es la tapa que se debe quitar.

Hello King Korg: I have this C3000 that apparently is the same as the C3000B. I have a problem with mine that a couple of months ago it started making white noise. If you know anything about it, I would appreciate your help in solving it. I leave you some photos so you can see the model and an example of the noise in the sample that I made using Logic to test 2 microphones and on my C3000 you can see the noise wave. I think I will also remove c303 Thank you.

 

[Migs 31]

Hola King Korg: Tengo este C3000 que aparentemente es igual al C3000B. Tengo un problema con el mío que hace un par de meses empezó a hacer ruido blanco. Si sabes algo al respecto te agradecería tu ayuda para solucionarlo. Les dejo algunas fotos para que vean el modelo y un ejemplo del ruido en la muestra que hice usando Logic para probar 2 micrófonos y en mi C3000 pueden ver la onda de ruido. I think I will also remove c303 Gracias.

Hola, speako the Inglese?
El Google Translate buono, gringo ?!?
M

 

[Sixty8 Dj]

Hola, speako the Inglese?
El Google Translate buono, gringo ?!?
M

hahaah Sorry. Now edited

 

[Sixty8 Dj]

Hello King Korg: I have this C3000 that apparently is the same as the C3000B. I have a problem with mine that a couple of months ago it started making white noise. If you know anything about it, I would appreciate your help in solving it. I leave you some photos so you can see the model and an example of the noise in the sample that I made using Logic to test 2 microphones and on my C3000 you can see the noise wave. I think I will also remove c303 Thank you.

Apparently the problem with the white noise was that the capsule cable was unsoldered, barely making contact. Now I'll see if I disconnect by desoldering the c303. I hope someone can confirm if my C3000 board is the equivalent of the C3000BThank you

 

[k brown]

Apparently the problem with the white noise was that the capsule cable was unsoldered, barely making contact. Now I'll see if I disconnect by desoldering the c303. I hope someone can confirm if my C3000 board is the equivalent of the C3000BThank you

I had the same prob with my eBay C3000B; wasn't working at all, simply because one wire to capsule had broken off - they're fragile.

 

[kingkorg]

Hello King Korg: I have this C3000 that apparently is the same as the C3000B. I have a problem with mine that a couple of months ago it started making white noise. If you know anything about it, I would appreciate your help in solving it. I leave you some photos so you can see the model and an example of the noise in the sample that I made using Logic to test 2 microphones and on my C3000 you can see the noise wave. I think I will also remove c303 Thank you.

I am currently in Spain, but not fluent in Spanish, yet
Nice to see you found the issue. There's a schematic of it here somewhere, you'd have to go through the pcb and see if it's the same. Visually it looks different, but it could be just a different PCB revision.

 

[doqmemory]

I had the same prob with my eBay C3000B; wasn't working at all, simply because one wire to capsule had broken off - they're fragile.

Same for one of mine bought used.

 

[Sixty8 Dj]

King Korg: your 3000B PCB, left side. And on the right side my c3000 PCB. Note that only the 4 large capacitors in the middle change. And the numbers are also the same.
So I think we are talking about the same PCB.
What would be the best way to remove C303?

 

[Khron]

King Korg: dejó su PCB 3000B y al lado derecho mi PCB c3000. Mira que solo cambian los 4 condensadores grandes en el medio. Y los números también son los mismos.
Entonces creo que estamos hablando del mismo PCB.
¿Cuál sería la mejor manera de eliminar el C303?View attachment 121825View attachment 121826

We don't all have (or use) auto-translantation in our web browsers...

 

[Sixty8 Dj]

We don't all have (or use) auto-translantation in our web browsers...

Sorry again. My desktop autotranslate always.

 

[Khron]

Sorry again. My desktop autotranslate always.

Perhaps, but it's worth keeping in mind it only does it in one direction, apparently.

What would be the best way to remove C303?

A wide soldering tip (chisel or knife shape), adding extra solder to both ends of the capacitor, and angling the tip in such a way as to heat up the solder at both ends, at once. In a few seconds you should then be able to just push / wipe the capacitor off its pads.

No need to push with any force - once the solder melts, it puts up no mechanical resistance anymore.

 

[RoadrunnerOZ]

I use ChipQuik for SMD removal - low temp solder flowed into the existing joints with a normal iron tip that stays liquid long enough to remove the component. You just need to use braid to remove the excess afterwards and clean the solder pads.

 

[Khron]

I use ChipQuik for SMD removal

I have a very subjective skepticism about using very "special" substances / materials, or "one-trick ponies" like that. With the method i described, i've had great success with just bog-standard leaded solder. But I'm just weird like that

 

[RoadrunnerOZ]

I’ve been using ChipQuik for years now - once you’re familiar with how it works it’s a breeze to get small to medium things off. When I managed an import company for importing Kurzweil, Waldorf, Access Virus and similar we had a solder/desolder station in the service department which had all the soldering iron block jigs for different sized chips like the large scale ones with 256 pins etc but for the tiddly things like 8, 14 and 16 pin chips etc the ChipQuik was used and worked remarkably well - the super tiny stuff like the smallest resistors and caps can get lost in the solder unless you’re careful, but if you’re replacing them it doesn’t matter. The beauty is the solder stays in semi-liquid form for enough time to remove the component - you just tin the contacts with the CQ solder and apply a little heat to the joins long enough for the component to slide - with multi-pin IC’s the CQ solder bridges the pins as a single small blob on each side of the chip and I use either a hemostat or a micro suction cup chip holder to lift off the component.
It was a lot better than heat-masking a board and using a heat gun although this had to be done for the larger scale chips we didn’t have the solder jig profile blocks for.

 

[Khron]

Not saying it doesn't work, I'm sure it's great It's just the "single source" side of it that rubs me a bit the wrong way, that's all But like i said, that's just me.

SOIC chips i just add solder on one side, use a nice wide tip, and carefully lever up that side of the chip. Then do the same on the other side. Suck up the solder under the pins with solder-wick, and it's off Mostly when I'm too lazy to reach for the hot-air wand and don't wanna wait for that to warm up...

 

[RoadrunnerOZ]

I understand about single source but there are a lot of other makers of low melt solder - I buy mine in a pack of 8 x 6-5/8” sticks - SRA and LowMelt for example are easily obtained - when I first started using it ChipQuik were about the only ones.

 

[Gus]

I am surprised no one build a circuit like this as a DIY gain stage.
I would change a few things for a DIY build.

 

[Sixty8 Dj]

Thanks to all for the advices