AKG C3000B 5 min mod - Awesome mic!

[Khron]

At the bottom of the first page of this thread a link to a document was posted describing the differences between the various models of C3000s but the link is dead. Does anyone have this doc or a new link for it?

http://www.silentway.com/recording-tricks-akg-c-3000-mic

You mean like this?

https://web.archive.org/web/20220518233919/http://www.silentway.com/recording-tricks-akg-c-3000-mic

 

[Paul W]

You mean like this?

https://web.archive.org/web/20220518233919/http://www.silentway.com/recording-tricks-akg-c-3000-mic

That article has a link that doesn't work, to this article about the 4th version:

https://www.mixonline.com/news/harman-s-akg-relaunches-project-studio-line-condenser-mics-420979

It says "HARMAN’s AKG has revamped its Project Studio Line of condenser microphones, which AKG originally launched in the mid-1990s. The new designs of the C2000, C3000, C4000 and C4500 BC incorporate the edge-terminated capsule found in AKG’s premium line of mics, and maintain many of the technical aspects of the earlier models while offering AKG’s updated quality and design work."

This sort of suggests that the new C3000 has a different LDC capsule than the preceding ones, like the other article, but I don't see any information about what the earlier capsule was and whether it was similar or even identical. (Except that the first version had an additional SDC.)

 

[cyrano]

The older C3000 are dual LDCs (cardio/hypercardio). The newer Harman ones are single LD electret ones. Not exactly the same. That's what I understood from some googling.

I guess I should open up the three C3000s I acquired, since I hope these are the older ones. If I only could remember where I have put them...

 

[cyrano]

No time like now. Found them. Pics:

 

[cyrano]

So, Paul was right. It's a LDC with an SDC on top. Or is that an electret?

And, yes, pretty scruffy mics. Decades of live use tend to do that. But they're the first C3000, I think. And that's what I was after...

 

[Riley Casey]

I may have missed it in seven pages of posts but does this mod or some similar mod apply to the original C3000s? I'd sure like to make the four I have into better mics. They are good but not great mics.

 

[k brown]

So, Paul was right. It's a LDC with an SDC on top. Or is that an electret?

And, yes, pretty scruffy mics. Decades of live use tend to do that. But they're the first C3000, I think. And that's what I was after...

The SDC is electret; don't know about the large capsule.

I don't know of anyone ever making a capsule that tiny that was externally polarized.

As was mentioned earlier, the large capsule is a fixed, single-diaphragm hypercardioid. The little electret is an omni. When in cardioid mode, the electret is combined with the LD at just sufficient level for it to null the out of phase rear lobe of the hyper, thus producing a cardioid pattern.

That's why most reviewers preferred the sound of the hyper pattern, because the little electret is then off.

 

[cyrano]

Thanks, Mr. Brown. Makes sense now.

 

[MicMan]

I may have missed it in seven pages of posts but does this mod or some similar mod apply to the original C3000s? I'd sure like to make the four I have into better mics. They are good but not great mics.

"..They are good but not great mics.." ..Really? ..The original version? For me - but maybe it's just that I'm missing something - they're terrific: just listen to the audio of the mic here:



..in "an untreated room, on a porch, with reflective surfaces". The original AKG C3000, in hypercardioid mode, is a very INTIMATE sounding mic; a voice at 18" away sounds like it's 9" away, and a voice at 9" away - or replay - sounds as if it's inside your own head!

Here's a great track: "Don't Know Why", using 10x the (original) C3000..

 

[Comakepi]

Hello everyone, I have a latest generation c3000 that has been sitting in my tools for a while. If I understand correctly I only have to delete the connection there?

 

[schsz]

Great mod, love it!
I replaced the headbasket with the one from a broken c2000b, fits perfectly and gives the capsule a little more space.
Now I'd like to change the low cut to, say, 60 or 80hz.
Any ideas?

 

[k brown]

Great mod, love it!
I replaced the headbasket with the one from a broken c2000b, fits perfectly and gives the capsule a little more space.
Now I'd like to change the low cut to, say, 60 or 80hz.
Any ideas?

Wow - I wasn't aware of the C2000 til this post; fascinating capsule design (center-anchored SDC electret with polycarbonate diaphragm). How did you like it before it broke?

http://www.richardbarnert.com/Files/PDF/C2000_Diaphragm.pdf

The spec sheet also contains an explanation of these 'baffle rings'.

I'd be very interested to hear that capsule without the ring (so that it doesn't have the HF directionality of an LDC).

 

[schsz]

Wow - I wasn't aware of the C2000 til this post; fascinating capsule design. You didn't care for the sound of it?

http://www.richardbarnert.com/Files/PDF/C2000_Diaphragm.pdf

No, to be honest, I found it to be overly bright, a little muffled and also a bit too noisy for my liking.

I'm sorry, but since my C2000b isn't functioning I can't give you a sample with and without the ring for comparison.

 

[k brown]

No, to be honest, I found it to be overly bright, a little muffled and also a bit too noisy for my liking.

I'm sorry, but since my C2000b isn't functioning I can't give you a sample with and without the ring for comparison.

I certainly wasn't suggesting you remove the ring from your mic! - I think the ring is an integral part of the capsule mount.

I was just musing aloud about cannibalizing one myself and putting the bare capsule in a test mic.