AKG C3000b

[ninjamark7]

I have an old AKG C3000B, nothing special but it's been broken for years. Makes horrible poping and clicking noises when powered up. Local AKG tech will "look" at it for $200 plus parts . May as well tear it apart and learn something. Can someone point me in the direction of a proper schematic for it? I've found a few online but nothing matches the board in mic. Thanks.

 

[Khron]

You could consider posting some well-focused and well-lit (ie. no flash glare) photos of the board here, for starters?

 

[shabtek]

Is that the one with 2 capsules? Black and green? I have the schematic and guts of a couple somewhere

 

[Coop]

Found two schematics online. One for the more common cardioid only and one for the version with switchable polar patterns.

 

[ninjamark7]

You could consider posting some well-focused and well-lit (ie. no flash glare) photos of the board here, for Thank you for the reply

You could consider posting some well-focused and well-lit (ie. no flash glare) photos of the board here, for starters?

Yes, of course, that'd only make sense. Lol. I updated the post. Thank you.

 

[ninjamark7]

Is that the one with 2 capsules? Black and green? I have the schematic and guts of a couple somewhere

No, looks like a single capsule design to me.

 

[ninjamark7]

Found two schematics online. One for the more common cardioid only and one for the version with switchable polar patterns.

Thank you, it's the mic with switches. I'll take a closer look at the schematic. Perhaps its the right one.

 

[ninjamark7]

Its curious, I reassembled after taking pictures, and it worked... for about a minute before revering back to making strange noises and popping sounds. Any of that ring a bell or point in a direction to start looking? Thank you all again for your replies, I do appreciate it.

 

[Purplenoise]

I have an old AKG C3000B, nothing special but it's been broken for years. Makes horrible poping and clicking noises when powered up. Local AKG tech will "look" at it for $200 plus parts . May as well tear it apart and learn something. Can someone point me in the direction of a proper schematic for it? I've found a few online but nothing matches the board in mic. Thanks.

Have you checked the two capsule wires? They are very thin and sometimes they brake at the solder points. Resolder just in case

 

[Flatpicker]

I can confirm what Purplenoise says. A few years ago I inherited one of these that wasn't working at all. Took it apart and one of the wires going to the capsule was broken right at the solder connection. I stripped it and soldered it back on the pad and it worked fine after that.

 

[Flatpicker]

Excessive flux (even no-clean) can also cause this sort of problem in mic circuits, especially in the high impedance areas. Looking at the pics it doesn't look like the board was cleaned very well, so after you re-solder the capsule wires maybe use a small brush and alcohol to remove the flux on both sides. Another trick if you want to get it really clean is after removing all you can with the alcohol, dip your brush into some acetone and go over it again. Blow it off with canned air or something each time. May or may not resolve the issue, but I'd give it a try.

 

[CanuckProducer]

Howdy (from Canada). Just scanned the topic and intrigued me - I have one of these sitting in ye old locker that never gets used. Has anyone done any modding on this mic with any success? Capsule swap perhaps? Any ideas guys? (Or does it just stay in the ol' locker as is?)

 

[kingkorg]

Yup. It's a great mic and well worth modding.

https://groupdiy.com/threads/akg-c3000b-5-min-mod-awesome-mic.67911/

 

[Purplenoise]

Howdy (from Canada). Just scanned the topic and intrigued me - I have one of these sitting in ye old locker that never gets used. Has anyone done any modding on this mic with any success? Capsule swap perhaps? Any ideas guys? (Or does it just stay in the ol' locker as is?)

You take out one smd filter cap out and they sound veeeery close to a 414. I have done it to more than 10

 

[Purplenoise]

Yup. It's a great mic and well worth modding.

https://groupdiy.com/threads/akg-c3000b-5-min-mod-awesome-mic.67911/

Oh it was you that came up with it. Nice one man…the greatest all around condenser for $100 after the mod. Thanks for sharing

 

[kingkorg]

You are welcome! Yes, i bought some more after modding the first one. Great mic!

 

[Purplenoise]

You are welcome! Yes, i bought some more after modding the first one. Great mic!

Me too. I got 9 total haha. I recommend this to anyone that wants an all around mic regardless of price point

 

[IBarfoot]

Absolutely agree, did my 4 and never regretted it for a moment. To my ears better than a modern 214 but that is just me.

 

[kingkorg]

Absolutely agree, did my 4 and never regretted it for a moment. To my ears better than a modern 214 but that is just me.

+1 the 214 has terrible hf boost. Possibly due to similar hf boost trick.

 

[johnsonic]

Was glad to see this thread - have had a c3000b hanging around for 20 years or so that I never used because it's just too harsh. Did the mod in 5 minutes yesterday before a session and now have another mic in the rotation! No longer harsh.