AKG D30 mic stand adapter

[skybite]

Hi,
I have an AKG D30 that I adore. The mic has a very strange and large thread on the end, and I cant seem to find any adapter.
Does anyone have any experience and/or advice?

 

[Khron]

Is a small-diameter mic clip gripping the shaft above the threaded bit (like on the D112 mk1) not an option?

 

[skybite]

Is a small-diameter mic clip gripping the shaft above the threaded bit (like on the D112 mk1) not an option?

That is what I am doing now, and it works fine. However, it would be pretty cool to have a proper adapter. For stability, yes, but more for aesthetics.

 

[emrr]

Is that not itself a screwed in piece?  It looks like the end of a short table stand that's missing the base. 

 

[abbey road d enfer]

Is that not itself a screwed in piece?  It looks like the end of a short table stand that's missing the base.

I tend to agree. The pictures I've seen of this mic don't show such an extension. I believe it is possible to unscrew this tubular pice and have access to a standard (?) thread.

 

[panman]

Is that not itself a screwed in piece?  It looks like the end of a short table stand that's missing the base.

This is how it is likely to be. If so, just unscrew it and replace with a proper adapter, if you can find one or have it made. If it is one peace however, you can cut it off and attach(weld,braze) a proper adapter instead. You might still find some alternatives like these:

 

[panman]

Or like this:

 

[panman]

But actually, the adapter is the least of your problems with a D30. Your problem is the lack of bass. There is no way your D30 would have the full bass, unless going through some serious service or repair and the worse it gets if it is not fixed.

 

[abbey road d enfer]

But actually, the adapter is the least of your problems with a D30. Your problem is the lack of bass. There is no way your D30 would have the full bass, unless going through some serious service or repair and the worse it gets if it is not fixed.

Could you be a little more specific about this?
Do you mean the D30 has always lacked bass or that a 50 years old D30 has lost its capability of transducing bass?

 

[skybite]

But actually, the adapter is the least of your problems with a D30. Your problem is the lack of bass. There is no way your D30 would have the full bass, unless going through some serious service or repair and the worse it gets if it is not fixed.

I really like the way it sounds as it is now, so actually the adapter is the most of my problems.

 

[skybite]

Thank you guys for the information!

 

[panman]

Could you be a little more specific about this?
Do you mean the D30 has always lacked bass or that a 50 years old D30 has lost its capability of transducing bass?

To begin with, to my knowledge, D30 has not been made since 60 years. They surely sounded proper with full bass back then and depending on the use, storage etc...they were sounding good for at least 10-20 years or in some cases even more. So, why not today anymore? The D30 has the same basic capsule as D12 and I have often written about them also here, but to save time searching, I just try to explain it. These capsules have an unusually huge and strong magnet and it will attract iron-dust and iron particles  from the surroundings. These will gather around the dome of the diaphragm and the more debris and the longer it is there, the more the magnet will pull the diaphragm down reducing the free movement. Even smaller amounts around the dome will cause some loss of bass, but the more iron-dust there is, the worse it gets and eventually the voice coil is going to be jamming. Sometimes even bigger particles get through and can cause damage to the diaphragm. Also the capsule itself and the magnet may shred iron-particles due to corrosion and they often end up into the magnet gap causing jamming too. But the biggest damage is, that the diaphragm get deformed concave. Also very often the diaphragm is deformed unevenly from one side and that makes the coil to rub or jam. So, will cleaning the iron particles make it sound good again? Unfortunately, in most cases the answer is no. If the cleaning is done before the deformation has not yet taken place or the the deformation is minimal, then it is possible get it sounding like it should again. A deformed, concave or possibly one sided bent diaphragm will not reproduce full bass and also produces a ***** sound in the mids. So the only way is the forming back of the diaphragm and that is very difficult, because even when you might get the correct form back, wrong tensions may still remain and one typical problem is the "flapping"(the diaphragm collapsing down).
Yes, wonders do happen, but a 60 years plus old D30 producing a proper sound is not likely to happen. The D30(also D36, D45) has two capsules facing front and back. These are the same basic capsules as in D12, D20 etc..., but the voice-coils are 75ohms instead of 60 and 200 as the others have.
Hope this helps!

 

[panman]

I really like the way it sounds as it is now, so actually the adapter is the most of my problems.

I hope you can take a little time reading , what I wrote above. What I said comes from my experiences repairing a lot of D12-family mics(and many others too) for the last 15 years. Congratulation! D30 is a very nice rare microphone, when it works like it should and I find it should be cherished. It makes me sad to see how they get slowly destroyed, because the owners neglect them by not having them serviced properly. You say:"I really like the way it sounds as it is now". Well, that tells me, that there is a good chance, that if the diaphragm cleaning is done now, not only deforming can be stopped, but also the sound likely can be restored without too much work. On the other hand, wait some more time and you will not like it anymore and you will also not like the high repair costs the longer you wait. Have it cleaned every five years by someone, who really has experience with these mics and you have it lasting long and good. That applies to the whole D12-family mics.

 

[abbey road d enfer]

Panman, thanks for the info.
I knew about D12-type capsules deteriorating, but never had such a clear explanation.

 

[skybite]

I hope you can take a little time reading , what I wrote above. What I said comes from my experiences repairing a lot of D12-family mics(and many others too) for the last 15 years. Congratulation! D30 is a very nice rare microphone, when it works like it should and I find it should be cherished. It makes me sad to see how they get slowly destroyed, because the owners neglect them by not having them serviced properly. You say:"I really like the way it sounds as it is now". Well, that tells me, that there is a good chance, that if the diaphragm cleaning is done now, not only deforming can be stopped, but also the sound likely can be restored without too much work. On the other hand, wait some more time and you will not like it anymore and you will also not like the high repair costs the longer you wait. Have it cleaned every five years by someone, who really has experience with these mics and you have it lasting long and good. That applies to the whole D12-family mics.

I see! Do you have any recommendations on where to have it serviced?

 

[panman]

I really like the way it sounds as it is now, so actually the adapter is the most of my problems.

I thought I made it very clear already in my postings. I am not sure if it is proper to recommend myself, but I am afraid you don`t have much other choise. PM me or send me an e-mail(under my profile), if you are interested.

 

[Whoops]

Just got 2x D12 mics fixed by Panman, both sounded horrible before the repair, now they sound really good.
I'm using one of them in a Tour I'm doing at the moment and gets used every night on the kick, I really love that vintage dry kick drum sound.

Thank you so much Esa

 

[MagnusG]

Anyone knows if I can use my d30 with a standard gross Tuchel connector?

 

[garp]

Yes you can !