Banzai's KM84 DIY Body & PCB kit build thread

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The cardioid capsules (2) cost about $210 to Chicago. There was also some customs fees that had to be paid before the post office would let me have it. That was under $10. The capsules were worth the investment.
 
I don't think there is a current run of boards. You can occasionally find this project for sale in some form on the black market here. Much of the recent discussion here has been about using alternate capsules, as many folks (like myself) found it to be an upgrade to swap out the stock capsule for another manufacturer's.
 
Is there a way to test the chinese capsules independent of the preamp/body, to confirm whether they're working?

My boards and caps are from the first run (including the cinemag transformer groupbuy) but I've never been able to get my two mics to pass signal. When trying to bias the fet using these directions, I can hear the sine wave from the signal generator but doesn’t pass anything audible with the capsule installed.

Where would you all begin to troubleshoot?
 
Is there a way to test the chinese capsules independent of the preamp/body, to confirm whether they're working?

My boards and caps are from the first run (including the cinemag transformer groupbuy) but I've never been able to get my two mics to pass signal. When trying to bias the fet using these directions, I can hear the sine wave from the signal generator but doesn’t pass anything audible with the capsule installed.

Where would you all begin to troubleshoot?
You have a short between mic body and pcb somewhere. Fet can be calibrated when body tube is off?
 
Thanks for the lead, hopefully I’ll hear back from him! Did you go with the 3U capsules? I’ve been hand-wringing over this project for so long, I’m ready to finally make it happen.
Yeah, I went with the 3U capsules and used some bondo to fill in the MXL logos, but haven't repainted the bodies yet.

I've heard blind A/B comparisons to this mic and a real KM84 and could not tell the difference.
 

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Yeah, I went with the 3U capsules and used some bondo to dill in the MXL logos, but haven't repainted the bodies yet.

I've heard blind A/B comparisons to this mic and a real KM84 and could not tell the difference.
Very nice! Have you decided on a paint color yet? I find BramK’s white painted pair with the Neumann logos to be quite striking, I hope I can get mine to come out that clean. I’m painting some ribbon bodies right now but it’s slow going, lots of weather interruptions.
 
Very nice! Have you decided on a paint color yet? I find BramK’s white painted pair with the Neumann logos to be quite striking, I hope I can get mine to come out that clean. I’m painting some ribbon bodies right now but it’s slow going, lots of weather interruptions.
I'll probably go with some boring silver or grey color.
 

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