Burned out on MXL SDC mod info...

[Jidis]

Hi,

I'm sorry to ask this as I know these things have been beat to death in here, but I've gotten sort of overwhelmed with info I've rounded up on the various MXL SDC mods people have tried. Across several forums, they seem to cover everything from swapping a couple caps, into replacing transistors, replacing most of the electronics, all the way to converting it to a tube or ribbon mic.

Are there any of the guys I've seen in the various threads here (Flatpicker,Marik,Rossi,Gus,etc.) who have tried two or more different mods who would be willing to pick a favorite or could say which stuff seemed to yield the most noticeable improvement? Much of the info was a few years old, so I'm figuring some of you may have found better mods or tried some of the others since then.

I've got a 990 ripped up that I'd like to work on first, and a 603 pair for later (I don't need to make the same mod on both types). I'm also looking mainly at circuit/component mods right now, rather than tube circuits, capsule swaps or anything elaborate, but the basket and capsule housing mods sounded worthwhile.

Thanks!

PS- I don't wish for anyone to repeat info they've already posted. I've probably already got most of the threads saved. If you could just give me an idea of who posted it or what thread it was in, I should be able to find it here.

 

[gemini86]

The cap mod is a good place to starts, as the stock ones are dirt cheap crap... Do that first, then listen. For me, that was a stopping point. I did remove the grill on one capsule, but that made it really harsh in the upper end.

 

[dmp]

I did the cap mod on a pair of 603s and still found them hard to use. Once I bought a really good pair of sdc (c451s), I never used them again.  Both the tone and the noise floor were far superior.

 

[pucho812]

how do they make the 603 a ribbon?

 

[Jidis]

Thanks guys!

Pucho- The ribbon thing I guess would be a 990 mod. I just saw stuff about it when I was looking at disassembly info here.

Yeah, I was planning to buy a bunch of the recommended caps anyhow and have them on hand, but I hoped to find something a little more interesting that people didn't feel was a total waste of time.

dmp- I'm not sure how tight their quality control is/was, or how much variation there is between different generations of these models. I actually have two 990s here, one bought new, the other used (and slightly abused). They both should be in stock form, but the "bought new" one sounds really cheap and nothing like the other. They've also got the PCBs mounted in opposite directions, but I don't remember any other differences part-wise. I had similar experience with the pencils. I've got a 603 pair, plus the "CR24P" version that sells with the 2003A. The CR24P sounded like one of the 603s, while the other sounded thinner and cheaper. I had to get a replacement capsule from them to resolve that. Michael Joly, I believe, also mentioned getting some poorly assembled capsules which needed minor tuning/tightening. I guess if you started off with one that sounded bad like that, the cap mod wouldn't do it much good, but I doubt you would have gotten two.

Take Care

 

[pucho812]

I don't think of the 990 as an sdc but whatever. My 2 cents are for the 603 best things are cap replacement which is inexpensive or replaceing the electronics per royer sdc tube mod, which is more expensive but worth it.

 

[gemini86]

the 990 is the same as the 991, just a different head basket and pcb shape. They have a capsule mount that puts the 991 capsule at a 90 degree angle, but you can still unscrew it and guess what? It will screw right onto the front of the 991.

I have noticed that one of the capsules I had was wrinkled, likely a manufacturing flaw. I didn't notice a real big difference in sound though, so it may not have been that bad.

 

[JW]

Are there reasonably priced capsule replacements for these? I did the whole Royer tube mod circuit with a 603 and still find it unusable. It's funny, it's sounds really smooth on the lows and mids, but once you get into the upper mids/highs it's sounds metallic and harsh.

I suspect the capsule but who knows. Maybe I made a mistake in the circuit. One of these days I'll go back and try something with it. It sounds like it has potential because of how creamy the lows and mids are.

 

[pucho812]

the 990 is the same as the 991, just a different head basket and pcb shape. They have a capsule mount that puts the 991 capsule at a 90 degree angle, but you can still unscrew it and guess what? It will screw right onto the front of the 991.

I have noticed that one of the capsules I had was wrinkled, likely a manufacturing flaw. I didn't notice a real big difference in sound though, so it may not have been that bad.

I know the electronics were same and obviously different head gasket but never thought about the capsule.
I learned something new

 

[gemini86]

Yeah, they're deceptive little bastards... they go so far as to put a large brass ring around it to make it look like an LDC through the mesh...

 

[Jidis]

JW-

I'm not positive, but I don't think there's anything compatible without using some sort of adapter. I think there may have been mention of compatibility between some of the other cheap SDC capsules, but it was probably all coming from the same place (not likely an improvement). You may want to look at some of the stuff Michael Joly did with the body venting and the space in front of the capsules though.

Take Care