C12 with Moby's V2545

[soapfoot]

I might be first-past-the-post with this one.

I designed the power supply myself. It's regulated DC heaters similar to Matador's supply, but the B+ side incorporates a 20H choke and a lot of filtering. Back-biasing similar to C12 to achieve the negative bias supply.

FLEA body
Campbell CT12
GE five-star 6072; triple mica variety
@Moby V2545
Philips RN65 resistors, Ohmite Mini-Mox high-value resistors
Sprague Vitamin Q (CP04) output coupling cap
Philips polystyrene capacitors

I have lots of build progress pics if anyone is interested, but I'll just post a few close to the end. No "glamour shots" yet; maybe later once I get the second mic completed






The attached audio file is just a quick test with acoustic guitar (you may be able to hear my soldering station clicking away in the background!)

I wasn't really intending this to be a "demo" (more like "proof of life"), so I'm not sure the mic placement is optimal (it's addressing the neck-body joint and a bit too close; if making an actual recording I might back it off a bit and address the body a little more). There's also obviously no processing of any kind... just the mic into a Seventh Circle N72 into a Lynx converter

I'm pretty well pleased so far. Gotta spend some more time with it.

View attachment Audio 1-Norm_23-01.wav

 

[rock soderstrom]

Excellent!

 

[Moby]

Hey mate. It looks fantastic! Also, I like how it sounds! Cheers

 

[Delta Sigma]

@Moby your logo looks amazing on the V2545! Will you be putting it on all your products??? I think you should!

 

[Moby]

@Moby your logo looks amazing on the V2545! Will you be putting it on all your products??? I think you should!

Thanks mate. There was enaugh free space on the top insulation, so .... Some of the transformers are tiny so I doubt there will be enaugh space for it.

 

[Tubetec]

Looks like a pick-axe , no better tool if your breaking new ground , which you most certainly are .

 

[Delta Sigma]

Thanks mate. There was enaugh free space on the top insulation, so .... Some of the transformers are tiny so I doubt there will be enaugh space for it.

Or an even better idea, is some Moby stickers for my mic cases. Or even mic bodies! "Moby iron inside"

 

[Moby]

Or an even better idea, is some Moby stickers for my mic cases. Or even mic bodies! "Moby iron inside"

LOL. "Moby iron inside" . Can I shrink myself so much?

 

[Delta Sigma]

LOL. "Moby iron inside" . Can I shrink myself so much?

Or just really big mic bodies...

 

[tomas.borgstrom]

I might be first-past-the-post with this one.

Perhaps I came in second place half a day after you. Your recording sounds really good. Well played. Our microphones are almost identical but you guitar skills are way better . Did you struggle to find 6072 with low noise? I've tried a lot of them and generally I find them noisy, especially RCA.

 

[soapfoot]

Perhaps I came in second place half a day after you. Your recording sounds really good. Well played. Our microphones are almost identical but you guitar skills are way better . Did you struggle to find 6073 with low noise? I've tried a lot of them and generally I find them noisy, especially RCA.

Thanks so much!

I paid a fairly large amount for some well-tested NOS GE five-star 6072 (the triple-mica spacer version).

I didn't have any issues with noise, but I certainly paid for the privilege

 

[soapfoot]

Still enjoying these microphones. One place I've yet to properly audition them is as drum overheads, but I did throw a 20" K (Istanbul) up in the vicinity of one and hitting it a few times just to see.

I can imagine it being very nice as a drum overhead indeed...

View attachment C12 cymbal.wav

 

[soapfoot]

A few more photos of these mic systems now that they're complete.

I received a couple of nice wooden boxes in the mail from FLEA today. They were kind enough to make me some without any logo.

I'd still love a bit of engraving on the body tubes (just to make clear at a glance which side was the front), but I'm pretty happy with how they came out

 

[andYz00m]

Damn dude. Really nice build and sound. Nice playing too!!

Those flea bodies are really great. I might try one of those to replace my existing donor.

 

[soapfoot]

They’re not cheap, those bodies. But they’re really really good

 

[andYz00m]

They’re not cheap, those bodies. But they’re really really good

Yeah I just found they are 1100€!!!! That’s high enough to need import tax too!! Sheesh!

Maybe I’ll reconsider… haha.

May I ask you the total rough cost of the project in materials for the stereo pair? (No time, or tools)

 

[tomas.borgstrom]

Where did you buy the shock mounts?

 

[soapfoot]

Where did you buy the shock mounts?

AMI Tab-Funkenwerk in the US.

They're decent quality; better than some you find.

I'd have preferred the swivel mounts that FLEA makes, but those were just a bit too expensive for me (however nice).

 

[Coop]

Awesome builds! Makes me want to build a second one even more
Did you try different output caps? I do have some Russian PIO caps laying around but I used a new film cap instead.

 

[soapfoot]

I did a lot of measuring and I had a lot of different paper-in-oil and metallized paper caps

Ultimately this vitamin Q fit perfectly and measured great, so I just went with it without auditioning others

I suspect many different caps could sound good