DIY U87 clone, where to even begin?

[FrankStan52]

Hi all!
I've always had a fascination with audio equipment and electronics, and so I decided I would want to build a U87-Style Microphone.

Small problem however, I don't even know where to begin, there is so much information it's almost hard to handle.
Do I buy a kit or do I source parts myself? Where is the best place to get parts in Europe without having to pay exorbitant import fees? Where do you even get parts in the first place? I have done some digging, mainly on vintagemicrophonepcbkit and on the main build thread.

Could anyone please help me? I would love to get into building microphones, and who knows, maybe I could apply this to my Electronic Engineering Course?
Thanks so much in advace!

 

[OneRoomStudio]

All the answers to your questions and more have already been covered a lot here, but sometimes it takes some digging.

Basically, you have two options:
Option 1: Buy a kit and get building. This is probably your simplest option, or you could dig into Dan's PCBs.

Option 2: Learn about the circuit and then the world is your oyster. Start here.

 

[mrgrooves666]

Option 3: And another: https://groupdiy.com/threads/u87-revision-a-in-bm800-microphone-donor-body.78372/

 

[Paul W]

By far the easiest option is buying an AKG Perception 200 or 220 or 420 (or newer P220 or P420) and modding it with kingkorg's 5-minute mod to make its built-in EQ circuit roll off the treble the way a U87Ai does, by replacing a capacitor with one of a higher value, or easier yet just piggybacking an 2012(metric)-size (a.k.a. 0805 imperial size) SMT capacitor on top of the existing one.

https://groupdiy.com/threads/akg-perception-p220-to-neumann-u87-5-min-mod-p200-p100-p400-p420.67473/

BTW, the MicParts kit PCB is not a Neumann-type circuit. It's a Schoeps-type circuit, modded with HF rolloff (nothing wrong with that) and the capsule is no better than the one in the AKG Perceptions.

You can find the AKG Perception 200 for about $60 used in the US, and sometimes less. (Being a patient pawn shop shopper, I've gotten several for $30 to $45.) The multipattern version is more expensive, but even new a P420 is only $200, regular price.