Found this DIY PCB in aliexpress for tlm103 / Lewit 240. Anyone have bought it and tried it?
- Thread starter jacson
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FetMe?FetU!
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I wondered about this board and others on one particular AliExpress store. Shop1103438610 Store - https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256807730617507.html?
Also, there is a U47 PCB at https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256805096438667.html.
I see that one other reply to your query has been negative because the board is likely so noisy. I don't doubt the member's knowledge and ability to look at a picture and determine whether a PCB will likely be good—a valuable skill, to be sure— akin to being able to site-read sheet music. I'm not being snarky. Being able to do this is impressive.
I want to ask Khron or other experienced members if they have recommendations for a decent yet affordable premade PCB. That would be very valuable information to me, and I'm sure others.
I've also read forums where members recommend donor bodies from really cheap microphones. I assumed, apparently incorrectly, that these cheap donor microphones would use similarly bad PCBs like this one since almost all of them come from China.
I've seen recommendations for Sterling, Scarlett, and even generic BM-800 condenser microphones as good candidates for donor use.
I'm looking for a candidate to house an Arienne Flat47 capsule. I have an empty and fake BCM-705 shell, I would like Frankenstein into a good-sounding microphone with a Flat47. I picked it up at a swap meet for almost nothing. I like the body look. Who wouldn't? It's a Neumann design. I know this model was meant to house dynamic guts, but it's pretty roomy, and I think it would work. It's scratched to hell and back but no dents. I thought of giving it a metallic red and gold kind of Iron Man paint job.
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Well, not to toot my own horn (too much), but...
https://groupdiy.com/threads/feeler...ards-opamp-jfet-u87a-fet847-ors87-plus.87606/
FetMe?FetU!
Member
Oh, how much is an assembled board for a Flat47? Do you have width and height? I would love to know if I have enough room in my empty BCM705 body. Also, when do you think the one that will allow easy capacitor switching will be ready?
Ehrm... What capacitor switching?
FetMe?FetU!
Member
Please ignore the switching question. Brain fart thinking of KK mod while writing you.
FetMe?FetU!
Member
Too much single malt over the years.
On that TLM103 PCBA , there is indeed zero indication of moisture protection. In a dry and heated studio, that might be acceptable. But why look for problems when they can easily be prevented? On Khron's PCBs, I see he's appplying guard rings against moisture related issues. Adds zero costs, just a matter of good engineering. Another solution is using teflon turrets or "air joints" in the connections between capsule and JFET gate. The same shop also sells the PCBA below, where I encircled "air joints" in the high impedance area. And even when the PCBA was designed with moisture protection in mind, they can be noisy because of cheap JFETs or poor circuit design, so not everything can be judged by the eye. Anyway, even if this purple PCBA would be good, it will probably not fit into a BCM-705 shell, though...
Cheap Chinese stuff is not necessarily of poor quality. Takstar, Alctron and 797 Audio come to mind, either for donor parts or to use "as is".
Jan
FetMe?FetU!
Member
Thanks, Jan. That is fantastic. It provides useful information and insight.
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