G7 and Peluso Capsules

[Bunbury]

Thought this might lighten things a little:

Jack. I am sick to death of cleverness. Everybody is clever nowadays. You can?t go anywhere without meeting clever people. The thing has become an absolute public nuisance. I wish to goodness we had a few fools left.

Algernon. We have.

Jack. I should extremely like to meet them. What do they talk about?

Algernon. The fools? Oh! about the clever people, of course.

Jack. What fools!

I am delighted to count my self amongst the utter fools as I speak often about the clever people... :shock: :green:

Bunbury

 

[Swedish Chef]

Lol! :green:

Perhaps the percentage foolishness in a person is inversely proportional to the square of their willingness to admit to their foolishness...

Foolishness = 1/(Hands Up)^2

chef

 

[zebra50]

[quote author="Swedish Chef"]Lol! :green:

Perhaps the percentage foolishness in a person is inversely proportional to the square of their willingness to admit to their foolishness...

Foolishness = 1/(Hands Up)^2

chef[/quote]



:green: :green: :grin: :green: :thumb:

 

[Swedish Chef]

If only thevenin's equivalents would stick in my thick head as readily...Grrr
My brain is like a sleeping bear...Not amused to be roused from it's slumber... :roll:

chef

 

[HiString]

I figure I've spent most of the last 53 years in an attempt to perfect the art of foolishness, but there is just so much to learn.

:green: :green: :green: :sam:

 

[dale116dot7]

Back onto capsules, I have been able to buy AKG capsules from the local music dealer "Long and Mcquade" for about $300 CDN for a new large diaphragm C414 pressed-together capsule, and about the same for the CK61ULS/CK62ULS family. I bought these about two years ago. No questions or what would I use them for, or anything like that. Neumann prices their capsules at about double that.

 

[dale116dot7]

Back onto capsules, I have been able to buy AKG capsules from the local music dealer "Long and Mcquade" for about $300 CDN for a new large diaphragm C414 pressed-together capsule, and about the same for the CK61ULS/CK62ULS family. I bought these about two years ago. No questions or what would I use them for, or anything like that. Neumann prices their capsules at about double that.

 

[punk]

I have 2 Apex 430 mics that have the royer tube mod. I haven't been happy with one of them. Each mic was purchased more than a year apart so it wasn't a complete surprise that the sound would be different. By a process of elimination I found the only part responsible for the difference in sound was the capsule. I had changed tube, xformer and electronics but the only difference I could detect was with one of the capsules. The good cap sounded good in both mics, the not as good cap sounded not as good in both mics.

As far as I can tell the Apex is like many cheap mics using the Chinese LD capsules. I'm assuming they are Soundking.

I bought the Peluso CEK-89 capsule and put it into one of the mics. It fit into the mount without a problem. I couldn't believe how good it sounded. Put it into the other mic, just to confirm my theory that the original capsule was the problem, and the second mic sounded wonderful too.

I've done a few simple, subjective tests and I am very, very happy with the Peluso mic capsule. FWIW, I feel the capsule has made a greater difference than just the royer tube mod alone. For the price of the Peluso capsules I can't imagine wanting to bother with the Soundking capsules.

I don't have a better mic to test against my Apex/Peluso/Royer or APR-430 if you like. So I can't say how this stands up to a high end tube mic. But I think a G7 with a Peluso capsule would be money very well spent.

I ordered the capsules on line and recived them in a week. Not bad considered Canada Customs had taken the time to open the package.

Of course, just my 2 cents, your mileage may vary.

byron

 

[dale116dot7]

The Peluso CEK89 capsule is very similar to the capsule you took out of that Apex 430. He likely pays more for the capsules than Apex does - in China you pay for QC, and you do get what you pay for. He may also put a slightly different tension on the diaphragm than standard for that capsule, which will affect the balance between highs and lows. I have found I can improve the sound a bit on those capsules with a slightly different tension on the diaphragm, and by placing the diaphragm slightly closer than stock. The original shims on the Apex 430 mic is 0.002", but narrowing that down to 0.001" or 0.0015" can help the sound significantly.

 

[punk]

I would suspect that Peluso is using Soundking capsules probably with his own diaphragms. You pay for his skill and labour. A lot of this thread deals with quality and/or quality/price. My experience suggests that Peluso is head and shoulders above the Soundking capsule. I would also consider replacing the capsule before doing a tube mod in terms of quality/value in cheaper condensor mics.

Some of the other capsules available for DIYers are significantly more expensive. Will paying 4 times more for another capsule deliver 4 times the quality difference? Certainly a very subjective matter for G7 builders.

I am very interested in your experiments with capsule adjustment. Now that I have this spare soundking capsule I'd like to try and perform some DIY surgery. Are there any good sources for information on doing this?

byron

 

[dale116dot7]

By far the best resource on doing this is on this forum - look in the microphone meta. One thing, though - the diaphragms are typically glued to the shims on the Apex 430 mics so you can't very well change the tension easily. Tightening the screws will have very little to no effect - they just clamp the diaphragm to the capsule. To change the tension of the diaphragm you need a new one attached to a tensioning jig of some kind. Here's how I do it....

http://www.10000cows.com/SomeMicPhotos.htm

http://www.10000cows.com/deposition_system.htm

When modifying a capsule like the one on the Apex, I usually cut a new shim from mylar, and don't glue the new diaphragm down - just clamp it. The Apex 460 is built that way. The tension is set by the big washer you see hanging off the diaphragm. That's one problem with playing with diaphragm tensions - you go through a lot of diaphragms this way.

The only relatively current mic I'm aware of that allows diaphragm tensioning via the capsule itself (a simple adjustment) is the Sony C37/C38 capsule. I've worked on those and it's really nice to be able to adjust the response of the mic so easily. It is critical to have an initial tension that's even on it, though. I usually end up putting in two or three diaphragms before I get one that's tensioned evenly on this arrangement. I find it easier to get even tension on the Neumann-style capsules.

 

[punk]

Hey, thanks!

you've done some very nice work.

byron

 

[Gus]

punk

Comparing anything against a apex or nady is no test it is to easy to sound better.

did you try 32mm capsules from a MXL? Have you tried a 34mm 797 or a superlux capsule or have you tried a real neumann MBHO or AKG?

Let us know after you try some real capsules. Some of us have.

 

[punk]

Gus,

As this thread is about Peluso, I thought i'd share my positive experience.

I haven't found any comparison of the CEK-89 with other capsules in my search of this site.

If you have tried some 'real' capsules against peluso, I'd love to know your impressions.

byron

 

[scott_humphrey]

I recently compared the Peluso CEK12 capsule to a Blue Kiwi capsule in my ELA M251E homebrew mic. I ended up selecting the Blue capsule, which sounded too cool in the cardioid mode. That being said, the Peluso capsule did sound nice.

The difference between the capsules was not subtle in terms of character. Both capsules sounded good, but different, and it's probably just a matter of taste as to which is preferable. For someone else's voice, who knows, the Peluso might have won. The Peluso sounded brighter than the Blue, so for darker sources it might be a good choice.

In the figure of 8 mode the side rejection of the Peluso capsule was outstanding, so we can assume that the front and rear diaphragms were well matched.

 

[Gus]

Punk

It is a lot of work but read all of the microphone meta stuff there is alot of information there.

I have not heard a JP capsules live yet, I was going to last weekend but it did not happen. It might happen soon. I believe a 797 or tenlux/superlux 34mm would be a much better pick than a capsule based off the 32mm china stuff.

I have a lot of condenser microphones stock, modded and homemade solid state and tube you can see some at the meta. There is a design flaw in the china 32mm capsules IMO.

This thread
http://www.groupdiy.com/index.php?topic=6804
Is one that has some interesting posts in it.