K47 China/Alibaba Capsules

[Whoops]

Hi,
received 2 K47 type capsules from Alibaba yesterday.
Here is my experience with these capsules.

you can find the link here:

https://www.alibaba.com/product-det...offerlist.normal_offer.d_title.237751bbu851zA

 

[Whoops]

The 2 capsules were 92€ with shipping included.

They came inside a square plastic protective box,
I noticed the Gold sputtering doesn't seem to be the same between the 2 capsules, in one of them you can see the backplate's hole pattern but on the other one the sputtering is more solid and the holes can't be seen.
So I guess we can't expect much for production consistency from one capsule to the other, probably very loose quality control.

 

[Whoops]

The plastic boxes were not cleaned well before receiving the capsule,
so there's small plastic debris inside the boxes that get attached to the diaphragms.
I had to lightly clean them from those plastic debris.

One of the capsules had some marks on the back and front diaphragms,
I don't think it's ripped, but it was for sure not well handled after being manufactured and shipped to me,
you can see it in these photos






The other capsule, the one with the solid gold sputtering is fine as has no marks.
So I guess with these cheap Chinese capsule it's an hit or miss, you may be lucky or not.

 

[alphasnk]

These sound great, let us know what you think of them!

 

[Whoops]

While moving the diaphragm wire on one of the capsules I noticed the center screw was a little bit loose,
so I tighten a bit, all center screws and also all the ring screws.
The ring screws were also not very tight, I could do a quarter turn in most of them, and an half turn in a few of them.

Did I proceed correctly when I tighten all the screws?
or they shouldn't be tight?

I tried both capsules in microphones, and surprisingly they sound very good.
Replaced an K67 style capsule (was humidity sensitive) in a SE Electronics Z5600A tube mic with one of these K47's, and the mic sounds great.
I was really impressed with the sound, very good body (Low Mids) and very good low end, and no problems in the sibilant region, just very balanced and smooth. I was going to change the capsule and sell the mic, but I liked it so much that I think I will keep the microphone.

If you are lucky to not receive any dud, I think these are good sounding capsules and pretty good overall for the price.
If a dud is received there's always the option to reclaim in alibaba and paypal, I've paid with paypal so I could have some reassurance in case it didn't turned out good.

hope this info is useful

 

[soliloqueen]

Was it a good procedure from my part to tighten all the screws?

It depends on whether screw tightness affects capacitance in their design. Getwin is a good skinner for the price. Not fantastic cleanroom procedure but the head engineer at least seems to know what he's going for with the tuning. Like you, I actually rather liked these capsules when I auditioned them, but consistency is the real issue.

 

[Khron]

Do the two capsules sound / measure any different, despite the apparent difference in the thickness of the gold layer?

 

[soliloqueen]

Do the two capsules sound / measure any different, despite the apparent difference in the thickness of the gold layer?

Seconding this. They're not just different gold thickness, they're different backplates too. Left backplate has bigger holes and is more yellow than right backplate. You can just barely see it through. I've seen both backplates in my exploration of the Chinese market. They're from 2 different suppliers. Getwin must have either switched suppliers and right is old stock, or they're using 2 suppliers with 2 different designs.

Edit:
Here are the same 2 backplates on 2 different capsules from 2 different suppliers



Sorry for the dust, these were engineering samples so they've just been sitting around. It's hard to see the metal color difference under flash, but I recognize the differences in color and finish. There are only a handful of backplate manufacturers over there, so all these little brands use some combination of known parts in their assembly.

 

[alphasnk]

While moving the diaphragm wire on one of the capsules I noticed the center screw was a little bit loose,
so I tighten a bit, all center screws and also all the ring screws.
The ring screws were also not very tight, I could do a quarter turn in most of them, and an half turn in a few of them.

Did I proceed correctly when I tighten all the screws?
or they shouldn't be tight?

I tried both capsules in microphones, and surprisingly they sound very good.
Replaced an K67 style capsule (was humidity sensitive) in a SE Electronics Z5600A tube mic with one of these K47's, and the mic sounds great.
I was really impressed with the sound, very good body (Low Mids) and very good low end, and no problems in the sibilant region, just very balanced and smooth. I was going to change the capsule and sell the mic, but I liked it so much that I think I will keep the microphone.

If you are lucky to not receive any dud, I think these are good sounding capsules and pretty good overall for the price.
If a dud is received there's always the option to reclaim in alibaba and paypal, I've paid with paypal so I could have some reassurance in case it didn't turned out good.

hope this info is useful

have fun you just made me reorder two, thank you!

 

[Whoops]

Do the two capsules sound / measure any different, despite the apparent difference in the thickness of the gold layer?

I didn't measured or compared the capsules.
I used one in one mic and another in a different mic. Both mics had shot capsules.

 

[Whoops]

Seconding this. They're not just different gold thickness, they're different backplates too. Left backplate has bigger holes and is more yellow than right backplate. You can just barely see it through. I've seen both backplates in my exploration of the Chinese market. They're from 2 different suppliers. Getwin must have either switched suppliers and right is old stock, or they're using 2 suppliers with 2 different designs.

The capsules I've received seem to have the same backplates and hole diameter in the 2 capsules,
just the Gold Sputtering seems a bit more solid in other than the other.

I can confirm that in the next days, but remembered comparing the holes and backplates and those were exactly the same

 

[Khron]

I've actually got some K47 and "CK12"-ish capsules on the way, from a seller on Aliexpress. They happened to have prices i couldn't ignore or refuse, so i decided to get myself a christmas gift.

Looking forward to getting them, and running some sweeps; already got some recipients in mind for some of them...

 

[Whoops]

I needed to have some capsule stock in the workshop so I could troubleshoot some mics which might have or not faulty capsules.
These were cheap enough for that job and I also wanted to try some K47 in overly sibilant microphones (for my taste and needs) to see if I liked the sound change.

At least for the SE Z5600A the combination worked really well, and the test K47 capsule will became the mics capsule.

 

[rankot]

While moving the diaphragm wire on one of the capsules I noticed the center screw was a little bit loose,
so I tighten a bit, all center screws and also all the ring screws.
The ring screws were also not very tight, I could do a quarter turn in most of them, and an half turn in a few of them.

Did I proceed correctly when I tighten all the screws?
or they shouldn't be tight?

I tried both capsules in microphones, and surprisingly they sound very good.
Replaced an K67 style capsule (was humidity sensitive) in a SE Electronics Z5600A tube mic with one of these K47's, and the mic sounds great.
I was really impressed with the sound, very good body (Low Mids) and very good low end, and no problems in the sibilant region, just very balanced and smooth. I was going to change the capsule and sell the mic, but I liked it so much that I think I will keep the microphone.

If you are lucky to not receive any dud, I think these are good sounding capsules and pretty good overall for the price.
If a dud is received there's always the option to reclaim in alibaba and paypal, I've paid with paypal so I could have some reassurance in case it didn't turned out good.

hope this info is useful

I was just wondering the same - are those caps any good? I bought a Chinese mic which is a copy of Neuman u87ai. I don't have an original Neuman so I can compare, but it is very similar with frequency response to my AKG Perception 420. I didn't have time to take some real recording tests, but I will certainly do it. I actually bought that mic with an idea to convert it into some kind of tube mic.

AKG Perception 420:




Chinese U87AI:

 

[LevinGuitar]

From the pictures I saw of the circuit of that U87 clone, my guess was that it was the same mic as BM600/Leem SB22, the Perception should have better QC, but same kind of circuit

 

[tomas.borgstrom]

I was recommended so I bought a pair of these capsules. I don't think they sound good at all. Dark with absolutely no depht or detail. They we're dirty and as you describe the different sides didn't look the same. One side had a strange band with another colour across the membrane. I had them reskinned by Peter Drefahl who told me that it took a lot longer than usually since he had to clean them first. Now they sound much better.
My recommendation is to save the money until you can buy a decent capsule.

 

[audiotom]

I was recommended so I bought a pair of these capsules. I don't think they sound good at all. Dark with absolutely no depht or detail. They we're dirty and as you describe the different sides didn't look the same. One side had a strange band with another colour across the membrane. I had them reskinned by Peter Drefahl who told me that it took a lot longer than usually since he had to clean them first. Now they sound much better.
My recommendation is to save the money until you can buy a decent capsule.

So need a new capsule for my U67 copy where can I buy a real good one?

 

[Whoops]

So need a new capsule for my U67 copy where can I buy a real good one?

That uses a K67/K87 capsule not a K47 capsule.
You can order really good K67/K87 capsules from Beijing 797 audio.

 

[Whoops]

I bought a Chinese mic which is a copy of Neuman u87ai. I don't have an original Neuman so I can compare, but it is very similar with frequency response to my AKG Perception 420.

AKG Perception 420:

Chinese U87AI:

This thread is about the Chinese K47 capsules that I bought,
it's nothing to do with the U87 or AKG 420, which actually use other types of capsules than the K47.
If you want to discuss the difference between your U87 clone and AKG 420 it's fine but please do your own thread on that subject,
please don't hijack this one

 

[Terby]

I have bought two of these K47 capsules from Aliexpress this summer, mine looked pretty consistent (despite two separate orders) as far as I can tell. They sound really good in a Nady SCM 900 type body with Poctop's FET847 PCB. (Much better the the original 32mm capsule and electronics, but also quite nice compared to more expensive mics)

Based on the good experience I have also ordered their C12 type capsule, but have not finished my Apex 460 to C12 conversion ...