Looking at reverb

[Gus]

Searched for different microphones on reverb.

https://reverb.com/item/32353596-akg-c414-eb-klaus-heyne-microphone-stereo-pair-vintage-brass-capsule-rare-mic?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIwu6P7dfA6AIVSdyGCh2AVAebEAQYASABEgKH5fD_BwE&merchant_id=140420273&pla=1&utm_campaign=6481936488&utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=google

Circuit caught my eye. Looks like it might be a single transistor gain stage. Wonder how the HPF was done?

If you search for the 414EB you can find a manual on the web

 

[gyraf]

That sure is a high price expectancy for a crappy looking mod job... 

/Jakob E.

 

[Khron]

You're forgetting or ignoring the value of the hand-job... No, i mean [ahem] hand-work, my bad :

That sure is a high price expectancy for a crappy looking mod job... 

/Jakob E.

 

[gyraf]

;D

I sure hope that the HPF is not done by switching between 0.47uf and 1uf electrolytic transformer drive capacitors..

/Jakob E.

 

[RuudNL]

Thu U87 mods don't look much better...
(Look at the very long wires.)

 

[rockinrob86]

That's what gives them the magic tonez

 

[Gus]

I would GUESS something like the following
it is rewired something like a KM84
A gain reducing  cap drain to input 4 to 20pF
1000pF input cap
AMI 87 like transformer with purple tape
Could it be switching between the tant and the .47 Al electro for the HPF or the two Als like Jakob posted?
I might trace it comparing to a EB414 PCB layout but it is probably not worth the time
Fairchild  2n3918
Conductive polymer Al electrolytic source bypass cap?
Reuse the pattern voltage circuit and pattern control.

If you search Reverb you can find a KH modded 87 with an invoice. That was interesting to read.

Long wires with big parts you need to think about loop area and EMI.

I read this stuff and ask myself what am I doing wrong when I thought about adjusting microphones for others. I found out people did not want to pay what I thought was a fair price or wanted work for almost free. Same thing with guitar effects.

There is something to be learned about marketing from this

 

[RuudNL]

2N3819

 

[gyraf]

There is something to be learned about marketing from this

;D

 

[Fuzz Face]

I’m glad there’s this group of people who see the absurdity of this crap.

If I see an ad for a new piece of music gear that doesn’t use a word like “tone” even once I think it is more intriguing. Otherwise everything has the best tone and lots of tone and vintage tone. I even bought transformers from a company called “classic tone”

 

[abbey road d enfer]

Klaus H. is a good microphone historian, but as a tech he is dismal. The reasoning behind is assertions and mods defies engineering decency. I wouldn't touch any of his modded products with a barge pole, particularly at this price!

 

[rockinrob86]

I'm glad to have a place to rant about this.  There is a guy local to me that sells all kind of stuff to the local musicians here in Tampa, such as this:

these are "tuneable" power cables, with resonant coils inside, to add tone.  He sells pocket resonators, which you are supposed to keep in your pocket so your voice sounds better when you're singing (Blocks of wood with copper tubes inserted into them), and also rewires stuff replacing 20ga wiring with multiple 12ga or so wires twisted together and huge copper buss bars.

These all come with heavy snake oil marketing speak, and lots of non-blind testing - tons of quotes.  Everyone hears with their eyes!

What I particularly like about this example, is you are really telling me that the miles of normal copper wire coming from the substation, and the wiring in your circuit breaker, and your house, to the wall, to this power conditioner, and then to the "Fancy" unit, and then to the dinky vintage lamp cord power cable to the vintage compressor (I believe this was a 50's era compressor they were testing) are improved by the 10" fancy power plug?!

 

[Khron]

"A fool and his money are soon parted"... :

 

[abbey road d enfer]

I'm glad to have a place to rant about this. 

Although I should be blasé about that kind of BS, I think it's our duty to be vocal about this.
These guys are nothing but con men, criminals that should be exposed and prevented from exercising their misdeeds.

 

[Gus]

I did not post this as something negative. I think someone understood.
We don't know what the seller paid for the microphones and mods.

The selling price is what I noticed first. But not negative. I ask why would someone spend that kind of money on a microphone?
Maybe it is like art prices. How can I get lots of money for a microphone?

The 414 microphones look like they will sound fine. CK12 capsule with a simple looking circuit with a transformer probably sounds good.  I would have had a new PCB made. I would think building the circuit that way it is faster and one could install the stock board again. An Os-con cap is interesting

I did like it was solid state. I don't build microphones with tubes any more(to easy), solid state is more fun, and even more fun transformerless.

 

[Recording Engineer]

Well I for one would certainly pay you fair for microphones! I think you just gotta pull the trigger and do it. Price them where it makes sense for both you and the customer. It will probably just be a side-job and is not a problem as long as you have the side-time and want to spend it doing that. It’s not like you’ll get rich off it, but it’s a platform share your talents, which contributes to society.

On top of that, I love you’re doing tubeless and transformerless due to the art and not the cheapness, which is not like everyone else!

 

[cyrano]

Although I should be blasé about that kind of BS, I think it's our duty to be vocal about this.
These guys are nothing but con men, criminals that should be exposed and prevented from exercising their misdeeds.

Shouldn't we throw a lot of advertising geniuses on the same pile?

I mean, is there anyone who really believes Axe deodorant makes anyone sexier?

And how about religion, health...

 

[abbey road d enfer]

Shouldn't we throw a lot of advertising geniuses on the same pile?

I would think by now we all know ads are not to be believed.

I mean, is there anyone who really believes Axe deodorant makes anyone sexier?

Not the most appropriate example IMO, since Axe ads have always been blatantly ironic. I know that, unfortunately, some have taken them at face value.

And how about religion, health...

I agree, religion, quackerism and politics are much more consequential, but audio and music are my mainspring, so I tend to be more sensitive in this area. For other people, it might be art, food or sports, which seem to be also very much subject to exaggeration and blatant abuse.

 

[Icantthinkofaname]

I did not post this as something negative. I think someone understood.
We don't know what the seller paid for the microphones and mods.

The selling price is what I noticed first. But not negative. I ask why would someone spend that kind of money on a microphone?
Maybe it is like art prices. How can I get lots of money for a microphone?

The 414 microphones look like they will sound fine. CK12 capsule with a simple looking circuit with a transformer probably sounds good.  I would have had a new PCB made. I would think building the circuit that way it is faster and one could install the stock board again. An Os-con cap is interesting

I did like it was solid state. I don't build microphones with tubes any more(to easy), solid state is more fun, and even more fun transformerless.

If I actually had a proper studio that did commercial recording and made enough to justify it I would absolutely pay the price a single brass ring CK12 C414 goes for, but not $20K USD for a pair because it's modded by some "mic guru". Though I'd rather buy pair of teflon ones and have an after market capsule like the CT12 put into them because I'd be able to have 2 for a price similar to what a single vintage brass one would go for.

This is a big part of what I hate about the mod friendly audio scene. The mod doesn't add a ton of value just because it was done by some "guru". I don't care that you paid $400 to get an MXL990 modded. I'm not giving you $300 for a used modded 990.

I got into it with a guy on Gearslutz trying to explain why some people who do DIY don't like Oktavamod. Now, if somebody is building you a mic to your specs (within reason), and they're using good components, I think $400 bucks is fine to pay. Put I don't want to pay somebody $400 to put a $30 Chinese mic capsule in my mic and do a couple other tweaks like adjusting the capsule bias.

I was messaging Khron about his BM-800 body builds, and I think he could charge the same things Roswell does for their K47 and K67 mini. If I were looking for a "hand built" clone or modded mic, I'd rather pay someone from here to build a mic (I'm slowly getting better myself), than pay for clones using misleading advertisement or an overpriced mod service. I'm pretty confident anybody on here would be honest about where the components come from, instead of selling you a $30 Chinese capsule for $200 and telling you that it'll make your mic sound like a C414EB, and using other severely misleading advertising.

But I'm not gonna pay Peluso $1200 for for clone mics that sound like Chinese mics because he's a "guru".

I'm not going to pay $150 for a $30 capsule from Mic-Parts (and I'm sure as sh*t not paying the $250-$300 for the Peluso ones that sound similar to $30 Chinese ones), and I'm especially not paying $400 for matched Chinese capsules. I would pay the $150 or so the 3U Audio capsules cost, because those aren't OEM Chinese ones, and they're offered in different voicings (and the mics are similar  in quality to the "guru" clones IMO for almost 1/4 the price).

I think the reason that a lot of the modders gave up doing it is because realized that they could source the capsule for $30/ea and put them in themself (or pay somebody who does the work for cheap like Advanced Audio) and get similar results.

I like the modders that are actually honestly about what goes into the mods. I had a bit of a chat with Scott Dorsey since he's on Gearslutz now, and asked him about whether he does mods. He said no, and his labour prices aren't very competitive (in his words, it was something like "you'd be crazy to pay my bench prices").

What I don't like is the guys basically selling you snake oil by making a bunch of dubious claims about how they improve the vintage design.

I like Dave over at AA too. I really like his K47 and "CK12" based mics for the price. I wouldn't buy one of his K67 based mics though. I don't like how they sound without the HF attenuation. He is really helpful though even just in quick emails.

This turned out way longer than intended. At least I'm passionate I guess.

The TL;DR version: Mods don't add a ton of value because they're built by some respected guy. A lot of the time they shouldn't add value at all (like when a transformer is removed in the Jim Williams C414 mods).

 

[Phrazemaster]

Well I’ve been very pleased with mods Jim has done for me. He modded an amp for me and it sounded fantastic.

And I have a ton of respect for Klause H as well. So, apparently, did Dirk Bronner, who created a custom version of his mics using Klaus’ expertise.