Neumann TLM103 capsule - the best affordable replacement?

[Sidebstudio]

However, this morning due to this thread and the confirmation that they hasn't any spacer, I reskinned the k103 I get (62pf) and sounds great.
Had to sand off a little damage on the backplate. I don't know why but seems that someone when took off the center screw damaged the backplate with a screwdriver...very strange.
I bought it without center screw.
If someone has one on hand would be great to know capacitance of one of working originals.
This is my first k103 reskinned, they are too much recent and never had one before.

 

[AUDIO FREQ]

Hey guys, there is a K103 "clone replacement" here at JLI. It's very cheap, and they are located in good ole Pennsylvania so shipping to US will not be very long.

They are very friendly too! Answered all my questions in a timely manner.

https://www.jlielectronics.com/microphone-capsules/jli-103/

 

[AUDIO FREQ]

Bought a broken tlm 103. Looks like mine has an op amp, and the ground pin isn’t even soldered to the circuit. Is it attached the to the op184? Never seen a tlm103 with an op amp on it.

 

[AUDIO FREQ]

Update, just got it in. Ground wire to capsule was not connected to the pcb as in the picture. Soldered the turret back to the pcb and it works. Sounds fantastic. Capsule is really dirty, but I don't hear any noise. I don't think I will clean it until I have to.

It is missing 2 screws that attach the bottom housing to the top. Anyone know the size of these screws?

 

[micolas]

Update, just got it in. Ground wire to capsule was not connected to the pcb as in the picture. Soldered the turret back to the pcb and it works. Sounds fantastic. Capsule is really dirty, but I don't hear any noise. I don't think I will clean it until I have to.

It is missing 2 screws that attach the bottom housing to the top. Anyone know the size of these screws?

That's great! Does it sound good with the original stock K103 capsule or the JLI-103? Or with both?

 

[AUDIO FREQ]

I'm guessing the water was able to get under the washer and infiltrate the gap around the acrylic and that's what we're looking at? Washing even with distilled water isn't ideal, since it can still absorb minerals and drive them further into the capsule through capillary action... Let me take a listen to the noise.

What is water damage? Couldn’t a person just let the water dry?

Also, what would you suggest for cleaning a capsule if not distilled water?

 

[AUDIO FREQ]

That's great! Does it sound good with the original stock K103 capsule or the JLI-103? Or with both?

K103 is a smidgen less noisier. Even with all the gunk on it. The brand new JLI 103 has a smidgen more white noise when raising preamp gain to a good level.

 

[micolas]

K103 is a smidgen less noisier. Even with all the gunk on it. The brand new JLI 103 has a smidgen more white noise when raising preamp gain to a good level.

This means that the JLI-103 provides less signal to the circuit than the original capsule and the S/N ratio is worse, so the microphone has higher inherent noise.

 

[AUDIO FREQ]

This means that the JLI-103 provides less signal to the circuit than the original capsule and the S/N ratio is worse, so the microphone has higher inherent noise.

Not a bad replacement if one doesn’t want to spend 300-400 for a genuine Neumann.

 

[micolas]

Not a bad replacement if one doesn’t want to spend 300-400 for a genuine Neumann.

Maybe an Arienne K47 Flat capsule (even B-stock, cheaper) in the circuit and with the TLM103 headbasket will provide a sound close to the M49 style

 

[micolas]

@AUDIO FREQ
I am also extremely interested in a good sounding TLM103 capsule as I have started building a clone.
I've had the original Neumann TLM 103 for 25 years and on many sources I really like it, ahead of other more expensive microphones.
I have the right body and have already started experimenting with the circuit, but with through-hole parts, I can choose components to my taste.

 

[AUDIO FREQ]

@AUDIO FREQ
I am also extremely interested in a good sounding TLM103 capsule as I have started building a clone.
I've had the original Neumann TLM 103 for 25 years and on many sources I really like it, ahead of other more expensive microphones.
I have the right body and have already started experimenting with the circuit, but with through-hole parts, I can choose components to my taste.

This is something that interests me as well. I’ve always loved the TLM103.
Low noise and high sensitivity. Great mic.

 

[micolas]

This is something that interests me as well. I’ve always loved the TLM103.
Low noise and high sensitivity. Great mic.

I started a few years ago, it sounds similar to the original TLM103, very clean, low noise, punchy, big headroom, but I didn't have the body back then. Now I have it, I just need to decide how to organize the interior.
Here is the prototype that with the B1 capsule, shielded in an empty case from a satellite receiver, to avoid hum, sounded extremely close to the TLM103.

 

[LevinGuitar]

The black Teal from 3U audio seems to use a similar capsule to the K103. Probably is possible to buy it without the mic.

http://www.3uaudio.com/cp.asp?id=647

 

[micolas]

The black Teal from 3U audio seems to use a similar capsule to the K103. Probably is possible to buy it without the mic.

http://www.3uaudio.com/cp.asp?id=647

What impressed me about the TLM103 was the quality of the circuit's sound.
The capsule doesn't seem extraordinary to me, there are many cheaper ones that sound better.
I have the first version from 1997. It is among my very few microphones (out of several dozen) that remain stock.
I feel that any capsule would sound good in that circuit, even a normal K67.
Don't get me wrong: I'm a Rode fan, I have many models, with tube or jFet, including the NT1 6th generation( ordered the very day it was announced, at AMS in the US, here in Europe it had not appeared) but none impress me like the 103.
I didn't make measurements, but I have the feeling that it has some superior parameters compared to most similar microphones (for example, I don't know which parameter would describe what in the field of amplifiers is called slew-rate, it's like when I went from 741 to TL07* to the end of the 70s, something related to response speed, or when we went from 16 to 24bit: size, resolution, depth, realism, hard to describe, or AD converters from 90dB to 120dB, etc.)
So I want to reproduce the circuit and customize it for all capsule families.
A purely personal opinion:
The current TLM103 doesn't sound the same as the original release, it lost something important along the way.

 

[Recording Engineer]

The current TLM103 doesn't sound the same as the original release, it lost something important along the way.

Did you compare an old one and a new one side-by-side or are you just remembering the old one?

If side-by-side, I can tell you, my original 103 consecutive-serial number pair (I ordered them when first available to purchase a “matched-pair” a couple months after first single 103s were released), changed sound after about 10-years; they both did equally. The overall hi-mids/hi-end became much more relaxed; not as sharp as they were, I’m guessing, like a new one may be today (I haven’t used any others but my originals).

 

[Recording Engineer]

By the way… Want to play? Supply 10mA of constant-current to power an original 103 (again, I haven’t used a new one) and listen to the sound become absolutely massive! Unfortunately, a loud, but clean, hiss-noise happens too; obviously, some part(s) not reacting so well to that much current.

 

[micolas]

Did you compare an old one and a new one side-by-side or are you just remembering the old one?

If side-by-side, I can tell you, my original 103 consecutive-serial number pair (I ordered them when first available to purchase a “matched-pair” a couple months after first single 103s were released), changed sound after about 10-years; they both did equally. The overall hi-mids/hi-end became much more relaxed; not as sharp as they were, I’m guessing, like a new one may be today (I haven’t used any others but my originals).

Hi, it is very possible that you are right, we must also take into account the phenomenon of aging of the material. I still have the TLM103 I bought 25 years ago, I like it better than a new one. Maybe we got used to each other (although we didn't use it intensively). Or maybe Sehnheiser (after acquiring Neumann) relaxed the QC process, or changed some components for profit reasons.

 

[micolas]

By the way… Want to play? Supply 10mA of constant-current to power an original 103 (again, I haven’t used a new one) and listen to the sound become absolutely massive! Unfortunately, a loud, but clean, hiss-noise happens too; obviously, some part(s) not reacting so well to that much current.

Wow! This was the description I was looking for to characterize what impressed me about the 103:
on many sources the sound is absolutely massive!
Thankx!

 

[LevinGuitar]

There was a comment somewhere of an Opamp in a TLM103, if so, maybe the original didn't had any?
But the original circuit was told to be the same or quite similar to the B1...
I love the K103 capsule, it sound great by itself, but not in a round shape headgrilles