Neumann Vintage U87 Clone : Build Thread.

[saxmonster]

Hahahah I see what I did.  I'm an idiot. Details details details.

 

[0dbfs]

Stocking up on parts for building four of these. I've now got AMI T13's in stock as well as Peluso's P-k87i's and of course four sets of Dany's PCB's. Just ordered four Aurycle kits.

I am planning to use a jumper in the mic to switch the patterns as needed and wire up the pad/hpf on the switches.
Next is the mouser order and I see that it is currently at what appears to be rev4. I'll review the parts included/specified and add in a couple parts for other projects
Looking forward to listening to more music through these!
Thanks Dany!

Best,
jonathan

 

[poctop]

Stocking up on parts for building four of these. I've now got AMI T13's in stock as well as Peluso's P-k87i's and of course four sets of Dany's PCB's. Just ordered four Aurycle kits.

I am planning to use a jumper in the mic to switch the patterns as needed and wire up the pad/hpf on the switches.
Next is the mouser order and I see that it is currently at what appears to be rev4. I'll review the parts included/specified and add in a couple parts for other projects
Looking forward to listening to more music through these!
Thanks Dany!

Best,
jonathan

OK DOKE , great news here ,  keep us posted , your feedback will be very appreciated ,

Dan,

 

[poctop]

Stocking up on parts for building four of these. I've now got AMI T13's in stock as well as Peluso's P-k87i's and of course four sets of Dany's PCB's. Just ordered four Aurycle kits.

I am planning to use a jumper in the mic to switch the patterns as needed and wire up the pad/hpf on the switches.
Next is the mouser order and I see that it is currently at what appears to be rev4. I'll review the parts included/specified and add in a couple parts for other projects
Looking forward to listening to more music through these!
Thanks Dany!

Best,
jonathan

For the BOM revision all i added from original is

All Cap option are in the BOM have a look to designation for the option
only the 10pf polystyrene is not in the Bom the default is the Mica

revisions
1) sub part for 2.2 in case not in stock for the vishay
2) sub for 60M for 68M
3) 2 extra Cap for testing and bypass 51pf

the best is to choose option in mouser in deleting what you dont need.

Hope this helps,
D ;D

 

[berkleystudios]

Stocking up on parts for building four of these. I've now got AMI T13's in stock as well as Peluso's P-k87i's and of course four sets of Dany's PCB's. Just ordered four Aurycle kits.

I am planning to use a jumper in the mic to switch the patterns as needed and wire up the pad/hpf on the switches.
Next is the mouser order and I see that it is currently at what appears to be rev4. I'll review the parts included/specified and add in a couple parts for other projects
Looking forward to listening to more music through these!
Thanks Dany!

Best,
jonathan

For the BOM revision all i added from original is

All Cap option are in the BOM have a look to designation for the option
only the 10pf polystyrene is not in the Bom the default is the Mica

revisions
1) sub part for 2.2 in case not in stock for the vishay
2) sub for 60M for 68M
3) 2 extra Cap for testing and bypass 51pf

the best is to choose option in mouser in deleting what you dont need.

Hope this helps,
D ;D

why is the 10pf not in the BOM? is that the only part i need to add?

 

[poctop]

Stocking up on parts for building four of these. I've now got AMI T13's in stock as well as Peluso's P-k87i's and of course four sets of Dany's PCB's. Just ordered four Aurycle kits.

I am planning to use a jumper in the mic to switch the patterns as needed and wire up the pad/hpf on the switches.
Next is the mouser order and I see that it is currently at what appears to be rev4. I'll review the parts included/specified and add in a couple parts for other projects
Looking forward to listening to more music through these!
Thanks Dany!

Best,
jonathan

For the BOM revision all i added from original is

All Cap option are in the BOM have a look to designation for the option
only the 10pf polystyrene is not in the Bom the default is the Mica

revisions
1) sub part for 2.2 in case not in stock for the vishay
2) sub for 60M for 68M
3) 2 extra Cap for testing and bypass 51pf

the best is to choose option in mouser in deleting what you dont need.

Hope this helps,
D ;D

why is the 10pf not in the BOM? is that the only part i need to add?

The 10pf  is in the BOM but it is Mica not PolyST,

D

 

[berkleystudios]

awesome. thanks D. cant wait to finish these for my studio!

 

[saxmonster]

Paint job is now complete.

 

[poctop]

Hey Congrats Saxmonster ,  i Really like the sound of this baby and it is nicely painted as well , 

Have some nice recording sesssions,

Dan,

 

[kante1603]

For those who want to go the "B2Pro"-way....

Cheers,

Udo.

Edit:I forgot to mention that you must re-label the pattern switch (swap cardioid and figure eight!!!) on the mic housing!

 

[mrcase]

great! thx! just waiting for the capsules to try this out!

 

[kante1603]

great! thx! just waiting for the capsules to try this out!

You´re welcome.
I´m still waiting for my T13s and capsules too,so I´m stuck with it at the moment.Will post more when the parts are here.
Have fun,

Udo

 

[Marcocet]

A client used the mic on vocals yesterday and really liked it. It got chosen over a number of other mics. Actually in the end we used the u87 clone and a RCA 77dx blended together. Wasn't my session so I don't have too many details, but I heard good things.

Just got a pair of original transformers. Looks like I'll be building another pair of these

 

[wthrelfall]

Got my Peluso K87i capsule and BV11 transformer at last. 
I'm confused as to what physically is the "backplate" and "capsule", can anyone enlighten me?  Also, there are 3 cables coming from the peluso, but 4 pad's on the pcb.. 
thanks in advance.

 

[saxmonster]

The side with the two wires on it is the front side that is so you can tell the difference.  Leave the tape on the capsule too.  Once the capsule is on the holder you can poke a hole through the tape and screw in the wire for the back backplate. Also Cap = Membrane front and back side.

Incase anyone wants to know the over all price for this clone I spent $384.46 dollars on everything.  Not bad at all compared to the actual cost of a U87, hahahahahah  what is that about a 10th of the cost of a real u87?  HAHHAHHAHAH  Great project Dan Thanks again.


Any one try a different transformer yet compared to the cinemag?  Any difference?


-Scott

 

[wthrelfall]

great, but it doesn't explain the fact there's only 3 wires but 4 pads...  what about the rear connections?

The side with the two wires on it is the front side that is so you can tell the difference.  Leave the tape on the capsule too.  Once the capsule is on the holder you can poke a hole through the tape and screw in the wire for the back backplate. Also Cap = Membrane front and back side.

Incase anyone wants to know the over all price for this clone I spent $384.46 dollars on everything.  Not bad at all compared to the actual cost of a U87, hahahahahah  what is that about a 10th of the cost of a real u87?  HAHHAHHAHAH  Great project Dan Thanks again.


Any one try a different transformer yet compared to the cinemag?  Any difference?


-Scott

 

[Marcocet]

great, but it doesn't explain the fact there's only 3 wires but 4 pads...  what about the rear connections?

He did, but let me make it a little clearer.

Any condenser capsule has two major parts: The membrane and the backplate. When the membrane moves with changes in air pressure and the backplate stays still the difference between them creates an electrical signal that is analogous to the sound in the room. Many microphones have two membranes, one for the front and one for the back. This allows you to create varying polar patterns by blending the two signals.

The early U87 mics used a dual isolated backplate design. This means that each membrane has its own individual backplate. Hence the four pads on the pcb (front membrane, front backplate, rear membrane, rear backplate). The peluso capsules come with an easy solder tag along the rim to help you identify the front of the capsule. Connecting a wire to that tag will connect it to the front side backplate.

The fourth wire needs to be attached to the rear side backplate, which is electrically connected to the rear side of the rim of the microphone. If you'll notice, the capsule has three pairs of what looks like mounting holes around the outside of the rim. Two of them are spaced to hold the capsule to its mount, but the third ones are just there. You need to make an electrical connection between the one towards the rear of the capsule and the fourth pad on the PCB. I did it by putting a screw in to that hole and soldering a wire to it. It's as simple as that. A solder pad and shorter screw would have been more elegant, but the screws supplied with the capsule will work fine. Just keep in mind that the solder will not hold to the screw, so if you bang the mic around a lot it could eventually come loose.

If somebody else who has theirs handy could post some photos I'm sure they'd be appreciated.

 

[kante1603]

great, but it doesn't explain the fact there's only 3 wires but 4 pads...  what about the rear connections?

@Scott:
Could you please post a pic of the capsule wiring?Some guys here seem to be very confused about this,and a picture says more than words...
I would have posted one if I had the capsule (still waiting for it...),therefore will take a while if you can not do it.

Best regards from germany,

Udo. :

Editooops,double post with marcocet-very well explained btw!

Cheers,

Udo.

 

[wthrelfall]

Perfect description, appreciated.
thanks.

great, but it doesn't explain the fact there's only 3 wires but 4 pads...  what about the rear connections?

He did, but let me make it a little clearer.

Any condenser capsule has two major parts: The membrane and the backplate. When the membrane moves with changes in air pressure and the backplate stays still the difference between them creates an electrical signal that is analogous to the sound in the room. Many microphones have two membranes, one for the front and one for the back. This allows you to create varying polar patterns by blending the two signals.

The early U87 mics used a dual isolated backplate design. This means that each membrane has its own individual backplate. Hence the four pads on the pcb (front membrane, front backplate, rear membrane, rear backplate). The peluso capsules come with an easy solder tag along the rim to help you identify the front of the capsule. Connecting a wire to that tag will connect it to the front side backplate.

The fourth wire needs to be attached to the rear side backplate, which is electrically connected to the rear side of the rim of the microphone. If you'll notice, the capsule has three pairs of what looks like mounting holes around the outside of the rim. Two of them are spaced to hold the capsule to its mount, but the third ones are just there. You need to make an electrical connection between the one towards the rear of the capsule and the fourth pad on the PCB. I did it by putting a screw in to that hole and soldering a wire to it. It's as simple as that. A solder pad and shorter screw would have been more elegant, but the screws supplied with the capsule will work fine. Just keep in mind that the solder will not hold to the screw, so if you bang the mic around a lot it could eventually come loose.

If somebody else who has theirs handy could post some photos I'm sure they'd be appreciated.

 

[wtmnmf]

OK,  I've checked out my two Peluso capsules and they are the same, but different from the above description.

The side with the lead on the rim's face is connected to the brass rim of the other side.  The two brass rims are indeed isolated. Attaching the fourth lead as described above only duplicated the function of the existing lead.

So, does anyone know for sure if attaching to the other (opposite) rim connects to the other backplate?  And is the capsule really asymmetrical?  If so, which side is the front in light of the above?

I guess I'll try Peluso on monday if no one knows...