Of interest to mic builders

[Tim Campbell]

I got around to looking at some old broken capsules I've had for a while. One turned out to be very interesting. It came from a Superlux large diaphram microphone.

It's an exact copy of a U87 capsule. All the dimension's are the same, all the spacers are metal and the diaphrams are glued to the retaining rings.

The preamp is also a very good U87 copy.

I remember hearing one a long time ago and thinking it sounded decent.

The only two things I could really fault the mic on were that the backplate seems a little too highly polished (could use a good sandblasting) and that the passageway between the capsule area and the main body seems too open. I'd worry that sounds ringing in the body might be picked up by the capsule.

 

[Gus]

Tim are a few pictures of a k47 redone capsule at the SPA web site the backplate looks like it might be polished . Does anyone know if this is true. I wonder how the stock 87 capsule surface is treated it looks somewhat like a sandblasted surface.

Bo your microphone pictures look like superlux.

 

[Marik]

Tim,

What is the model of Superlux?

 

[Tim Campbell]

The model I looked at was CM-H8.

I've never seen a " polished" K47 backplate but I have seen them with turning marks that a machinist might make when levelling the surface. All the later Neumann backplates I've looked at were sandblated. Modern AKG backplates are .94mm thick steel with a very rough almost pitted surface

 

[Marik]

Tim,

Here is the datasheet with capsule picture.

http://www.superlux.us/images/CM-H8A_data_sheet.jpg

Does yours look the same? On this picture the screws arrangement looks compleetely different than K87. Also, they claim it as a 3um.

 

[Tim Campbell]

Yes this looks the same except this is a cardiod only version. I hadn't measured the membrane thickness since it was glued to the retaining ring.

The difference with the retaining ring screws shouldn't have an effect.

I'll have to see if I can find a working one and compare it to the sound of my U87.

 

[kruz]

these Superlux looks exactly like these other Red5Audio mics..
http://www.red5audio.com/RV10SPEC.htm
i own a pair of RV10
I'd really like to trace the circuit to see if there is any room for imporvements..
sooner or later... :roll:
:wink:

 

[Bo Hansen]

Hi guys,

No, I don`t get my from Superlux, it is from a other chines "no name" microphone manufacture that not have a official brand name on the market.

As all chines manufacturer they say that they make the microphone include capsule, body, pc-cards, transformer and so on, but I don`t trust them because before I choose my chines supplier I buy a lot of samples of microphones and capsules from different chines suppliers and also from european company`s that have a own name on chines microphones.

When I inspect all this types I recognize two or three building bricks as capsule style, body mechanics, pc-cards, transformers, so I think there are some mike parts supplier and then they assembly the mike with own working employed, or maybe there are only a couple of mike manufacturer that supply to the other chines company that only act as a retail dealer/trade company.

--Bo

 

[Scodiddly]

[quote author="Bo Hansén"]
When I inspect all this types I recognize two or three building bricks as capsule style, body mechanics, pc-cards, transformers, so I think there are some mike parts supplier and then they assembly the mike with own working employed, or maybe there are only a couple of mike manufacturer that supply to the other chines company that only act as a retail dealer/trade company.[/quote]

Absolutely - I don't have a link, but somewhere there's an article by Scott Dorsey on his "Shanghai" mic mod. It covers a number of LDC mics which have the exact same insides.

 

[NewYorkDave]

Tim,

I also have a CM-H8A. It sounds surprisingly good--at least on my unskilled baritone voice, better than I would expect from such a super-cheap mic.

 

[Gus]

NYD

any chance of some pictures of the inside?

 

[BYacey]

What is the purpose of a rough surface on the back plate? Is this to cause some air turbulence during diaphragm movement? Wouldn't this lower the capacity slightly compared to a polished backplate owing to the fact that the plates of the capacitor have to be slightly further apart to allow for the roughness?

 

[NewYorkDave]

Gus,

I'll try to remember to take some pics of the mic when I get home.

 

[NewYorkDave]

Sorry, dude. I spent about an hour tonight trying to get a decent picture, but my five year-old, fixed-focus digital camera just isn't up to the task.

 

[Gus]

from what I see from the pictures it is very interesting. Is that a humbucking transformer? I might have to get me one.

 

[Flatpicker]

[quote author="Gus"]...I might have to get me one.[/quote]Me too! Are these still being sold new by anyone?

 

[alk509]

WOW! The insides look very similar to this Nady mic I have here... Not talking about the electronics, but the actual structural part. Same manufacturer? "The King"?

Peace,
Al.

 

[NewYorkDave]

I got mine off evilBay about a year and a half ago. It was new and came from a dealer (on the west coast, I believe). It was pretty cheap--maybe around sixty bucks.

 

[Flatpicker]

[quote author="NewYorkDave"]...maybe around sixty bucks.[/quote]Cool! I believe my tight-wad self could handle that. :green:

 

[SmG]

[quote author="Bo Hansén"]
When I inspect all this types I recognize two or three building bricks as capsule style, body mechanics, pc-cards, transformers, so I think there are some mike parts supplier and then they assembly the mike with own working employed, or maybe there are only a couple of mike manufacturer that supply to the other chines company that only act as a retail dealer/trade company.
[/quote]
Absolutely. NewYorkDave's mic body parts are identical (it's those bendy springs that are an immediate giveaway) to the Samson C01 - C03 cheapies - the ones with the nasty electret capsules. How many more of these cheapies look exactly the same mechanically inside?