Replacement Capsules for Condenser microphone (Europe)

[thrash]

First post for me on the forum! Greetings to All!

I have a damaged CAD E300S mic that the capsule needs replacement as you can see in the photos. Unfortunately CAD USA cannot help and the German distributor apparently does not bother!

So far i found two candidates for replacement capsules on Mic & Mod - DIY Microphone Kits & Microphone Parts and on https://microphone-parts.com/.
I must admit that i have already contacted micparts and they were very helpful and prompt to their response and advices.

My question is, has anyone verified -for any of the two stores- that their capsules are really, an upgrade as claimed and worth the price asked, or are they just rebranded chinese capsules (which i can buy with quite less money from Aliexpress)?

I am a bit skeptic as i do not see any worthy graphs on their sites and especially for micmod , the frequency response is not followed by a graph but
by characterization such as "The CK12 has a flat overall frequency response with a very ‘open’ top-end". I mean if they really make and test their capsules shouldn't they provide real graphs and not obscure generic words? It just looks like hi-fi snake oil.

If anyone can advise, or suggest anything else -especially in europe- for the price.

 

[TLRT]

That looks a Chinese K67 capsule, you can replace it basically anything(K67-K47) the response will change of course.
I have many capsules(from standard generic China ones to expensive custom ones) you can drop me a PM I'm in EU too.

 

[thrash]

Good evening!

Quoting from the updated rule:

"As of today (14 Dec 2022), a member must be registered for 5 days and have 10 prior posts before they can send a private message/conversation.

They will be able to receive a message and reply, but they cannot start a new message."

Unfortunately i cannot PM you yet. I need four more days and 8 more posts the feature to be enabled!

You can PM me though!

 

[soliloqueen]

you can buy a very reasonably priced replacement capsule here:
TSC-2

That will serve you just fine. I also have a more upmarket offering of my own, but frankly, the cheap one from JLI will perform perfectly in this mic. You are right not to trust Mic and Mod, they are well-known for being shady. micparts is reliable, but overcharges for their capsules arguably. they're just AYM capsules, nothing special. Aliexpress capsules can sometimes be rejects or from unknown factories. JLI is probably the best place for you to buy a replacement. I am unaffiliated with JLI (they are, in fact, my competitor in a sense) but for quick swaps of equivalent quality for capsules like this, i don't think they can be beat.

edit:
looking at some of the details, I think this JLI may not just be equivalent, but actually the exact same model, from the same factory, just newer.

 

[thrash]

you can buy a very reasonably priced replacement capsule here:
TSC-2

That will serve you just fine. I also have a more upmarket offering of my own, but frankly, the cheap one from JLI will perform perfectly in this mic. You are right not to trust Mic and Mod, they are well-known for being shady. micparts is reliable, but overcharges for their capsules arguably. they're just AYM capsules, nothing special. Aliexpress capsules can sometimes be rejects or from unknown factories. JLI is probably the best place for you to buy a replacement. I am unaffiliated with JLI (they are, in fact, my competitor in a sense) but for quick swaps of equivalent quality for capsules like this, i don't think they can be beat.

edit:
looking at some of the details, I think this JLI may not just be equivalent, but actually the exact same model, from the same factory, just newer.

Many Thanks for your answer, quite informative!

Only problem is that they have quite high shipping fees. In fact the cheapest shipping fee is higher than the capsule itself as you can see on the attached photo.

Today i ordered an AK67 and an AK12 Capsules from the Advanced Audio European store. I saw that Dave who owns the company is quite respected in the forum.

I know his capsules are also Chinese made, -probably overpriced- but it looks from the postings here that he has some decent QC over them and i like the family owned/managed business style.

I also want to hear about the capsules you are making. There is a lot of buzzing around the forum and from what i read you are doing a pretty serious work. Now that i started playing with one mic, i will most certainly continue with the rest i own!

Thrash

 

[mhelin]

Also the t.bone spare capsules from Thomann are quite ok:
the t.bone Capsule for SC 450 (cardioid only, that one I've heard)
the t.bone Mikrofonkapsel SC600 (dual diaphragm)
the t.bone Mikrofonkapsel SC400 (maybe a cardioid only version of above?)

 

[rock soderstrom]

Also the t.bone spare capsules from Thomann are quite ok:
the t.bone Capsule for SC 450 (cardioid only, that one I've heard)
the t.bone Mikrofonkapsel SC600 (dual diaphragm)
the t.bone Mikrofonkapsel SC400 (maybe a cardioid only version of above?)

Do you know who produces these capsules for Thomann?

 

[soliloqueen]

Do you know who produces these capsules for Thomann?

These are the same capsules that can be obtained through alctron and shuayin. Also the same as the advanced audio capsules and the same capsules as peluso (but he reskins them)

 

[Nen'O]

You will be very surprised how good AA capsules sound. I have 2 AK12 installed in my apex 460 mod. Absolutely beautiful capsule.

Other place to buy capsule in Europe is recording tools from Germany. They sell RK capsules.Very cheap as well. I got their rk 87 for t.bone SC 450 mod. It seems to be less harsh and more focused compared to stock t.bone capsule. But t.bone capsule wasn't that bad.

Recording Tools - Recording Tools

The best one is Thiersch STW7 but it's not cheap. Probably best capsule available on market. And works well in different circuits.

Maiku sells capsules in Europe as well.

Many moons ago after very good experience with Cad 100s I got 2 cad 300S.
It was major disappointment, the worst mics i ever bought. I didn't find any use for them. Heavy, too. Gave them to a friend and never looked back.
Curious to hear what difference new capsule makes.
Cheers

 

[thrash]

You will be very surprised how good AA capsules sound. I have 2 AK12 installed in my apex 460 mod. Absolutely beautiful capsule.

Other place to buy capsule in Europe is recording tools from Germany. They sell RK capsules.Very cheap as well. I got their rk 87 for t.bone SC 450 mod. It seems to be less harsh and more focused compared to stock t.bone capsule. But t.bone capsule wasn't that bad.

Recording Tools - Recording Tools

The best one is Thiersch STW7 but it's not cheap. Probably best capsule available on market. And works well in different circuits.

Maiku sells capsules in Europe as well.

Many moons ago after very good experience with Cad 100s I got 2 cad 300S.
It was major disappointment, the worst mics i ever bought. I didn't find any use for them. Heavy, too. Gave them to a friend and never looked back.
Curious to hear what difference new capsule makes.
Cheer

Thanks for all your good info!

See that you are also in Greece.

Even though i have years in modding / fixing / repairing electronics this is the first time i had to give my attention to a microphone.
The CAD was chosen (in fact i do not own only one E300 ) because it looked sturdy and well built, being very heavy, -i discovered the hard way that most of the weight comes from the two Nimh batteries in the body-

I do not have any experience with microphone construction but i find, except the way the capsule is supported which is absolutely stupid, the rest of the microphone to be decently built.

For the times i used the mic it sounded good for the money. Maybe a little bright but nothing that could not be fixed with some eq. I will see now with a new capsule how it will be.

The Thiersch caps i believe are an overkill with their almost 400euro price tag, but i 'll keep them in mind for future upgrades.
The Maikus are all sold out and not available at present.

 

[Nen'O]

Hi,
If you are in Greece too, then there is good chance this Cad's are the ones I gave to my late buddy.
I was so overwhelmed how good sounded Cad E 100 that I rushed to buy a pair of Cad E300 hoping to get the ultimate multi pattern mic. Well I was wrong. I didn't find them to be only bright. Very unmusical with lack of body.
Didn't even bother trying to change the capsule back then. But those were different times. These days I would do it.
I'm all for AA stuff, at least you know what you get.

Thiersch my have a price tag but those capsules will make you better engineer for fraction of price for top notch mics.

Cheers

 

[CFB4]

I had good results with an AA capsule, brought an aussie NT1A to the next level!