"Segmented" capsule mic. KAM "U-Boat 47"

[thecr4ne]

I stumbled onto a mic with a weird capsule design. Looks like 67 style with both center and edge terminations, with gaps in the gold sputtering and a circuit allowing selection of either the center termination, the edge termination, or both together.

I'm curious if this makes any sense or is just a weird attempt at a gimmick. Here's the link and a pic of the capsule.

U Boat 47

 

[k brown]

Horrible bloody name for a product - what were they thinking?

 

[Khron]

Horrible bloody name for a product - what were they thinking?

Maybe they predicted it was gonna sink..? Or just be a boat-anchor?

 

[kingkorg]

I stumbled onto a mic with a weird capsule design. Looks like 67 style with both center and edge terminations, with gaps in the gold sputtering and a circuit allowing selection of either the center termination, the edge termination, or both together.

I'm curious if this makes any sense or is just a weird attempt at a gimmick. Here's the link and a pic of the capsule.

U Boat 47

This is awesome, I'd love to test this one!

 

[rock soderstrom]

Horrible bloody name for a product - what were they thinking?

I also do not understand what the U boat U47 has to do with microphones? Günther Prien attacks Scapa Flow, WTF?
Totally stupid and completely unnecessary...the guys should rethink their brand communication.

 

[thecr4ne]

Name nonsense aside, i thought it was cool to see something different. I've ordered a pair, well below the asking price via eBay best offer.

I don't have a Kingkorg capsule test setup, but I might try some REW sweeps within my limits.

I'm not sure what the circuit is like, but I've requested a schematic.

 

[nashkato]

interesting sale´s choice to offer an auction with starting bid of 570€ and a buyitnow with the best offer option for more than double ( 1285€)
gives me kind of the impression that they don´t really trust their own product.

however those ugly gibson monitor speakers were sold via Thomann for a forth or a fifth of the original price .
as was the statesman amp of hughes kettner .
and i bet they were both still making it even at least.
but that was after nobody bought it .

another reason for me to DIY and avoid marketing , middleman and salesmen "taxes" .
that way i have to trust my own judgement , skills and ears and not another one´s jugdement or sales pitch .

 

[thecr4ne]

Yeah yeah, names are dumb, marketing is dumb, markups are dumb. Great. I think that horse is dead.

The point is, technically speaking, audio wise, is this worthwhile? is it interesting? I think so, even if it just give a few more options in a single mic, isn't that potentially useful? If it's a good idea but poorly executed, can WE improve on it?

 

[kingkorg]

It is absolutely interesting in the sense that you can hear and measure the difference and if there's any between the different areas of the capsule.

These look like Alctron mics to me, but no way of knowing who makes them actually, and where the capsule comes from.

 

[k brown]

Naming something after the friggin' Nazis is a little more than just 'dumb' . . .

 

[Drosselmeier]

I remember Many years ago there was a scandal about the letters KZ in the name of a Taiwanese motherboard for PC...

 

[thecr4ne]

Naming something after the friggin' Nazis is a little more than just 'dumb' . . .

Yeah, Nazi's are unequivocally terrible.
U-boats pre-date Nazi's. See: WWI
It's also literally just the German word for submarine, and Germans today probably use it in reference to submarines regardless of affiliation.

Let's keep discussion here relevant to the technical aspects of the microphone.
If anyone else wants to harp on the name any further, take it to the brewery.