Soliloqueen's k87(k67) and k47 capsules

[negaikast]

Thanks! There is no eq on any of the tracks. Same room/recording gear on all. Only the mic or capsule varies and I only added some reverb to the demos so they didn’t sound so dry.

What body did you put that circuit into?

 

[EarthTone]

What body did you put that circuit into?

A cheap body from micparts. To be honest I am going to put it all into a different body because this body has RF shielding issues. Obviously it was behaving here, but sometimes I get RF interference. It’s one of those painted screw together lypes. Tried removing the paint, adding ferrite beads to the XLR wires, no luck. The body sucks. I’ll probably put the whole thing into a different body sometime soon now that the mic sounds good!

 

[Snatchman]

I hope it's OK to post this stuff here! I am just excited because I bought one of Soliloqueen's flat k47 capsules a couple of weeks ago and finally had some time to try it out and I'm very impressed. I love it.

I'm a saxophonist & audio engineer, and the thing I've noticed about recording saxophones over the years is that the 3khz range is right where saxophones usually sound really bad. At least on my sound, and my tenor especially, I really don't like it and usually end up cutting there in a mix. But ribbon mics are also not my thing on tenor, at least not by themselves, and if I use one I usually feel like it needs a 47 style condenser mic tracked at the same time to blend with it so it's not too dark and muddy sounding in the mix.

I got a great deal on a used Bock 47 some years ago which is my usual go-to on tenor. I have this other mic I built from a Micparts kit when I first started building stuff called the T-47, it's like a large diaphragm capsule + a km84 style circuit. The kit came with a RK-47, which I guess is an Asian origin K47 style capsule. I always thought this mic sucked and was too bright for my horn.

I just put the flat Soliloqueen capsule in the T-47 and was really floored with how much the sound of the mic changed. For me it became way better and especially on my tenor sax, I would actually use this circuit and capsule combination on a recording! Love it.

For the sake of anyone interested I decided to post the 3 demo files I made for myself to compare the 3 mics and especially the RK-47 capsule vs the Soliloqueen flat k47 capsule. The recording chain is the same on all 3 mics, an AML 1073 500 series preamp into a Mytek Brooklyn ADC. Tried to level match best as possible.

Hope the demos are interesting for people interested in these capsules. The Matrix picture has nothing to do with the test I just needed a placeholder image. I will be buying some more of these capsules for other projects! Very interested to hear the K-87's.

Wow..Is it my ears or does the track with the flat 47 sounds like a different mic all together..?..Sounds really good..!..As stated, I'd love to hear the Flat 47 on vocals...Great job Soliloqueen..!

 

[negaikast]

A cheap body from micparts. To be honest I am going to put it all into a different body because this body has RF shielding issues. Obviously it was behaving here, but sometimes I get RF interference. It’s one of those painted screw together lypes. Tried removing the paint, adding ferrite beads to the XLR wires, no luck. The body sucks. I’ll probably put the whole thing into a different body sometime soon now that the mic sounds good!

Off-Topic but let us know what body you choose.

 

[negaikast]

Wow..Is it my ears or does the track with the flat 47 sounds like a different mic all together..?..Sounds really good..!..As stated, I'd love to hear the Flat 47 on vocals...Great job Soliloqueen..!

I have some vocal tracks I recorded on the fly just for myself but I'd be happy to post here for anyone's benefit. Let me find some time to get them together.

 

[mrgrooves666]

I hope it's OK to post this stuff here! I am just excited because I bought one of Soliloqueen's flat k47 capsules a couple of weeks ago and finally had some time to try it out and I'm very impressed. I love it.

I'm a saxophonist & audio engineer, and the thing I've noticed about recording saxophones over the years is that the 3khz range is right where saxophones usually sound really bad. At least on my sound, and my tenor especially, I really don't like it and usually end up cutting there in a mix. But ribbon mics are also not my thing on tenor, at least not by themselves, and if I use one I usually feel like it needs a 47 style condenser mic tracked at the same time to blend with it so it's not too dark and muddy sounding in the mix.

I got a great deal on a used Bock 47 some years ago which is my usual go-to on tenor. I have this other mic I built from a Micparts kit when I first started building stuff called the T-47, it's like a large diaphragm capsule + a km84 style circuit. The kit came with a RK-47, which I guess is an Asian origin K47 style capsule. I always thought this mic sucked and was too bright for my horn.

I just put the flat Soliloqueen capsule in the T-47 and was really floored with how much the sound of the mic changed. For me it became way better and especially on my tenor sax, I would actually use this circuit and capsule combination on a recording! Love it.

For the sake of anyone interested I decided to post the 3 demo files I made for myself to compare the 3 mics and especially the RK-47 capsule vs the Soliloqueen flat k47 capsule. The recording chain is the same on all 3 mics, an AML 1073 500 series preamp into a Mytek Brooklyn ADC. Tried to level match best as possible.

Hope the demos are interesting for people interested in these capsules. The Matrix picture has nothing to do with the test I just needed a placeholder image. I will be buying some more of these capsules for other projects! Very interested to hear the K-87's.

Oh wow, sounds very smooth! I need to get me a couple of solilo's capsules soon....Thanks for sharing!

 

[laurentj]

Tested soliloqueen against 3U M7, just wow! Improved performance all-around. More detail, better LE respons, better EQ'able and less sillibance. No small feat since 3U M7 is regarded by many as better than the previous reference Thiersch Blue.

These little capsules are breathtaking, the quality just looking at them is so evident. Even compared to an original Neumann K67 this beast wins most of the time at least for me, just such a balanced sound.

 

[Snatchman]

I have some vocal tracks I recorded on the fly just for myself but I'd be happy to post here for anyone's benefit. Let me find some time to get them together.

Thnks..I'd really appreciate it...!

 

[karloff70]

After hearing that sax I am seriousIy tempted to grab a coupIe of the fIat puppies in the February run. That capsuIe sounds amazing in that circuit. I gather the price incIudes shipping. What kind of mount is recommended for these, or is that incIuded as weII (that wouId be insane vaIue)?

EDIT: whoops, I bought a pair on preorder

 

[soliloqueen]

mounts are always included now

 

[kingkorg]

@soliloqueen I keep thinking how you wanted to ditch this "flat 47" as it was just one of the prototypes

 

[karloff70]

mounts are always included now

Amazing. Excited! Thank you very much for doing this!!

Since this fIat beauty seems to sound amazing in a km84 circuit I ordered two FET847 boards as weII, and a coupIe of oId beyer 5:1 transformers from ebay. Going "fuII anaI detaiI backwards tone hunter" and putting carbon resistors and nice oiI caps in there and I figure I'II get a pretty speciaI pair of mics.....exciting indeed. OnIy thing to soIve is what bodies.

 

[mrgrooves666]

mounts are always included now

For m49 build is there taller mount available?

 

[soliloqueen]

For m49 build is there taller mount available?

I only supply saddles. If you guys want the poles as well, that's a little complicated, as I'm allergic to some raw rubbers. Most quality mounts are synthetic rubber, but some suppliers will cheap out and use natural rubber.

 

[Mworthin]

Where is a good place to get the rubber pole part of the mounts?

 

[soliloqueen]

Where is a good place to get the rubber pole part of the mounts?

As of right now I'm not sure. I will have them made

 

[Whoops]

I don't know how I missed this thread, but somehow I didn't see it before and now it's 21 pages long,
so I have a lot of reading to do.

I was waiting for your capsules for some time, actually since the first time you told me about the work you were doing.
It's very exciting to know it really happened and it's happening now, congratulations

 

[Purplenoise]

A cheap body from micparts. To be honest I am going to put it all into a different body because this body has RF shielding issues. Obviously it was behaving here, but sometimes I get RF interference. It’s one of those painted screw together lypes. Tried removing the paint, adding ferrite beads to the XLR wires, no luck. The body sucks. I’ll probably put the whole thing into a different body sometime soon now that the mic sounds good!

Great shootout, thanks for doing this. As far as the RF…I had the same issue with a t12 from mic parts. I couldn’t get rid of it so I took the mic apart and built a mini u47 using that body. No RF issues. I believe the problem is in the circuit and not the body.

 

[EarthTone]

Great shootout, thanks for doing this. As far as the RF…I had the same issue with a t12 from mic parts. I couldn’t get rid of it so I took the mic apart and built a mini u47 using that body. No RF issues. I believe the problem is in the circuit and not the body.

Damn. Sorry to hear that about the circuit.

No problem about the shootout, this is the fun side of the business to me. Helps me learn also which is the main goal.

I wonder if grounding the circuit better would help. I really like the way this board sounds with this capsule so would love to solidify it.

 

[negaikast]

Thnks..I'd really appreciate it...!

Here are a couple of tracks.
Miktek CV4 with FlatK47 and 3U M7 --> Manley Slam Pre --> Apogee AD16

Disclaimer: This song is a cover (Stand In Your Love: Josh Baldwin). I recorded this for my own comparison only, so don't hate. If it's useful for you, enjoy.

https://on.soundcloud.com/NMfJq
https://on.soundcloud.com/4YLfs