Soliloqueen's k87(k67) and k47 capsules

[JeffKall]

Wondering if i can start Telefunken Scandinavia and make toothpicks.

https://www.globenewswire.com/en/ne...0/en/Gordon-Brothers-Acquires-Telefunken.html

I’d buy your Scandinavian Telefunken toothpick … if it was made of high quality Norwegian wood … and included a package of high quality authentic Lefse !!!

 

[JeffKall]

Americans should be way more proud of Shure, Electro-Voice... companies i personally adore. I'd use just about any mic from KSM series before most Neumanns. It's nice to see REs, and SM7b sales blooming. Then there are others, rebranding rubbish stuf... so i get where skepticism comes from.

Having that said, IMHO the best Neumann's are not the ones everyone wants in their mic locker. So many good ones almost no one talks about.

Absolutely, sir !

I love the Shure KSM’s … but still have absolute respect for the old original SM7, too …

Same with ElectroVoice … RE20’s rule in so many applications … but I still love the classic 664’s, too …

Cheers for consistent quality from those two US companies …

I also agree with you on Gefell !

I would take a Gefell over any contemporary Sennheiser Neumann !

I personally experienced a friend’s matched pair of M 930’s and they left me speechless (difficult to do) !!!

 

[amplexus]

Absolutely, sir !

I love the Shure KSM’s … but still have absolute respect for the old original SM7, too …

Same with ElectroVoice … RE20’s rule in so many applications … but I still love the classic 664’s, too …

Cheers for consistent quality from those two US companies …

I also agree with you on Gefell !

I would take a Gefell over any contemporary Sennheiser Neumann !

I personally experienced a friend’s matched pair of M 930’s and they left me speechless (difficult to do) !!!

To be fair- even EV is owned by a German Multinational now

But the RE20’s still remain US made!

 

[rock soderstrom]

To be fair- even EV is owned by a German Multinational now

Who bought them? Uli or Sennheiser?

 

[tomas.borgstrom]

@soliloqueen, my I ask if you assemble these in the US? (I don't care if the CNC machining takes part in China or anywhere)
Are these capsules US made, and/or tensioned, and/or measured?
Also, may I ask where they are QC-d?
I know they are good, just making sure it's not some wholesale shipped stuff from overseas... (before ordering, also to overseas - Europe )

Thanks in advance!

Some of the QC has been done in Sweden as well

It’s a jungle. Critical search for information and critical listening is the only way. I’ve heard very bad samples of clone capsules both from Aliexpress and famous US boutique microphone companies (who produce their capsules in house).

 

[soliloqueen]

@tomas.borgstrom has been instrumental in providing original units for comparison and being one of many third-party listen testers throughout the development of all the capsules, especially the accurate k47

 

[tomas.borgstrom]

Whoa, whoa, whoa! Calm down, man!
I was asking from a QC standpoint only, not trying to challenge your or Arienne's credibility.

Buncha' whole threads were about Neumann's own capsules allegedly not being up to 'standard', or having not been uniform enough, sounding "different", and things like that, just a couple of years ago. (These were suggested by Heyne back in the day, if I remember correctly. If not, forgive me. But if Neumann's QC could have been questioned back then, why are you upset that I want to know more about the manufacturing, and especially that every capsule sounds the same with these???)

Neumann still makes some of the best capsules in the world.

 

[amplexus]

Who bought them? Uli or Sennheiser?

Neither!

Of all companies- BOSCH GmbH bought them and Telex in 2006

Makers of car parts, security systems, and dishwashers!

 

[kingkorg]

Neither!

Of all companies- BOSCH GmbH bought them and Telex in 2006

Makers of car parts, security systems, and dishwashers!

 

[soliloqueen]

Neumann's capsules are indeed absurd. Especially on Kingkorg's rig since he can do sub 1dB precision without smoothing. I sent him 2 neumann k87s a bit ago and I didn't know capsules even could be that closely matched

 

[kingkorg]

Neumann's capsules are indeed absurd. Especially on Kingkorg's rig since he can do sub 1dB precision without smoothing. I sent him 2 neumann k87s a bit ago and I didn't know capsules even could be that closely matched

In the meanwhile i got yet another u87 to fix, capsule matched the ones you sent me 100%.

 

[soliloqueen]

about a quarter done grading all these. i'm grading them the same way neumann did with the u47fet i think. By capacitance, A-stock for multi-pattern use, B-stock for single pattern use. B-stock capsules when available will be available at a discount via a dropdown menu on the new site. After i finish grading all of these, I'll do listen testing, and then start shipping them out and get the new store page prepped. I am bitter and vain, so there will also be some B-stock capsules that pass all tests but have appearance issues. All in all, the B-stock rate is sitting at about 7% (b-stock criteria: >=5pf difference) and the rejection rate is currently 0 units.

 

[AUDIO FREQ]

@soliloqueen, my I ask if you assemble these in the US? (I don't care if the CNC machining takes part in China or anywhere)
Are these capsules US made, and/or tensioned, and/or measured?
Also, may I ask where they are QC-d?
I know they are good, just making sure it's not some wholesale shipped stuff from overseas... (before ordering, also to overseas - Europe )

Thanks in advance!

Some of the best stuff is made over seas.

Neve, CL1B, SSL, Neumann, AKG

 

[micolas]

about a quarter done grading all these. i'm grading them the same way neumann did with the u47fet i think. By capacitance, A-stock for multi-pattern use, B-stock for single pattern use. B-stock capsules when available will be available at a discount via a dropdown menu on the new site. (b-stock criteria: >=5pf difference)

Hi Ari,
I'm bothering you again, can you give more information about the specifications of the Arienne K87 capsule, i.e. capacitance, sensitivity?

 

[kingkorg]

Hi Ari,
I'm bothering you again, can you give more information about the specifications of the Arienne K87 capsule, i.e. capacitance, sensitivity?

Sensitivity depends on the whole circuit, and polarization. True condenser capsule doesn't have inherent sensitivity value.

 

[soliloqueen]

Hi Ari,
I'm bothering you again, can you give more information about the specifications of the Arienne K87 capsule, i.e. capacitance, sensitivity?

true condenser capsules don't have an absolute sensitivity that's easy to define. the uncharged capacitance is around 60 on my rig, but my rig is known to be slightly high with small capacitances. It's the same as the original K87s I've got both charged and uncharged on the same equipment.

 

[micolas]

true condenser capsules don't have an absolute sensitivity that's easy to define. the uncharged capacitance is around 60 on my rig, but my rig is known to be slightly high with small capacitances. It's the same as the original K87s I've got both charged and uncharged on the same equipment.

Thank you! I was not referring to an absolute sensitivity, but compared to the vintage, historical K87 (more specifically in the u87i circuit)

 

[soliloqueen]

Thank you! I was not referring to an absolute sensitivity, but compared to the vintage, historical K87 (more specifically in the u87i circuit)

my goal with the accurate versions is to make correct capsules, as close to the same as possible, with no changes or improvements. there is a big pitfall that can motivate one to handicap themselves by trying to make "good" clone capsules. a capsule sounds bad in hundreds of times more situations than it sounds good, so trying to copy the capsule only when it sounds good or only in studio conditions does nothing but pointlessly reduce the statistical power of your data on the capsule. for every hour i spent listening to good recordings with a real k87, i spent probably 10 hours making and listening to bad recordings and tweaking everything until it sounded the correct kind of bad. putting the capsule in various awful places, near hard walls in untreated rooms, etc and tweaking the design until my clone sounded the correct kind of honky in the mids or had the correct level of high end peak from the interference of a hard surface directly behind it. even in cases where my capsule sounded better than the original in one situation, i fixed it so that it sounded worse. it was much easier to chip away at the difference between my capsule and the original when i wasn't artificially limiting my comparisons to situations that provide the least insight.

 

[micolas]

my goal with the accurate versions is to make correct capsules, as close to the same as possible, with no changes or improvements. there is a big pitfall that can motivate one to handicap themselves by trying to make "good" clone capsules. a capsule sounds bad in hundreds of times more situations than it sounds good, so trying to copy the capsule only when it sounds good or only in studio conditions does nothing but pointlessly reduce the statistical power of your data on the capsule. for every hour i spent listening to good recordings with a real k87, i spent probably 10 hours making and listening to bad recordings and tweaking everything until it sounded the correct kind of bad. putting the capsule in various awful places, near hard walls in untreated rooms, etc and tweaking the design until my clone sounded the correct kind of honky in the mids or had the correct level of high end peak from the interference of a hard surface directly behind it. even in cases where my capsule sounded better than the original in one situation, i fixed it so that it sounded worse. it was much easier to chip away at the difference between my capsule and the original when i wasn't artificially limiting my comparisons to situations that provide the least insight.

The method of comparing in the most unfavorable situations, which in the real world are the most numerous (it is difficult and expensive to treat a space perfectly acoustically, especially in home recording), is simply brilliant.
I did not for a moment doubt the quality of your capsules, on the contrary in the few sound samples that were posted,
I personally liked yours more than the German original, they gave me a special vibe. I'm not exaggerating, Arienne capsules have their own refined, magical mojo.
I will try not to disturb you from the intense, high-precision work.
Thank you for all the exceptional effort you make, for transparency and honesty and for the patience and kindness with which you explain the smallest details to everyone.

 

[MicUlli]

@kingkorg:
True condenser capsule doesn't have inherent sensitivity value.

Not correct. Condenser mic capsule sensivity is given in mV/(V*Pa). (Unloaded output voltage/(Sound pressure*Polarisation voltage)) at least for DC excited capsules...
BR MicUlli