Soliloqueen's k87(k67) and k47 capsules

[soliloqueen]

Microphone A has the Arienne K87 capsule

Would you put money on it?
The hollow sound of the u47 head basket is a dead giveaway for which of these is which, and that's not something you hear from frequency response alone, though it's also clear from frequency response which is in the 47 basket.

 

[micolas]

Would you put money on it?
The hollow sound of the u47 head basket is a dead giveaway for which of these is which, and that's not something you hear from frequency response alone, though it's also clear from frequency response which is in the 47 basket.

Put all my money on the sound of a $150 Xiaomi phone?
Yes.
(I don't have much money!)
Or give up my job as a sound engineer?
The fairest comparison would be with the Arienne K87 capsule mounted in another U87ai, and both microphones positioned vertically in the same way, parallel, as close as possible,(either as in the picture, or upside down), the one upside down sounds a little different from the other (some say better).

 

[micolas]

@soliloqueen

I have a question, maybe rhetorical:
Which version of the Arienne K87 capsule was used in Oscarhuang's last tests? v2.0?

 

[MicMaven]

i sat down with oscar troubleshooting his mic to see where the bulk of the remaining difference was coming from, and ... what do you guys think now?

While the samples sound closer now, I would like a different recording with a bit less gain. I hear low rumble distortion toward the end of the sample (using multiple Austrian-Audio, AKG, and Sennheiser headphones and two different playback devices.) Of course it may just be my system, but I have not encountered this issue listening to previous samples.

If I must pick one of these microphones based on this sample, I would select the first one because (to me) it is slightly more open and less thick in the middle - notwithstanding the difference is NOT sufficient to justify spending more money. The samples are so close, I would surely select the less expensive option and never look back.

Gratuitous Sidebar - I find Oscar's voice rich and pleasant sounding, and I would like to hear how he promounces his name in his native tongue!

Of course, this is just MY take - my vote does not count 'cause I am just an apprentice !! James

 

[EarthTone]

i sat down with oscar troubleshooting his mic to see where the bulk of the remaining difference was coming from, and it was the basket. he swapped out the basket for a better one and adjusted the position of the mic in the basket to be more correct. it's still a round basket u47 style this time, so the upper mids and treble will be slightly different, but that's most of the difference!
View attachment 123852

View attachment 123853

what do you guys think now?

Wow that sounds much better to me. This is the least difference between them since Oscar started posting A/B comparison clips. This is the first set of these posted where I would be happy with either one. Thanks for doing that. On the other two posts I always thought one sounded more siblant than the other and had less body. For all intensive purposes these sound basically the same to me now.

May I ask- Will hooking this up in a SYT-5 body/basket be a good choice? Sonically?

All best,
Matt

 

[Nate_sk8_8]

I feel like mic A has a slightly more relaxed midrange vs mic B in the most recent comparison. Mic B feels like it has a hair more upper mid extension, which I like.

Subtle differences for sure. They both sound great, but for musical/singing applications I think I would prefer mic B.

I’m going to guess mic B is the Arienne Audio k87 this time, since you said it’s based off a 60’s k67 which has a more extended high end than the current k87s.

Can you reveal?

 

[soliloqueen]

Mic B is indeed my capsule in the u47 basket

 

[oscarhuang]

@soliloqueen

I have a question, maybe rhetorical:
Which version of the Arienne K87 capsule was used in Oscarhuang's last tests? v2.0?

Yes. V2 K87.

 

[micolas]

Yes. V2 K87.

Thanks! How would you describe the differences between versions v1.5 and v2.0, if any?

 

[Nate_sk8_8]

Amazing!

I felt that mic B kind of “grabs” the vocal chords a bit more, in a really nice warm, intimate, way. I could feel more subtle, emotional inflections in the voice. Like B transmitted more of, or maybe even enhanced the “vibe” of the speaker. Thought Mic A sounded good but lacked a certain charm.

Amazing work!

So excited to put this in my D67!

Any updates on production/shipping?

 

[micolas]

Hi, I hope you are all well!
First of all, I don't want to offend anyone, I'm just giving my honest opinion.
I admit I'm a little disappointed. I listened to the test several times, on the same small speakers from my cheap and old phone, to keep the listening conditions constant.
Microphone B is more sibilant, it stands out Oscar's 's'. I wrote about the other frequencies, about the tonal balance, in a previous post.
Now, the test is comparing apples to oranges. The circuits are different, with all the different components, the bodies are different, the headbaskets, meshes and the internal arrangements of the capsules are different, the positions of the microphones are different, one captures more the nose another more the mouth, the chest, etc.
The only constant would be Oscar's voice.
For the Voice-Over, I liked Microphone A more, maybe that's why inside me, I wanted it to be the one with the Arienne K87 capsule. The singing voice is something very different, there is no point in extrapolating, speculating.
My belief is that correct tests must be done, in two identical microphones, correctly positioned, and with more sources: VO, singing voice, male, female(solo or in the mix) acoustic instruments (acoustic guitar, piano, etc.), pink-noise, etc.
Otherwise we have an equation with many unknowns.
Really, the artistic element, the vibe,the feeling, are important, but depends on each voice (which is unique), it's something subjective and very personal.
Many thanks to Ari and Oscar for all their work and sincere desire to help us.
I look forward to more tests

 

[amplexus]

@soliloqueen Just did account creation and about to place an order for a pair of Flat k47 capsules and an m49 transformer. Got an email with voucher code but says the code has already been used. I'm assuming maybe a new website glitch?

Anyway, excited to get these in a pair of my own mics!

 

[soliloqueen]

@soliloqueen Just did account creation and about to place an order for a pair of Flat k47 capsules and an m49 transformer. Got an email with voucher code but says the code has already been used. I'm assuming maybe a new website glitch?

Anyway, excited to get these in a pair of my own mics!

Yes, will fix it when I sit down

edit: done

 

[amplexus]

Yes, will fix it when I sit down

edit: done

You are an absolute machine. Much respect

Gonna throw these in a pair of MicParts T47’s that are missing the rk47 capsules that i had to cannibalize for another repair. I feel like these will be a perfect match for the circuit.

 

[EarthTone]

The capsules are totally done but there was that spacer squish issue. The film batch for this batch was different and out of spec and that caused them to deform over time. They passed QC but "settled" out of spec later. The vent sizes are inconsistent after the spacers squish which is causing variable bass rolloff, though none of them more than 2dB. About 0.7dB on average. I think it'll take about 3 weeks to fix this. I'm just going to be having the die shop cut new spacers and send them directly to me and swap them all out here. My disability makes some things difficult but not so difficult that I couldn't fix an issue like this. If you're using them in a u67, I could ship them now. you could probably get away with just taping the vent closed.

If I get more money than expected between now and 3 weeks I'll just do a whole new batch and replace the spacers in this existing batch at a more relaxed pace.

Just curious how we're lookin on the timeline for the k87's! It's 3 weeks later. Not pushing, just wanted to know. I pre-ordered in January. The replacements for my stolen trafos will be up soon so I'm excited to make some new mics with your k87's.

 

[soliloqueen]

Just curious how we're lookin on the timeline for the k87's! It's 3 weeks later. Not pushing, just wanted to know. I pre-ordered in January. The replacements for my stolen trafos will be up soon so I'm excited to make some new mics with your k87's.

at my desk rebuilding them right now, i've got 27 left out of 100. been a bit of a madhouse trying to get my QC dialed in. we're migrating to ARTA and I'm hoping we can serialize every capsule now. i set up a frontend on my site for people to view their FR graphs but it's not pushed yet.

 

[ElSmurf]

Thank you all for participating. I was so excited yesterday that I forgot which plastic cap to install on the capsule.

Does the plastic hat makes a difference in the frequency response?

This is the first time I was made aware of the plastic cap on top of the capsule in a U87. Where did you get yours? And I'd also like to know how big its impact is on the sound.

 

[oscarhuang]

This is the first time I was made aware of the plastic cap on top of the capsule in a U87. Where did you get yours? And I'd also like to know how big its impact is on the sound.

That hat was given to me by a Chinese manufacturer before. You can also choose to 3D print it. In addition, I think the high frequency will be slightly less. Although it has not been tested with instruments, I think it is a good experiment. After all, details are everything. Microphone acoustics is also an important subject.

 

[kingkorg]

In addition, I think the high frequency will be slightly less.

I measured both with and without the hat, originals and replicas, the hat doesn't affect the FR in any meaningful way.

 

[EarthTone]

Hoping the K87's I ordered in January will ship soon! How are we looking?