Soliloqueen's k87(k67) and k47 capsules

[mhelin]

I suspect that the shrinking of mylar over time has very small effect on the sound vs. the dirt it get during that time so the pre-aging is not so useful as with PVC (but then I don't have the experience to tell if that's so).

 

[soliloqueen]

Of course, the answer is, offer both options! Unfortunately, I’m only half joking. Doh!

i mean...since most of the cost is the backplates and hardware, skinning a certain percentage of the capsules differently wouldn't add cost. I could add a drop-down selection...

 

[Recording Engineer]

Do you and anyone else truly hear enough difference to care? If so, I do recommend a drop down selection. Otherwise, f it!

So, whenever they launch, if I see a drop down selection, I guess that means I need a pair of each. Doh!

 

[tomas.borgstrom]

My best sounding K67 is vintage... Very smooth, detailed and 3D. It's in very good shape.

 

[Category 5]

Is the 1:1 K49 (K47) capsule planned for production soon?

 

[soliloqueen]

Is the 1:1 K49 (K47) capsule planned for production soon?

Not quite yet, early next year. In the first half at least, but probably sooner. The K87s should be ready to ship within the next couple weeks, if everything goes as planned.

 

[SparkleBear]

Where do we order from? How do we know when it goes live!?

 

[soliloqueen]

Where do we order from? How do we know when it goes live!?

Still working that out. Either my own storefront or dachman. Josh and are still deciding who should handle retail capsule sales. I'll be handling OEM customers, but Josh has an existing capsule storefront. But then again, he's also kind of moving away from capsule sales because people are more interested in kits so I may just take over entirely.

I plan to offer OEM manufacturing of capsules too, so not only will you be able to order my capsules in bulk serialized etc, but I will also design and manufacture capsules for you at volume, as well as manufacture your design or other existing designs. If you wanted a thousand debenham capsules for instance, or a thousand of a capsule that you invented, that's something that I could do. There's no one that can currently compete in 3U's market space and that's what I'm ultimately shooting to change.

Of course, if you wanted to do OEM, you could also directly contact a factory and work with them with no middleman. You could certainly save some money that way, but with me you have a niche-knowledgeable engineer with solid design chops that can easily answer complicated questions in your language and offer quick pre and post-sales support. Since I am a separate entity and do all the R&D, make all the drawings, and only outsource the manufacturing itself, that means that my capsules are manufacturer-independent. I could, for instance, have multiple unaffiliated factories working on one project to save time or cost. I could switch production pipelines if one factory is too busy and have the backplates, hardware, etc come from an entirely different set of metal factories or even have the skinning done by an entirely different factory with no real change in the final product. Considering that my OEM products are going to be cost-plus anyway, I hope I can offer a decent value to Western customers.

 

[bremusound]

A K89 clone would be nice! There is no one yet... Or a K50 with metal diaphragm!

 

[soliloqueen]

A K89 clone would be nice! There is no one yet... Or a K50 with metal diaphragm!

I have been toying with the idea of a K103 clone. R&D on that is done, the model is complete and I could bring it out immediately if I had enough buyers, but we are skeptical that it would sell.

The k89 fascinates me. To me, it sounds a bit like a "reverse" K47. It's got a scoop the exact same shape as the bump on the k47 and in the exact same place. Sounds really weird!

 

[Recording Engineer]

To me, the k89 is a phenomenal problem-solving capsule… When nothing else seems to be working and you can’t change the source, it comes and saves the day, wonderfully!

 

[soliloqueen]

To me, the k89 is a phenomenal problem-solving capsule… When nothing else seems to be working and you can’t change the source, it comes and saves the day, wonderfully!

I imagine it would do wonders on something really congested in the shouty region. I'll pick one up and take it apart

 

[SparkleBear]

I second the kk50.. It would be so epic to have an accurate omni-sphere capsule for m50 builds. wow... the possibilities.

 

[soapfoot]

Since Thiersch will reportedly no longer be doing nickel diaphragms for KM54/56/SM2/SM23 etc, it’d be really huge if you or someone else were to get interested in taking up that mantle

Obviously aluminum for KM53/M50 would be amazing as well

 

[soliloqueen]

Since Thiersch will reportedly no longer be doing nickel diaphragms for KM54/56/SM2/SM23 etc, it’d be really huge if you or someone else were to get interested in taking up that mantle

Maybe in the far future. The R&D burden of figuring out metal diaphragm assembly at scale is a bit out of my budget right now.

 

[soapfoot]

Totally understood. I imagine if it were easy, many would’ve already tried

 

[rock soderstrom]

Maybe in the far future. The R&D burden of figuring out metal diaphragm assembly at scale is a bit out of my budget right now.

That is understandable. If life were a concert of wishes, an affordable and good-sounding KM54 style capsule would be at the top of my list.

 

[Recording Engineer]

The true second-version of the k53/k50 capsule is the only one on my utopia list. Ben at Beesneez got the closet fairly recently and I’m truly in love! Got to use them, for the first time, as drum room mics a couple weekends ago. Even a very-quick sing into it is amazing! Lots of recording experimenting to do with them on different sources and positions between now and the end of the year!

Only way to get closer to utopia is the original 0.8-micron aluminum capsule. I’ve yet to see a person admit it’s possible today; even though it was then.

 

[Murdock]

The true second-version of the k53/k50 capsule is the only one on my utopia list. Ben at Beesneez got the closet fairly recently and I’m truly in love! Got to use them as drum room mics a couple weekends ago. Even a very-quick sing into it is amazing! Lots of recording experimenting to do with them on different sources and positions between now and the end of the year!

Only way to get closer to utopia is the original 0.8-micron aluminum capsule. I’ve yet to see a person admit it’s possible today; even though it was then.

you mean 8 micron not 0.8, right? Neumann states a 8 micron metal diapghram. They made some test in the 90s with 2.25 micron diaphragm but state that the difference to the 10 micron they also tested was very small. But as the impulse response was measurably slightly better with the 2.25 micron, they went with that. But only in the later TLM50. The vintage never had thinner diaphragms than 8 micron. The first PVC was 12 micron as far as I know.
They never used a 0.8 micron diaphragm in the M50.
I think you confuse that with the KM54 capsule which had a 0.7 or 0.8 micron nickel diaphragm. But the tension on that one was also alot less then on the K53

 

[Recording Engineer]

No. I mean 0.8-micron aluminum kk53, as used in some iterations of the KM53 and M50.

I’m genuinely curious where Neumann states 8-micron aluminum? 8-micron aluminum seems like it would be a walk in the park today! We wish it was that easy!

I wonder how thick Nordic Audio Labs’ NU-100K aluminum large diaphragm is or how thick any of the PML/Pearl/Milab diaphragms are. I remember Aseyer and ISK using 4-micron aluminum large diaphragms.

The 2.25-microns is specification comes from Stephen Peus’ tests, if I remember correctly. Is that what they went with for the K33 TI? Anyone know how thick the titanium is?

Also the KM54 nickel diaphragms were 0.7-micron.

By the way, yes, the tension on the kk53 capsule. were super high