Soliloqueen's k87(k67) and k47 capsules

[soliloqueen]

I completely understand. As you know, I have been a Director of a national charitable service organization that designs, builds, and delivers unique therapeutic tricycles for disabled persons. We tried offshore manufacturing in the past, and encountered similar problems with quality consistency coupled with a concomitant refusal to take responsibility for manufacturing errors. Doing business long distance is a real challenge. Good Luck as you regroup. James -K8JHR

Thanks James. It's been an interesting few months. There's a fine line between transparency and oversharing, but it has been tough. On top of everything else, shipping is now delayed on the clearance K87s because my workshop/packing station is only half built out. Someone in my family passed away, and now everyone is busy with everything related to that, so I don't even have a good place to pack stuff up. Seems it's one thing after another these days, almost comically so at times. Just this past week, I had engine problems and got them fixed, took the car out for a test drive to see if the shop fixed it and immediately ran into a spike strip that someone put up to stop & rob people which took out both my right tires. Towed back to the shop. Just picked it up today again... It's been things like this, over and over, all the way back to March. I just don't really communicate. Still, I know this business works. Just gotta keep pressing forward and have faith that these procedural issues will clear up. I'm not lacking for demand, market presence, interest etc. Just supply. Hopefully temporarily!

 

[MediaWorksOKC]

 

[dale116dot7]

One reason why I got out of capsule manufacturing many years ago, I was doing it all myself and after looking at getting a shop to do it, I just decided it wasn’t really worth it to continue. I basically wore out a Sherline CNC mill and the quality was slipping, and the effort to get and maintain quality at a plant halfway across the world wasn’t going to be trivial. I’m glad others are doing it now, but it isn’t trivial.

 

[Tim Campbell]

Hello Dale! Good to see you post.

 

[soliloqueen]

Currently: packing up k87 insulated backplate screw packs for people who want free replacements.

 

[karloff70]

Ok, so I finally get to hear one of two Flat k47 capsules I bought. Thank you so much for these awesome tools!!!

I am running into Olympic micpre/eq65's and their eq has a delicious 4.3kHz, so with these flat capsules and those amps/eqs I can basically dial in exactly how much 'real k47 edge' I want to taste.

The capsule (only built one as yet) is in a FET847 with a Beyer 1:5 mic input tranny in reverse. Seems to do what I had hoped it would. Sounds like a super classy vintage mic. Very happy indeed!!

 

[AUDIO FREQ]

Are there any other capsule types in future plans (CK12, C800G, C100, M7, K103, etc)? I know it's really early, but im excited for you! Great job!

 

[soliloqueen]

Are there any other capsule types in future plans (CK12, C800G, C100, M7, K103, etc)? I know it's really early, but im excited for you! Great job!

C800g and m7

 

[AUDIO FREQ]

C800g and m7

C800G! Can’t wait!

 

[bremusound]

C800g and m7

No plans for a K89 ?

 

[soliloqueen]

No plans for a K89 ?

I can certainly try, but there are a lot of weird things about it that make it difficult to manufacture. I'll have to experiment myself for a bit. The middle of each back plate is not conductive with the outside of each back plate even though they're the same material and I'm not quite sure how that's done. Maybe press fitting with a film in between? Seems tricky.

 

[GeorgeToledo]

The way that Neumann used to make their PVC sounds pretty involved and especially time consuming.

 

[klem]

was really hoping a C12 would be on the list, but excited for the M7.

also hoping for a revised version of flat 47 that would be better suited for 47FET circuit / kick and bass amp applications.

 

[soliloqueen]

The way that Neumann used to make their PVC sounds pretty involved and especially time consuming.

I'm not interested in making an accurate M7. I'm sure I could. I'm sure there's some factory in the third world somewhere that still uses the banned plasticizer because international laws haven't reached them and if I looked hard enough I could probably find the correct film, but that would mean exposing myself and contributing to a work environment that exposes others to known carcinogens. And all that for a capsule that has a pretty fleeting period of optimal function. I'll have to find some other way to make a decent M7 and if It doesn't offer significant value over the K47 I'll just drop it.

 

[soliloqueen]

was really hoping a C12 would be on the list, but excited for the M7.

also hoping for a revised version of flat 47 that would be better suited for 47FET circuit / kick and bass amp applications.

The new production version of the flat K47 will be vented properly.

 

[GeorgeToledo]

I'm sure I could. I'm sure there's some factory in the third world somewhere that still uses the banned plasticizer because international laws haven't reached them and if I looked hard enough I could probably find the correct film, but that would mean exposing myself and contributing to a work environment that exposes others to known carcinogens. And all that for a capsule that has a pretty fleeting period of optimal function. I'll have to find some other way to make a decent M7 and if It doesn't offer significant value over the K47 I'll just drop it.

I think the PVC itself and the rigidity differences compared to PE related materials is more responsible for the M7 sound than other differences in build.

 

[soliloqueen]

I think the PVC itself and the rigidity differences compared to PE related materials is more responsible for the M7 sound than other differences in build.

I personally agree with you, though that opinion is controversial, which is why I intend to hunt down a third film entirely. Try some of the new stuff that's been developed over the past decade that might fit the bill on paper to see if it can replicate the sound. Like I said, if it doesn't offer appreciable value over the k47 I will just drop it

 

[ElSmurf]

Try some of the new stuff that's been developed over the past decade that might fit the bill on paper to see if it can replicate the sound.

I appreciate this way of thinking a lot. Might even lead to some pleasant surprises!

 

[soliloqueen]

my assembly engineer just messed up in a really interesting way. he accidentally picked diaphragms tensioned for a completely unrelated capsule (oem project) because he'd mixed a batch in the heat treatment oven without labeling them correctly and this bizarre result occurred (green, purple is neumann):



it sounds...quite interesting, actually. would anybody be interested in an almost completely flat k87 with a high shelf that's extended all the way up to 20k? i'm genuinely thinking of making more of these.

 

[soliloqueen]

Actually
@HerbertR do you want this mistake?