Soliloqueen's k87(k67) and k47 capsules

[GREAT TIME]

I appreciate that, but my tastes don't necessarily align with other people's. I'm very sensitive at 5K and much prefer smaller or no boost there, which is not true of most people. Single backplate capsules are contentious in their tuning though. One man's flat might be another man's lacking Mojo and one man's Mojo might be another man's old timey telephone effect. I'll be thrilled if you like it, but if you want you can give me notes on how you want the capsule to sound relative to the Prototype and then send it back and I can design you one that sounds that way and throw it in with the mass production. I can make an M7 or k47 sound just about however anyone wants. Actually, the bad tolerances from the factory were kind of nice because I could separate them by tuning and send different customers with different preferences different tunings. Now that we're doing this in-house and our machining is so much better, I have to pick one. That has been a gargantuan task. Everyone i ask has vastly different opinions on what the k47v should sound like, some of them divergent enough from my opinion that it sounds like a legitimate special effect mic. Can't please everyone though, so I'm just going to go with what I think sounds good.

+1 for preferring a flatter top end. These look awesome

 

[MaxxDM]

By the way...

I remember that M7 capsules originally did not have a peak at 5 KHz, but more around 3-ish Khz, which, IMO, is the correct 'presence' frequency, and not 5 KHz.

I used to have some older pics with graphs, but here is one from (I presume) the 1950s

 

[Khron]

By the way...

I remember that M7 capsules originally did not have a peak at 5 KHz, but more around 3-ish Khz, which, IMO, is the correct 'presence' frequency, and not 5 KHz.

I used to have some older pics with graphs, but here is one from (I presume) the 1950s

That is, though, the response of the complete assembled microphone, not just the raw naked capsule, is it not?

 

[MaxxDM]

That is, though, the response of the complete assembled microphone, not just the raw naked capsule, is it not?

Well, I suppose the resonance in the mic grill has something to do with the freq. response.

The circuit itself is flat, other than cutoff in the bass and treble extension.

anyone know what the resonant frequency of the grill head is?

 

[Khron]

cutoff in the bass and treble extension.

And what's cutting off the treble extension (other than the capsule itself)? Assuming we're talking about the U47 circuit...

 

[MaxxDM]

And what's cutting off the treble extension (other than the capsule itself)? Assuming we're talking about the U47 circuit...

the output transformer, way above the presence region, but within normal 'analog' limitations.

 

[soliloqueen]

By the way...

I remember that M7 capsules originally did not have a peak at 5 KHz, but more around 3-ish Khz, which, IMO, is the correct 'presence' frequency, and not 5 KHz.

I used to have some older pics with graphs, but here is one from (I presume) the 1950s

making an m7 that sounds like this is easy, but i've never actually done it personally. i've never seen an m7 or k47 tuned like this in the wild, so it could have been revised after this to sound different (if this is early) or perhaps this was an odd unit. if this is accurate, it suggests hole dimensions which trend directly the opposite of how they tended to be on the ground.

I have seen some tuned with boosts here but overall flat, without the high end shelf upwards. See the 3u audio dark k47:

and 3u audio m7

that would be the closest to what you're talking about, but there are some differences.

 

[soliloqueen]

i'm re-testing before shipping with a higher index of suspicion and many of the remaining k47vs are coming out too dark with the last of the factory plates, so give me a second while we make plates in house for these. the k47fs seem normal. I'll fulfill all the open orders I can, and then you'll receive an email if your order is awaiting an in-house plate.

the good news is that it turned out that most of our problems were due to the metalwork in ways that were extremely difficult to test for or notice in the plates themselves. as soon as we switched to in-house metal, many of the issues that we were dealing with that i worried may be assembly-related vanished overnight, so as soon as we're up and running, it should be permanently...

 

[kantaro]

Hi Soliloqueen, do you have an ETA as to when the K87's will be shipping out?

 

[Recording Engineer]

Any ETA on in-house k47v, k87, and m7? I’m in no hurry whatsoever, don’t necessarily have a plan for them, but when production is clearly going as planned, I’m in for some!

 

[MaxxDM]

making an m7 that sounds like this is easy, but i've never actually done it personally. i've never seen an m7 or k47 tuned like this in the wild, so it could have been revised after this to sound different (if this is early) or perhaps this was an odd unit. if this is accurate, it suggests hole dimensions which trend directly the opposite of how they tended to be on the ground.

that would be the closest to what you're talking about, but there are some differences.

I had two m7's, one from a (1956?) Telefunken long body, and with PVC it had a presence bump in the mids, not 5 KHz, but I did not measure it, and the other one from a 1959 small body Neumann, which was closer to flat.

I had a talk with someone at the time, and he told me that the older capsules had more of a hump.

Here is the response from a 1958 brochure

 

[soliloqueen]

i need to overhaul my finances this year. the big reason why every hiccup delays us is because i do so much paypal business that no bank will open me a line of credit because so much never touches my bank so their algorithms don't see "real money." So, over the past 4 years, i have run this business with zero dollars in credit. 100% in cash. that's...really quite insane for a business my size, but no matter how good my personal credit is (excellent) or how high my sales are (pretty dang high) nobody will offer me business banking because there's no such thing as manual review for a loan anymore.

 

[micolas]

@soliloqueen
Unfortunately, it's shaping up to be a financially difficult year for many people. Somehow we have to move forward.

 

[MaxxDM]

banks are ripping us off

 

[MaxxDM]

I am thinking that maybe the best bet for me is a flat 47.

What is the policy with shipping to Europe? I am currently in Latvia

 

[micolas]

banks are ripping us off

That's what banks do.

 

[MaxxDM]

Ok, I ordered a flat 47!

 

[elskardio]

i need to overhaul my finances this year. the big reason why every hiccup delays us is because i do so much paypal business that no bank will open me a line of credit because so much never touches my bank so their algorithms don't see "real money." So, over the past 4 years, i have run this business with zero dollars in credit. 100% in cash. that's...really quite insane for a business my size, but no matter how good my personal credit is (excellent) or how high my sales are (pretty dang high) nobody will offer me business banking because there's no such thing as manual review for a loan anymore.

This is a major issue with online stores and banking institutions!

A few years ago, my bank required me to maintain a minimum balance in my business account otherwise they would close it.

Recently, I found a bank that does not require a minimum balance, but they charge $2.50 for every transaction, including withdrawals and e-transfers. I'm not sure if this is a better alternative...

 

[negaikast]

AMEX Business checking works for me. No monthly fees.

 

[soliloqueen]

I am thinking that maybe the best bet for me is a flat 47.

What is the policy with shipping to Europe? I am currently in Latvia

I use fedex. It's usually pretty cheap but you have to pay whatever the import tax is when you receive it