Stuff people say about mic capsules...

[trans4funks1]

Does any one have any detailed photos of MBHO's 47 style capsules?

 

[Tim Campbell]

I have never seen a 47 style capsule from MBHO. The closest might be the capsule they make for Brauner. That's a capsule Dirk Brauner designed, not MBHO and isn't available for sale. They are most famous for their wonderful CK12 capsule used by many (such as Bock) for C12/251 builds.

 

[trans4funks1]

Thanks Tim,

 

[granger.frederic]

maybe Gefell or a special order from Thiersch...
could you post a picture...

for the CK12 MBHO, Tim , even if it's a high quality capsule, i find your CT12 more musical for my taste ...

regards
Frederic

 

[Rossi]

MBHO builds (or at least used to build) capsules for Horch microphones. Since Horch mics are U47 based designs, I would assume they're K47 types.

 

[Tim Campbell]

Well Recording Hacks shows this as the Horch but says it is a 47 built by MBHO

 

[trans4funks1]

Thank you Tim. Thank you Rossi.

 

[Rossi]

[Rossi has left the building.]

 

[granger.frederic]

100% sure : it's defenitly a chinese capsule , btw not necessary a bad sounding one ...

 

[Tim Campbell]

What microphone is it?

 

[Rossi]

[Rossi has left the building.]

 

[granger.frederic]

i add that you've already posted a picture, so it's a bit late ...

i think i've identified it but it would be better from you ...

When you ordered it, did they offer you several capsule options ?

 

[rodaffleck]

Can anyone confirm that it is *not* a Peluso capsule? I believe at one point (and maybe still does?) he stated that he used German mylar for the diaphragm, and it is well known that his metalwork is sourced from China.

 

[granger.frederic]

It could be a peluso P-K47 but usually they put some varnish around all ring screws ...

if it really sounds like a TLM103 , it's not a bad mic ...
i never understood the TLM103 bashing , i made some good recordings with it and a good tube preamp.
i noticed that it was very dependent of the phantom supply quality

 

[rodaffleck]

It could be a peluso P-K47 but usually they put some varnish around all ring screws ...

Good point. To further answer my question, Peluso appears to only use Philips screws on the ring.

Getting off topic, my admittedly limited experience with the 103 suggests that it's a fine microphone, but I wasn't convinced that it was $1100 worth of fine. For the two sessions I worked on where they were in use they were deployed as a pair of ambient mics, and they were fine in that role. Bright, lots of output, low noise, fine.

 

[ricardo]

it's defenitly a chinese capsule , btw not necessary a bad sounding one ...

Thanks for saying this.

There will be designers & makers in China who want to make the best mikes, amps, cars etc. in the world.

Let's call them Shoichiro Honda and Akio Morita for convenience.  It's just that we don't know who they are at present. 

Our time would be better spent trying to identify these guys ... than agonise over makers in the West who rely on their place of abode to sell cr*p at exorbitant prices.

Messrs. Morita & Co. are probably bemoaning the fact that their decadent Western customers are only interested in another $0.10 off the price and copies of ancient rubbish.
______________________________

If I was making speakers again, I would get them from a factory in Shenzen .. not for the price but because of the quality.

When I helped them to set up their QA system in the previous Millenium, their sister factories in the West didn't want to know about modern QA & manufacturing.  Shenzen was keen to produce the best quality & consistency possible.

 

[Banzai]

The Honda's and Morita's exist in the West too though. They're just as hard to find because they're drowned out by all the crap the Chinese sh*thouses sell into the West, making it impossible for them to compete. There's villains and hero's on both sides.

Which brings up the real question, when companies out here see how easy it is to swindle their clients and wiggle themselves out of it when they get caught, why would they ever bother making the extra effort?

Ultimately, aren't the clients themselves to blame for not holding these guys to a higher standard?

 

[Matt Nolan]

i never understood the TLM103 bashing ,
i noticed that it was very dependent of the phantom supply quality

Perhaps you answer your own question there?

 

[granger.frederic]

yes , mainly...
we just can't expect all the TLM series  to sound like the series with transformers .
their technology can reproduce better fast transients , and i think Neumann created them to improve that usual "weakness" with LDC.
With a bit of EQ, a TLM103 can sound very fine on a lot of sources with fast transients ...

Chinese products (capsules and mics) can be fine , ex : some SE electronics (especially Neve ones...)
but their mics are often too bright , and distortion is often bad managed , caused by bad electronic designs or bad metalwork/HiZ implementation (see my posts on the C12 official thread and the thread war induced...) for COST REASONS.

Like Tim Campbell said somewhere, K47 and K67 capsules are quite easy to manage .
I'm sure that Chinese manufacturers CAN produce good capsules but ,sadly, they mainly decided to built ones for the low cost market .
Don't expect a 100$ capsule to sound as a Neumann 900$ one. No mystery here.
But if you find a good one , chances are good that they're a bit cheaper.

We all know that the capsule is the most important part of a mic, but even if the capsule is fine, i've always thought that the rest (electronic/HiZ management/metalwork) decides if you're in front of  a high end mic or just a rough clone.
And in that domain , Neumann is blameless , and that's what we pay as well ...

The moot point of this thread is here : did the seller tell the customers that parts of the capsule are made in China ?

if he did, then , i don't see any reason to not like ,or buy this mic, if it sounds good.

If he didn't, then , we'd better warn everyone in this forum.

 

[Rossi]

[Rossi has left the building.]