The microphone capsule photo and information thread

[terry setter]

Has anyone tried the BV-08 clone transformer that also shows up on the Alibab page cited above (https://m.alibaba.com/x/Axe1yZ?ck=pdp) ?

 

[Biffel]

I am still searching the name and manufacturer of this capsule:

View attachment 133714View attachment 133715View attachment 133717View attachment 133716
*bought on ebay, Nov. 2023 for 22,99€

Rayking

 

[rock soderstrom]

Rayking

Hey, thanks!

 

[soliloqueen]

"rayking" is just a backronym from RK (Recordinghacks K) and doesn't exist. "Rayking" capsules are just from AYM, I think. This specific capsule is made of AYM parts but probably not AYM assembly. Lots of smaller factories buy parts from AYM or through AYM but assemble themselves. Like I said, I'm pretty sure (but not positive, as I don't handle domestic chinese business) that this is one of our domestic china models. It can be told apart from the AYM-assembled part by the wire colors, materials, leads, and diaphragm thickness mostly. It could also just be a fully AYM-assembled part with different specs.

 

[jhei]

Mackie Element EM-91C. On the package they say it is "Large-Diaphragm Condenser Microphone... built like a tank". I Think this is just another version of the BM-700 with small diaphragm cardioid electret capsule with fet. Saddle is made of flexible plastic. Bought from Cl4s 0hlson with quite good discount with mostly metallic shockmount and XLR cable (approximately same price as typical BM-700 from The Bay).


I have not seen this kind of capsule wiring with only two cables (black (-) connected to S and G and red (+) to D) before. Is it a conventional way to do it?

 

[Microphoniste]

Mackie Element EM-91C. On the package they say it is "Large-Diaphragm Condenser Microphone... built like a tank". I Think this is just another version of the BM-700 with small diaphragm cardioid electret capsule with fet. Saddle is made of flexible plastic. Bought from Cl4s 0hlson with quite good discount with mostly metallic shockmount and XLR cable (approximately same price as typical BM-700 from The Bay).
View attachment 138224View attachment 138225

I have not seen this kind of capsule wiring with only two cables (black (-) connected to S and G and red (+) to D) before. Is it a conventional way to do it?

Great joke! May be some translation issues

 

[pmfalcman]

By the way - what purpose this Holed Halo or Old Phone Dial shaped capsule holder serves?
I've seen this already on (around?) some other capsules (and was too afraid to ask).
Is it meant to condition or deflect sound waves somehow or just Look Vintage & Cool?

 

[k brown]

Mackie Element EM-91C. On the package they say it is "Large-Diaphragm Condenser Microphone... built like a tank". I Think this is just another version of the BM-700 with small diaphragm cardioid electret capsule with fet. Saddle is made of flexible plastic. Bought from Cl4s 0hlson with quite good discount with mostly metallic shockmount and XLR cable (approximately same price as typical BM-700 from The Bay).
View attachment 138224View attachment 138225

I have not seen this kind of capsule wiring with only two cables (black (-) connected to S and G and red (+) to D) before. Is it a conventional way to do it?

It's because that version of the capsule has a built-in FET. It's under that PCB disc with all the holes in it.

The S, G and D marking are misleading on these, as there is no external connection to the Gate.

It's this capsule (or equivilent thereof):
https://www.jlielectronics.com/content/JLI-140A-HD.pdf

 

[k brown]

By the way - what purpose this Holed Halo or Old Phone Dial shaped capsule holder serves?
I've seen this already on (around?) some other capsules (and was too afraid to ask).
Is it meant to condition or deflect sound waves somehow or just Look Vintage & Cool?

It's my understanding that it renders the capsule less directional at low frequencies giving it a behavior in that respect that's more like a dual-diaphragm LDC (of course, I could be wrong ).

 

[pmfalcman]

It's my understanding that it renders the capsule less directional at low frequencies giving it a behavior in that respect that's more like a dual-diaphragm LDC (of course, I could be wrong

I was thinking along the lines of a BLM-ish attempts

 

[Paul W]

By the way - what purpose this Holed Halo or Old Phone Dial shaped capsule holder serves?
I've seen this already on (around?) some other capsules (and was too afraid to ask).
Is it meant to condition or deflect sound waves somehow or just Look Vintage & Cool?

I too have been wondering. Audio-Technica uses that kind of holed ring around some LDCs, and MXL uses an un-holed ring around their smallish-diameter condensers that look like LDCs. There are also capsules that appear to have some or all of the holes covered or filled with flow-resistive material, like silk or foam.

I'd think that the un-holed ring makes it act sort of like a boundary mic, increasing sensitivity for high frequencies (with wavelengths small enough to reflect off, not just flow around). And making the diameter larger (and path length around the capsule edge longer) presumably affects the directivity in ways I don't understand.

Do the holes soften the transition between the high and somewhat lower-frequency behavior? Or do they serve some other purpose?

 

[Paul W]

Electro-Voice PL84 handheld end-addressed 16 mm OD electret. I like the form factor (and the rubber surround of the casule mount seems to provide decent isolation). Is there some premium capsule that would fit and predictably work well in this kind of mounting?

 

[k brown]

Electro-Voice PL84 handheld end-addressed 16 mm OD electret. I like the form factor (and the rubber surround of the casule mount seems to provide decent isolation). Is there some premium capsule that would fit and predictably work well in this kind of mounting?
View attachment 138288

Man, the number of microphones that capsule shows up in is astounding!

For upgrade, I'd reach for the Primo EM200; at 14.6mm, it only needs a bit of shimming to fit. A fabulous electret cardioid.
https://micbooster.com/microphone-c...m200-cardioid-electret.html#/99-type-no_wires

It has it's own FET built in, so you'll have to mod the EV circuit to suit.

This one https://www.jlielectronics.com/microphone-capsules/tsb-25axz3-gp would be a considerable improvement, and likely work just fine with no mods to the circuit, but at 25mm may be a challenge to fit/mount.

 

[Khron]

and the rubber surround of the casule mount seems to provide decent isolation

Very similar to the Rode NT3 capsule mount (although i think that has three "spokes"..?)

 

[MicUlli]

Hi All, here some information about MBHO SDC capsules as seen in my profile pic:

The explosion picture is mbhoconstr.jpg: capsule body, front metal mesh, resonator element, membrane glued to a holding metal ring, spacer, complete backplate, plastic cap, metal rings for fixation.
For the KA20 and TC600 capsules two different backplates exist, see bpl_ka20.jpg and bpl_tc600.jpg.
The backplates are mounted in plastic baskets. They have 6 ventholes to the rear, see 6ventholes.jpg.
These 6 ventholes are covered with cushion mesh, see mesh.jpg. KA20 has 6 layers of mesh, TC600 has 9 layers.
A rubber cone is attached and puts a defined force to the cushion mesh layers when the plastic cap is attached.

The membranes are made of 6 um mylar with metal vapourisation. Newer capsules have gold vapourisation..

BTW: For my oppinion one of the best SDC capsules on the market...

 

[jp8]

A Chinese $6 electret capsule. I quite like these with dark blue back and a reticle(?) instead of the usual mesh. Pretty smooth. (This one seems to have a solder blob on the diaphragm, but I probably did that.)

Excellent capsule, indeed. It measures quite flat and almost similar to the blue one with a mesh front. I'd say they are identical. Sensitivity when feeding it into a single-ended OPA Alice circuit is 10mV/Pa. I measured them together with two other capsules. On the picture, top-right is a bit too bright, even for my ageing ears. The one at the bottom-right is not particularly flat and has lower sensitivity. Worst one of all. And the most expensive...

In attached zip file, you'll find some FR charts for comparison, taken at 0 degrees and 90 degrees. The blue ones seem like accurate cardiod capsules and have a FR almost as flat as the 0 degrees chart. The one with silver back side has a bit wider cardiodid pattern. The silver one is only accurate from 400 Hz as it was measured with a tweeter instead of full-range speaker. Mic measurement setup was calibrated using a Umik-1. FYI: I will use the capsule in a drum mic, inspired by the DPA4055 condenser kick-drum mic. I'll use an E902 clone as mic body. See pictures. I made a picture of the drum mic with the hole-pattern capsule, but I'll use one of the blue capsules in the final build. Probably the one with the mesh as it gives better protection. FR charts were made with the capsule mounted in this mic. The capsule holder is 3D printed and suspended in rubber fan studs. Togther with the massive alu body, it gives the mic very good handling noise rejection.

Links to the capsules:
https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256...5b2b79d2u0d1g2&gatewayAdapt=glo2usa4itemAdapt
https://www.aliexpress.us/item/1005...main.5.5b2b79d2u0d1g2&gatewayAdapt=4itemAdapt
https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256...5b2b79d2u0d1g2&gatewayAdapt=glo2usa4itemAdapt
https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256...5b2b79d2u0d1g2&gatewayAdapt=glo2usa4itemAdapt

Kick-drum mic:
https://a.aliexpress.com/_EIIvFkN

Jan

 

[rock soderstrom]

Excellent capsule, indeed.

Thanks jp8 and the rest of the gang to keep this thread alive!

 

[OneRoomStudio]

Does anyone have any pictures of Milab/Pearl/PML rectangular capsules?

 

[k brown]

Does anyone have any pictures of Milab/Pearl/PML rectangular capsules?

From a WorthPoint listing:

 

[Paul W]

Sterling ST51 and (successor model) ST151 capsules. They appear to be of the same type and the same 33mm diameter, but visibly different. The ST51 has translucent white rings and slotted (silver) screws, and the ST151 has opaque white rings and Philips head (silver) screws.

These are of interest because of kingkorg's posts about their similarity to the Manley Reference Cardioid that costs over 30 times as much, with the ST51 capsule measuring the same as the Manley's.

There's been some question as to whether the capsules are 32 or 34 mm in diameter, but mine both measured right in the middle at 33 mm or very close to it, with two different calipers.

The other guts of the mic are very similar; looks like the same transformer-coupled circuit.

The body styling of the new model (ST151) is different and it's a little trickier to get open; it has two black grounding wires from the pcb to screws in the headbasket and the body shell. (I severed the latter one by accident when the body shell suddenly gave and slid off.)

The headbasket on the ST151 has the same size openings but the headband around the top is wider. Not sure if that will make a difference to headbasket issues. The ST151 FR plot shows a sharp dip at 6KHz which I think is a headbasket issue (?).

I saved a session at AudioTestKitchen for comparing the ST151 to the Manley and to the Sony C800G, which have similar overall frequency response:
https://app.audiotestkitchen.com/se...e&instrument=5c4253d26b9a62afdcf7e06fFacebook
(I thought it held up very well on most sources I tried, especially considering it costs 33 times less than the Manley and 100 times less than the C800G. A tambourine part didn't sound as good, maybe because of that 6KHz notch muting the ching.)