The microphone capsule photo and information thread

[rock soderstrom]

If it works, it works. If it sounds good, it sounds good…

I will test it tomorrow morning and hope for the best...EASZYMOD M251 is waiting!

 

[FetMe?FetU!]

Let's keep this thread as factual as possible, the topic is microphone capsules, you can talk a bit more about a certain capsule, but please no negative discussions about marketing lyrics of individual manufacturers. Thank you!

I am confused. I was making a joke. The quote is a Bill Murray line from the movie Ghostbusters. Maybe it was Lost in Translation? (Another Bill Murray movie) Besides, everyone knows that microphones don't need souls, as they are a little slice of heaven all by themselves. However, back to the fake JZ. Based on your experience with other capsules that come in dual and single-side options, do you think I should expect any tonal difference between the dual-sided vs. the single-sided versions of this one? I realize you can't know for sure, but in general, based on the group's experience, if that's fair to ask.

 

[quekoudd]

这些是 ck12 黄铜音头

Is this capsule for sale

 

[FetMe?FetU!]

Is this capsule for sale

Yes it is.

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256...NzMxNDI4MDQyLjYwLjAuMA..&gatewayAdapt=glo2usa

 

[FetMe?FetU!]

I assumed you were asking about the fake JZ, but if I am wrong and you were addressing another member, my sincere apologies. I'm GenX, so I'm used to it all being about me .

 

[kingkorg]

Back to the actual topic, how would you deal with such a situation?

Does this protrusion of the membrane material have any negative effects?
Trash can, need for action or just ignore it?

View attachment 139850

PS: I didn't pay anything for this Rayking capsule.

You can ignore it, no negative effects. But you can easily remove it with an exacto. It's a good capsule.

If it works, it works. If it sounds good, it sounds good…

There are many cases where a capsule, or any gear, checks those boxes, and yet ugly side, anomaly, error hapens when you expect it the least, and you have no idea where it came from. This is especially true for any kind of transducer.

 

[rock soderstrom]

You can ignore it, no negative effects. But you can easily remove it with an exacto. It's a good capsule.

Thanks KK, good news! I also like the capsule, very good value for money

 

[Paul W]

Is it me, or does that Golden Drop pattern of spots seem like a dumb way to make a diaphragm?

My impression is that the weight of a microscopically thin layer of gold isn't significant, and if it were, you'd be better off with a somewhat thinner and partially transparent layer covering the usual inch-wide circle. (And maybe a pattern of small not-gold spots that coincides exactly with the backplate's blind and through holes, where you don't get significant capacitance anyhow; save the gold for where the backplate is close to the membrane.)

Their marketing reads like utter nonsense.

“Imagine a capsule that is wholly sputtered in one layer; it just resonates as one piece,” Evelis says. “But in our case, we have dozens of gold droplets, and they are all resonating. It makes it more accurate, more precise. Can we prove this in scientific tests? Theoretically maybe, but the main thing is that if you listen to any of our mics, you really hear the difference that our mics are clearer.”

https://gearspace.com/board/feature...op-capsule-enlightens-its-condenser-mics.html

 

[FetMe?FetU!]

I honestly wish I were qualified to comment. Many JZ owners love their microphones, which means to them these are good microphones. These customers are discerning listeners, professional musicians, and studio owners.

That does, however, remind me of a specific time at Sony when the company had moved from the one gun one lens CRT technology to 3 Gun 1 lens in order to lower production costs without impacting profit. This allowed Sony to sell lower-cost televisions to the masses, who ordinarily were priced out of Sony's range. After decades of lauding One Gun One Lens as a key reason for Sony's television picture quality, suddenly, it didn't make any difference anymore, and our televisions look the same regardless of one or three guns. I remember extended discussions regarding the actual value of the original design. Side by side, the televisions visually performed the same. On the test bench, they were incredibly close to each other. Did Sony invent a better beam focusing system or lens technology? No. Yet there is no doubt that these newer televisions looked as good as their one-gun counterparts. Sony made great-looking televisions, but apparently not because of one gun one lens. One gun one lens made for great marketing and training, just like aperture grill vs. shadow mask. It gave retail salespeople an easy story to tell and consumers something to grab onto, which justified the premium cost of a Sony TV compared to most similarly featured televisions. It certainly is not the only time in my years at Sony that marketing and promotion drove sales despite much of the marketing or "technological" advantages being hyped being total BS. As long as the product performed, we got away with it, but when the product failed to live up to the hype, oh boy, did we pay!

JZ makes really good-looking and good-performing microphones. Maybe it has nothing to do with Golden Drop, but man, does Golden Drop make a good story. We have a saying in sales and marketing: "The best story wins."

If JZ made an inferior product or was trying to sell Golden Drop capsules by themselves, there might be serious reason for concern, but as long as it is one component out of many and the microphones sound good, most people, even well-informed ones, normally don't care. If it's just marketing... well then its good marketing.

 

[k brown]

Nobody said they weren't good microphones.

There's just a greaat deal of scepticism that the the Golden Drop sputter offers anything superior to conventional sputtering. Especially since they don't offer any technical info that would support it.

A strong whiff of 'something different' just for marketing's sake.

 

[FetMe?FetU!]

Nobody said they weren't good microphones.

There's just a greaat deal of scepticism that the the Golden Drop sputter offers anything superior to conventional sputtering. Especially since they don't offer any technical info that would support it.

A strong whiff of 'something different' just for marketing's sake.

To be very clear, I never said or implied that anyone involved in this discussion has said that JZ microphones were not good. I've read nothing but praise for the company's product's overall performance in these forums. But don't underestimate the value of "something different" when a company is trying to separate itself from a large field of competitors.

Look. Please don't take this as a lecture because that's not my intention, and I'm more than willing to admit I could be wrong. We are just a bunch of folks talking, and this is just my opinion based on my experience. You have yours, and I have mine.

Let's be brutally honest: only a small segment of owners with golden ears can hear a noticeable difference between one similarly specced, quality microphone and another. These are akin to audiophiles in component systems and headphones. Then, some people can hear a difference, but it's not dramatic. You don't have to have perfect pitch to be an excellent singer, but singers with perfect pitch are a breed apart. Then there is everybody else, and convincing enough people from everybody left to buy your brand can be the difference between life and death for your brand. There are not enough people with golden or even discerning ears to sell to unless you are happy being a boutique brand. Successfully marketing to potential customers from the "everybody else" segment is critical for growth. Just banking on the "Can't you hear or see a difference" approach is insufficient because most simply can't. A good marketing pitch can and often is what makes a difference. So yeah, I don't think it's beyond the pale that Golden Drop is JZ's attempt to separate itself from the pack by spinning a better story.

Golden Drop likely started as a legitimate engineering project, and maybe it really makes a difference. The thing is, I was one of those marketing guys who met with the engineering teams to hear about their successes and failures because a good marketing pitch can be found in either. As a marking guy, I see Golden Drop as a great story. If it turns out to be a technological advantage, then all the better, but I think the story is enough, considering how good JZ microphones apparently sound.

The Walkman became successful because of a marketing pitch that said, "You can carry it in your shirt pocket!" Never mind that it did not fit most shirt pockets, Sony had to create shirts with oversized pockets for its people to wear when promoting or advertising it. The iPod succeeded on the idea of carrying a thousand of your favorite songs with you in one small device. Never mind that most people owned nowhere near 1000 songs but man Steve Jobs told that story over and over again.

The iPhone was sold on the joy of using iOS, personified by a rolling graphic of album covers and the promise of these things called apps, which there were not a lot of to start with. But wow, what a story!

The marketing and promotion budget for a product launch can be huge, even in comparison to R&D.

In my experience, "Something Different" is incredibly, hugely, and enormously important.

But again, that's just my take on it.

Damn, this discussion is FUN! Thank you so much for having it with me.

 

[k brown]

I would differ on the point that the Walkman was successful because of a markerting pitch; it's story is in no way comparable to Golden Drop mic capsules. The Sony Walkman was a truly game-changing revolutionary product that changed people's lives becuase of what it actually did, not because of what marketing said about it.

 

[Paul W]

I reserve the right to be disgusted with marketing, if it's BS. Some may admire effective BS, but I don't particularly.

But we should probably stop polluting this thread with issues of marketing and whether the Golden Drop shtik is or isn't BS. There are other threads for that, including this one, which I'd missed. (Sorry for my part in the derail.)

https://groupdiy.com/threads/what-does-capsule-sensitivity-mean.88596/

 

[FetMe?FetU!]

I would differ on the point that the Walkman was successful because of a markerting pitch; it's story is in no way comparable to Golden Drop mic capsules. The Sony Walkman was a truly game-changing revolutionary product that changed people's lives becuase of what it actually did, not because of what marketing said about it.

So K (sorry I wrote Paul), I genuinely would love to hear about your personal experience as part of Sony when Walkman launched, both before and after the amazing marketing campaign. I admit I only spent a couple of decades with the company, and it was years after the Walkman launch, so since you were there when the product was brought to market, I'll defer to your first-hand knowledge. As I said, I'm more than willing to admit I could be wrong.

Paul, you are right. I'll stop polluting and happily move to the suggested thread or start a new one. Thanks. Also, you have every right to be disgusted by brands selling products solely on marketing, BUT sadly, it's generally the rule and not the exception, and it's only gotten worse over the past twenty years.

I have no knowledge of Golden Drop's value as a technology, and as I said, it could very well be amazing and actually make a difference. I was pointing out that it has the potential to be an excellent story to sway potential customers, even if, by itself, it does not impact the microphone's performance.

The moderator should probably delete this detour or move it to the suggested thread.