U67 Build

[soliloqueen]

How would you describe the quality of the metalwork? In particular, of the connector housing at the base and of the side rails? Does it compare favourably to the original in terms of the machining and the materials? How about the headbasket to body connection pins and the general fit of the body components?

The construction is identical, but there's ever so slightly more give. The construction is a little too loose. It's insanely good--probably one of the best quality made in china mics I've ever seen in some ways--but the loosened tolerances have some unintended consequences. I've got one here where the body rings when tipped backwards but not forwards, because of the ever so slight widening of tolerances throwing off the precision damping of the body. The head assembly can also partially come out when the latches are in the locked position, which I remember maybe not being true on a real U87Ai but don't quote me. The side rails are rock solid. Standout feature. They do NOT slowly unseat themselves with the torsion of screwing the bottom cap on like the SYT-5 (a fatal flaw of that design in my eyes). The connector housing is steel, but it seems well made. This is definitely something that can vary with tolerance, so I'd need to test more. It is an astounding replica. The differences are not dissimilar to a real rolex vs a "superclone" rolex, which I've also had hands-on time with in the past. It has several serious issues that compromise the way it sounds, but almost all of them are less than an hour fix total to someone knowledgeable.

There are also some laugh moments, like how it has a "tab" out of the back of the tube to keep it straight, but no corresponding tooth on the headbasket assembly, so the tube can spin freely if the bottom isn't holding it in place via friction. It's solid when screwed together, though.

 

[Drosselmeier]

How would you describe the quality of the metalwork? In particular, of the connector housing at the base and of the side rails? Does it compare favourably to the original in terms of the machining and the materials? How about the headbasket to body connection pins and the general fit of the body components?

The pins in the head are good and strong, but in a plastic cup they are not secured in the best way and sometimes it is difficult to insert the head into the cup, the head mesh, the body pipe and the lower part are made of yellow non-magnetic metal, possibly brass, in general the body is not bad, but everything is very expensive, the parts are interchangeable with the original ones, so all this can be done with the original tlm67 or u87

 

[soliloqueen]

The pin thickness is slightly different, genuine so head assemblies don't mate exactly on clone bodies and and vice versa. I think this difference means one combination doesn't work, but I can't remember which combination.

 

[MagnetoSound]

Thanks for the detailed reports. It’s good to know the strengths and weaknesses when you might be considering a not-so-cheap ‘replica’ for purchase, even if you are going to rebuild the guts. My main concerns were over the possible use of a cheap ‘pot metal’ casting for the base and flimsy side rails. I have an early (797) B-1 here, which I suppose would be well-made enough were it the correct size and shape, but the cheaper Ai copies I have seen on Ali look really awful when you zoom in.

I guess its pretty neat if the switches all work as they should, too.


‘The differences are not dissimilar to a real rolex vs a "superclone" rolex, which I've also had hands-on time with in the past.‘ - pun intended, I hope

 

[soliloqueen]

The reverse bracing of the side rails along the grooves at the top and bottom means that they truly are completely rigid. They don't bend even slightly. They aren't loose. They don't pivot at any point of attachment. There is no give. It might as well be a solid block of metal connecting the top and bottom assemblies. Outstanding construction. Though, it's because it's a perfect replica of someone else's work, but still.. very refreshing after dealing with bodies like the syt5 that were mistakenly designed with flat rails and disassemble themselves eventually.

Thanks for the detailed reports. It’s good to know the strengths and weaknesses when you might be considering a not-so-cheap ‘replica’ for purchase, even if you are going to rebuild the guts. My main concerns were over the possible use of a cheap ‘pot metal’ casting for the base and flimsy side rails. I have an early (797) B-1 here, which I suppose would be well-made enough were it the correct size and shape, but the cheaper Ai copies I have seen on Ali look really awful when you zoom in.

I guess its pretty neat if the switches all work as they should, too.


‘The differences are not dissimilar to a real rolex vs a "superclone" rolex, which I've also had hands-on time with in the past.‘ - pun intended, I hope

There is no mystery pot metal anywhere in the mic. It has the whole mechanical switch deck.

 

[RuudNL]

Funny members are dicussing here a Chinese U87ai clone...
Last year I posted some details about the same microphone, but my post was deleted without any notice.

 

[MagnetoSound]

Funny members are dicussing here a Chinese U87ai clone...
Last year I posted some details about the same microphone, but my post was deleted without any notice.

I remember … I think at that point the mic was just out and I guess maybe at that time we were still a bit jumpy about the ramifications, not to say a little shocked at quite how brazen it was. It still feels like thin ice to me, but it seems that as long as we don’t actually link to the product page the mods will be lenient.

If we can at least discuss the existence and properties of a counterfeit product, I think it can only benefit the members here - as long as none of us are seen to be promoting illegal activity. At the end of the day, it seems that none of us are 100% sure exactly what intellectual property is protected by Neumann, other than the obvious headbasket shape, and that particular cat has been out of the bag a long time now, viz Røde and others. They don’t seem particularly bothered about the circuit cloning that has become rife in recent years.

I hope I’m not out of line with any of this.

 

[soliloqueen]

I remember … I think at that point the mic was just out and I guess maybe at that time we were still a bit jumpy about the ramifications, not to say a little shocked at quite how brazen it was. It still feels like thin ice to me, but it seems that as long as we don’t actually link to the product page the mods will be lenient.

If we can at least discuss the existence and properties of a counterfeit product, I think it can only benefit the members here - as long as none of us are seen to be promoting illegal activity. At the end of the day, it seems that none of us are 100% sure exactly what intellectual property is protected by Neumann, other than the obvious headbasket shape, and that particular cat has been out of the bag a long time now, viz Røde and others. They don’t seem particularly bothered about the circuit cloning that has become rife in recent years.

I hope I’m not out of line with any of this.

The kit comes with a Neumann branded wooden box, the actual u87 AI manual and copies the PCB art exactly with no changes so it's worse than the nt2. It even has fake WIMA capacitors, which is impressive. The big tell is the lack of custom choke but mine is years old and I hear that there is a new version that does have the choke and a fully accurate transformer. The new ones are probably even harder to tell apart.

It also comes with a fake Neumann shock mount that fits the original.

 

[RuudNL]

The current version has a label on the transformer: 'circuit diagram 04'.
This is not correct, because circuit diagram 04 uses the SMD sub-PCB, instead of a 2N3819.

 

[soliloqueen]

The current version has a label on the transformer: 'circuit diagram 04'.
This is not correct, because circuit diagram 04 uses the SMD sub-PCB, instead of a 2N3819.

There might be multiple suppliers assembling the same pcb with different levels of accuracy, because I know for a fact that a more accurate transformer clone marked Circuit Diagram 06 exists:

Along with the inductor:


Because I've seen them listed in Desheng's catalogue. It's likely that the versions on AliExpress are not the highest quality fakes available but are reduced-quality versions built with market parts and the "good" ones are only available through direct contact dealers, similar to counterfeit watches.

 

[Drosselmeier]

There might be multiple suppliers assembling the same pcb with different levels of accuracy, because I know for a fact that a more accurate transformer clone marked Circuit Diagram 06 exists:
View attachment 119242
Along with the inductor:
View attachment 119243

Because I've seen them listed in Desheng's catalogue. It's likely that the versions on AliExpress are not the highest quality fakes available but are reduced-quality versions built with market parts and the "good" ones are only available through direct contact dealers, similar to counterfeit watches.

there are 2 versions of the Chinese u87, one is a little more expensive, the other is cheaper

 

[soliloqueen]

there are 2 versions of the Chinese u87, one is a little more expensive, the other is cheaper

Yeah, exactly! I wonder if they have capsule differences too

 

[Drosselmeier]

Yeah, exactly! I wonder if they have capsule differences too

According to my information, the capsules in both models are the same, even the less expensive model sounds not bad

 

[RuudNL]

They use 180 pF instead of 160 pF in the de-emphasis network.
This gives slightly more attenuation for the higher frequencies.
Also the FET bias isn't correct: in all microphones the source resistor seems to be 7.5 K.ohm.

 

[dmp]

Does anyone know a part number for the miniature switches that come with the u67 switch board?

 

[rockinrob86]

i decided to try to make U67. Right now trying to find any possible bugs
View attachment 118816View attachment 118817

Any plans to sell pcbs? I would definitely be into a few…

 

[dmp]

Any plans to sell pcbs? I would definitely be into a few…

I have some extras at $50/set

I am still building up the psu PCB so they are not ready to be included. But I should have it built soon

 

[doqmemory]

Does anyone know a part number for the miniature switches that come with the u67 switch board?


View attachment 121144

At Mouser, it looks like the pattern switch could be https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Dailywell/2MS3T2B2M6QES?qs=B6kkDfuK7/DFHHLLKGh0DA== and the LF/pad switches could be https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Dailywell/2MS1T2B2M6QES?qs=B6kkDfuK7/CL9Qu4QtdHDw== but I have not ordered them yet.

Alternately, https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/E-Switch/200MSP3T2B2M6RE?qs=7Bi7Dg8SEnzXcdMizkhA0A== and https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/E-Switch/200MSP1T2B2M6RE?qs=7Bi7Dg8SEnwpN43jZS7hJQ== should also work. I ordered a pair of the later several years ago, which seemed to work fine.

 

[dmp]

At Mouser, it looks like the pattern switch could be https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Dailywell/2MS3T2B2M6QES?qs=B6kkDfuK7/DFHHLLKGh0DA== and the LF/pad switches could be https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Dailywell/2MS1T2B2M6QES?qs=B6kkDfuK7/CL9Qu4QtdHDw== but I have not ordered them yet.

Alternately, https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/E-Switch/200MSP3T2B2M6RE?qs=7Bi7Dg8SEnzXcdMizkhA0A== and https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/E-Switch/200MSP1T2B2M6RE?qs=7Bi7Dg8SEnwpN43jZS7hJQ== should also work. I ordered a pair of the later several years ago, which seemed to work fine.

Those look right! thanks. I'll order some this week and verify

 

[Drosselmeier]