So, another thread related to 87's got this convo started and I thought I'd make a new thread to keep that one on track. Basics are this, by several assessments the UT Twin87 is an excellent implementation of the 87 circuit with more flexibility than many clones but may be limited in nailing the 87 sound by the headbasket.
United was obviously mindful not to land the Twin in lawsuit territory, and United has said elsewhere that in lieu of the original chiseled basket they sought to make as transparent a basket as possible. I would agree that it is just that, which lends the otherwise 87-ish sound a more open but less forward quality.
Today I got a different project in that has a M-Audio Nova body (thanks again for the ID @Wordsushi) and I decided to attempt to frankenstein it's headbasket on to the Twin. It is just that, definitely not a proper fit, not really even close, but close enough to work for testing.
I could only attach one screw or the other, and opted to use the rear which made the front of the capsule a bit closer to the basket than the rear. This was not necessary I'm sure (and not pictured) but I also wrapped a layer of copper tape around the seam since the mechanical connection was not solid between the body and basket.
Here are some pictures of the ugly thing and some audio samples in following posts.
I have a standard comparison project I use for all mics that come through my hands, it's just one of my songs that I perform a sung (chorus) snippet and rapped (verse) snippet on, same chain, LUFS matched. All the caveats exist, different performances, environmental changes (though not particularly in this case), placement tries to be consistent but is not laser exact, etc...
United was obviously mindful not to land the Twin in lawsuit territory, and United has said elsewhere that in lieu of the original chiseled basket they sought to make as transparent a basket as possible. I would agree that it is just that, which lends the otherwise 87-ish sound a more open but less forward quality.
Today I got a different project in that has a M-Audio Nova body (thanks again for the ID @Wordsushi) and I decided to attempt to frankenstein it's headbasket on to the Twin. It is just that, definitely not a proper fit, not really even close, but close enough to work for testing.
I could only attach one screw or the other, and opted to use the rear which made the front of the capsule a bit closer to the basket than the rear. This was not necessary I'm sure (and not pictured) but I also wrapped a layer of copper tape around the seam since the mechanical connection was not solid between the body and basket.
Here are some pictures of the ugly thing and some audio samples in following posts.
I have a standard comparison project I use for all mics that come through my hands, it's just one of my songs that I perform a sung (chorus) snippet and rapped (verse) snippet on, same chain, LUFS matched. All the caveats exist, different performances, environmental changes (though not particularly in this case), placement tries to be consistent but is not laser exact, etc...
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