Warm Audio Wa47jr Mod

[Masiusima13]

Hello, i recently got a warm audio wa47jr as a gift from my friend, the mic sounds fairly nice and is a versatile and usable mic for the price, however comparing it so some more expensive mics (tlm 102, rode k2 with a telefunken tube) its just a bit lacking on vocals.
The overall sound and especially the mid range sounds a bit bland, unfocused and smeary and eqing that low mid muddiness out leaves it sounding a bit thin and uninspiring. It also doesnt compress as well as other mics, it kinda pumps with my 1176 when compressed heavily and sounds a bit bloated, that doesnt happen with the other mics
Well i guess its fine for the price but being the nerd that i am i want to try modding it to try matching it to the more expensive mics as much as i can.
The circuit is transformerless and apparently uses good components like Wima and Panasonic caps and toshiba transistors so i was thinking about modding the mic with a different capsule, would that improve things?

I would love some advice on what K47 capsule would you recommend that i can get in europe under 200 dollars?
I was looking at advanced audio AK47, was also notified of maiku capsules but they seem currently out of stock, any advice?

 

[pasarski]

I don't think any K47 under $200 is much different than what you already have there (if it's not a dud). They are all differently branded Chinese capsules. It could be that you just don't like K47 sound. TLM102 and K2 both have very different kind of capsules.

 

[Masiusima13]

I have tried some other k47 mics, for example the micparts t47 and roswell k47, and i liked their sound quite a lot, the slight muddy midrange thing that the wa47jr has was definitely absent on those mics, just a solid clear midrange that you could easily work into a mix. Ive heard from some people that the warm k47 capsule wasnt necessarily the best so that led me to think of changing the capsule in the first place

 

[pasarski]

It could be that it's not the best Chinese capsule.

Our forum member @soliloqueen makes really nice capsules. The flat variety (no typical mid bump) is well under $200 even with customs and taxes but it's not an exact K47 clone. I don't have first hand experience with it, but people here seem to love it. The vintage accurate cardiod version is not much over $200 with the expenses, if you don't mind that the omni and figure 8 will be little off.

https://groupdiy.com/threads/soliloqueens-k87-k67-and-k47-capsules.81968/

https://store.arienneaudio.com/

 

[kingkorg]

Hello, i recently got a warm audio wa47jr as a gift from my friend, the mic sounds fairly nice and is a versatile and usable mic for the price, however comparing it so some more expensive mics (tlm 102, rode k2 with a telefunken tube) its just a bit lacking on vocals.
The overall sound and especially the mid range sounds a bit bland, unfocused and smeary and eqing that low mid muddiness out leaves it sounding a bit thin and uninspiring. It also doesnt compress as well as other mics, it kinda pumps with my 1176 when compressed heavily and sounds a bit bloated, that doesnt happen with the other mics
Well i guess its fine for the price but being the nerd that i am i want to try modding it to try matching it to the more expensive mics as much as i can.
The circuit is transformerless and apparently uses good components like Wima and Panasonic caps and toshiba transistors so i was thinking about modding the mic with a different capsule, would that improve things?

I would love some advice on what K47 capsule would you recommend that i can get in europe under 200 dollars?
I was looking at advanced audio AK47, was also notified of maiku capsules but they seem currently out of stock, any advice?

Whatever you do, don't change the capsule, it is probably the best thing about that mic. For the money you'll never find a better 47 based, readily available mic. I guess you just don't like 47 based mics. It happens quite often. The capsule is very, very close to the Neumann's original, and is large part of the mic's price. I'd say just sell it if you don't like it. Or maybe convert to a tube mic, or transformer out circuit. None of that will change it's sound significantly tho.

What you describe as low end muddiness is what people like about 47 based mics, and many Neumann's in general. As a fact, most people mod K2 and TLMs to sound like that. Most call that muddiness "warm". Also how you describe jr. is how people often describe u47FET on vocals, which is solid state 47 based mic, not that different to what you have. Give it time, and find what it sounds good on. Metallica Black Album vocals?

Learn how to EQ it. It needs different kind of treatment than TLM and K2.

 

[pasarski]

Whatever you do, don't change the capsule, it is probably the best thing about that mic. For the money you'll never find a better 47 based, readily available mic. I guess you just don't like 47 based mics. It happens quite often. The capsule is very, very close to the Neumann's original, and is large part of the mic's price. I'd say just sell it if you don't like it. Or maybe convert to a tube mic, or transformer out circuit. None of that will change it's sound significantly tho.

What you describe as low end muddiness is what people like about 47 based mics, and many Neumann's in general. As a fact, most people mod K2 and TLMs to sound like that. Most call that muddiness "warm". Also how you describe jr. is how people often describe u47FET on vocals, which is solid state 47 based mic, not that different to what you have. Give it time, and find what it sounds good on. Metallica Black Album vocals?

Learn how to EQ it. It needs different kind of treatment than TLM and K2.

Quality post

 

[Masiusima13]

Whatever you do, don't change the capsule, it is probably the best thing about that mic. For the money you'll never find a better 47 based, readily available mic. I guess you just don't like 47 based mics. It happens quite often. The capsule is very, very close to the Neumann's original, and is large part of the mic's price. I'd say just sell it if you don't like it. Or maybe convert to a tube mic, or transformer out circuit. None of that will change it's sound significantly tho.

What you describe as low end muddiness is what people like about 47 based mics, and many Neumann's in general. As a fact, most people mod K2 and TLMs to sound like that. Most call that muddiness "warm". Also how you describe jr. is how people often describe u47FET on vocals, which is solid state 47 based mic, not that different to what you have. Give it time, and find what it sounds good on. Metallica Black Album vocals?

Learn how to EQ it. It needs different kind of treatment than TLM and K2.

Thanks for the advice! I guess its not the overall eq curve that bothers me as much as the not so punchy mids unlike other k47 style mics ive tried that were well defined in the midrange. Im baffled to what could be causing that, if the capsule is good enough maybe the internal circuitry is not up to par? Youre definitely right that i need a bit more time with it to learn how to eq it well since i havent worked with k47 style mics in a while.

 

[kingkorg]

bothers me as much as the not so punchy mids unlike other k47 style mics ive tried that were well defined in the midrange.

Thats because cheap and badly made k47 have excessive midrange push, original Neumann doesn't have that much midrange push, and this capsule is very much like Neumann's. If you want that excessive midrange, you can get it with 30$ Aliexpress k47.

There's not much you can do with the circuit either. That mic is designed along with the capsule by one of the greatest people in the industry. The man behind 3U audio. There's not much you can do without making it worse. Don't underestimate it just because the price or the fact you got it for free. But you are of course entitled to not like it.

 

[Barry Farmer]

I have often started a vocal O/d session by blind testing up to a dozen microphones at a time. Very often the stand-out mic will be something other than what I expected - and not infrequently, quite a moderately priced dynamic will be perfect - for that particular singer (on that particular day?). Miniscule, barely perceptible differences between your selection of mics will often indicate that the use of something quite different is required! And, always remember - it's the performance which is important!

 

[RuudNL]

I have often started a vocal O/d session by blind testing up to a dozen microphones at a time.

That is what a lot of sound engineers do. Here is how Neil Cappellino works:

 

[Dylan W]

Whatever you do, don't change the capsule, it is probably the best thing about that mic. For the money you'll never find a better 47 based, readily available mic. I guess you just don't like 47 based mics. It happens quite often. The capsule is very, very close to the Neumann's original, and is large part of the mic's price. I'd say just sell it if you don't like it. Or maybe convert to a tube mic, or transformer out circuit. None of that will change it's sound significantly tho.

What you describe as low end muddiness is what people like about 47 based mics, and many Neumann's in general. As a fact, most people mod K2 and TLMs to sound like that. Most call that muddiness "warm". Also how you describe jr. is how people often describe u47FET on vocals, which is solid state 47 based mic, not that different to what you have. Give it time, and find what it sounds good on. Metallica Black Album vocals?

Learn how to EQ it. It needs different kind of treatment than TLM and K2.

I’ve never heard an aftermarket capsule under $250 that had the same 3d mids as a genuine Neumann capsule (k47, k67/87, k89, kk84, doesn’t matter, there is a common family “resolution” in the mids). Not everything is about freq response, though that’s easiest to measure.

The best I’ve heard in this regard is Soliloqueen’s k87 v2, though this is through soundclips - haven’t had hands on time with it.

Haven’t heard the Warm either, but at the price point I am skeptical that the resolution is the same as a Neumann k47. I don’t doubt that they nailed the freq response. Maybe OP might consider one of Soliloqueen’s k47s.

 

[soliloqueen]

the 3u k47 is no slouch, it's definitely the closest of all the 3u capsules. the only way it really differs from the neumann is thickness

 

[KrIVIUM2323]

Also how you describe jr. is how people often describe u47FET on vocals, which is solid state 47 based mic, not that different to what you have. Give it time, and find what it sounds good on. Metallica Black Album vocals?

Learn how to EQ it. It needs different kind of treatment than TLM and K2.

U47fet (clone i own and origïnal in studio i worked in) are my go to mic on rock kick drums. Something like between 1m/50cm in front of the kick, pointing or not at the hole. I like it on guitar cabs too.

I tried many times on vocals but never met a voice it worked well. U47 tube, U67(with female vocalists) or M49 on the other hand...

 

[kingkorg]

I’ve never heard an aftermarket capsule under $250 that had the same 3d mids as a genuine Neumann capsule (k47, k67/87, k89, kk84, doesn’t matter, there is a common family “resolution” in the mids). Not everything is about freq response, though that’s easiest to measure.

The best I’ve heard in this regard is Soliloqueen’s k87 v2, though this is through soundclips - haven’t had hands on time with it.

Haven’t heard the Warm either, but at the price point I am skeptical that the resolution is the same as a Neumann k47. I don’t doubt that they nailed the freq response. Maybe OP might consider one of Soliloqueen’s k47s.

I can't comment, as we don't use the same terminology. I don't know what capsule resolution is, how does one hear it, how does Neumann quantify and measure for it. I don't know either why you are talking about frequency response, as i haven't mentioned it. If you are referring to my measurements, FR is just one aspect i measure. Remember that we used measurements, FR among others, to evaluate Soliloqueen's capsules. If she used only ears and "resolution" to create her capsule, she wouldn't get anywhere. I also said that capsule, in that mic is very CLOSE to Neumann's.

And no, frequency response is not easy to measure, but you are welcome to share your approach to measurements, maybe we are missing something.

An experienced health worker can eyeball your blood pressure by feeling your puls, but would you rather have that or use clinical measurement equipment if you ever end up in an ER?