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[aremos]

Excuse me if this has been beaten to death but things constantly change.

1) I'm trying to buy  a couple of CK-12 (brass) capsules & from all the research it seems like Tim Campbell's is the  closest.
I emailed him months back and it seems that not only the wait time to obtain one is long but there's also a waiting period to establish communication?

2) Is it even possible to obtain a Haun-MBHO or a Josephson?

3) Any other suggestion?

[klaus]

My first and most important suggestion:
Do not buy an aftermarket CK12 capsule copy without first hearing every brand personally in your mic!
Forum opinions on gear are often tainted by self-serving interests- whether by those of the vendors who post, directly or through customer shills, or whether by those who bought a specific piece of audio gear and are now invested, to the point of denial, that what they bought was maybe not really what they had hoped for, but are now stuck with their financial investment.

As to Tim's availability:
He posts occasionally on this forum, and more frequently on Gearslutz. Just send him a PM through both channels and wait for his reply.

[Jim Williams]

My first and most important suggestion:
Do not buy an aftermarket CK12 capsule copy without first hearing every brand personally in your mic!

That would mean you would need to buy all of them, then try them out one at a time and possibly pay someone to install/remove them.
All hoping you remembered what that last one and all the others sounded like. Once you find the fav, you're stuck with a bunch of used capsules to either eat or sell off at a loss. That would be very expensive.

There has got to be a better way.

[klaus]

I agree, cumbersome, but consider this:

* Several sellers offer an unconditional money-back warranty

* My experience has shown that, even if you are not versed in the finer points of CK12 sounds, you will almost always pick out the 
   one you like best.

* these efforts beat sifting through, and following most forum opinions


Or, choose the most satisfying alternative: buy a used, healthy, original AKG-made CK12 with warranty from the seller, if you really want that sound and want a decent resale value for your purchase.

[aremos]

Yes, I've NEVER bought a mic without 1st testing it myself. But since this involves capsule replacements, I thought I could use only something that I was very familiar with.

It seems very difficult, right now, to obtain AKG mics with capsules in good condition.

I thought that a HAUN capsule would really sound great on just about any good quality mic. In all my experiences with Bock, Brauner & other brands with their capsules they have all sounded good.
The same with Josephson. All the Manley Golds & all the 700 series mics sound superb with that "CK-12" inspired capsule.
The only thing was, which I asked, that I wasn't sure if these companies sold the capsules alone to "non manufacturers".

I'm very familiar with the AKG CK-12 capsule sound and would only ask people like Klaus & Jim for such advice precisely based on the fact that not being a tech and not having the time, it would be impossible to audition all, let alone install & reinstall, such capsules on the mics!

Therefore, since AKG doesn't make that capsule anymore & I'd like to get something as close as possible, and the ones (3) that I'm familiar with are the mentioned I would risk doing it based on what certain professionals on this forum say.

Thanks,
Ariel

[klaus]

Sorry if I responded differently than your question No. 1 ("I'm trying to buy a couple of CK-12 (brass) capsules & from all the research it seems like Tim Campbell's is the closest.") suggested.

In terms of condenser capsule timbres, "closest" is a highly subjective and relative term: You may find any one of the three you mentioned "close" in sound to an original CK12. You may even get agreement from a large percentile of their users.
Yet, to me, that gap between original and copy or emulation may be such a huge qualitative jump, that I may not choose any of them, if I were after the genuine sound of a CK12. In addition, the timbres of all three varied quite a bit, at least in the samples I tested, so: which one is the one to compare a genuine AKG CK12 in good condition to?

I also need to remind you that even AKG's own, modified, 2nd gen CK12, which was supposedly specifically modeled after a very good specimen of an originally CK12, has disappointed almost all who bought into that claim.)

Therefore my suggestions for your own personal exploration, rather than being influenced by my or others' views.

[aremos]

... even AKG's own, modified, 2nd gen CK12, which was supposedly specifically modeled after a very good specimen of an originally CK12, has disappointed almost all who bought into that claim.) ...

Thanks Klaus.
 
Also, which IS the 2nd gen CK12? Is that on the EB's right before they went into the Nylon?

[Jim Williams]

Probably refering to the TLII capsule, a copy of the earlier CK-12 designs with a large 10k hz lift built in. Their other 1" is a flat design like you find in AKG 414 B-ULS or TL model.

I do wish an aftermarket dude would make a clone of that flat response capsule, I have enough mics with EQ already "built in".

[aremos]

Jim,

AKG is still making those. I just had 2 of them put in on 2 of my B-ULS's ... as a matter of fact, as per your advice I had them replaced by Richard Land.

Ariel

[klaus]

Probably refering to the TLII capsule, a copy of the earlier CK-12 designs with a large 10k hz lift built in.

Correct. Two white Nylon-surround versions AKG confusingly calls "CK12" are still made today. I call these 'Generation II' to avoid confusion (but I seem to have created more!).

The first of the Type II series was introduced in the final batch of C414EBs in 1978, and was subsequently used in all LD applications, and the other is what Jim refers to as the "TLII" version, which was introduced with the C414 TLII. Its modified backplate design accentuates the high-midrange of the frequency spectrum. It is also used in the C12VR tube mic.
Both 'Type II' CK12 readily available from AKG as spare parts.