Extreme Mixing wrote on Sun, 07 September 2008 20:05 |
When are you going to start doing Mods on C12VR's? Enquiring minds want to know. |
J.J. Blair wrote on Sun, 07 September 2008 20:18 |
All I did was follow the original schematics, something the manufacturer didn't do, and use better components, and miraculously, the mic sounded better. It wasn't reinventing anything, just following directions. |
J.J. Blair wrote on Mon, 08 September 2008 15:16 |
Joe, they are using the AMI/TAB transformer, which is probably the best made BV8 around, and certainly the only one with the original lamination material, if I understand correctly. And just to clarify, the follow the schematic in terms of the circuit. It's incorrect values that were a problem. |
J.J. Blair wrote on Sun, 07 September 2008 20:18 |
Too bad the OP doesn't have an unmodded on hand to give us some audio of the two! I bet its quite a difference! |
seedyunderbelly.com wrote on Tue, 09 September 2008 09:45 |
Hi JJ How did it compare with a real U47? -j |
wwittman wrote on Sun, 07 September 2008 18:35 |
out of curiosity, between the original Telefunken US mic and its upgrades, plus the costs of the mods JJ did... what's the TOTAL cost of the mic? |
wwittman wrote on Wed, 10 September 2008 02:44 | ||
? |
J.J. Blair wrote on Tue, 09 September 2008 10:55 |
Jack, well, I can't agree with your tech on the cost, as I used about $100 in parts. |
Barry Hufker wrote on Wed, 10 September 2008 00:23 | ||||||||||||||||
J Post by: Jørn Bonne on September 11, 2008, 05:52:39 AM Been following your U47 investigations and try-outs with great interst. Good work. Would you care to name the resistors and capacitors you ended up using in Barry's mic? Brand, type and value in the respective positions. Did you closely follow the values in one of the known U47 schematics or did you deviate in some positions to get a particular performance? Would be much appreciated! Thanks JB Post by: J.J. Blair on September 11, 2008, 09:43:38 AM Post by: Jørn Bonne on September 12, 2008, 12:02:01 PM What brands of carbon comps do you recommend? What's a good source for the NOS paper in oil caps? JB Post by: J.J. Blair on September 13, 2008, 02:33:23 AM They have high quality JAN paper in oil caps by West Cap, in 1 Post by: Jørn Bonne on September 13, 2008, 10:05:44 AM I am interested also in hearing about your work on your own U47 when you get started on that. Will be interesting to see if you can take that to the next level as well, and maybe even turn it into one of the magic specimens. Good luck with that! JB Post by: J.J. Blair on September 13, 2008, 11:29:44 AM Post by: Jørn Bonne on October 20, 2008, 06:57:13 AM Saw what you wrote about your 47 being upstaged on a particular singer by your refurbed M49: http://recforums.prosoundweb.com/index.php/m/0/23754/16/4796 /#msg_23754 Wonder how the 47 would do with a similar new K47 and Oliver transformer? JB Post by: George_ on October 20, 2008, 04:45:01 PM ? is it really worth to modify a T? they used to have pretty cheap stuff.. is it better now? cheers Post by: Larrchild on October 20, 2008, 11:29:07 PM
I don't think that is a problem. You check them with a meter first. Their problem is they are measurably noisier. But so what? They sound great. Sing louder. Post by: George_ on October 21, 2008, 01:57:49 AM
also the temperatur behaviour of carbon is a prob.. and the noise of course. but.. whatever works.. oh.. no.. that is another forum Post by: Larrchild on October 21, 2008, 02:03:50 AM And may be why we sometimes like them. Post by: George_ on October 21, 2008, 02:34:48 AM Post by: Larrchild on October 21, 2008, 03:37:34 AM In this case, as a grid resistor, it's not under any real current stress, but I suppose it's utterly non-reactive nature is what is being heard. Post by: Barry Hufker on October 21, 2008, 11:13:36 AM Post by: J.J. Blair on October 23, 2008, 10:29:54 AM Post by: kats on October 23, 2008, 11:14:32 AM And no, I don't think I'll do a review swapping baskets But when I do have a chance I'll review the mic with some sound files against some originals. I will say this right now though. I'm extremely pleased with the mic and it gets used as a stereo pair with one of our 2 originals as it sounds closer to "stock" than our second U47 (which has a K47 rather than an M7 that our other original houses). That being said, I believe that the elephant in the room with the T-USA U47AE (that houses their VF14K tube) are the capsules themselves - moreso than anything else component wise). I was not happy with the original capsule it shipped with and it did not pair well with our M7 U47 (it sounded a bit too dark, or dull). I discussed this with T-USA and they kindly sent me the plots of a new batch of M7's and based on my experience with the original capsule it shipped with, combined with what I felt would mate it closer to our original, I chose a new one. Obviously there's only so much you can tell from a plot - but I must be lucky. It was as dead on a match you could ever wish for. Even my parter (who actually owns the original) admitted he couldn't really tell the difference. And trust me, that stubborn fella would have loved to say the opposite. I also know that Aramando (who posts on PSW under Del Cosmos) received his "AE" housing a capsule from the same batch (of 6) T-USA M7's that I chose from had the same expereince as me compared to his original U47's. Herein lies the problem (IMO). What is a U47 supposed to sound like? For all of us, it's supposed to sound like our favorite original that we have become accustomed to. but there's only a select few that really know what those originals sounded like new in box. Maybe the first capsule they sent me was actually a better representation? I doubt it, but how can I really know? Anyhow, let me wrap up by making the point I want to make. When your spending this kind of money on a mic - know what you want to hear and why your buying it. Don't buy a copy 47 because you've heard U47's are great mics. Buy it because you want a specific sound that you know well. If the mic doesn't measure up, work with the company you bought the mic from and get it right. Keep in mind that their idea of the perfect U47 sound might be different than yours just as there is varience is sound between the originals. Keep in mind that there will be a varience in sound between the capsules the company manufactures, and God forbid, you may have a more acute sense of sound than the manufacturer. Post by: danickstr on October 23, 2008, 09:08:42 PM But other than that, I think your post is very relevant. Post by: kats on October 24, 2008, 04:09:31 PM
OTOH, without knowing the processing involved on those vocal tracks, it would be difficult to determine what the mic alone should or did sound like raw. Post by: DarinK on October 24, 2008, 04:49:21 PM
Even harder to know without having heard the sources live in the room at the time before they even got to the mic. I've only worked with really great folks a couple of times, but it's always amazing how "well-produced" the voices sound a capella. But I've never heard a good U47 make anything sound worse. Post by: danickstr on October 24, 2008, 06:18:37 PM
This is a great purist point. Not sure what it has to do with making music, but it is a great purist point. Post by: kats on October 24, 2008, 06:29:35 PM Post by: danickstr on October 24, 2008, 09:13:15 PM Sounds like many folks feel they got it down. Post by: J.J. Blair on October 28, 2008, 01:00:34 PM I'm not sold on any current production M7s, at the moment. I have a Berlin M7 here that was reskinnned by MTG, and I'm completely underwhelmed. I think the only way to tell what a U47 SHOULD sound like is with a K47. But that's just my opinion. Post by: kats on October 28, 2008, 08:18:34 PM I can actually be more specific and say it was about 2-3 dB hotter at 5K & 10k than our first "clone capsule". Post by: J.J. Blair on October 28, 2008, 09:52:59 PM Post by: Jørn Bonne on November 26, 2008, 08:02:25 AM Any news on this yet? JB Post by: J.J. Blair on November 26, 2008, 01:42:14 PM |