Re: budget mic/preamp question (transparency vs character/warmth)

Mike Rivers <mrivers@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

On Nov 27, 10:41 am, straightnut <ck74...@xxxxxxx> wrote:

Just curious, is this supposed to
be a good mic on its own or only with the Williams modification?

Those who have them seem to think they're pretty good as they come,
and Jim Williams' modifications make it better. Let's see what Dean
says when he receives his latest one and tells us how much like his
other one(s) it sounds like.

My pair sound much alike. I don't worry which one I put up. But I also
don't use them for stereo tracking. I have other options there.

What
is it that keeps the original manufacturers from making a device like
this as good as it can be without the need for modification?
Are the parts that much more expensive?

Yes, better quality parts would add to the cost. When they're shooting
for a $39 price point (and this is a marketing decision) there's no
wiggle room to put in a quieter transistor or IC, or a better grade of
resistor. It may only cost you $10 for the parts to upgrade it (I
really don't know - I didn't look up Williams' post describing what he
does with this mic) but if they did that at the factory, it would be a
$99 mic (which MXL also sells).

A repost of info previously reposted by Les Cargill:

Jim said this in the thread ( message ID
<1174145213.609857.134240@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> >

"The hard sound from these is a result of some of the parts they use.
The cap off the casule is a mono ceramic, bad choice. I use a MIT
MultiCap there. I replace the 2sk170 fet which I find to sound cloudy
to a fast J305 from Siliconix. The bipolars are changed to Hitachi
2sa1083's. I up the polarization voltage from 40 to 57 volts which
increases output by around 5 db. That plus the lower noise
semiconductors makes this a very quiet mic. The ouput caps are
enlarged to allow 20 hz to pass and those are bypassed with more MIT
caps. I use Dale RN55 resistors for the audio path. Panasonic FM
electrolytics are used for long term reliability. Some of mine I
installed Kimber black pearls silver teflon wire off the capsule."

Would a modified $39 mic be better than an off-the-shelf $99 mic?
Probably, as long as the capsule was OK.

Ty seemed to think these sounded okay stock, too.

Understand we're only talking sound here; open it up and get a slightly
Erector Set sensation. Don't try to screw it all back together too
tightly or you'll bust something. This is NOT Neumann/et al chassis
quality. OTOH, getting into it is easy and the circuit board is not
something akin to a mini-motherboard. I'll eventually send mine to Jim
for mods. It's not worth my time to track down the parts and do my own
soldering for something like this.

--
ha
Iraq is Arabic for Vietnam
.

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