Most Versatile Mic Under $1000

capnreverb

New member
A lot of folks have been asking what is the best mic under a grand for this application or that application. In the end, it's all just subjective. Some sight say that the SM7 is the best for vocals, or maybe a good ribbon like the AES. Some might say that the AKG 414 is best for many applications. Some (not DJL of course) might say that the Studio Projects T3 or the Rode K2. Blue makes real good mics under a grand and so does the often overlooked Shure. Granted no mic is best for everything, but ............... there is the often overlooked Wollensak mic. Lets take a look at its mysterious pedigree.

Dieder Wollensak was the leader tech/engeneer at Neumann before the fall of Berlin. You may have heard of the Gefell split, which basically took the old designs and improved upon them. Wollensak was stuck in the Eastern Block but kicked out of Gefell due to some rumoured sexual impropriety, or political leanings depending on who's doing the history. So, Dieder W was stuck to his own devices and came up with the Wollensak mic around 1963 after about 15 years of hardcore tinkering. This may be the greatest unknown mic outside of the "know" circles. Unfortunatly, Wollensak commited suicide after the initial production of about 5000 mics, and the original schematics were burned before he hanged himself. He was distraught over the fact that his greatness was being marginalized and the 15 years of dire poverty did not help.

So, lets look at the mic. For starters, there is virtually no self noise. This is due to it's cadmium bromide resistors, FET triode reduced algorhythn transistors, and mercury sputtered diaphram. The mercury (his own breakthrough) sputtered diaphram gives the incoming sound source an almost liquid buyouncy. The fact that mercury is a liquid (made stable by Dieder's sputtering technique) makes all incoming energy (sound) elastic, therefore reproducing more accuratly the sound source. So, in a way, it is almost like a ribbon mic in the natural give and take of energy. The advanced resistors and transistors offer an exceptioanal electronic translation of the natural output of the mercural diaphram. While it is a cardoid mic, it's off axis response is like god had planned it that way. Imagine the fullness of a omni, but with the precision of a hypercardiod. Freakin' mindbending!!!!

A lot of mics sound good on one vocal style, but not another. This is never a problem with the Wollensak. Baritone opera to the highest note of the sopranina, from Tom Waits gravel to Rap exclamation this mic excells. Many of you may have struggled with the soprano sax in terms of the right mic. No problem for that horn. Upright bass? Ron Carter owns 2 of them! John Cage and Morton Feldmann would only use these for their recordings. They were especailly fond of how quiet these mics are. Steve Albini swears by them. John Lennon and Phil Spector used these mics exclusively for the Imagine LP. This was George Martins favorite mic. All of you folks have it wrong about Bono using the sm57/58 for his voice. According to Brian Eno who has worked on most of their albums, it's the Wollensak.

The funny think is that most folks have no idea about this mic, and it sells on ebay for like $300 bucks. Crazy!
 

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Sadly, Dieder Wollensak's great mercury sputtering idea didn't hold up in the real world; eventually, it got warm enough to turn back into a liquid, and simply ran off the mylar backing, usually shorting out the FET's and resistors in the process.

While they are relatively cheap on ebay, Dieder's wife, Whilhemina Wollensak, is the only person alive that can re-sputter the diaphragms and it's something like $650 to restore, but it would still come in (excluding shipping back and forth to Germany) for under $1,000 - the subject of this thread. Unfortunately she's 84 years old and suffers from mercury poisoning, so I don't know how much longer she'll be restoring mics

Once it's re-sputtered, it should never be used in a room warmer than 50 degrees, and it should be stored in a refridgerator when not in actual use. Put it into a ziplock bag with some desicant packages.

If the singer has a warm breathy voice, you can cut a small slit into a pop filter to hold a few ice cubes in place to cool the vocals, but keep vocal sessions short.

Keeping the mic upright (as shown in the picture) is actually a bad idea, for obvious reasons; the diaphragm should be horizontal, meaning the singer hunches over the microphone, aiming down. Most singers simply kneel - some actually lie flat on the floor. You'll often see lead singers drop to their knees on stage, with the mic between their legs. That's to try to duplicate the sound of the Wollensak mic

That style of singing (kneeling or lying over the mic) is uncomfortable for me; I wouldn't lie over a mic, except perhaps here.
 
Sky Blue Lou said:
Have you got Wilhelmina's number?


lou

What a coincidence! When I was in Berlin several years ago I actually met the lady. She lived on Halenseestrasse, just off the KuDam. Unfortunately I don't have her address or phone number.

However, I did spend several days with her in the shop, where she showed me the mercury sputtering technique, which I have been able to duplicate in one of my cat's litter boxes here at my home. I've also managed to get ahold of several of the algorhythm FETs, but haven't found a source yet for the CdBr resistors. She also showed me the real crux of the microphone's head-amp design, which employs flux capacitors in a parallel push-pull arrangement.

If any of you have a Wollensak that needs refurbishing, you can send it to me along with a postal money order for $250 and I'll get it done and right back to you lickety-split.
 
Harvey Gerst said:
You can SNIFF mercury? Great, no more needles.
Actually, you can just eat it - no need to suffer while ingesting it.

Hat makers used to use a murcuric nitrate solution to shape wool hats. They pinned the hat together prior to sewing, and as they took the pins out they held them in their mouths. Hence the phrase "mad as a hatter" - slurred speech, tremors, depression - symptoms of mercury poisoning.
 
crazydoc said:
What a coincidence! When I was in Berlin several years ago I actually met the lady. She lived on Halenseestrasse, just off the KuDam. Unfortunately I don't have her address or phone number.

That's it - 21 Halenseestrasse !!! Thank you, it's been driving me crazy. I kept thinking it was 21 Barbrastreisand, but I knew that was wrong.

However, I did spend several days with her in the shop, where she showed me the mercury sputtering technique, which I have been able to duplicate in one of my cat's litter boxes here at my home. I've also managed to get ahold of several of the algorhythm FETs, but haven't found a source yet for the CdBr resistors. She also showed me the real crux of the microphone's head-amp design, which employs flux capacitors in a parallel push-pull arrangement.

Please keep in mind that the EPA banned mercury sputtering in 1998. I believe they banned stuttering the following year (which destroyed Mel Tillis' career).

If any of you have a Wollensak that needs refurbishing, you can send it to me along with a postal money order for $250 and I'll get it done and right back to you lickety-split.
 
crazydoc said:
Hence the phrase "mad as a hatter" - slurred speech, tremors, depression - symptoms of mercury poisoning.
You mean I've had mercury poisoning ALL MY LIFE? "Slurred speech, tremors, depression" - I always thought they were just symptoms of being a recording engineer.
 
Harvey Gerst said:
I believe they banned stuttering the following year (which destroyed Mel Tillis' career).

Next thing you know they'll ban muttering, which will destroy my ability to respond to my wife's chattering.
 
Harvey Gerst said:
You mean I've had mercury poisoning ALL MY LIFE? "Slurred speech, tremors, depression" - I always thought they were just symptoms of being a recording engineer.
You see, you've probably been using mercury-sputtered diaphragms all along.
 
I thought they banned the mic because after a few minutes the heat from the electronics vaporized some of the mercury enough to make the area unsafe according to OSHA limits, measureable by a mercury vapor meter.

Of course, putting mercury amalgam dental fillings directly into a person's mouth is ok, even tho simple science says that mercury leaks out of an amalam because an amalgam is not an alloy.... stick that mercury vapor meter in your mouth and it's measureable vapor. So it's ok to have a permanent source of toxin in a mouth, available 24/7 going right into the system, but not in the workplace....






























paragraph #1: BS
paragraph #2: Real S!
 
capnreverb said:
Some (not DJL of course) might say that the Studio Projects T3 or the Rode K2.
But only because I haven't used either of those mics, so I have no idea how versatile they are... on the other hand... IMO, the Sennheiser MD421 is one of the most versatile mics ever made at any cost. :)
 
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