MXL 960 Tube Mic

JPXTom

JPXTom

New member
Any thoughts on this mic? samples? Is it better than the MXL 990? Just curious what people think about this microphone.
 
I should have one arriving either tomorrow or wednesday. I will give it a once over and let you know what I think. It's not going to stay a 960 for long with me.:)
 
hey phill, tell me how you went. i was thinking of modding one instead of doing a royer mod. which do u think will give a better sound?

:P nice thread, i was thinking about making it.
first thing is though im very sure the 990 does not have a tube.
 
...definately less harsh than the majority of cheaper "toob" mics...has a nice smooth vibe as Harvey said...big hefty body too...vintage style...often overlooked, but a great first tube mic for the home recordist...upgrade the stock tube with a NOS GE 6072 and you're on your way...;)
 
Hmm...well seems like a lot of people says its good...so is it a pretty nice upgrade from an MXL 990?
 
I would think it would blow doors on a 990.

Well, the UPS truck came and left. No package for me.:(
 
PhilGood said:
I would think it would blow doors on a 990.

Well, the UPS truck came and left. No package for me.:(
Click to expand...

I know the pain...i have an sm57 and sm58 on the way..and every day im just hoping their coming..and thank you harvey for the input, and with your reputation around here(and from a listen to your recordings) i trust your opinion...hopefully i'll have a chance to check it out at a GC or something.
 
Philgood,

You gutting the 960 and adding that new Peluso cap you bought? What are your thoughts for mods on this?

Sorry to hijack the thread..

Thanks

Brutus
 
Well, actually I've got 3 approaches to try with 3 different mics.

I bought the Peluso capsule to compare, but it's original purpose was to put in a modified Nady TCM 1050 so that I'd have an M7/K47 I could use with multiple patterns. (I have to be careful about modding the power supply, as too much voltage on this style capsule can suck the diaphragm into the backplate) It's going to take some tweeking to get this right, so I have a K67 style capsule in there now.

I have 2 M7 capsules and ultimately I'm thinking of using the best one in My MXL 992 that I altered with and EF14 tube and Cinemag U47 replacement transformer in a U47 circuit. The other M7 will probably go in the 960 with the 5840 circuit I've been working on.

None of them are going to be dead on with a U47, but it'll be as close as I can get for my budget.
 
PhilGood said:
Well, actually I've got 3 approaches to try with 3 different mics.

I bought the Peluso capsule to compare, but it's original purpose was to put in a modified Nady TCM 1050 so that I'd have an M7/K47 I could use with multiple patterns. (I have to be careful about modding the power supply, as too much voltage on this style capsule can suck the diaphragm into the backplate) It's going to take some tweeking to get this right, so I have a K67 style capsule in there now.

I have 2 M7 capsules and ultimately I'm thinking of using the best one in My MXL 992 that I altered with and EF14 tube and Cinemag U47 replacement transformer in a U47 circuit. The other M7 will probably go in the 960 with the 5840 circuit I've been working on.

None of them are going to be dead on with a U47, but it'll be as close as I can get for my budget.
Click to expand...

yes :D!!!!!
that's so awesome :D
 
PhilGood said:
Well, actually I've got 3 approaches to try with 3 different mics.

I bought the Peluso capsule to compare, but it's original purpose was to put in a modified Nady TCM 1050 so that I'd have an M7/K47 I could use with multiple patterns. (I have to be careful about modding the power supply, as too much voltage on this style capsule can suck the diaphragm into the backplate) It's going to take some tweeking to get this right, so I have a K67 style capsule in there now.

I have 2 M7 capsules and ultimately I'm thinking of using the best one in My MXL 992 that I altered with and EF14 tube and Cinemag U47 replacement transformer in a U47 circuit. The other M7 will probably go in the 960 with the 5840 circuit I've been working on.

None of them are going to be dead on with a U47, but it'll be as close as I can get for my budget.
Click to expand...

why do u need to moddify the power supply?
 
docmattic said:
why do u need to moddify the power supply?
Click to expand...

For when the mic is in figure 8 mode. That's done by having 70v on the front diaphragm, 0v on the backplate and then 140v on the back diaphragm. This kind of capsule can't handle that level of voltage and the back diaphragm will be sucked into the backplate, shorting it out.
 
its not necessary to modify the power supply for a single polar pattern mic is it?

and while we are on the topic of power supply mods, is it necessary to do power mods for the royer mic mod?

thanks
 
No, it is not necessary to modify the power supply for a single pattern mic. What I'm talking about is putting a "K47" capsule in a Nady TCM 1050 multi-pattern circuit, where the voltages might be too high to use such a capsule. If left in cardioid position the mic would do fine, but engaging full figure 8 would be a problem.

If you're doing the Royer Mod, just follow the schematic. The only other plattern besides cardioid you could use with that mod would be adding a switch to put the capsule into omni, which uses the same voltages on both diaphragms.

BTW, through some research of my own, I am finding that the Jensen transformer and Cinemag transformers used for the Royer mod might not be an appropriate ratio to match the 5840 tube's output impedance. This is recently discovered. The 5840 tube would be a better match with a 6.5:1 or 7:1 ratio instead of the 12:1 Jensen transformer and 10.5:1 Cinemag transformer. These might cause distortions when hit too hard in the low end.
 
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