MXL 990 Mod Comparison/Shootout

[moresound]

It could be anything like moleskin just some type of material that can be adhered to the inner surface of the housing.

[Potsy24]

Oh, ok - the bandage stuff for moles. That makes sense. It would have been easier than caulk too. A piece of soundproofing vinyl or maybe neoprene also would have worked. Either way, I'm happy with the results. I have to decide whether to replace the capsule or not. I also have an MXL 992 that would probably benefit from this process. Maybe I could replace that capsule with an RK47 or RK12 and put the 992 capsule into the 990.

[moresound]

Oh, ok - the bandage stuff for moles. That makes sense. It would have been easier than caulk too. A piece of soundproofing vinyl or maybe neoprene also would have worked. Either way, I'm happy with the results. I have to decide whether to replace the capsule or not. I also have an MXL 992 that would probably benefit from this process. Maybe I could replace that capsule with an RK47 or RK12 and put the 992 capsule into the 990.

You can check out what Oktavamod does to them HERE.

[Potsy24]

You can check out what Oktavamod does to them HERE.

I've seen his website, that's what got the wheels spinning on this project. The comparisons to the Neumann are impressive, but I'd also like to hear the modded mics compared to stock. Obviously I've heard the stock mic, but the room/instrument/performance/signal chain is probably a bigger factor in these samples than the actual mic/modifications.

I know changing the capsule would help tame the brightness on this mic. It's actually brighter now with the 1 layer grill, but not in a bad way. I can't find exactly what he's doing to the electronics, but I've seen posts about replacing such and such capacitor and all that. The word on the street is the electronics upgrades can be done for a few dollars. But I've never found a comparison before and after. Maybe I should do that before the capsule swap. It would be nice to hear the difference that each step makes, it might help people decide which mods they wanted to do to their own mics.

[moresound]

Yeah just a few dollars would do the trick with the caps change.

Try an advanced search here in the DIY forum. Seems I remember something had been spelled out before.

I'll try and find it as well.

[Potsy24]

The comparisons to the Neumann are impressive, but I'd also like to hear the modded mics compared to stock. Obviously I've heard the stock mic, but the room/instrument/performance/signal chain is probably a bigger factor in these samples than the actual mic/modifications.

To clarify, I didn't mean to imply that the Oktavamod mods don't make a difference. I just meant that I can't compare my own recordings of a stock 990 to his recordings of a modified one, because all of the other factors (room, placement, instrument, preamp...) are different.

[moresound]

I understood that

HERE is what you want I believe.

If my memory serves me right the 990 and the 603 have the same circuitry.

[Potsy24]

Awesome, thanks! Just 3 things to change? That's not bad at all. I was thinking it might be more work than it was worth, but I've got 20 minutes for sure.

[moresound]

Awesome, thanks! Just 3 things to change? That's not bad at all. I was thinking it might be more work than it was worth, but I've got 20 minutes for sure.

Could be a bit longer. Just be careful whist un-soldering the old caps. Don't let it get to hot as to mess up the circuit board.

[Potsy24]

Well, yes, I'll take my time. If this mic isn't a paperweight anymore, I don't want to go messing it up now.