rob aylestone
Moderator
I ordered a couple of Chinese capsule to see if I could repair the two dead ones I have. Good job I bought two.
I figured that I had a working 'handle' with integral transformer, so I ordered the transformerless replacement. It was a bit different of course when it arrived, but I wondered if the mechanism for securing the rotating end cap would be the same? It looked very similar so I thought I'd give it a go, and in part 2 of the video, you can see the process and how it went adrift. For info - the Shure end cap does fit, but there is an unexpected problem. Version 2 of the mod used the Chinese end cap, not the Shure and that actually worked, and is MUCH easier to do.
In the video I have in the end four mics - all looking like SM57s - an original, the hybrid real transformer/chinese capsule version, the Thomann MB75 (which is a decent Chinese version) and the cheapest one I could find on Aliexpress - which looks like one, but that's about it.
Oddly - while the Chinese cheapy is nothing like the 57 sound, it's actually more like a condenser, sound wise, not like a dynamic at all. The Thomann is to my ears brighter too, while the replacement capsule doesn't sound too bad.
I'm annoyed after all my effort with the cap swap, it was rubbish - I think the diaphragm probably is touching the plastic. In the Chinese end cap, the middle looks like it has been ground away a bit (see this in part 2) I wonder if this has been done to give it a bit more clearance?
I figured that I had a working 'handle' with integral transformer, so I ordered the transformerless replacement. It was a bit different of course when it arrived, but I wondered if the mechanism for securing the rotating end cap would be the same? It looked very similar so I thought I'd give it a go, and in part 2 of the video, you can see the process and how it went adrift. For info - the Shure end cap does fit, but there is an unexpected problem. Version 2 of the mod used the Chinese end cap, not the Shure and that actually worked, and is MUCH easier to do.
In the video I have in the end four mics - all looking like SM57s - an original, the hybrid real transformer/chinese capsule version, the Thomann MB75 (which is a decent Chinese version) and the cheapest one I could find on Aliexpress - which looks like one, but that's about it.
Oddly - while the Chinese cheapy is nothing like the 57 sound, it's actually more like a condenser, sound wise, not like a dynamic at all. The Thomann is to my ears brighter too, while the replacement capsule doesn't sound too bad.
I'm annoyed after all my effort with the cap swap, it was rubbish - I think the diaphragm probably is touching the plastic. In the Chinese end cap, the middle looks like it has been ground away a bit (see this in part 2) I wonder if this has been done to give it a bit more clearance?
