Why the Brass Ring on an MXL-990

[Michael8it]

I am looking at my MXL 990 and 991 and realize that the capsule on both are the same, so why does the 990 have the big brass ring around the capsule?

Is it there to make it look like an LDC or does it do something sonically? Any ideas what would happen if I took it off ?

Thanks.

 

[crazydoc]

Any ideas what would happen if I took it off ?

Thanks.

Try it.

Here's a post from the past:

I think the main difference between 603 and 990 sound is not in the grill construction, but the way the backwaves reach the rear of the capsule. In 603 the back chamber is tuned to higher frequencies, so the mic sounds brighter. In 990 there is actually no back chamber, and the brass ring forms kind of baffle, which most likely augments the low freq. response even further. Take the ring off and tell what do you hear.

https://homerecording.com/bbs/showpost.php?p=1020659&postcount=22

 

[Wish]

I think you get a free ride on the merry-go-round if you can grab the brass ring.

 

[Gus]

Look at this.

http://www.schoepsclassics.de/1953.htm

I wonder if that was the inspiration?

 

[moresound]

Look at this.

http://www.schoepsclassics.de/1953.htm

I wonder if that was the inspiration?

Probably ....But I think they fell wayyyyyy short.

 

[PhilGood]

The brass ring increases the size of the pressure gradient, which makes it behave more like a large diaphragm capsule. A bit more musical and forgiving.

 

[Michael8it]

Thanks for the replies. One other question: On the 991 there are two resistors R13 and R8 stamped "LG" - what kind of resistors are these and what are they make of? are they worth replacing ?

 

[dgatwood]

Replace a resistor? I suppose if you're really wanting to mod the crap out of it, you could lower the noise level a little by swapping resistors, but....

If it's like most Chinese mics, you'll get a much bigger bang for your buck by swapping out the coupling capacitor on the capsule's output.