WhiteStrat
Don't stare at the eye.
Which we all know is Latin for "I'm in love with the UPS guy!"
Deal?.......MXL 603S for $30 at MF
- Thread starter mcmd
- Start date
Which we all know is Latin for "I'm in love with the UPS guy!"
Tested the 5 603's today. Not quite as bright as my 604's which I think is a good thing. They seemed fairly consistant. Then I asked my buddy how many of the 5 he wanted, and he said : All of them. So I guess I'm outta luck on this one! 
It's OK though as I have 2 991's and 2 604's.
It's OK though as I have 2 991's and 2 604's.
JTC111
Active member
WhiteStrat
Don't stare at the eye.
This is what psychologists call "projection."
Ya got me. Psychologists trump Latin any day of the week.
JTC111
Active member
Dang DrBill that was right nice of you.................dang nice.
What would one man do with 5 603s's? Somthi'n shady thats what!
3-4 for toms, 1 for HH, 1 for Snare. He seemed to want them, so.......why not. I already have to many mics.....
https://homerecording.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=267508
(see pic)
At least this way I don't have to explain to my wife why I bought 5 more identical mics......
PhiloBeddoe
New member
3-4 for toms, 1 for HH, 1 for Snare. He seemed to want them, so.......why not. I already have to many mics.....
https://homerecording.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=267508
(see pic)
Looked at the pic. If you put as much thought into mic placement for recording as you do for the pic then you're probably pretty damn good. All the symmetry - Neumann in center, Beta52 vs. AKGD112, SM57 vs I5s, twin towers of dual ribbon and MD441 etc. Wow, thought provoking. I laughed, I cried, it was better than Cats!
LOL
Yeah, but did you listen to the RESULTS. You might cry even more when you see how much (and little) some of your favorite pics cost. I'll tell you right now, I paid under $500US for what some consider the top 3 tom mic choices - that's 9 mics for less than $500. Since I'm on this thread I can tell you that one of those choices was a 603/604/991, and another was a previous stupid deal of the day. CAD M177. Beating out Gefell's, Neumann, AKG, etc.
PS - you have keen powers of observation!!!!!
WhiteStrat
Don't stare at the eye.
LOL
Yeah, but did you listen to the RESULTS. You might cry even more when you see how much (and little) some of your favorite pics cost. I'll tell you right now, I paid under $500US for what some consider the top 3 tom mic choices - that's 9 mics for less than $500. Since I'm on this thread I can tell you that one of those choices was a 603/604/991, and another was a previous stupid deal of the day. CAD M177. Beating out Gefell's, Neumann, AKG, etc.
PS - you have keen powers of observation!!!!!
I did the stupid deal on the M177's, but just two. I like 'em on toms so much I just bought a third one--still waiting for it. (Then like an idiot, I got a fourth tom! Dohhh...
)
WhiteStrat
Don't stare at the eye.
I got 2 of the M177's when it was the stupid deal, then I just bought one here on the board. That's all I've got (though I'd take one or two more...)
Erockrazor
I mix in (2x) real-time
Got my two mxl 603s in the mail two days ago.
One is making the sweeping ringing noise. Not loud but enough to ruin a take for me. It goes from high to low pitched... never heard that before.
Might be time to try and use the warranty ?
One is making the sweeping ringing noise. Not loud but enough to ruin a take for me. It goes from high to low pitched... never heard that before.
Might be time to try and use the warranty ?
Marik
Pro Microphone Design
There are a few simple tricks with the 603 modification you can turn it into quite an awsome mic.
The easiest and obvious is cap replacement, where the 0.22uf ones should be increased to 1uf, and use your favorite 1000pf type for the input one.
I saw at least 3 different revisions of the input FET biasing, where only one is correct (of course, if adjusted properly), which is with a pot, as in original Schoeps circuit. Otherwise, the headroom is compromised. Open the mic and check if you see a blue adj. pot next to the input FET.
The best capsules for the 603 were in the very first revision, where beside concentric groves, there were also machined additional cross paths. Later, this machining pattern was dropped for sake of ease of manufacturing, resulting in considerable low frequency loss--usual complaint for the 603. Remachining the capsules can significantly boost the LF end, turning this mic into real world class mic.
Best, M
So you're saying that the .22uF stack metal film cap I used on the mod I did should have been a 1uF instead?
Yep! It has one. Now what?
And where would one get this kind of work done? Thanks.
Paul
antichef
pornk rock
OK, back home, and I just did the mods. DrBill has, with his drum samples post, set a new standard in shootouts that I will never attain. With that advance apology out of the way (and the disclaimer that I have no skills and don't know what I'm doing), I can say that I did take pictures and record short samples. I forgot to use the low tech match testing technique prior the mod, but I'll do it with the modded mics and post again.
OK first, here are the mics stock, with the victim capacitors indicated (my mics do not have the trim pot that Marik mentioned, unfortunately, but - not obvious in the picture, they do have 1G ohm resistors (those maroon plate-like looking things) unlike my 991):
and here's a stereo (using both mics at once) sample of a little drum thing and a porcelain bell that I've got. Unlike drBill, I'm going for information underload
http://recursor.net/mxl603/MXL-603-stock.wav
next, here they are with the input capacitors swapped:
the replacement 1000pf poly-something capacitors are a little bigger physically than the stock ceramic (also 1000pf) ones, but they fit fine. Here's the corresponding sample:
http://recursor.net/mxl603/MXL-603-inputcap.wav
sounds better to me -- one thing that may not be apparent in the sample is, despite my neaderthalic soldering skills and sub $10 soldering iron, the mics are less noisy.
next, I decided to follow Marik's advice and go with 1uf capacitors to replace the .22 ones -- I quickly realized that I had a form factor problem -- my first choice of replacements just didn't fit at all (actually, my first choice are these WIMA ones that would probably fit, but I only had one of them left !!! argh!!!). I managed to get these yellow ones in place by leaving long leads and tucking away -- being careful to avoid a short, of course:
here's the mic again, with the capacitors tucked away:
and here's the sample:
http://recursor.net/mxl603/MXL-603-.22to1uf.wav
[I did my best with mic placement across the samples, btw, using a stereo bar on a stand for the mics, and holding the drum and bell in as close to the same position as I could.]
even better, I think - more bass. And again, quieter. Thanks again, Marik! Next, I'll have to figure out how to remachine the capsules with my teeth
edit: matching is OK, but not fantastic, with the mismatch pronounced at lower frequencies - my guess is about 5-7 db off below 200hz. I'm speculating, but I imagine that by improving the bass response, I worsened the matching a little, since the poor bass response on the stock mics was masking the mismatch. I had the same effect with some MC-012s that I modified.
OK first, here are the mics stock, with the victim capacitors indicated (my mics do not have the trim pot that Marik mentioned, unfortunately, but - not obvious in the picture, they do have 1G ohm resistors (those maroon plate-like looking things) unlike my 991):
and here's a stereo (using both mics at once) sample of a little drum thing and a porcelain bell that I've got. Unlike drBill, I'm going for information underload
http://recursor.net/mxl603/MXL-603-stock.wav
next, here they are with the input capacitors swapped:
the replacement 1000pf poly-something capacitors are a little bigger physically than the stock ceramic (also 1000pf) ones, but they fit fine. Here's the corresponding sample:
http://recursor.net/mxl603/MXL-603-inputcap.wav
sounds better to me -- one thing that may not be apparent in the sample is, despite my neaderthalic soldering skills and sub $10 soldering iron, the mics are less noisy.
next, I decided to follow Marik's advice and go with 1uf capacitors to replace the .22 ones -- I quickly realized that I had a form factor problem -- my first choice of replacements just didn't fit at all (actually, my first choice are these WIMA ones that would probably fit, but I only had one of them left !!! argh!!!). I managed to get these yellow ones in place by leaving long leads and tucking away -- being careful to avoid a short, of course:
here's the mic again, with the capacitors tucked away:
and here's the sample:
http://recursor.net/mxl603/MXL-603-.22to1uf.wav
[I did my best with mic placement across the samples, btw, using a stereo bar on a stand for the mics, and holding the drum and bell in as close to the same position as I could.]
even better, I think - more bass. And again, quieter. Thanks again, Marik! Next, I'll have to figure out how to remachine the capsules with my teeth
edit: matching is OK, but not fantastic, with the mismatch pronounced at lower frequencies - my guess is about 5-7 db off below 200hz. I'm speculating, but I imagine that by improving the bass response, I worsened the matching a little, since the poor bass response on the stock mics was masking the mismatch. I had the same effect with some MC-012s that I modified.
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tarnationsauce2
Welcome to the jungle.
A trick to prevent short circuiting is to strip the shielding off a wire about the same gauge as the leads, then slip the shielding over the leads.
Marik
Pro Microphone Design
Yours instead of the trim pot has pair of resistors. Not as precise as a pot, but still much better than no pot/resistors at all, including Dorsey version.
Look like polystyrene ones--a major step up from ceramics. To my ears not as transparent as some premium polypropelene capacitors, but still good.
Good work. Indeed, it can be tricky to fit, but well worth the effort.
Next, I'll have to figure out how to remachine the capsules with my teeth
DON'T DO THAT!
Use milling machine instead
Best, M
P.S. I am still not done the 6802 and wanted to do a couple more things. The end of this week we have a baby shower and the whole house now is crazy and full of out of town visitors, sleeping in every possible room--parents, sisters, borthers-in-law, colledge friends, and all that stuff
.Will try to finish some time next week.
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antichef
pornk rock
good things take timeP.S. I am still not done the 6802 and wanted to do a couple more things. The end of this week we have a baby shower and the whole house now is crazy and full of out of town visitors, sleeping in every possible room--parents, sisters, borthers-in-law, colledge friends, and all that stuff
Will try to finish some time next week
-- I've been traveling a lot recently, including much of next week, so that works out perfectly.ahem, as long as we're on the subject, would one of these be better?
