mshilarious
Banned
Its horn is made of wood. I'm not sure the reason for the horn design; its designer went into a limited amount of detail, but not really enough for anybody else to understand. In some manner it is similar to the use of a boundary surface, but it requires more complex equalization. So it remains a mystery to me . . . the main advantage seems to be use of a moving coil element, which will have less distortion than a capacitor element (not really the capsule itself, but rather distortion in the FET due to high input levels). The disadvantage of low sensitivity and poor transient response of a moving coil element is compensated with the horn, at least at frequencies where the horn is effective (listed as 1kHz, which appears to be correct given the size of the horn).
Which brings us back to the use of wood; the designer I believe prefers it for its frequency response (it will absorb some of the top octave), but it appears the horn is a cylindral/conical design. Closer approximations of an exponential curve would reduce resonance and make the equalization simpler; perhaps a wood veneer on a plastic molding would have been more economical; or instead, for the price one could ask for some time spent with a rasp . . .
Curiously, a flat frequency response is claimed using linear-phase EQ (as I recall the designer mentioned), which I don't think will result in a flat phase response.
Another characteristic is the polar pattern; it will be highly directional, but again only above 1kHz. Compared with the traditional 40mm-50mm ball used in the Neumann M50, and sold as accessories for Schoeps and others, it will be much more dramatically directional.
It is interesting though; I think I might like a less severe, somewhat smaller horn, with a profile that could be more easily handled by passive EQ, perhaps as part of the transducer/transformer design. I think it also might be interesting to use a smaller than usual moving coil, since the resulting low sensitivity wouldn't be a burden. Such a design I am pretty sure could be executed for less than $200.
Which brings us back to the use of wood; the designer I believe prefers it for its frequency response (it will absorb some of the top octave), but it appears the horn is a cylindral/conical design. Closer approximations of an exponential curve would reduce resonance and make the equalization simpler; perhaps a wood veneer on a plastic molding would have been more economical; or instead, for the price one could ask for some time spent with a rasp . . .
Curiously, a flat frequency response is claimed using linear-phase EQ (as I recall the designer mentioned), which I don't think will result in a flat phase response.
Another characteristic is the polar pattern; it will be highly directional, but again only above 1kHz. Compared with the traditional 40mm-50mm ball used in the Neumann M50, and sold as accessories for Schoeps and others, it will be much more dramatically directional.
It is interesting though; I think I might like a less severe, somewhat smaller horn, with a profile that could be more easily handled by passive EQ, perhaps as part of the transducer/transformer design. I think it also might be interesting to use a smaller than usual moving coil, since the resulting low sensitivity wouldn't be a burden. Such a design I am pretty sure could be executed for less than $200.
